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‘Tis the season

I want you to think about your favorite Christmas memory. We probably want to think our favorite Christmas memory is warm and pleasant, however, that is not always the way it is. Maybe there was a time when a cherished holiday tradition was dropped. Perhaps there was that time when someone was no longer with you to celebrate. Memories are a mixed bag. While serving in the Navy, I experienced my first Christmas away from my family. Not only was I in a foreign country, but everyone around me was a stranger. I constantly thought/felt something was missing. And it was. The people, places ...

The feasting season

The collective groan arising from bathroom scales across this great land of ours signals that it’s the feasting season once again. This season kicks off with Thanksgiving, although one could argue that it actually begins with Halloween. Or Labor Day, or the Fourth of July, or Memorial Day, or Easter, or Valentine’s Day, or the Superbowl, or New Year’s Eve. Let’s face it, we’ll latch onto any excuse to feast, including Arbor Day. My family’s traditional cold weather feasts traditionally involved turkey. I have dozens of cousins, so several animals were needed to feed ...

Entering a new world with robots and AI

My heart sank a little when I heard. We knew it was coming. Baseball will be little less human and a little more mechanical. I’m talking about Major League Baseball adopting the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System for next season. Teams will be allowed to challenge a ball-strike call two times in a game. The result will be shown on the video scoreboard, and the game will move on with the correct call. The ABS Challenge System has been used in the Minor Leagues for a couple of years. “Hawkeye” technology uses radar to create a perfect strike zone for each hitter. ...

Marshall is a great retirement destination for senior citizens

One of the most important decisions made by senior citizens involves choosing a community as a place to retire. Sometimes it comes down to a choice between urban and rural. Larger cities have more medical facilities and more cultural activities. The down side is that they can seem overwhelmingly big for someone who’s aging, who’s becoming less active. When someone chooses Marshall, they get a combination of city and country. They get the best of both worlds. We have excellent housing options for seniors. They have three great congregate choices with Boulder Estates, Hill Street ...

Country School Kids – Lois Paine Widmark – Growing up in western South Dakota

Lois Paine Widmark lives in Ivanhoe, but her story begins in Meade County, South Dakota. Her life journey brought her to Lincoln County and a career teaching kindergarten at Lake Benton Public School. Lois explained that both sides of her family came to Meade County, South Dakota. “Somewhere between 1900 and 1911 Dad and other Paines acquired land grants of 160 acres southeast of White Owl. Edward and Antonia Grimm (Lois’ maternal grandparents) and daughters Rosie, Minnie, and Helen (Lois’ mother) came to the area about 1910. Grandpa Grimm built a sod house on his 160 acre ...

On the Porch

The following excerpt was written by Mrs. A.G. Watson and was published in the Booster Edition of the News Messenger of Lyon County for Thanksgiving on Nov. 27, 1919. Mrs. Watson is describing the changes in Marshall from when she first arrived in 1873 to 1919. An automobile trip from Marshall to Redwood Falls recently suggested the following thoughts. We came to Marshall in 1873 at the time the Chicago and Northwestern railroad reached the town, which for some time remained the terminal of the road. Just a typical little shanty town. Church services as well as the public school ...