Kent Granzin

Thanks for the opportunity to share my past on the website, but I really haven't led an interesting enough life to find anything worth sharing.  I’ve had successes, but these days I’m a railroad man.  I retired to Hendersonville, NC. in 2000, where I have my own model railroad downstairs and am active in the Asheville, NC model railroad club of some 70- members (most of whom contribute little to the life of the club).  We have built a set of 30 2' by 4' HO-scale (1:87 scale) modules that fit together to create a (hollow in the center) 48' by 16' layout.  We hold our own train shows and take our layout to set it up in different venues in western NC -- e.g., farm-city day in Hendersonville, autumn by the tracks in Black Mountain, etc.

Every Tuesday we hold an afternoon and an evening class for the kids ("hoboes") at a children's home in Asheville.  These kids are "at risk," which means they are on the road to trouble if they can't be diverted from that road.  Most of them are diverted.  it's kind of amazing how most of them become interested in creating little 1-ft. square modules with small scenes featuring one or two buildings, perhaps a stream or lake, trees, bushes, and other such features.  These modules are n-scale (1:160 scale), which is quite small.  This scale is hard for us old guys to see.  Almost.  The modules hook together to make a circuit so we can run trains.  I also work with a man at the van hospital, who suffered from a stroke and will probably spend the rest of his life there.  We’re building him a layout in n-scale, as well.  he graduated from high school the same year we did and attained the same rank in the navy I did (lieutenant), so I feel close to him in that respect.  Except he's confined and I’m free.

If you think any of the preceding would be of interest for posting, I can re-write it using the capital letter key.  I know it's there somewhere on the left of the keyboard.

Kent Granzin

ANN WAGNER

Since my husband has been dealing with low vision due to macular degeneration for

the past several years, I was happy to be  retired and able to edit his book manuscript as well as usher it through publication.   Muscle and Manliness: The Rise of Sport in American Boarding Schools, by Axel Bundgaard, came out last July from Syracuse  University Press. He tells the story of how sport developed in these early secondary schools and became entrenched by the  first part of the 20th century. He also tells how the notion of character development through sport became part of our American  ethos.

Many of you may  remember Tom Scheuerman's older brother, Sharm, two years ahead of us. He resides in Denver and is President of a non-profit called BCI edge.  He and his board use basketball as a platform for spreading positive examples and the Christian message around the world.  We have been contributing to his work for the past several years, and it is amazing to me how global his reach is with the  game of basketball. When Sharm began in this work years ago, I think Tom was a major underwriter. It seems now that Sharm  and his board are doing well on their own.

I  have read parts of Phil's book on Search and Seizure.  It is very timely re: the  current controversies about domestic electronic surveillance.  Phil gives a clear  historical  background to help the lay person understand the origins of our fourth  amendment.

Ann Wagner Bundgaard