I find myself once again in a bit of a time-warp muddle. I’m writing this a few days before I wing my way to California to spend Christmas with daughter Amy, her husband, Dave, their children Dylan and Molly, son Wade, his wife, Jackie, and yet-to-make-first-his-public-appearance, Baby MacDonald. His debut is to be in January. I hope you now have the cast of characters straight. There will be a pop quiz shortly ago.

150 Years Ago

Before this reaches all our readers, merry Christmas will have come and gone.  While to some the time honored anniversary brought with it only sadness and or misery, to the many a measure of sunshine and festive merry-making was vouchsafed. What would we do without this holiday?

125 Years Ago

Your year is not a mistake!

Dear Readers: The following is column written by a fellow named Bob Thompson, who was a teacher and coach in my hometown. It is reprinted with permission.

Here’s the story about a young man who was engaged to be married. He was in love and his life was infected with that special pride and that vibrant joy that is peculiar to lovers.

By Shane Goodman

Local airport gives wings to area economic development

By Barb Smith

Even a small airport can play a big role in economic development. General service airports, like our Algona Municipal Airport, connect our rural community to places around the United States and beyond.

By John Crookshank

House numbers are not only convenient for finding addresses but necessary for emergency responders to locate those in need. When responding to an emergency, seconds matter so be sure the Fire, Police and Ambulances can easily and quickly locate your address.

150 Years Ago

Santa Claus has visited the Drug Store of L. A. & C. R. Sheetz and left his pack. Don’t fail to stop and look at it. Also the Drug Store has just received a large and entirely new stock of Holiday Gifts. All the youngsters are invited to give them a call.

125 Years Ago

Counting blessings

Letter to the Editor:

We have so

much in common

To the Editor:

Pride in a small town

Letter to the Editor:

There once was a toymaker.

But he was more than a toymaker. Call him an engineer, an architect, a designer, if you will. He created many fantastic things. He settled down to making toys, not because he couldn’t make other things, but because toys delighted him so. There were two special toys, fashioned like a boy and a girl that he designed with extra special care.

150 Years Ago

The M. E. Sabbath School will have their usual exercises on Christmas Eve, for which great preparations are already made. The exercises are to be held in College Hall. A trifling admission fee (15 cents we believe,) will be asked, to meet the actual expense. The arrangements for Christmas tree are on a grander scale than usual, and everything betokens a merry Christmas Eve. All are invited.

125 Years Ago

In December of 1984, I wrote an Inkspots column about some of my college memories. I have no clue what to write about this week, so I’m going to cheat and resurrect that old column. If you were around in 1984 and read it, just pretend you didn’t. The chances of you remembering it, anyway, are slim to none. So, here goes:

By Meredith Nelson

Kossuth County Extension

If you are anything like me, maybe you ask yourself a lot of questions during the holiday season. One I often find myself asking internally is, “How should I REALLY store this pumpkin pie – on the counter, or on the fridge?”.  Thankfully, you, me and the rest of Iowa have a great resource to turn to so we don’t have to answer this and other questions ourselves: AnswerLine.