When you see Ev Eiken’s pickup perched above Garvin Heights Road, it makes one pause to think of the trip down the hill and the terror that accompanied it. While the precariously perched pickup has only become visible since the snow started to fall, the story played out months ago when Eiken was mulching a logging road behind his house.
The older pickup was as temperamental as most old pickups and when it stalled, Eiken had to make a decision to stay with the truck or bail out. According to Eiken, there were plenty of large rocks and substantial trees nearby to stop the truck from leaving his yard, but he decided to watch the wreck from the ground and he bailed out of the truck.
The unoccupied truck proceeded to snake its way around the large rocks and missed any large trees as it made its way more than 200 yards down the hill before crashing into a tree that would keep it on display for all to see when winter snow made it visible.
The truck sits on the hillside where few able-bodied people can reach it — just above a high cut in Garvin Heights Road. Winona
Police Chief Frank Pomeroy thinks the pickup is parked on city property, but Eiken probably knows his property lines better. There’s no rush to see the pickup. It’s there for the winter.
Eiken isn’t too worried about the truck, He secured it to a neighboring tree with a large log chain. Eiken, who just came home from the hospital this week, is recovering from his third cancer surgery. A simple runaway truck isn’t going to shake him. He’s been looking over his shoulder for 18 years with his bouts with cancer.
If the city fathers want to spend their winter looking over the code books to see what statute Eiken is breaking, I can assure you Eiken has dealt with more formidable adversities. Before a citation can be written, the city will need to come up with a property line. I doubt they will find a surveyor who can stand near the truck let alone determine a property line.
When your address changes, but your view stays the same
I enjoy a nice simple address, 304 Lake St. There is no east or west, because Lake Street only exists in the west part of town. The same goes for the street one block up Mill Street. Some people throw a “W” in Mill or Lake Street addresses, but it’s really not part of it.
Lately, my junk mail has been addressed “Lake Park Drive.” This week, my credit card bill came to that address. At our annual Lake Street caroling party this week, we found out everyone on Lake Street had their address changed to Lake Park Drive. After trying to find the telephone number of the Winona post office —which is a column in itself — I reached two polite but unhelpful employees, one who said, “The post office doesn’t change addresses.“
Checking with city planner Mark Moeller, he had no idea how the street name would have been changed. “That would be handled by the city Planning Commission,” he stated.
It’s surprising how quickly all my mail is changing to Lake Park Drive even though the street sign in front of my house reads “Lake Street.” Because the guys in the post office didn’t return my call, one enterprising neighbor hunted down our mail carrier, and she stated that one of the three homes on Lake Park Drive (east of Huff Street) got a new owner, and activating this address changed everyone on Lake Street to Lake Park Drive.
Who did it? We may never know. The post office doesn’t change addresses and the city doesn’t change addresses. I didn’t change my address and my neighbors didn’t change their addresses. We just all have new addresses. If you have an answer, call the post office, if you can find the telephone number.
Jim Galewski is the retired Opinion page editor of the Winona Daily News. His views don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. If you have an idea or tip about a Winona issue, call Jim at (507) 452-3960. His email is Editor@ Luminet.net.
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