I went to Minneapolis for two reasons. First I spoke at the 28th Annual National Conference on HIV & Social Work. I anticipate it will be my last workshop at a national conference due to my retirement, and my growing tired of doing these workshops. Over the past few years, especially since I've retired I've done over a dozen of them. It was, however, a fun time. Above is the view from the 22nd floor where my hotel room was in the Hyatt Regency.
The second reason for me to go was to visit Waverly, Minnesota which is an hour west of Minneapolis. It is a very rural town but it is where my grandfather grew up, and my great grand father had a carpentry business.
I was fortunate to meet Ed & Sue Claessen, the local historians for Waverly. And they gave me a grand tour of the town, the graveyard, and a farm where my Great Grandfather built the barn.
Their passion is old tractors, and Ed proudly cranked up is 1921 Best tractor which is in running order. They were just back from a tractor convention where they were the featured guests. They recently published a book on the history of Best tractors, which were the precursors of Caterpillar tractors.
