Page Title

To the Editor:

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the planning and success of the first annual motorcycle run in memory of our father, Mike “Augie” Weber. We were touched to learn that so many people wanted to honor our father in this manner, and were excited to be part of it. Words can not express what it meant to us to drive up and see all those motorcycles and other vehicles ready to roll for him.

A special thank you to Todd Riba and Danny Lund for allowing Augie’s kids to saddle up with you for part of the journey. We will always be grateful for the kind words, the funny memories, and the joy you gave us that day.

Rachel, Jeremy, Jacob, Rebecca

Children of the late Augie Weber of

Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:

I am wondering if I can still get last month’s issue of the Gazette. My son’s soccer team had their picture featured and I missed it. Let me know. Thanks.

Deb Kerry

Carver, Minnesota

To the Editor:

I love getting the Victoria Gazette from home and getting it at home.

Betty Blood, Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:

I just received my copy of the Gazette and saw the article about pulling down the old Victoria Cafe. While the Cafe does not have the sentimental and cultural importance that was attached to razing Tuffy’s Tavern, it brought tears to my eyes.

I recall the Vanderlinde era when the Cafe boasted a prominent secondary sign, “Live Bait.” Can you imagine one of today’s health inspectors coming to check the cafe and taking his minnow bucket down to the basement after lunch?

I failed to see any mention to the tenure of Ralph and Ruth Plocher who did a commendable job when they ran the Cafe. Whether run by Vanderlindes or the Plochers, the Cafe remained a weekend safe harbor within walking distance of Leo’s and Tuffy’s. It filled that role without ever pouring a single glass of chablis.

I’m not sure why I didn’t patronize Schmitty’s. The Schmid brothers were neighbors to my folks out in Laketown Township and Nushie’s wife, Mae Plocher Schmid, was one of my mother’s students at the District #19 country school. I remember my dad, when feed grinding at Bud Larson’s mill, would often stop in at Schmid’s for a beer and a chat with Nushie or Buddie.

My dad, Maurice Miller, owned a dairy farm out in Laketown Township. Our land bordered on Plocher’s Lake [now called Wasserman’s Lake] where we shared the shoreline with the Zanger’s [now Waterbrooke Fellowship], the Zehman’s, the Plochers, and the Ottingers.

I graduated from Chaska High School in 1960, the University of Minnesota in 1965, and then left Minnesota for U.S. Air Force pilot training.

Dad was on the Laketown Township Board as long as I can remember. My mother came to the area as a teacher for the School District #19 one-room brick schoolhouse out next to the Ben Schmieg farm. It overlooked the Marsh Lake. After she married Dad, she exchanged her teacher’s position (the country school had closed) for a seat on the District #19 School Board along with Tony Aretz and Don Koschinska.

Dad died in 1966. Mom lived out on the farm until 1985 when she sold the farm and bought a house in Jonathan. About three years ago, her vision made it dangerous for her to drive and, at age 95, she currently lives in one of the senior apartments in Waconia.

While visiting home I always renewed my acquaintance with Leo Schneider and Tuffy. I patronized these establishments as part of the friendly environment that I left behind in 1965, not because of any deep seated drinking problem. Dennis “Tuffy” Kaufhold and I were members of the same Confirmation class at the Lake Auburn Moravian Church.

When I left the Air Force, the airlines were not hiring pilots so I went back to school for my B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and have just retired after 27 years with that misunderstood company that wants to be loved, ExxonMobil. Just remember, without Exxon you would be delivering the Gazette with a horse and buggy. That’s all the news that’s fit to print.

Robert Miller

Keller Texas

EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you for the good letter, Mr. Miller. About the Victoria Cafe, I also didn’t mention other short term owners such as Cathy Webster or Doug and Deb Vanderlinde.