By Casey Bakken
Joanne has a lot of memorable moments in Mini, but the one that sticks out the most is in 1982 when Doug and Randy dedicated the Mini-School yearbook to her. Then at Recognition Night they read the dedication to everyone. It was a surprise and she cried because she felt so proud. She says she still reads the nice things they said about her whenever she gets down on herself.
She also remembers the Grand Canyon trip that she and Lester did. They were at the last campsite and Joanne realized she lost the key to the van but no problem. They hiked out the next day and the kids hot wired it all the way home. Joanne says the Mini kids have so many talents.
Joanne’s happiest memorable moment was in 1994 when Mini graduate {79} Brad {Jocko} Johnston came to visit his old Mini teachers and found out Joanne was divorced. The rest is history, Joanne says.