I’ve been writing this blog, in this web location, since the beginning of 2016. NHRA.com was kind enough to allow me to keep writing the original blog for a couple of months at their site, after I officially retired, to help transition my readers over here to our family charity site. That was very generous and helpful because I could finish each NHRA blog with reminders about the move, the date, and a link to this new site (although a lot of people didn’t get the memo, as we say.) I wanted it to be a seamless transition for as many folks as possible, knowing that NHRA.com was going to take down their blog page as soon as I was done. 10 years in one spot was a long time, but now we’re over here and still rocking.

For those of you who have been here since we relocated, I offer great thanks. I’m not sure of the total numbers as compared to the peak of the NHRA blog, which at its conclusion was drawing more eyeballs than all the other NHRA blogs added together, but there’s a healthy crowd here after each one is posted. One of the key pieces of data comes from the number of “Likes” we get each week, although I’m also not sure what the percentage is of people who read the blog versus those that read it and then take the time to actually click on the “Like” button at the top. Is it 1%? 5%? 7.36%? I don’t know, but it has to be a tiny percentage for all sorts of reasons. A lot of people like to read stuff on the internet, but don’t like interacting or leaving a mark, as we say.

Since this version of my blog launched back in January of ’16, we’ve averaged around 20 “Likes” per installment, with an all-time high being somewhere close to 50. The all-time high has now been changed, and my guess is we’ve hit a mark we may never hit again. As I’m typing this right now, on Thursday afternoon, there have been 180 “Likes” of last week’s installment, and it’s still creeping higher. 200 may not be out of reach.

When I posted it last Thursday, I waited for the initial reaction and it was all very positive. People liked reading about Roseau and Warroad, in addition to the stuff about Brainerd and the race. The “Likes” started to add up more quickly than usual, but topped out around 28 or so over the weekend. At least I thought they’d topped out. I was mistaken. I had sent a few “thank you” notes to people I’d met with up in Roseau, and I gave them a link to the blog in the hope they’d like it. They did.

A couple of nights ago, Barbara and I were having dinner at Angelina’s Kitchen, our hands-down favorite bistro in Woodbury, when she checked her phone and held up one hand, saying, “Wait, wait. Oh my!”  She had a message from a former colleague, Brenda Erickson. Brenda is married to Tom. Tom is a Roseau native. Word had gotten to them that the blog was the hottest thing in Roseau, and Brenda’s remark to Barbara was “Roseau is abuzz about Bob’s Blog.” In our own little way, the blog was going viral in Roseau, Minnesota.

It started slowly up there, with one or two people reading it and liking it, while they also obviously took the time to click on the “Like” button to register their appreciation. Then the word began to spread. And it’s still spreading.

I don’t know how many Roseau residents, if any at all, will continue to read this weekly form of social media, but I’ll continue to post updates on the new book and the people I talk to. Hopefully we’ll add a few permanent fans even after they get used to the regular nonsense I write about. I mean, geez, they haven’t even met Boofus and Buster yet! If you’re a Roseau resident, be prepared for all sorts of tomfoolery here, much of which is as far from serious as it gets. You’ll get to point where you feel like you know our cats. They’re friendly.

As for book updates, it still does not have a working title. I’m sure it will come to me in a flash, at some point, but there’s been no flash up until now. I did get serious about writing this week, though, and that’s enough of a momentous thing I marked the date on my computer’s calendar, so I’d never forget what day it was when I officially started the process of putting words on the screen. I didn’t start writing the actual book yet, but I did spend much of three days doing “Character Overviews” for the two guys I call Character 1 and Character 2, and ended up doing close to 10 pages of “what these guys are like” on each one.

The goal was to flesh out their personalities, their qualities, and the path they each took in life, up to and after they meet in college. As I was writing, they kind of “came to life” for me and the details about how each of these two guys are wired just appeared. It was a really neat process, and the more I wrote the more they developed as definitive people. They are very different, and I knew they should be, but I didn’t purposefully describe them and write about them that way. It’s not that black and white. They will come from very different backgrounds and places, but the quirks of their personalities had to flow organically and naturally and I’ve never really done anything like this, so it was fascinating.

I have names for them, but I won’t divulge that yet because nothing is etched in stone and it can all change. What I’m thrilled about is the process of getting to know them. I’m to the point where I can start to hear their voices when I write about them, and I definitely am to the point where I internally already know who they each handle challenges, tragedy, friendship, and loyalty. They are, indeed, each a combination of many people I’ve known, but neither one of them is a copy of any one particular person. There’s a bit of this from that old teammate, and some of that from an old work colleague, and so on. And one fun part is that this whole process is an ongoing one. I’m sure they’ll come way more to life once I’ve started writing their stories in their own words, in the first person. Then, I’ll really hear their voices.

Another update is that I have another lunch meeting set up, thanks to Tracy Ostby up in Roseau. He reached out to Paul Broten, one of three famous Broten brothers, because Paul lives here in the Twin Cities. Tracy (aka “Bobcat”) contacted Paul to let him know who I am and that I’d be in touch. After one quick email, Paul wrote back immediately to say he’d be happy to have lunch when I get back from Indy.

