Part two of a two-part series There was a Norwegian immigrant girl who pretended she could not speak Norwegian and a United States Civil War soldier who could only speak and understand Norwegian. One immigrant learned to speak Norwegian again before moving to Wilmington Township. These unusual, 19th century language revelations were preserved through the research and writing … [Read more...]
40 Years of Building Community Through Economic Development
By Mary Athey Vice President of Entrepreneurship, SMIF In small towns, people are always showing up to fill gaps – the chef makes extra meals at the church; the mechanic fixes cars out of neighbors’ garages. One person with a skill can make a big difference in a small town. But how does a neighbor helping out become a lasting part of the community? With the right … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – No Expense Too Great
By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger Decades before cell phones and internet, long before television or radio, the fastest way to send a message was by telegraph. But it was not always the most precise, as a story from that era illustrates. In the 1890s, a wealthy lady was traveling through Europe when … [Read more...]
Your Flying Farmer – When the Girls are Gone
Making syrup has always been intriguing to me. Is it true there could be so much goodness flowing through the trunks of trees? I had been hearing tales of tapping for several weeks. Those die-hard sappers kept telling stories of the woods. Their stories, and my love of syrup, kept calling me to give it a try. There’s that old saying, “When the cat’s away, the mice come out … [Read more...]
A Slow Driver is Anyone Ahead of Us
The car ahead of me was plodding along. It was moving a mile an hour faster than if it had been parked. The driver apparently found driving the speed of a herd of turtles to be invigorating. He was accomplishing as much as if he were milking a Plymouth Rock chicken. As an impatient teenager, I would have mumbled in the direction of the aggravation on wheels, something … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Farm Wife Flattens, Silences Loudmouth Lumberjack
Part one of a two-part series Four years ago, for the 2021-2022 school year, wrestling for girls became a sanctioned high school sport in Minnesota. But about 160 years earlier, sometime about 1860, one female took part in possibly the first wrestling tussle in Houston County that included a female, surely the first one recorded in a history book. And that 19th century, … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – Knowing Your Destination
By Pastor Paul Hauschild Chatfield Lutheran and Root Prairie Lutheran Once when Albert Einstein took a train from Princeton University, a conductor boarded to check the passengers’ tickets. When he reached Einstein, he began searching his jacket pockets for his ticket but couldn’t find it. He then looked in his trouser pockets, then in his small carry-on suitcase, … [Read more...]
Be Sure to Check in Innumerably Before You Check Out
I checked the weather. I should have checked my blood pressure before I checked the weather. The weather report was dire. If I were a crack meteorologist, I’d predict bad weather every day. That way, if we didn’t get bad weather, everyone would be happy because we’d dodged the bullet. If we got bad weather, everyone would think I was a crack meteorologist whose Magic 8 Ball … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Cattle Drives in Houston County? Yep
Cattle drives in Houston County, Minnesota? Yes, but it was nothing the bovines expected or enjoyed. Cattle drives were featured in many western movies, but likely no film depicted cattle drives to La Crosse. In the late 1800s, farmers were their own butchers for family and nearby neighbors. And there was also a commercial market at packing houses, especially for hogs and … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – “And Can It Be That I Should Gain”
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish of the UMC Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston, and Spring Valley: Faith Churches (and Lenora) We are in the season of Lent. The Lenten season is often overlooked by secular society, as Lent does not draw the attention and glamour often paid to the Advent season leading up to Christmas. Lent is a quiet, personal and reflective … [Read more...]