By Doug Berg
In the 2 1/2 years since I bought da Barge for Mini-School, he has performed superbly. He has hauled Mini-School students to Florida, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and the BWCA. Da Barge has joyfully taken kids to the cities, enabling them to experience such wonderful experiences as Dudley Riggs and the Science Museum.
There was one time when da Barge failed, however. We don’t talk about it much, but on the 1991 Grantsburg Hike, he failed to start. Many believe it was because the students mistreated him (they broke his door and littered him with pop cans and candy bar wrappers). Others believe he wouldn’t start because the students did not complete the trip (they bailed out midway due to excessive snow and cold weather-something that is not done in Mini-School). Whatever the reason, da Barge caused us no end of trouble and inconvenience back in November, ’91.
For a whole year, da Barge has made every possible attempt to redeem himself. He’s taken kids to the BWCA in the dead of winter; he’s pulled big trailer loads of canoes and gear to the BWCA and northern Wisconsin; he’s even taken Meatball to the Grand Canyon. All this and more without a complaint, without so much as a flat tire.
Still, however, as Thanksgiving week and the ’92 Grantsburg trip approached this past fall, I could feel da ol’ Barge tensing up. He’d cough and sputter when I’d start him up. For no reason his windshield wipers would take a swipe. When I’d tell him that more than a dozen kids had signed up and were counting on him to get them up to the St. Croix and home again, his windshield would steam up with anxiety.
The morning of the trip broke clear and cold. Da Barge started tentatively but warmed up strongly. I heard him misfire when Pugsley tried to open his door which was broken on last year’s Grantsburg trip (Ronilyn, Raeann, and Stella are prime suspects in this offense, even more so since they didn’t go on the hike this year). Other that that, however, he did very well. He delivered the students to the trailhead, waited patiently for them at trail’s end, and delivered them all safely back to the school.
The highlight of the trip for da Barge was the three days he spent waiting for the group. He was parked, out in the middle of the woods, right next to Ramona’s cute little Trooper. When I reached da Barge and turned the key, he roared to life, strutting his stuff for the Trooper and leading her back to the cabin and home.
From time to time, all of us have a low point in our lives, an experience which shakes our self-confidence, a hurdle we can’t get over. The Grantsburg Hike was this kind of obstacle for da Barge. He’s over it now. With help, counsel, and understanding from the Mini-School kids, he passed this test with flying colors and is ready to take on Mini-School’s spring trips.