If this headline didn’t grab your attention, then nothing will.

But, it is true.

Now, I don’t want to say all Friday afternoons are kind of slow here at the Register. Sometimes we are busy, especially if we are doing a magazine. Or if there is something going on we are going to cover, like Relay for Life this week on Friday.

But, sometimes it is a bit slow and we take off early on Fridays to catch up on other things.

On this past Friday, Aug. 4, I did leave a little early and went home to do some outside yard and garden chores because it was a pretty nice day.

Then I got a phone call from fellow Register staffer Pam True. She had left early to visit her father and was taking him on a car ride around town.

She told me there were some people in the far, back corner of Riverside Cemetery and they had Hagedorn for Congress signs.

She said she realized I was “off duty,” and I said I was never really off duty. So, I grabbed the camera and went to check it out.

You can see the results of what I found on the bottom of page 16 of this issue of the Register.

There were indeed some people in the far back corner of Riverside Cemetery and they did have Hagedorn for Congress signs. Plus, some of them were drinking some beer and smoking cigars.

I thought it looked like a party. Turns out, I was right. It was a party – a birthday party – for Jim Hagedorn.

Jim (and I am going to refer to him as Jim, because he once told me to call him Jim and not Congressman, or Congressman Hagedorn) was born in Blue Earth and he is now buried in Blue Earth, in Riverside Cemetery.

A group of family, friends and staffers of Jim’s were there to celebrate what would have been his 61st birthday. It turns out they did the very same thing last year on Aug. 4 to celebrate his 60th birthday.

It was a way to remember Jim, they all said. It seems like a good idea, better to celebrate that date than the one on which he died.

His sister, Heidi Hagedorn Katz, came all the way from California just to celebrate it. Well, she came for other reasons, of course, but it did work out.

She also pointed out something else about Jim’s birthday being on Aug. 4.

That day has been designated Great American Outdoors Day. It has been celebrated the past three years by having free entrance to all National Parks.

Jim loved the outdoors, our National Parks, and was proud to be an American.

Crashing that Jim Hagedorn birthday party (yes, they invited me to stay, and I did), sure brought back a lot of memories of Jim.

I remember talking with him quite often, and not always about politics. He knew my position as an editor, and I sure knew his position as a Republican candidate.

But you had to admire his hard work ethic when he was running for Congress. I am not sure anyone could work harder.

I admired his desire to help people and to do what he could for everyone, not just those who supported him.

Yes, he had moved away from southern Minnesota for many years while working in Washington. But, anyone who talked to him on the campaign trail or after he was elected, could soon see his love of Southern Minnesota and its people.

So, checking out the party in the cemetery brought back some memories, and if nothing else, it proves to newspaper reporters and editors everywhere that you just never know where a photo op might happen.