It’s fall! Fall is my favorite season. The cool mornings and evenings with warm days. Perfect Minnesota weather. The other day I had a conversation with a member. The member was sharing that they didn’t realize how many activities we did down here, they thought it was just cards. Oh no ...

The sign above my desk reads, “We Rise by Lifting Others.” I apply this wisdom in both my personal and professional life by trying to be kind, gracious, respectful and supportive to others. Signs with different sayings have become very popular over the last 10 years. Have you ever thought ...

November is National Hospice Month. It also ushers in the holiday season. Both events provide an opportunity for us to reflect on the generosity and spirit of a very caring community. “During National Hospice month, we honor hospice patients, their families, and the care teams that ...

Halloween at the Y Join us today from 1 to 3 p.m. for our annual Halloween at the Y event. This free event is open to the entire community. Free will donations will support the Y Partners program which provides scholarships for Y membership, child care programs, swim lessons, and youth sports ...

“Adult learner” is the name we typically use to refer to students who are aged 25 years and older. They are also called the non-traditional learners. In 2019, there are 6.6 million adult college students in the country, according to the Education Writer’s Association (EWA). Nearly 38% ...

The 1900 book, “A Souvenir, Marshall, MN” is a great book about Marshall’s early infrastructures and business owners. The book was published by Wall & Haines of Minneapolis. The purpose of the book was to promote the community. For example, “The men doing businesses in Marshall are ...

We are at a juncture when icky things are being hauled out from their dank, dark recesses and thrust into the harsh glare of daylight. But enough about the news. We are also in the season for All Hallows Eve, a Christian holiday that is celebrated with pagan symbols and rituals. None of ...

Investors who follow the markets have seen headlines in recent weeks about something called the “inverted yield curve.” For those less familiar with the phenomenon, an inverted yield curve is essentially a point on a chart where short-term investments in U.S. Treasury bonds pay more than ...

The Spanish-American War in 1898 was a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the Western Pacific and Latin America. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, ...

In honor of the season, I had placed a good-sized pumpkin on each side of the driveway next to the garage. Saturday morning as I raised the garage door, the pumpkins had a sort of white glaze of snow on their tops. I could hear my mother’s voice exclaim from 70 plus years ago: “When the ...

Even in everyday life, things that might look like a hindrance at first glance can prove more valuable than expected. We’ve seen that paradox plenty of times with alleyways in our local communities and with different kinds of waterways that are interspersed in rural locations. They often ...

The Lyon County Historical Society’s 2019 Annual Meeting is Thursday at the Cottonwood Community Center in Cottonwood. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The annual meeting is at 6 p.m., and the keynote speaker, Norman Priebe, is at 6:30 p.m. This event is open to the public and light refreshments ...

A full-sized pool table occupies a major portion of our basement. It’s been years since I’ve shot a game, but I’ll never part with that pool table. I was 21 the autumn when I launched my farming career by renting a rundown little dairy. Its largest field had grown a crop of corn. A ...

For some of us, the most difficult thing to say is: “I don’t know.” It seems hard to admit that we have a lack of knowledge about anything and, we seem to think it's a sign to the world that we have a weakness – that we have failed somewhere along the line. Well, welcome to my ...

Is it something in the air? Is it something in the water? Is it the educational system? Is it the gene pool? Why is it that the Southwest Minnesota/Marshall area seems to have so many successful entrepreneurs? Of course we know that there are successful farmers and businesses throughout ...

By 1958 there was movement in the direction of incorporating the creameries in this southwestern area of Minnesota. A meeting was held in Marshall to make initial plans, and by Nov. 1, 1958, the Southwestern Minnesota Dairy Association was incorporated under the laws of the state of Minnesota ...

Social Security is an earned benefit. Your earnings history is a record of your progress toward your benefits. Social Security keeps track of your earnings so we can pay you the benefits you’ve earned over your lifetime. This is why reviewing your Social Security earnings record is so ...

The Minnesota Department of Education publishes an annual “Report Card” for all public schools and school districts. Included in this are many different data points or sets and what one might term “measures” for schools and districts — things like a school’s demographics, seeing if ...

Membership: the value of being part of a group that you believe in. A group that brings or adds to your life journey. So a little bit on membership at the Center! Dues are $15/person per year if paid on or before Jan. 1. After Jan. 1 dues are $20/person for the year. The dues are for the ...

College tuition prices are rising at an alarming rate. According to ValuePenguin Inc., the cost of attendance of four-year public university in 1990 was $5070 per year and by 2019 that cost rose to $25,290. At a four-year private university, the cost of attendance in 1990 was $13,480 per year ...