Columns
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 30, 2024The reports are all over the map about pheasant hunting success in the first few weeks of the pheasant hunting season. My efforts were pretty solid for the first few days and they have tailed off greatly since. There is a whole list of possible excuses, but I will start with the ones that I think can actually hold water from a pheasant and dog biology perspective. The crops are pretty much gone…
By Brenda Winter, columnistOctober 23, 2024My otherwise socially accomplished husband addresses groups of small children with a stuffed toy moose on his head. The moose is part of the photographer schtick he uses to get little kids to have a natural smile for their school pictures. Many little kids arrive at picture day offering a fake “cheese!” smile that actually makes them look like snarling badgers. So, with a moose on his head,…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 23, 2024What an interesting weekend I had at the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener! The event started in 2011 when Congressman Petersen talked Governor Dayton into a hunt. It has matured over the years and is hosted by different communities who all vie for the opportunity through an application process. My home town of Worthington, Minnesota, has hosted the event twice since its inception. I have…
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 Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 16, 2024What is the fastest-growing segment of new hunters being added to the ranks of outdoors people? If you guessed women, you would be right. They still make up a small percentage of the total, but that number is increasing every year. I have developed a close bond with a group of lady hunters who range in experience level from novice to polished. They come from the metro area every year to hunt in…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterOctober 09, 2024Remember as children when life seemed worry-free? I’ve had glimpses of those simpler times as I divide my time among my six grandchildren. I’ve even named them to keep references simple: Iowa grands, Minnesota grands and South Dakota grands. During the most recent visit with the Iowa grands, who are the oldest at 7 and 5, they introduced me to the public “petting zoo” in Schaller, Iowa. There…
By Rick Peterson, general managerOctober 09, 2024It’s harvest season, football season, soon to be pheasant hunting season, but right now it’s pumpkin-buying season, and that is taking center stage. Back in the day, the pumpkin selection was limited to a big orange or a little orange pumpkin. Today the selection is unlimited. At the Peterson household we entered the pumpkin-buying season with a purchasing cap of maybe three or four. – At last…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianOctober 09, 2024The 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 Dec. 28, 1944. Jens Nelson continues his life story with his family’s move to Luverne. Moved Here in 1941 The Nelson family lived on the farm…
By Scot Rall, Outdoor ColumnistOctober 09, 2024Some folks spend months planning where they are going to take their next vacation, researching here and there and trying to come up with a location that can best all of their friends. Should it be an all-inclusive or some other format? I can say that in all of my years the only free time planning I have ever spent any amount of time on is where I might want to go bird hunting, and even then,…
By Brenda Winter, columnistOctober 02, 2024So, I tried out for the Green Earth play and I got a part. As I learn my lines, I'm also learning that my 61-year-old brain is not as able to memorize as was my 18-year-old brain. That's how long it's been since I was in a Green Earth play. It was 1981. I played Mrs. Smith in “The Bald Soprano.” “She always styles her hair the same way." Mr. Smith was played by the late great Rod Iveland. The…
By Lori Sorenson, editorSeptember 25, 2024On Sept. 13 we marked Carson’s two-year heaven-versary, and at the Sept. 14 suicide prevention walk in Luverne, I remembered him as I walked alongside many others walking for loved ones gone too soon. Those of us “in the same boat,” talked about “how we’re getting along.” My short answer is, “I miss him, but I’m blessed to be surrounded by really good people.” But there’s a longer explanation…
By RIck Peterson, general managerSeptember 25, 2024It’s not just a flagpole. It’s a sign of strength and stability and patriotism We put up a new flagpole in front of the Peterson household a week or so ago. It got me to thinking about iconic flagpoles. For me one of the two most iconic flagpoles is first and foremost the pole that held the flag that the six United States Marines raised up atop Mount Suribachi on the small island of Iwo Jima…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors columnistSeptember 25, 2024Every morning I get up about 5:30-6 a.m., open my garage door, and share my morning coffee with three Labradors that keep watch for anything and everything that might walk by. Seems like only in the last week or so when I open the door, it is no longer light outside. This is a sure sign that the pheasant hunting season will soon be upon us. The opening day of the pheasant season this year will…
By Scott Rall, The OutdoorsSeptember 18, 2024I am one of those dyed-in-the-wool property rights kind of guys. I would never – and I mean never – set foot on anyone else’s property without permission. I think that any person who trespasses on another person’s property without permission should be held to the highest extent of the law. I hear of many landowners who might go out and shoo a trespasser away and never take any real action with…
By Esther Frakes, copy editorSeptember 17, 2024This proofreader, at age 81, is still being humored and tolerated at the Star Herald office. It’s been 20 years … 20 delightful years of working with an outstanding staff! I get to see firsthand the effort that goes into each edition and the careful attention to detail and accuracy. Stories are checked with sources before going to print. My job has become somewhat easier with Google. When I…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterSeptember 11, 2024Ten years. It was September 2014 when I started working as a full-time reporter at the Star Herald. A decade’s worth of time capturing the local news and happenings of Rock County. It seems like time has just sped by, and yet it doesn’t. I’ve attended hundreds of meetings and events … talked to hundreds of sources and completed hundreds of stories. I’ve been there for times of joy and…
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