Talk of the Town: Green Valley News introduces free personals

Looking for friendship? How about someone to just talk to—about whatever? The Green Valley News has just introduced Community Personals, an online friendship service where you can e-mail others to chat or share a few laughs.

The nice thing about Green Valley News Community Personals is the service is free.

You can register online by just clicking on gvnews.com and scrolling down the page where, on the right hand side, you’ll find the connection site adorned with little pink hearts and the word “Personals.” Click on it and it will take you to the registration site where you can sign up for free!

Here are few frequently asked questions and answers about the service:

Q. What is Community Personals?

A. Community Personals is part of an online content network for U.S. newspapers called the Verican Network and is owned and operated by Verican, Inc.

Q. How much does it cost to join Community Personals?

A. It’s free. No restrictions, no credit cards, and unlimited access.

Q. How do I send messages to other members?

A. Sending messages is easy. Once you’re on another member’s profile page, click the “Send a Message” link, type in your message, and then click send. That member will then be notified through their e-mail address that they have a message waiting for them in their Personals Inbox.

Q. When will I be able to send and receive messages from other Personals members?

A. Typically within 24 to 48 hours after registering. Your profile must be approved before you can send messages.

Q. Whom should I contact if I have a complaint?

A. Please e-mail our customer service department at info@verican.com. If the complaint concerns another member, please remember to specify the member’s user name in the e-mail.

Q. How do I change my profile, my default search, and add photos to my account?

A. To change your profile or default search, sign in and on your main account page click “My Profile” then either “Edit Profile” or “My Match;” to add photos, click “Add/Edit Photos” on your main account page.

Q. What is the “Add To My Favorites” link found on members’ profile pages?

A. The “Add To My Favorites” link allows you to bookmark the profile of members you’re interested in. After clicking the link you’ll be able to find the member’s profile at anytime in your favorites section by clicking on “My Favorites” in the top menu bar.

Have fun! It’s free. What do you have to lose?

Goodness. Green Valley is certainly a place to retire if you hail from Minnesota. It seems I’m always running into folks from the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” give or take a few puddles or so. Minnesota must be empty during the winter months when everyone is here.

I spoke to Barb Quigley, president of the Minnesota Club, earlier this week and she said there’s an estimated 600 or so members in the club. To become a member of this social and charitable organization, under the umbrella of Green Valley Recreation, all one must do, (according to Barb) is have come from Minnesota, “or to just have flown over it.” (Minnesotans have a sense of humor, too.)

Anyway, the Minnesota Club meets November through April and members enjoy catered dinners, potlucks, wine and cheese parties and more. Call Barb at 399-9503 if you want to join or have questions.

Some Minnesota trivia:

One of the state’s nicknames, “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” is just a wee bit incorrect. The state actually has 11,842 lakes that are 10 acres or more in size.

Saganaga Lake is the deepest lake in Minnesota, it also produced the largest walleye ever caught in Minnesota — weighing in at 17 pounds, eight ounces in 1975! (What about the bigger walleye that got away?)

There are 12,000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails in Minnesota, more than any other state in the nation. (More than Arizona?)

Le Seur. Minn. is home to the Jolly Green Giant. (Ho! Ho! Ho!)

Minnesota is also the home of Spam, that pink mystery meat in a can. The Spam Museum is in Austin.

Minnesotan baseball commentator Halsey Hal was the first to say ‘Holy Cow’ during a baseball broadcast.

The Mall of America in Bloomington is the size of 78 football fields — 9.5 million square feet. Does that mean you can shop ‘til you drop??

Some of the most notable of Minnesota inventions are: Masking and Scotch tape, Wheaties cereal, Bisquick, HMOs, the bundt pan, Aveda beauty products, and Green Giant vegetables.

Minneapolis has more golfers per capita than any other city in the country.

Rochester, in the southeast corner of the state, is home of the world famous Mayo Clinic.

Madison (pop. 1,768) is the self-proclaimed “Lutefisk Capital of the World,” where the town mascot is a 25-foot-long codfish statue aptly named Lou T. Fisk. Loved or loathed, lutefisk is a traditional Scandinavian dish of dried cod treated with lye.

Barb tells me that Minnesota is very cold (to put it mildly) in the winter. She also says that there is a rivalry between the city of Tower, Minn. and the town of Embarrass, Minn., as to which has the coldest recorded temperature.

In February 2005, the town of Embarrass dipped to 57 degrees below zero. On February 2, 1996, Tower, Minn. went to a numbing 60 degrees F. below.

How did Embarrass, with a population just shy of 700, get its unusual name?

Frustrated French priests and fur trappers helped dub the town back in the 1700s, as they tried to navigate the twisty, driftwood-strewn river that flows through the area. The chunks of wood, frequent curves, and low water levels wreaked havoc on canoeists. French-Canadian lumberjacks also cursed the river, as their fresh-cut logs frequently became stranded while floating downstream. So, the French called it Rivi�re d’Embarras—best translated as “River of Obstacles” or “River of Obstructions.” The anglicized version, Embarrass River, started showing up on territorial maps in the early 19th century.

Green Valley resident Jackie DeHart joined some 1,300 other delegates, members and guests at the 30th Biennial National Convention of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association held in Louisville, Ky., Sept. 7-11.

NARFE, one of America’s oldest and largest associations, was founded in 1921 with the mission of protecting the earned rights and benefits of America’s active and retired federal workers.

Dan Adcock, NARFE legislative director, warned delegates that a “perfect storm” might be approaching that threatens federal retirement benefits. He said any attempt to overhaul federal entitlement programs is likely to come early in the 111th Congress.

The delegates heard from U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who pledged his continued support of issues most dear to NARFE—repeal of the Social Security windfall elimination provision and government pension offset and premium conversion.

The highlight of the convention was the election of the national officers who will guide NARFE over the next two years. National President Margaret L. Baptiste of South Carolina, the first woman and the first survivor annuitant to serve as NARFE president, was re-elected by acclamation after her only announced opponent withdrew from the race. Also elected were: Joseph Beaudoin of Virginia, national vice president; Nathaniel “Nat” Brown of Arizona, re-elected national secretary, and Richard Ostergren of California, re-elected national treasurer.

The delegates from Region VII chose Martha Leiker, Colo., to serve as regional vice president to represent them on the 14-member NARFE National Executive Board.

rford@gvnews.com | 547-9740