on second thought
By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 26, 2024This is the story of Cookie, the Hero Kitty of the Kroontje farm … or at least the farmhouse. On a recent cold and blustery November night, there was a fire scare in our childhood home near Kenneth. The ancient electric heater under the kitchen cabinets was chugging away … blowing warm air across a cold linoleum floor, just as it has for 50 years. After our parents died in 2019 and 2020, we…
By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 06, 2024My friend Wendy and I have a daily standing date to walk the gravel roads in our neighborhood — sometimes near my home, sometimes near hers. Sometimes it’s in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening. Often this time of year it’s in the dark. (We wear reflective vests.) Typically, we go four miles — five if we’ve had a rough weekend of too much chocolate or pizza. And we keep a close eye on our…
By Lori Sorenson, editorOctober 16, 2024My girlfriends and my sisters know I don’t like to dress up, and I hate shopping, which is why they closely monitored my preparations as Mother of the Groom. No, Lori, you can’t wear your 20-year-old, suitable-for-all-fancy-occasions black dress. Mothers of the Groom don’t wear black. Who knew? I found an appropriately fancy Mother of the Groom dress on Facebook marketplace (it has sequins)…
By Lori Sorenson, editorAugust 28, 2024Matt and I were married 10 years ago, on Sept. 6, 2014, and we came across my wedding column titled “Cross-county courtship results in marriage — and new byline for the editor.” The column shared that Matt and I knew each other professionally through his work in the State Patrol and mine in the media. We connected personally in December 2005 when he responded to a playful request for Christmas…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJuly 24, 2024We celebrated a 70th wedding anniversary for Matt’s parents Saturday, and I kept thinking what an amazing gift it is to reach that milestone. Arden and Mary Ellen were married on July 17, 1954, at the tender ages of 20 and 19, which sounds terribly young today, but they fit right in with their peers at the time. To be married at that age also gave them a better shot at reaching a 70-year…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJune 26, 2024Betty Mann, our beloved community historian, is a self-proclaimed crier. “I cry at the drop of a hat,” she says. “I cry when I’m sad, I cry when I’m glad and I cry when I’m mad.” She said if her husband encountered her in tears, he’d ask, “What is it this time?” She jokes about her tears, but as a self-proclaimed non-crier I’m a bit jealous, because I’ve learned the benefits of a good cry. I…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMay 29, 2024The Rock County Star Herald last week published its Class of 2024 graduation special edition. It features photographs of graduating seniors with information about their high school involvement and future plans. We enjoy putting together the annual edition because it’s a chance to be part of such an exciting and hopeful time in the lives of these students and their families. We wish them well…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMay 08, 2024I recently found myself behind the wheel of Carson’s pickup. It’s been almost 32 months since he died, and it’s been about that long since he’s driven it, but if I close my eyes, I can still see him behind the wheel. … Tinted window rolled down, long hair flowing in the breeze, stereo blasting and engine rumbling as he idled slowly down the gravel driveway to avoid dust. It’s a maroon 1997…
By Lori Sorenson, editorApril 17, 2024My sisters and I traveled to Austin, Texas, last week to view the total eclipse of the sun. The trip was a culmination of nearly a year of planning and several weeks of nervous anticipation as departure day grew nearer. In April 2023, nearly a full year before the big event, Linda announced she was traveling for the 2024 eclipse and invited us to join her. “It would be fun,” we agreed during a…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 27, 2024Friday started cold and gray, but inside the elementary school gymnasium in Beaver Creek, the atmosphere was bright and festive. It was Pie Day (not the math day for pi), the day Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary kids could throw pies at the H-BC High School kids. It was a long-awaited and highly anticipated event following a weekslong Penny War between student councils — the littles vs. the teens…
By Lori Sorenson, editorMarch 06, 2024I’ve made it a habit to pay for gas at the pump to avoid convenience store snacks and beverages, but when Luverne’s long-awaited Kwik Trip opened last month, I went inside to check it out. Yes, the store lived up to the hype of bright lighting, clean restrooms, fresh food and happy helpers. However, as a lifelong coffee drinker with an affection for strong brews, I gravitated to the Kwik Trip…
By Lori Sorenson, editorFebruary 14, 2024My mother-in-law cautioned me about her son early in our dating years. “You know, these Norwegian men aren’t very affectionate,” she told me, in case I should want to escape the relationship before I was too invested. Of course, she laughed when she said it, but she wasn’t wrong. My husband is a kind and gentle man, but affectionate, he is not. Especially in public. During our own wedding…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 24, 2024A Star Herald co-worker last week discovered a lone screw on the floor beneath my office chair. “I thought you should know, in case it’s essential,” she handed me the short, stubby screw. I retrieved a Phillips screwdriver from the 50-year-old toolbox in the former press room, now a warehouse-sized storage room, to repair my 40-year-old office chair. I think it’s 40. It was well used when I…
By Lori Sorenson, editorJanuary 03, 2024George 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…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 06, 2023When 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…- By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 15, 2023The October calendar had barely turned to November when I noticed my first twinge of holiday angst — the realization that I haven’t recovered from July and here we are on the cusp of another holiday season. It doesn’t help that I’m getting older and time is indeed flying faster. It doesn’t help that news deadlines hurtle us perpetually toward the next big holiday. (I requested second-grade…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
