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The source of the envelope was unmistakable from across the room. There was barely room for the stamp, once Fred Boos had used his large, legible penmanship for your address and his return.
Inside, you would find several sheets of paper filled with strongly held opinions for a sports writer to consider.
Basically, I quit golf several years ago, which I'm sure Freddie would agree was good for the game in general, but it meant I wouldn't run into him at the Pines in the summer.
The contact remained, though — through the highly anticipated letters that arrived every few months.
Fred died last weekend at age 84. He was married for 55 years to the late Mary Cote, the daughter of Brownie Cote, the patriarch of the family business.
Brownie first started Camp Lake Hubert for Girls and Camp Lincoln for Boys in the Brainerd area and bought Grand View Lodge in 1937. He added the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., to the family holdings in 1955.
Mary's brother Bob ran Tanque Verde, and Fred became the general manager at Grand View in 1960.
Boos was an avid golfer, and he came to see that as the future of bringing groups to Grand View in bigger numbers than family fishing and boating vacations.
The Cotes undertook the building of the Pines, the first championship-style golf course on Gull Lake. It opened in 1990 and soon had 27 holes.
The Classic followed at Madden's; Grand View added the Preserve; Dutch Cragun opened the 36 championship holes of the Legacy. There's Deacon's Lodge nearby at Breezy Point and Golden Eagle farther north at Fifty Lakes. … Wonderful golf, all ignited through the vision of Fred.
The summer golf kickoff at the Pines for years has been the Fred-Mark, an invitational named for Boos and Mark Ronnei, the Grand View general manager in the golf era. It is scheduled for May 28-29, and Ronnei is leaning toward the Fred-Fred as a new name.
That would honor both the man behind the Pines, Fred, and the man who plotted most cunningly to put together the winning group, Fred.
Alissa Herron Super playing from the front (ladies) tees? … Come on, Freddie.
PATRICK'S PLUS THREE
Non-feasible trade solutions favored by local fans:
Wild: Trade Charlie Coyle. For a second-rounder or a Tyler Ennis type? Those disappearances are noted by the rest of NHL.
Wolves: Trade Andrew Wiggins. With a max contract? Even hometown Toronto wouldn't take him.
Twins: Trade Miguel Sano. Highest strikeout rate for position player in MLB history and 10 percent extra poundage? You bet, Gump.
