Albin news Dec 27, 2010

Albin News Readers,

I hope this edition of the Pine Bluffs Post finds you settled in and comfortable. We are now into the very deepest and coldest part of winter and the heart of the holiday season. Don't get too comfortable though because the winter solstice was a week ago Tuesday at 4:38 PM! Technically, we are now on the up hill swing as far as day length goes. From here on out, the days start getting longer, our Northern hemisphere starts getting closer to the sun, and things start to warm up. Actually the coldest month of the year is January so there's a little bit of a lag while we burn what little heat we have stored on the earth's surface. By February, though, the average temperature is back up above December and January and the early “spring” calving season begins.

In community news, the funeral of Robert H. Ward was held last Wed at 2:00 pm at the Frontier School of the Bible Chapell in Lagrange. Robert was long time resident in the LaGrange and Meridan area and father of Glenda Edmunds (postmistress for the Albin Post Office). Robert had been battling lung cancer which recently spread to his brain and skull. He was transferred to the Davis Hospice center in Cheyenne where he died last Friday, Dec 24^th.

The funeral for Eugene Hansen was held last Wed at 1:30 pm at the Catholic church in Pine Bluffs. Eugene was a long time resident of the Albin area. He was 91 and well able to get around and work until very recently. This fall, he helped his son Dennis plant all his winter wheat.

Albin area resident Martha Cannon drove her husband Dave to Denver for an MRI. According to Martha they had an excicting episode at a Wendy's drive-through on the way home. In the middle of ordering, Dave felt a sudden unexplainable heat in the seat of the pants and pointedly demanded that Martha drive back to the hospital STAT. Dave had been having some nerve problems in his back. Martha restored order by turning off the seat warmer and ordering lunch. Another disaster averted.

There are tryouts for a community play on Jan 3^rd and 4^th from 5:00 – 6:30 at the Albin Community Center. The play is called “If It's Monday, It Must Be Murder” and it is a dinner theater comedy. The actual production is planned for February. Esther Davison is helping with the casting and directing. You can call Heather Lerwick at 246-3386 for more details.

Here is a paraphrase of the last two week's updates on Tim and Garrett from Dixie and Cindi. You can read their full updates by going to caringbridge.org and searching “timmalm” and “garrettross.”

Last week Tim was able to get out and into a vehicle with only Howard to help him. They went together to band calves and do other ranch work. Tim continues to make slow but steady improvement in his left side and eye alignment. Bethany is home from college for Christmas.

Cindi has been able to some definite clear words out of Garrett last week. He was even able to say “I love you Dad!” to Scott on the phone! Garrett has also been able to eat some foods now along with his mostly liquid diet. This also means he can get his medications down without a feeding tube. Garrett's left side continues to be less mobile than his right side.

In ag news, several confection sunflower companies have come out with contracts for 2011 sunflowers at around $5.00/cwt higher than last year. In 2008, contracts got up to $40/cwt and last year most were from $28 to $30/cwt.

Finally, the “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010” was signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 17. Included in this legislation was a one year extension of the $0.45/gallon blender's credit or VEETC. It also included a $0.10/gallon tax credit for small ethanol producers and a $0.54/gallon tariff on ethanol imports. This was an extension of the current pricing levels. Ethanol industry organizations such as the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol have said they will use this one year extension to work on long-term policy reforms. This should keep domestic corn demand very strong in a year when carryover is tight and weather concerns abound.