One of the speakers at the Polo All-School Reunion on Saturday was supposedly handed this joke on the way to the stage, so he told it. In mixed South Dakota Catholic company, it went over pretty well – which should give you a feel for where we’ve been, and where we come from. It went something like this:

Seems there was this little town in South Dakota with a thriving Catholic church. In fact, everyone in the little town was Catholic, until a Lutheran moved in from Minnesota (a Norwegian bachelor farmer, Garrison Keillor might say). Every Friday evening, this fellow fired up the grill out back and grilled a venison steak for supper – which was all well and good until Lent rolled around, and the rest of the town couldn’t eat meat. Friday after Friday the aroma wafted through the neighborhood, making the Catholic mouths water, until finally the community called upon the priest to do something.

Their priest paid the young man a friendly visit and introduced him to the Catholic faith. Over the course of several visits, the priest convinced the young man to convert, then quickly tutored him, one-on-one, in the faith. When it was at last time for the man’s initiation, the priest sprinkled him with holy water, saying, “You were born Lutheran and you were raised Lutheran, but from this moment forward, you are Catholic.”

The whole town was greatly relieved – until Friday rolled around, and the aroma of grilled venison drifted through the town. Immediately, the priest rushed to his new convert’s house – then stopped short to watch as the young man drew from his pocket a vial of holy water. He removed the cap, sprinkled the water on the steak, and said, “You were born a deer, and you were raised a deer, but from this day forward … you’re a walleye!”