Breaking News

Local Columns

Country School Kids – Verlane Willard Ross and Lois Willard Giles – Play and work on the farm

We have begun learning about Verlane and Lois Willard growing up with their three sisters on their farm in Sodus Township, Lyon County. The Willards had a large farmhouse, but sleeping quarters were tight with their Grandma Willard living with them. (Lois) “Iva and I always shared a bedroom. (Verlane) Fran, Fern, and I always slept together. There were three of us in bed and Grandma’s (room) was down the hall to the right. (Lois) Mom and Dad’s bedroom was downstairs.” The Willard sisters enjoyed played together. (Verlane) “We’d play in the grove in the summertime. ...

Limiting how we are treated

What are our personal rules that determine how we want other people to interact with us, and to treat us? What are the boundaries that we expect other people to recognize, accept, and respect? We all have those personal rules but we do not always think about them or put them into words. These rules are a big part of who we are, and they determine what we want and expect from other people. They determine what we will accept and tolerate from the people we encounter in our life. We tend to react when the boundaries we set are violated. There are also internal boundaries, or rules, ...

Do I or Don’t I

It came to me as I was thinking about taking a trip to my favorite coffee shop. As we all know, the weather has been a bit challenging lately. The weather gods continue to bless us with all sorts of moisture — from bits of rain to snow showers with a helping of freezing drizzle thrown in for good measure. That mixture of moisture has led to some seriously bad road conditions and ice covered sidewalks. Here’s a touch of my experience with slush covered roads. Driving home one day and after a day’s worth of falling snow, the roads were covered with about four inches slippery ...

Hold fast for habitat

Thinking back over the past autumn’s upland season and looking through the scrawls of handwriting in the stained and worn journal I removed from the compartment in the driver’s side door of my truck this weekend, I was optimistic as I recounted each day’s efforts. This was due to the fact that on every single parcel of property — public, private and PLOTS or WIA — that I walked with my lab, Ole, we put up at least a handful of pheasants. At this point in time on my hunting journey, part of that is owed to knowing what places provide roosters with refuge, and the other part of ...

Passing on chance of glory

I recently stopped at the post office to mail a few packets. This is something that would normally take only a few minutes, but it consumed nearly half an hour and caused my wife to suffer some undue alarm. It wasn’t the post office’s fault. As I approached its exit, a vaguely familiar face hovered before me. It took a moment for the memory synapses to click. “Mr. Schrader?” I asked. “Is that you?” It was. Mel Schrader taught science class when I was in seventh grade. We chatted amiably for several minutes when a particular memory percolated up. “I remember in ...

On the Porch

Christopher F. Case has the distinction of being Lyon County’s first historian. Lyon County was established formally on Aug. 12, 1870 when the first meeting of the commissioners was held in Lynd. In 1884, C. F. Case published the first history of Lyon County, published by the Marshall Messenger Printing House. The title of the history book is “Lyon County, Minnesota 1884 Historical and Descriptive”. The book is also known as “History and Description of Lyon County, Minnesota: Including a Farm and Business Directory.” The book features business advertisements in the front ...