What can we say about the weather? It has a habit of going from bad to worse and after Tuesday evening when South Dakota was bombarded with between 30 to 60 tornados I am not going to complain about our weather, no matter what, as we were fortunate to escape all the bad weather that evening. We did receive some rain, not a whole lot, just a nice shower that keeps things growing, especially the weeds! This week we will be celebrating Independence Day, July 4th. I don’t know what happened to the month of June but Monday was the last day. We always expect the corn to be knee high by July 4th but I am wondering if it will make it this year! I did see a few fields on the way to church that looked like they might make it which would make us all happy as that seems to be our security blanket to assure us of a good corn crop come fall. On second thought, who wants to think about fall?A little after 6 p.m. Sunday evening people gathered in Steen City Park to enjoy the seventh annual outdoor concert sponsored by Steen Reformed Church. The concert began their evening filling the air with gospel songs and four-part harmony. The park was filled with those who had come to enjoy the evening and they were not disappointed. Adding to the evening was free ice cream, bars and beverages of your choice, just for the taking. Two of the groups that performed were the "Voice of Praise" from Newkirk, Iowa, and the Allen Family from Michigan. Local talent was also included in the program. Music filled the air until 8:30. Thanks to all who helped make this a very successful concert and an inspirational evening for all! Ginger France, Sioux City, Iowa, spent the weekend visiting her mother, Micky Bonnema, who resides in Tuff Home as well as other relatives in the community.Our deepest sympathy goes out to Winnie Scholten on the death of her brother-in-law, Bert Regenenis, and his family. He passed away on Thursday. Guests in the Daryl and Marie Paulsen home this past week were Bev and Frank Bartoni, Cape May, N.J., and Julie Comni, Bimingham, N.J. They arrived on Friday, June 20, and returned to their home on Friday, June 27. Congratulations to Joni Brouwer and Louis Doelstra who were united in marriage Friday evening. Friday Mildred Keunen, Ginger France, Jo Aykens, Bertha Bosch and Joyce Aykens enjoyed lunch together in Sioux Falls. Tom and Amy Bosch and daughters, Isabel and Emma, and four of their friends were Sunday evening callers in the home of Tom’s parents, Dries and Laura May Bosch.Friday evening visitors in the Arnold and Jane Bonnema home were Art and Henrietta Boeve. Dries and Laura May Bosch enjoyed lunch on Thursday evening with Lee and Edwina Rust of Luverne and Lee’s stepdaughter, Laura Rust, and Kelly from California who were houseguests in the Rust home in Luverne. Sunday visitors in the Arnold and Jane Bonnema home were Milton Bonnema and Ginger France from Sioux City. Other visitors that day were Henry and Marilyn Van Aartson, Orange City, Iowa. This week we will be celebrating the 4th of July and our country’s freedom which is so meaningful to us today. As we realize there are many other nations in the world who do not have nor do they even understand the meaning of the word "freedom" as it applies to all people. It is a good thing we had some very brave and strong founding fathers who stood up for what they believed and what was right. For many years there has been very little emphasis on this country’s freedom and the foundation on which it was built. I think it behooves all of us to spend a little time thinking about what this nation would be like without it. I would like to share with you an article to use as food for thought. It is titled "Our Heritage" and was written by a high school senior for the class commencement of her high school class and their parents and friends."This country was not founded to distribute the wealth equally among its citizens; it was founded so that each citizen would have the opportunity to strive for the highest goal he felt capable of achieving. Wealth, luxury, and security are neither inherited nor guaranteed in our system. Our people, the establishment, call it what you may, have to earn them.This country was founded on the role of government intervention in the lives of the people, not to foster it. Yet our government grows larger every day. Our country was created to reward man with individual initiatives not to chastise or handicap him by placing an increasing heavy burden of taxation upon his shoulders, to the point where it destroys his initiative.Finally our country was founded not on the promise that all men are equal but on the promise that all men are created equal. This phrase often causes confusion. These are the principles upon which our country was founded. It was created by practical application of the ideas, and if we are to survive, we must return to them. We have seen a miracle here in the new world. The greatest experiment in self-government has produced the greatest nation ever to grace our planet. And we simply must not be swerved by those who would seek to modify the basic terms of the American ideal.I think each one of us should take time to try and remember why this country was founded. Why it was believed that there was a better way, and remember the concern that the men who founded this country felt for the individual and for his freedom. Yes, we have many problems facing us today and tomorrow. But we shall solve them if we do not forsake our heritage."
