I’m writing this a week before Thanksgiving, but you will be reading it when Thanksgiving is over and we’re into December. My point is, it’s hard to know what tense to use when writing in the now but being read in the future. Oh Bother, as Winnie the Pooh would say. I love quoting Pooh and his friends, as you’ve probably noticed if you’ve read one or more of my columns.

During the Algona Community School Board meeting on Oct. 11 and the Lu Verne School Board meeting on Oct. 21, both local school boards approved the following members to be on a joint reorganization committee. Algona CSD’s six members will join four members who have been appointed by the Lu Verne CSD to serve on this committee.

I don’t own any land that will be impacted and my livelihood isn’t directly connected to the proposed construction of carbon dioxide pipelines across Kossuth County and other parts of rural Iowa. So it has been a fair statement that I don’t have a dog in the fight.

Until now.

A local temporary redistricting commission met twice in the past two weeks to begin the process of setting districts for 2022 and a subsequent decade of board of supervisor elections. But the commission isn’t drawing the lines for the supervisor districts. The commission is only determining where the county’s precinct lines will be drawn. Confused? 

After leaving Roger and Marilou at the Belgian seaside, we stopped short of the French border, about 10 miles away, to fill with gas using our Belgian Francs. Going from country to country in 1983 always required changing money. Some businesses close to a border accepted a neighboring country’s currency but there was usually an exchange rate difference. To avoid reduced value of our money, we bought gas or groceries before crossing into another country.

150 Years Ago

To the Editor:

By Brad Hicks, Publisher

One Thanksgiving tradition part of my family has is that before a prayer at the table, everyone states something for which they are thankful. Our Thanksgiving gathering is over the weekend, and while I certainly will include the blessings of the Almighty at the top of my short list, people who are often overlooked will be on it for the first time.

Truckers.

There can be only one explanation when it comes to the decision last week by the Environmental Protection Agency to propose rules to extend the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance deadlines for 2019 and 2020. The 2019 extension applies only to small refineries, but the 2020 extension applies to all refineries. This projects an effort to “reduce volumes and destroy biofuel demand,” said Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. 

By Barb Smith, City of Algona

The first snow of the season has already come and gone. Winter weather can strike at any moment, and the City of Algona’s streets department is gearing up for the snow season. Moving and removing snow from our streets is a big job, and one that requires your help. These three things can make a big difference in how we manage snow removal in our community.

We called going back to Belgium between tours around Europe in our VW camper pit stops. Pit stops at the race track are really quick, but our pit stops usually lasted several days, each one enjoyable and interesting. It did not seem significant at the time, but Guido’s brother, Bart, brought his girlfriend to meet the family, and us. She turned out to be a delight to know and Bart’s wife (now a grandmother). 

Amy Daws, LLC 

$14.99 paperback 

ISBN 978-1944565404 

$4.99 Kindle 

By Michael Tideman, Author

The numbers speak for themselves. 

Sweeper: A Sports Romance Novel by Amy (Danielson) Daws is ranked number one in Kindle sports fiction, number one in Amazon sports romance books and number one in Kindle sports romance. It’s also ranked number 32 out of all Kindle books. 

150 Years Ago

Keeping Ice - A very simple way to keep small quantities of ice is to put it into a deep dish, cover it with a plate, and place the dish on a pillow stuffed with feathers (hen feathers will answer), and carefully cover the top with another pillow, thus excluding external air. Feathers are well-known non-conductors of heat, and thus ice is preserved from melting. This simple plan is within reach of every household. 

125 Years Ago

By the Rev. Thomas Cowell

St. John's Lutheran Church, Burt

Last year’s buzzword around the Thanksgiving table – whether that was a physical or virtual table – was, no doubt, Covid.  While the pandemic continues to be a hot topic of conversation, a new and somewhat related buzzword might just take its place this Thanksgiving: supply-chain! 

By The Rev. Cindy Finn

Algona First United Methodist Church