Joy Louise

Joy Louise was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her father, Stanley was not a good golfer but enjoyed playing and was the grounds keeper at Wendigo Golf Club. Joy loved to go to work with her father and rode around in his cart on the course with him often in the summer. The golf course was her playground where she collected lost balls and sold them to save for golf lessons. She yearned to play like some of the women that golfed at Wendigo.

Stanley recognized Joy's natural ability and encouraged her by negotiating for her to play free if she planted flowers in the spring and cared for them all summer. Joy Louise played high school golf and won a scholarship to Arizona State University where she became friends with Wendy Ward and Gracie Park. She had visions of becoming a golf pro but she didn't pass the Players Ability Test. She now owns and operates the biggest and the best Women's Golf Supply House in the Midwest and still maintains a 4 handicap.

Joy Louise met the other girls on a literature discussion community on the internet. The group has been communicating regularly for 6 years-discussing various books they have read. This year they decided to meet and take a small vacation together in Longville, MN. They had read that Longville was the smallest town in Minnesota to have a public library, and had heard of Longville's turtle races on National Public Radio last year.