Our goal at the Faribault County Register, is, of course, to bring you the best small town weekly newspaper that we can, each and every week. Full of news, informative ads and interesting stories for you to read.

We may have hit that high bar this week with the three stories in the Senior Section. It is not just the excellent creative writing skills of the three writers (although that does have something to do with it) but it is because we ended up with three extremely interesting people to write about.

Sonny Morgan was a well-known Blue Earth businessman, and a whole lot more. But how this Texas farm boy, who got his pilot’s license at age 14, was a Korean War vet and a life-long race car driver ever ended up in Blue Earth to start with, is pretty interesting.

Then there is Maria Lindberg, also born in Texas. How did she get to Blue Earth? And who of us would decide to go live in Germany for a while, or think that it was a good idea to buy a herd of Angora rabbits and create items from their fur? Maria, that’s who.

Next is Mary Lee Amberg, a life-long artist and art teacher who thought it was a good idea to go to Alaska for 14 years and live and work in a gold mining camp. And why is she Teita and not Mary Lee?

For answers to those questions and more, check out their stories in the second section of this week’s edition.

It is pretty easy to write interesting stories when the subjects of those stories have led pretty interesting – and such very different – lives. I think you will find these stories to be fascinating.

I know I did, and I had a very good time interviewing Teita Amberg, and hearing all about her fascinating life.

It was a very fun interview to do. So was one I did with Maria Lindberg a long time ago.

There was a 90th birthday party for Maria on Friday, Dec. 30, and I went to it, not just to take some photos but because I have gotten to know Maria pretty well over the years.

During the party, her sons invited people up to the microphone to share stories about Maria. I did not share one there, but if I had, it would have been about that first interview I did with her so many years ago.

I normally schedule about an hour for an interview, but in Maria’s case, she seemed a little hesitant about being interviewed at all, so I thought it might only take a half hour.

I went to her house, tucked into the woods along the river, and we started to visit. She told me about her life and it was a fascinating story. We looked through some old boxes in the basement and at pictures of trips to the Boundary Waters and Germany and her family, and, well, you get the idea. We shared a lot of stories of our lives. We both have a love of travel and of going to the Boundary Waters.

She showed me how she makes items out of rabbit fur, and we toured the yard around her house looking at the “livestock.”

Anyway, three and a half hours later I went back to the office, after one of the best interviews ever.

Another person at the birthday party told a story about Maria that involved a burro that she owned. The burro’s name was Milton Burro. Some of you younger folks may not see the humor in that name, but only because you have never heard of Milton Berle. You could Google him if you want to know more about him.

Anyway, Milton Burro escaped from Maria’s farm and began to roam around Blue Earth. She got a call that he had been found and taken to the Blue Earth Livestock Barn.

Maria and one of her sons went to retrieve the wandering burro, but they didn’t have a livestock trailer.

So, Maria took him by the broken halter and walked him all the way home, patiently coaxing him all the way. The livestock barn is on the far east side of Blue Earth, her home is on the far west side and so it was a long trip home.

Her son followed her in a car, and Maria would not let her son help get Milton home because Milton would spook if anyone else led him.

Milton was not easily led, you see, because he was stubborn and because he wanted to not just smell the flowers on the way home, but eat them, too. People came out of their homes to see this strange sight of a lady patiently dragging, I mean escorting, a stubborn burro across town.

Maria’s son who was telling the story said at the party that at least Maria’s escapade with Milton Burro did not make it into the pages of the Faribault County Register.

Well now, many years later, the story of Maria and Milton Burro has finally made it into this newspaper.

Better late than never. I only wish I had a photo to go with the story.