Dassel-Cokato High School Athletic Banquet, Cokato, MN

I flew into the Mpls/St.Paul area to speak at the Dassel-Cokato High School Athletic Banquet. I picked up my rental car and then headed for the small farming communities of Dassel/Cokato Minnesota. These towns are about 50 miles west of the Twin Cities. I grew up not to far from those towns and hunted, trapped, and fished on many of the lakes and woods in the area as a kid.

I actually stayed at a hotel in the larger town of Litchfield, about 12 miles west of D-C. I checked in, took a short nap, then went for a run around Lake Riley. It brought back some memories! I ran a 25K race there back in 1979, the reason I remember it so well, not because I won the race, but because it's one of the only times I've ever dropped out of a race!

I had a nice 5 mile run, then back to the hotel for a shower and supper. Wednesday morning I was up and back out at Lake Riley for another run, my golly it was windy! When I got on the north side of the lake, the waves were hitting the shore so hard I was getting wet and I was on the far side of the road! That afternoon I drove up to the Dassel-Cokato High School. The wind was blowing so hard and the dirt blowing off the newly planted fields, I had to have my lights on! I met with the boys and girls track team and spoke to them out on the track, I had to shout so they could hear me because of the wind!

After meeting with the kids, I headed back to the hotel and got cleaned up and headed back to the high school where I was the keynote speaker at the Athletic Banquet. We had a great meal and then we all headed into their beautiful auditorium where the awards were being presented and where I would give my talk. They had over 350 kids and parents at the event. My talk went really well and we all had a great time!

I love speaking in small towns, the people are so appreciative and I love the spirit and the togetherness that small towns have. Thanks Dassel-Cokato for your great hospitality! :-)