What has happened in the past in these seasons:
— Back a couple of years, when Brett Favre jumped ship and became a Viking, I drew the reporting assignment of finding something new to say about the off-again, on-again retiree. So what to do? Go to Pudge’s. While there, I was amazed to run into the NFL beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, who was on a similar quest and wanted to see what Cheeseheads thought about the whole thing. Where do I go for my Border Battle story, he asked. So I showed him around the local sports bars and became part of the story. Recently, as I told the bartender at Hefty’s Roadhouse in Bayport my tale, I specified that the writer only stumbled into Pudge’s by accident, because its the first place across the St. Croix River, and was originally going to base his search in Prescott, of all places. The bartender huffed and rolled his eyes about that idea. The writer ended up spending two days in Hudson and filing a story that was the lead on the sports page the day after he got back.
— The annual New Years’s Eve performance at the Phipps Center for the Arts, “Sirens of the 60s,” featured renowned singer Colleen Raye and two family members, and they delved into songs by such female vocalists as Carole King, Dionne Warwick, Cass Elliot, Marilyn McCoo, Lesley Gore, Barbara Streisand, Tammy Wynette, Dusty Springfield and Brenda Lee. The guitarist who backed the trio was Billy McLaughlin, who is well known for public televison gigs, although he has not cut his long hair. Awhile back in the Twin Cities, a talkative friend of mine actually ended up seated next to McLaughlin and engaged him in conversation, at a comedy show featuring Scott Novotny, as the two artists know each other.