Piece on neighbor Marge's 90th Birthday

Kelly--thought you might like this since you don't get the paper since you moved.

It was a good idea to interview Marge Gaulke. She has been a Lake Ripley resident for over fifty years, and she would be ninety on Labor Day.
It wasn’t as easy as it sounds to get that interview.. The invitation of lunch and the interview was turned down because she just didn’t have the time
Two weeks after the first attempt, the second invitation of lunch and the interview was turned down again.
She couldn’t go to lunch the next day because "Our bridge group is going to lunch at Tru’s, and I have to pick up one of the girls. She is 100 and doesn’t drive anymore." (She still plays bridge, though) Wow.
I asked if I could ask her a few questions right then. She reluctantly agreed. "I don’t want to say no to you because you are such a good neighbor. But what could you say about me that anyone would be interested
There is a lot to say about this busy lady.
She visits friends regularly. Janesville is her home town, and she still has friends there.
She doesn’t forget old friends who have moved to assisted living or nursing homes.
Two days a week she volunteers at the Cambridge Library.
An avid bridge player, she has "slowed down" to just twice a week. She tells the story that over fifty years ago, when she first learned, she and her friends took a lesson at the Y. They then went to play at the Country Club in Janesville thinking they knew the game. They discovered very quick they had a lot to learn. She said it is a good game, and you never quit learning, even after all these years.
Marge has also been an avid golfer for many years. A member of the Country Club in Cambridge, she has a few trophies, and winning scores playing on the course. But it was the pleasure of the game that kept her swinging her clubs. She said this year is the first year that she has not played. "I thought it was time to put the clubs away," she said.
But she still does her walking. "I used to walk every night. But then after the winter, I just can’t get going again. Lately I have only been walking three or four times a week."
Bridge twice a week, Library twice a week, visiting friends. Golf up until now. And she ONLY walks four times a week, Poor Marge. She must be slipping;
. When she is found at home, you might see her tending to her flowers, or sitting on her front steps, the lake in front of her. She is probably writing a letter. Her son wants her to get a computer. She says she does just fine without one. And, it is the lucky person who gets a personal, hand-written letter, so scarce nowadays.
. Every Sunday morning, rain or shine, you can see her back her spotless 1990 blue Cadillac out of her garage and head to Fort to church.
If it is not Sunday, she might be shopping or heading to the airport where her son Jim is beginning or ending his visits from his home in Oklahoma.
Marge Schmitt’s life began in Janesville where she was born on September 3, 1917. She grew up and went all through school in Janesville. It was there that she and high school sweetheart Herman Gaulke married in 1956. They had three children: John, Jim, and Mary.
Marge, Herman, and family became summer residents of Lake Ripley in 1956. Herman would drive back and forth to work in Janesville in the summer.
When Herman retired, they moved to the lake. They wintered in Florida where they had a condo. After Herman’s death in 1993, she stopped going to Florida, saying this is her home and she had no desire to leave.. She says she has good neighbors and friends here and this is where is where she want to be.
Marge’s 90 years have been blessed with good health, good neighbors, and good friends
She has her family, son Jim who lives in Oklahoma, and daughter Mary who lives in Florida. She also has six grand-children and 5 great-grandchildren.
Everything has not been all peaches and cream for Marge in her 90 years. "We all have our share of sadness and problems," she said.
Her biggest sadness is losing family. Her husband not too long after they had celebrated their fiftieth anniversary. Son John died in 2001, and she lost one of her grand-daughters three years ago.
"You get through it," she said.
When Marge asked what can be said that people would care about? Plenty. That was apparent during her surprise birthday party, hosted by her good neighbors, Bill and Betty Reay. Even Marge’s daughter, Mary, was able to come from Florida for her surprise.
Everyone in attendance had a little something to say about what a treasure she is .
Marge is a mom, grandma, neighbor, volunteer, and friend. Put simply, she is a very nice person. You don’t get much better than that.
Happy Birthday, Marge.