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Plenty of choices in Marshall

Marshall has a plethora of places to have a bite to eat as well as a plethora of financial institutions, it seems. You might have guessed and you would be correct in assuming that I have a liking for the word “plethora.”

Nevertheless, it does seem to fit. While I have only used a small number of the financial institutions, I have been to almost all of the eating establishments this year and many times to a certain few of those establishments. I am pleased that there are lots of choices to suit the mood I am in at a particular time.

I must admit that I am in the modern era these days in that eating out is much more frequent than it used to be. My choice for a particular time may not be just for the particular food on the menu, but sometimes relates to how comfortable the seating is and whether or not there is the constant music background.

And, yes, there is a restaurant that seldom has music in the background which makes for a nice, quiet start to the evening.

Depending on the time of day there are even a few places where there are not liable to be some boisterous young ones. As I recall my childhood, we seldom ate out as a family unless we were on a trip out of town. There were a couple of sayings that applied to kids that I remember.

The sayings applied in general, but also to eating out. One of the sayings was: “Kids are to be seen, not heard.” I must admit I would like to say that to some parents at certain restaurants. I might even add that, “Kids are meant to be seen, not felt.” In other words, no running around tables of non-family members bumping chairs or crawling underfoot.

I suppose at times I am an ogre of sorts. (Ogre definition #2 is a dreaded person or object versus the original ogre that is generally seen as a giant who feeds on human beings and maybe especially little kids.)

The other saying is, “Little pitchers have big ears.” Now wait a minute. If as a kid I am supposed to be seen not heard, then what else could I do but listen to the adults and absorb all that is being said? The problem, of course, is that as a kid I might repeat the adult gossip at the wrong time and place. Oh, Fiddlesticks!

jtr

As for financial institutions, I believe there are at least seven banks in Marshall and that does not count branches of those banks in town. However, these days there are so many other financial institutions.

It seems virtually all insurance companies perform various financial services as well as the various investment firms throughout the city. I have noted in driving around the U.S. including here in Minnesota, that many newish structures even in small towns seem to be financial institutions.

It is not unusual to see an ad saying that a low-rate is available. I would like to see a few more ads saying that a high-rate is available, albeit the high rate for deposits.

I believe I have detected over many years that the ads to attract deposits have virtually disappeared and we are left only with the ads to take out loans.

Some of the more recent institutions advertising short term as well as long term (such as mortgage) loans I don’t believe I have recently ever seen ads for deposits.

Again to nostalgia: I recall a local bank allowing deposits in kids’ startup savings accounts for as little as 10 cents a week. I even had a little deposit book where such deposits were recorded and I recall getting a small, piggy-style bank in which to place any coins received.

Someplace in my “junk” I may even have one of those early deposit books and I am almost positive I have a register that my father made up that recorded my early allowance of 5¢ a week, later increased to 10¢ and eventually to a whopping 25¢. His register also recorded where I spent the allowance. Is there a bank anywhere that would allow even a $1 a week deposit?

And heaven forbid that you could let the account sit there for several months without any action. Now the action is liable to be that they would begin charging you for having such an account. What is the going percentage for earnings on money held by the bank?

Something like $10,000 in a checking account might get you some free checks and possibly a percentage return of 0.2 percent/year?

jtr

This past week I had occasion to be in Willmar for a sort of reunion with three other fellows. The other three were all born and raised in Minnesota whereas I was an outsider from Ohio.

The four of us had all met in 1969 when we were on the mathematics faculty at Southwest Minnesota State College. Two of the four of us came to SMSC in 1968 and the other two came in 1969. As it happened, I had known one of the others since 1962 when we met in far away Maine! Small, small world.

We arrived at The Oaks at Eagle Creek, part of the Eagle Creek Golf Course about 2 p.m. and managed to visit there (without the constant use of a cell phone) until about 8:30 p.m. when we adjourned for another hour or so of visiting at our motel. We resumed conversation the next morning over breakfast at the motel until I left about 10 a.m. to return to Marshall.

At the Oaks, the wait staff was available throughout without being pushy — I managed just one diet Pepsi for about three hours until it came time for appetizers and eventually the evening meal.

When the wait staff came to our table for the appetizers, the question was asked from whence we had come. The answer, I thought was rather interesting.

Despite our total number of years on the (now) SMSU campus of about 105 years, the response to the question was, #1: Las Cruces, New Mexico. #2: Portland, Oregon. #3: Palm Springs, California. #4: Marshall. I didn’t even bother mentioning what state.

Such a peripatetic group!

Until next time: Oh, Fiddlesticks!

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