In the years I’ve been inhabiting this Inkspots space, I’ve written about 147 columns about our family’s past Thanksgivings. I said “about,” so don’t lecture me on exaggerating, the about allows me to use any number I fancy. And today, I fancy 147 – it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

It’s time for all the holiday activities – but what is that going to look like this year? Here is what we are doing through the Chamber to try to keep a little bit of normal during this crazy year that we are all working through.

Giving thanks when times are difficult is too much for many people, and if we are frank, most. Over the past few months, I have encountered people who are measuring their lives in loss. Some of the loss is financial, and some of it is employment. Some of it is missing friends, some of it is the basic lack of contact with others, some of it missing church, and some of it is missing routine practices such as shopping or bowling or exercise.

This week's Letters to the Editor are on the following topics and submitted by the following individuals. See the full content of the letters in the Nov. 19 Kossuth County Advance.
 
Pro-life or pro-pregnancy?
As I drive around seeing pro-life signs, I am puzzled. Do the people who have these signs truly mean they support all life as the sign suggests? by Karen Dannewitz, Algona 
 
United States will end quickly

After landing in Helsingborg (new country, new language, new money), we located their city center and cashed travelers checks at a bank. From there, we drove to their massive 11th century Karnan tower fortress with walls up to 15 feet thick at the base, parked and walked up 320 steps to the top for a view of the city, surrounding countryside and across the sound for a view of Norway and the Kronborg Castle. 
 

Kossuth/Palo Alto County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce the completion of the 2020 Economic Impact snapshot for Kossuth and Palo Alto counties. The generation of this report was a collaborative effort. Partners in the project included MidAmerican Energy, Iowa Workforce Development, and K/PACEDC’s CEO Steering Committee which is made up of CEOs and individuals in leadership roles in both counties.

In 1617, a German Lutheran pastor from Saxony by the name of Martin Rinckart was called to serve a congregation in his home city of Eilenberg. The 30 Years’ War broke out the following year. Many flocked to Eilenberg for safety because of its fortified walls. But, they would find little protection. The city soon ran out of food. Fights broke out over dead cats and birds in the streets. Then the Plague set in. 
 

Johann Cassens is representative of the more than 10,000 German prisoners in the Camp Algona system. He was captured 26 June 1944 and arrived at Camp Algona on 20 July 1944. He was in this system until he was sent to Fort Crook, Neb., on 28 January 1946 for processing to be sent home.
 
Read about what happens at the Camp Algona POW Musem decades later that links this prisoner to the present in the Nov. 12 Kossuth County Advance.

... Mrs. B. F. Reed, who had been visiting her brother Cheever Hudson, at Mitchell, S.D., got home election day and cast her first vote for president. Mrs. Reed brought word that there was a great blizzard at Mitchell Sunday and Monday. Snow fell to the depth of two or three feet, and roads had to be cleared before traffic could be resumed. ...
Read more local history in Gene Miller's Out of the Past column in the Nov. 5 Kossuth County Advance.

... From there, we made a point to see Copenhagen’s unique Frederiks Kirke – also called the Marble Church – which dominates the landscape with its huge, 95-feet-wide dome. Seeing that church reminded me of my father saying he should join a round church so the devil couldn’t corner him. ...
 
Read this entry of Jim Sloter's travelogue and learn more about the church and other parts of Denmark in the Nov. 5 Kossuth County Advance.

A museum is not immune to the effects of a pandemic. Many museums across the state and nation closed down and had to cancel events. The Kossuth County Historical Museum was no different. After over a year of closure because of basement reconstruction, the historical museum was ready for visitors once more. A new ramp was installed for easier accessibility, items returned to their home in the basement, and everything was cleaned and polished. It was ready to go.

Read this week's Letters to the Editor in the Nov. 5 Kossuth County Advance. Here are excerpts:
...On behalf of AAUW-Algona Branch, I want to thank the Kossuth County Advance for the article, “What Local Candidates Would Have Said…” in last week’s paper. ...

... It is at this point in your life that you ought to remember that your duty as a Christian citizen does not end on election day, and that neither does your duty as a Christian citizen end when your favorite candidate is not in authority. 

IOWA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE COMBUSTION ENGINE
From Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Hill:

Read this month's Midwest book review by Michael Tideman in his Writers & Writing column on the Commentary page in the Oct. 29 Kossuth County Advance. Here's a tease:
...Police and anti-human trafficking activists are beset with a slate of trafficking victims who find themselves embroiled in several ways. Most tragic was the case of Mary Jacinto, a Latina woman whose battered and bruised body was found in a park restroom....