Paul was, of course, a Roseau Ram and he’s another one of those guys who played on the ’84 team, so he and my fictional character will be theoretical teammates on the squad. Paul went on to play college hockey as a Minnesota Golden Gopher, and then played pro hockey for 10 years, with 332 games being in the NHL. He played a lot of minor league hockey, from the Flint Spirits to the Fort Wayne Komets and many other stops along the way, but his NHL career featured just three teams over a span of seven seasons. The New York Rangers, the Dallas Stars, and the St. Louis Blues. Utilizing my now-famous terrible math, I think he scored 46 NHL goals. That’s exactly 46 more goals for him than pro baseball home runs for me. That part of the math is easy. It will be a real pleasure to sit down with him and chat about his Roseau memories. And boy oh boy, does Spell Check ever hate the nickname of the Fort Wayne team. Yes, it’s spelled with a K.

So, speaking of Indy (I just did, two paragraphs ago) I’ll be flying down there tomorrow, since we only have one qualifying session on Friday and it’s under the lights. Del was fine with that and even said “No sweat, even if you’re delayed it’s just one run so come anytime you want.” I’m due to land at 3:00, so that would give me five full hours to make my way to the track. Indy is one of those tracks where it always seems like I’ve just been there, and it can’t be a year since I actually was. Year after year of driving in through the same gate, walking through the same pits, and working in the same tower for such a historic and important race will do that for you. My Indy stories will have to wait until next week, though, because I’m not there yet.

On the PR side of things, I put out a pre-Indy release for Del and I tried something totally new, because I’m all about trying new stuff right now. A standard PR press release follows a common structure. It goes Paragraph-Paragraph-Quote-Quote-Paragraph-Quote-Paragraph. They don’t all have to be precisely like that but it is the most efficient way to write something that people will quickly and easily comprehend. You set the stage with your introductory paragraph (who, what, where, when) and then add to those themes in the second paragraph. Then two paragraphs of quotes from your famous driver, then another concept paragraph followed by a quote about that subject, then wrap it up with a bow in the final summary paragraph.

Yesterday, I changed it up. I wrote five consecutive informational paragraphs about Del and his career. Then I broke that string and just included five straight paragraphs of Del quotes, under the heading “Worsham’s Comments” and I actually got about a dozen emails in response from people telling me they really liked the style. Maybe I should patent it.

Here in Woodbury, we attended a fantastic wedding on Sunday evening. It was sorta kinda outdoors, because the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing, but it was in the most fascinating wedding venue I’ve ever seen, and we all absolutely loved it.

Our longtime dear friend Sue Wegleitner was getting hitched and the ceremony was held in the ruins of a building! It was in the remains of one part of the old Hamm’s Beer brewery in St. Paul. A new craft brewery, called Flat Earth, now is located in part of the old Hamm’s complex, and it’s a popular spot for craft beer afficianados, but Sue’s wedding was in a part of the building that burned down and collapsed after Hamm’s closed. The new brewing company left it pretty much “as is” right down to the crumbled brick walls and the graffiti. See what’s left of the old elevator in the background? Very neat place to get hitched.

We got totally lucky on the weather, too. We’d been stuck in a long rut of hot and humid days, with the only breaks being bouts of rain, but on Sunday evening it was nearly perfect. It was a wonderful ceremony, very heartfelt, genuine, and compact. And, our friend Sue looked radiant. Our new friend Craig looked nervous, but he got through it very well.

After the ceremony, we headed inside to what would normally be kind of a dance hall or brew hall, for the reception. Everyone who was there for the wedding could drink all the Flat Earth variations they wanted, although that did not include me. Ever since my Spokane arthritis specialist figured out what precisely was causing me so much trouble (and pain) in my knees and ankles, beer, shellfish, certain nuts, and overly processed food have been off my menu. Especially the thick and hoppy craft brews. I have not yet cheated on the beer part, nor the shellfish part, but a sub sandwich or a hot dog is too good to always pass up. So, with no free beer for me, I drank ginger ale all night, but that was awesome. They brew it right there, and it was the best ginger ale I’ve ever had.

They also supplied some incredible food, and with multiple serving stations around the room we could all try a little bit of everything. It was a fantastic and one of the most unique and most enjoyable weddings I’ve ever experienced. Plus, almost all of our “Woodbury Gang” was there with us. We had our typical great time. Smiles and laughs all around.

So that wraps it up for today. Tomorrow I’ll start accumulating Indy stories for next week’s installment. I’ll be back here next Thursday, same Bat time, same Bat channel. You have to be of a certain age to understand that last part, I think.

As always, if you read this week’s blog and liked it, please click on the “Like” button at the top. If I get enough “Likes” I might win a free car wash. Or maybe it was a t-shirt. Hard to remember…

Bob Wilber, at your service and still thanking the fine folks from Roseau…