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Minnesota in center of the news universe

We spent time in southern California. I could write about walking along beaches, warm sunsets, and missing bitter cold back here. Perhaps I will. But today, I must join my voice to the resistance. What is happening to fellow human beings, sometimes for no offense other than having dark skin is horrific, indefensible, and wrong on a thousand levels. Much is being said and written. Perhaps it is prideful of me to think the voice of one old farmer in Brown County matters. For what it’s worth, I must join the protesters and say, “This is wrong.” “Obama deported people, too.” ...

Winter Olympics reflect the best in sports and a hope for peace

Nothing compares to the Olympics when it comes to promoting the best in sports competition and peaceful international relations. The Winter Olympics kicked off this week in the mountains of northern Italy. We’ll have two weeks of televised skiing, ice skating, sledding, hockey, curling and other winter pastimes. In Minnesota the Winter Games are just as popular as the Summer Games. We are well represented on the United States Olympic roster. Hopefully our athletes will come home with a sizable set of medals. I have Winter Olympics heroes from the Games of my younger days. ...

On the Porch

For this column, I often share social news or the gossip columns from the old newspapers. The social news is always fascinating to read and a lot can be learned of local people and events from the communities in Lyon County. For this article, I’m going to share the classifieds from one of the newspapers. The classifieds are interesting to read as well. Here are a few from the News-Messenger of Lyon County on Feb. 16, 1917: FOR SALE — Five-room cottage on choice corner lot; close in. inquire of George Mellenthin, Route 3, Telephone No. 6-F-120. OWING to the increased cost of milk ...

Country School Kids – Verlane Willard Ross and Lois Willard Giles – Special memories of District 84

We have been learning about Verlane and Lois Willard growing up with their three sisters on their farm in Sodus Township, Lyon County and attending the District 84 country school. Verlane described the girls’ fashion of the time. “Mom braided our hair every morning. Those were the days when our dresses were made from flour sacks by our moms and we wore jackets, snowpants, and 4-buckle boots in the winter.” The sisters shared special memories of their time in country school. Many of those memories involved their recess periods. (Verlane) “We had recess in the ...

City work continues in the year ahead

As we embark on a new year, City Council and city staff have already begun their work on ensuring that projects and city operations continue to serve the public well. Here are some of the city’s priorities for 2026: Completion of The Splash, the city’s new aquatic center that is currently being constructed, is a top priority for this year. The city has made great progress with the pools and slides as well as mechanical and concession building construction. We will await the spring thaw to fully complete the pool area foundation with concrete and ensure that all mechanical features ...

We can do this together

The power of the soil taught me to see the possibilities before me. Growing up on a hard working farm revealed many bits of life to me. Some of those bits of life were not pleasant, but overall, we walked on the source of our possibilities everyday. That source was the soil under our feet. It must be noted that I wasn’t noticing that specialness for many years. Yes, we worked the soil to prepare for our crops, and kept our fingers crossed that the weather would work in harmony with that black soil to produce a good harvest. Unknown to me at the time was a message being constantly ...