Outside Looking In

In honor of Ross Eischens, who recently passed away, it would be a good idea to name the press box at K.P. Kompelien Field after him.
After all, Eischens was the "Voice of the Vikings" and admitted to practicing his announcing in the long hours in his tractor.
Eischens "welcomed" the fans at football games for 24 seasons, while also handling public address duties for high school wrestling and the Minneota Mudhens for many years. He also was Master of Ceremonies for the Boxelder Bug Days queen coronation for several years.
There wasn't much that Eischens said "no" to when it came to volunteering or helping others.
When I would need to ask someone about planting or harvesting, Ross was more than happy to help me understand the nuances of farming since I, obviously, grew up in the city.
When I needed a photo of a farmer planting to go along with a story a few years ago, Ross insisted that I not drive all the way from my home in Willmar to take a photo. Instead, he jumped on his tractor and took a photo for me from his cab. It turned out to be a "cool" photo.
Ross was 42 years old when he passed away just nine days after his father, Curt Eischens. See obituaries on Page 5.

Return trip
Several months ago, I mentioned in this column about an incident that happened to me while I was working for the West Central Tribune in Willmar several years ago.
I received a call from an elderly lady who said she knew me and how much I liked to try and solve mysteries. I did not recognize her voice, nor did I ever find out who she was.
She gave me some clues to look for at an abandoned country church a few miles north of town and that if I could figure them all out, it would be worth my time. I figured it was a prank, but decided to venture out to the church to check things out.
The first was near a headstone at a small cemetery next to the church, which I found. That led to another clue that was supposedly written on the lower portion of a room used for a kitchen in the church.
What this lady did not realize was that the church was being renovated and was going to re-open after 25 years of sitting idle. I wasn’t able to get inside the church, but through a window I could see the walls of the kitchen had been painted over.
That was several years ago now. I never returned to the church to look for more clues and I've told no one which church this was supposedly at for fear I would read about someone getting filthy rich.
Fast forward to the present. I recently purchased a metal detector (not for this reason) to use in my spare time. I thought about this church and decided to see if there were any buried coins in or around the church or cemetery. Some clues that I had discovered led to me believe that if this was not a prank, I would find another clue or a pot of gold near a headstone sandwiched between two trees.
There is one headstone nearly a century old that fit this description. My metal detector buzzed like an old chainsaw as soon as I approached this area. My heart started beating out of my chest with excitement and anticipation.
I dug a few inches down, but the detector indicated the object was deeper than that. After digging a couple more inches, I used a pin pointer, which is a small flashlight-like tool used to zero in on metal object.
Eureka! There it was in all its glory, exposed from its earthly shelter. Drumroll please ..... it was a rusty old roofing nail.
The next two hours exposed no other objects.
Mystery still unsolved.