Brenda Winter
By Brenda Winter, ColumnistJanuary 21, 2026We are celebrating Dad's 88th birthday on Saturday. Eighty-eight is not a "milestone" but, at 88, every birthday is worth celebrating. So, we're going all out. The Take 16 Event Center will feature yellow balloons and Dad's motorcycle — which he may or may not resume riding when it warms up next spring. We'll see. Bluegrass and country gospel music will be playing over the sound system. (…
By Brenda Winter, ColumnistDecember 30, 2025As Jim and I reviewed our personal highlights of 2025, we were amused to conclude the year's "best" was the wooden patio screen we built from repurposed hog barn lumber. Seeds for the patio project were planted when we concluded something was needed to shield the patio from the comings and goings of the busy city park behind our house. We studied what we consider to be Luverne's best mid-…
By Brenda Winter, ColumnistDecember 09, 2025It was Christmas 1967, or maybe '68. My four-year-old eyes were wide with wonder as I cradled the new Christmas doll. Locks of beautiful synthetic chestnut hair curled around her angel-like face. Eyelids with long, thick lashes blinked for real when she reclined and sat up again. Awake or asleep, the tiniest hint of a smile remained on her perfectly formed red lips. But, oh, that hair. It…
By Brenda Winter, columnistNovember 19, 2025On an early November morning three years ago, Mom and I sat in the living room. She was holding a fluffy, blue and white blanket. Her shortness of breath made it clearer that her remaining time on earth was short. I didn't know the blanket’s ownership was in dispute between Mom and my nephew until she said quietly, “Kingston gets the blanket.” Apparently she and her 8-year-old grandson had a…
By Brenda Winter, columnistOctober 08, 2025Fall 2025 has been pleasant and comfortable far beyond a Minnesotan’s ability to enjoy it. It’s been sunny. It’s been beautiful. It’s been ... unnerving. Grass that should be crusty and brown is still green. Leaves that should be clogging street drains still hang on trees happily fluttering in soft warm breezes. Children continue to play outdoors in the golden glow of October sunshine.…
By Brenda Winter, columnistSeptember 17, 2025This fall, for the first time in 14 years, I went back to school when I joined three teachers and 18 students for the launch of Equipt Christian School in Luverne as a K-2 classroom helper. I don’t have an official title, but some of my more commonly used titles are, “Teacher” “Mrs. Teacher” “Mr. Winter" “Miss Winters” and “Gramma.” I’ve been amazed to observe, in just two short weeks, how…
By Brenda Winter, columnistAugust 27, 2025After hearing so much about artificial intelligence “taking our jobs,” I was curious if AI could write my column for me. With the prompt, “400-word local humorous newspaper column about growing zucchini in Minnesota,” AI wrote the following column in five seconds. Zucchini: Minnesota’s most generous neighbor If you’ve ever planted zucchini in Minnesota, you know it’s less “gardening” and…
By Brenda WinterJuly 30, 2025Jim and I were enjoying a blistering hot summer evening on the Take 16 patio when our out-of-town guests asked casually, “So what’s with all the nutcrackers?” An eerie silence fell over our table, and the free-flowing conversation was stalled by the question no one can answer. We took small, nervous sips of our ice-cold beers, eyes darting from side to side. The air was thick enough to cut…
By Brenda Winter, columnistJuly 09, 2025Rain does not dampen community spirit. Rain was in the forecast, but it was July Fourth and this is ’merica. As the sun began to set, the mood at Luverne’s annual Fourth of July celebration at The Lake was jovial. An elderly gentleman sitting in front of us succumbed to the music when the band started playing “Fishin’ in the Dark.” Pushing his seed corn cap back on his head, he grabbed his…
By Brenda Winter, columnistJune 11, 2025It’s been a long time since anyone dared me to do a trick on my bike. I was the lucky winner of a new Townie Electra at the Take 16 bike drawing last Thursday. (Thank you, Lineage Logistics!) My 10-year-old nephew rode over on his bike to invite my husband and me to join him on a test drive of my flashy new prize. He wanted to “see what she could do.” I thought he meant the bike. Once we hit…
By Brenda Winter, columnistMay 21, 2025When Marcella Prokop, co-owner of The Cidery at Blackshire Farms near Beaver Creek, called and asked if I, Brenda Winter, could judge a rhubarb contest at the Cidery on Saturday, June 7, I said I could not, but I knew who could – Marlene and Darlene. Marlene and Darlene are two imaginary elderly sisters created for the stage by DJ Luethje and me. The sisters hail from Leota, Minnesota. They…
By Brenda Winter, columnistApril 30, 2025Her brow furrowed in disapproval, my nine-year-old violin instructor releases another exasperated sigh. “Gra-maw! Your ‘second’ finger!!!!” She reaches for the instrument and again demonstrates the finger progression required “to tell Aunt Rhody the old gray goose is dead.” We are in Kentucky where children play the violin and call their grandmothers “Gra-maw.” I have been a violin student…
By Brenda Winter, columnistApril 09, 2025It was 1992. I was a young pup reporter for the Rock County Star Herald and was assigned to cover speakers for the Luverne School’s 125th anniversary. I sat with hundreds of folks on the courthouse lawn listening as dignitaries and others extolled the wonders of Luverne. Then it was Jim Brandenburg’s turn to speak. I waited for him to talk about the Great Big World out there and the delights of…
By Brenda Winter, columnistMarch 19, 2025A “memories from nine years ago” photo showed up on my Facebook feed. It showed my friend Kim, my two sisters and me smiling in a hospital room in 2016, the day after my first cancer surgery. The photo was all the more poignant because I’m still here, but Kim died of cancer in November. Life is like that. Last week we traveled to be with friends in Arizona. Chris is a college friend who made a…
By Brenda Winter, columnistFebruary 26, 2025A friend of mine lives in a relatively nice Glendale, Arizona, suburb. The house a few doors down from hers is home to a group of high school-aged basketball players from across the U.S. They were sent by their parents to attend high school with a primary focus on their ultimate goal – to play in the NBA. Parents who choose Christian schools are somewhat like-minded. Of course there is…
By Brenda Winter, columnistFebruary 05, 2025The key to successful New Year’s resolutions is to make them so vague that success is ensured no matter the effort. Which is why, after six weeks, I’m keeping all of my New Year’s resolutions for 2025. One of my resolutions for the year was to go to the gym. All I have to do is “go to the gym.” That’s it. Find a parking spot. Boom. I am at the gym. My commitment “to work out” begins if I…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
