The ancient pine box had probably sat in the upstairs closet of my parents’ farmhouse since the Late Mesozoic Era. At least that’s how it appears. The box’s wood has oxidized into a deep nut-brown and bears more than a century’s worth of scars. It reminds me of a grizzled old cowboy ...
As the University of Minnesota’s 175th anniversary comes to a close, I was delighted to visit Marshall and spend time with local business, agricultural and community leaders discussing the future of southwest Minnesota’s workforce. Agriculture is central to southwest Minnesota’s economy and identity, and the University of Minnesota is proud to be a partner in supporting the region’s farmers, families, businesses and communities. Through research, education and outreach, including the work of our Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, the University is committed to ...
What do you expect from each day? That's a difficult question to answer quickly so why don't we pour a glass of our favorite wine, sit down, sip the wine's goodness, and think about expectations. How many of us have read Charles Dickens' novel “Great Expectations”? Long story short, the book is about an orphan boy who navigates life's numerous challenges. Hopefully, our roads do not involve the many tragedies the boy encounters, but that doesn't mean we don't all have a lot of expectations that require getting through or around them. Our local community has numerous wonderful ...
We have a special holiday coming up next week, one that might be easy to overlook between the election aftermath and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I’m talking about Veterans Day. It’s a tradition that goes back to the World War I armistice. For more than a century, we’ve set aside a special day to recognize soldiers who sacrificed for our freedom. Each year I participate in a Veterans Day observance. I sing in the Boulder Estates choir, which performs several songs as part of a Veterans Day program. We currently have 17 veterans at Boulder Estates, fewer than in the ...
Took a detour off of Main Street and headed down Highway 23 to Russell this week to check out the 130th annual Election Day Dinner at Grace First Parish church on Tuesday evening. Think about that for a second. For 130 years, the parish has hosted a dinner for voters. I was there for some ...
We have been learning about Norman Teigen, who grew up in Mankato, graduated from Mankato State College, and accepted a teaching position at Marshall High School. When notified he would be drafted, he enlisted in the Army and became a chaplain assistant. He deployed to Vietnam in October 1970 ...
