column

Over a very short period of time, Luverne lost three great men. I extend my sympathy to the families of George “the flower guy” Bonnema, Dave “the pilot dentist” Paquette, and Elmer “the coach” Menage. It was the summer of 1975 when I first met coach Elmer Menage. Coach Menage was selected to be one of the coaches, and I was selected as one of the players for the second annual North-South…

The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group that began in the January 7, 1943, issue of the Rock County Star Herald. Members of this group consist of persons of age 75 and older. The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 6, 1944. Mrs. Zillah E. Wilson continues her life story: The years after their marriage proved to be busy ones for Mrs. Wilson. From 1899 to…

Like many of you, our family was hunkered down inside during the brutal cold temps and dangerous windchills our community experienced over the weekend. Our church’s leadership wisely decided to cancel services and classes on Sunday morning so families could stay safe and warm at home. I shudder to think of having car trouble out in the extreme cold! A great blessing our family enjoyed (pastor…

(If you haven’t yet read Lori Sorenson’s Jan. 4th column, “Be Like George,” do it now. Then read this one.)   A week and a half before he died, Flower George Bonnema marched into my living room. Observing the wilting leaves on my Peace Lily plant, he poked the dry dirt. “This needs water.” He paused. “And it needs to be repotted. It’s root-bound.” George was at my house to drop off a Christmas…

Over the holiday weekend we did a little cupboard cleaning at the Peterson household. By that I mean down-sizing the number of pots, pans, coffee cups, thermo beverage containers and just about anything else that hasn’t seen the light of day for some time. While doing so, we would run across some things we forgot we even had – or what they were, in a couple of cases. I must say it was quite…

George Bonnema has been gone for only a week, and already we feel his conspicuous absence. (See our front page tribute story) Who will lead Generations and be the voice of our newly energized senior citizens? Who will tend the boulevards and update the seasonal planters? Who will place fresh arrangements on tables for senior dining? Who will bake and donate award-winning carrot cake for…

The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group that began in the January 7, 1943, issue of the Rock County Star Herald. Members of this group consist of persons of age 75 and older. The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 23, 1944. (Ole J. Skyberg's life story continues.) Mr. Skyberg is a member of the Zion Lutheran church and was one of its founders. As a…

Last Tuesday the Star Herald newsroom received devastating news from the Luverne community. Josh Stroh, a 15-year-old student at LHS, died at home, another precious child lost to suicide. Our hearts instantly hurt, the shocking news momentarily bringing office chatter to a halt. In the silence, the news began to sink in and my reporter instincts began to rise. I asked myself, is this incident…

I started writing this column before we had our office potluck Christmas party over the lunch hour in the office. There are only 10 of us, but we had enough food for twice that number. There are some very accomplished cooks among us. About the only one that may lack in the culinary experience department might be Wyatt, our sales associate. Wyatt took the bold approach and volunteered to make…

In just a few days a new year will start, 2024. Somehow changing one digit in the year makes us feel like there is a new beginning. Now it is 2024! 2023 is gone, it is history, and we can start fresh, to change patterns in our lives. Depending on who you read or listen to, they will either tell you to make New Year’s resolutions or that New Year’s resolutions are not important, don’t even think…

I was going to write a column on my favorite five Christmas movies, but the more I thought about the Christmas movies I enjoyed, the more it made me think about family traditions. My favorite family traditions are quite unique and maybe wouldn’t fall directly into the “traditional” category. We celebrate Christmas Eve on my mother’s side with a very unorthodox family meal that’s also my…

For forty years the Israelites had been moving around in the wilderness.  They didn’t travel far, but they couldn’t stay in one place. What was the reason they remained in the wilderness? To say it in a single word? Fear! Forty years earlier Moses had told the people to go into the land. They were too afraid. Their spies came back and told tales of tall people with powerful armies. The people…

  Watching Dianne and Rodger Ossenfort play the role of Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the annual Winterfest “Photos with Santa” event is a wonder to behold. Both have the solid emotional core required to press on in spite of being the reason several small children have become sobbing, weeping banshees clinging to their mothers. Undaunted, each child is asked what he or she wants for Christmas.…

Mary and I spend a fair amount of time driving around town after dark checking out the Christmas decorations. Frankly, the city park has never looked better. It’s just another example of Luverne doing it right. The gigantic inflatable Santa recently went up at the home on the corner of Highway 75 and Dodge Street, and it’s a perfect spot for him. It’s like he’s out there saying, “Merry Christmas…

This will seem like an unusual article for this time of the year, and my life will never be normal again, so please bear with me. I like to use Christian music to find my way these days. I usually find a piece of scripture and tie them together to try to make sense of what I am feeling. Since Dec. 21, 2021, nothing makes sense. That is the day that my son died. It was senseless to me, and yet I…

When we decorated the Star Herald office for Christmas, our sports reporter, Greg Hoogeveen, added some holiday cheer to his own workspace with an electric leg lamp. I laughed out loud when I saw it — the warm glow from a fringed lamp shade atop a shapely plastic high-heeled leg in fishnet stockings. It's parked in the center of the newsroom, and I hope our customers are familiar with the…