Part two of a series During the Great Depression of the 1930s, resourceful children – often with parental assistance - used what they had for entertainment. Automobile tires had inner tubes to retain the air. Discarded inner tubes could be cut into narrow but strong rubber bands, which became ammunition. “Through judicious use of wood and bands, we were able to fashion rubber … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – The greatest promise!
By Pastor Paul Hauschild Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches There are 66 books in the Bible, and some are so difficult and confusing to read… detailed, deep, and even dark. But when all is said and done, one verse stands alone! The verse is none other than John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that everyone who believes in … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Enjoyment, surely some romance, on Sunday afternoons
Part one of a series It was before television, movies and even radio. There were not yet competitive sports. It was the late 1880s and 1890s near Hokah, Minn., which had been settled by those with European heritage in 1849. Many young folks comprised their family’s first generation to be born in North America. There were very few traveling entertainers that came to Hokah - a … [Read more...]
The Fair is where any problem can be solved with onion rings
It’s too hot, too humid, too rainy, too cramped. Too bad. Like moths to a lightbulb, we are drawn to it. It’s the local equivalent of Disney World. It’s the County Fair, a vast land of stomach-expanding foods. Men are powerless against massive quantities of grease. My neighbor Crandall, a noted carnievore who always asks for extra grease, said he was just going to have a … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage – A berry good day
Summer can be a very fruitful time on the farm. Besides baling hay, the garden gets a start in producing its treasures. After the asparagus and rhubarb emerge and produce, the berry blossoms silently make their presence known. As the mature strawberry crop climaxes and declines, the June berries, the currants, and raspberries take to the fore. Yes, fruit is in the making … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – A type of Christ
Rev. Peter J. Haugen St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church Jonah is in many ways the prophet we love to despise. He’s not one of the great prophets like Elijah or Isaiah, whom we admire because of their miraculous deeds or because of their well-known writings. But neither is he one of the prophets like Zephaniah or Haggai about whom we know nothing except maybe that they, … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past The Mohawks, Matter’s, marriage and Avalon
Part six of a series The Mohawks, a dance band from the Mabel, Minn., and Hesper , Iowa, area, played for 655 dances during the 1930s and 1940s. One of their longer road trips was a 1935 all-afternoon, all-night drive to Lake City. The nearly 200-mile round trip traversed mostly gravel and dirt roads. Returning home, they stopped for a sandwich at an all-night café. They were … [Read more...]
Would you like flies with your toilet paper?
Fortunately, there is an improvisation exercise using fortunately/unfortunately stories. Participants take turns articulating one sentence at a time in a build-upon story chain. Each sentence must start with either “fortunately” or “unfortunately,” and alternate between the two. In this activity, “fortunately” is used to suggest good luck for the character and “unfortunately” … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Small schoolhouse blossoms into large opera house
Part five of a series Internationally acclaimed stage actress Ethel Barrymore appeared in a play at the Opera House in Spring Grove in 1918. A small town could attract touring entertainment if there was an appropriate venue for the performance. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, entrepreneurs in southeast Minnesota invested in some combination of traveling stage companies, … [Read more...]
Fresh off the Farm
“Recipe” for success: Raw milk benefits for your immune system “I love when my kids are sick,” said no mom ever. Playing mommy-nurse is hard. (Especially if you are sick!) My daughter had RSV as an infant. I spent countless nights watching her labored breathing, wondering what I could do to strengthen her struggling lungs. For many months after that, every cold she got … [Read more...]