By Gene Miller

150 Years Ago

This is one of the finest days of the season.  Let us hope that Blizzards have returned to their homes in the frigid zone, and that Spring has come to stay.  We are informed by E. Nickerson that a force of 150 men are at work on the road between Calmar and Mason City and that trains are expected to reach the latter place today.

125 Years Ago

By Shane Goodman

Do you ever wonder what is behind the walls of your home or office? Are you curious what might have gotten stuck, or hidden or written for generations down the road to see? You might be surprised.

By Rev. Cindy Finn Pastor,  First United Methodist Church

Love one another

By Nick Diers

City of Algona

We’ve had our share of snow, ice and cold temperatures this winter. It’s a good thing we have some new activities to keep us moving and having fun.

By Gene Miller

150 Years Ago

A Scranton man who came home the other night and found his door locked up, after infinite trouble managed to gain entrance at a back window, and then discovered on the parlor table a note from his wife, reading: “I have gone out; will find the key on one side of the door step.”

125 Years Ago

By Molly MacDonald

I’m still working on answering all the questions in the 118-page “Tell Me About Your Life, Nana” book that my newest grandson, Vincent, gave me at Christmas, a month before he was born. Isn’t it remarkable that he was able to come up with a gift for me at such a young non-age? Of course, all the grandchildren Bing and I have produced are remarkable. Do you know anyone whose grandchildren aren’t remarkable?

By Shane Goodman

As a young man, I never understood why anyone needed a belt. As a middle-aged man, I don’t go a day without one. What happened?

Belts were simply for show when I was a kid, especially if you were fortunate enough to have your name engraved on the back of one, or if you had a big, fancy belt buckle up front. It was the 1970s, after all.

Rev. Patrick Mostek, Assistant Pastor - Grace Church, Algona

You’re not done

There’s a story I recently read of the famed Evangelist, George Whitefield:

“…George Whitefield was relating the difficulties of the gospel ministry to some friends. He said that he was weary of the burdens and was glad that his work would soon be over and that he would depart this earthly scene to be with Christ.

By Gene Miller

150 Years Ago

We have had a couple of weeks of fine warm weather which rapidly melted away our sleighing; but yesterday morning brought with it a great change, and the thaw took a severe cold. A Blizzard would have been in order had there been any snow.

125 Years Ago

By Shane Goodman

By Don Heupel

Ag & Motorsports Museum

The Kossuth County Agricultural and Motorsports Museum is not holding regular hours during January, February and March. However, a visit to the museum can be arranged by appointment by calling Don Heupel 515-341-2904, Edgar Meyer 515-320-5604, or Ron Lohman 515-341-1312.

By Scott Kessler

Administrator, Lakeside Lutheran Nursing Home and Grace Estates Assisted Living, Emmetsburg

In 2022, 19 nursing homes closed in Iowa due to many different factors affecting operations. On Feb. 1, 2023, another four nursing homes went into receivership, and a fifth announced its closure on Feb. 8. Most of these closures are in rural Iowa locations.

 By Randy Feenstra  - US Representative

CORRECTION-Last week’s throwback wrestling photo was from 1968. Thank you to everyone who pointed out the error.

In one of those conversations with Eldon Meyer I was made aware of the wrestling team from the following year, 1969, and what Meyer calls “The greatest wrestling team ever at AHS”. The newspaper archives did indeed provide proof that they were impressive. At that time the state wrestling competition took place in Waterloo.

Cohabitation

before marriage

Living together before marriage has become very popular in the past couple of decades. So much so that the majority of the population doesn’t consider it wrong to live together, especially if the couple is planning to get married anyway. However, just because cohabitation has become common and popularly accepted doesn’t mean that it is okay or even morally neutral.