Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Additional public input on changing to a four-day school week was received by the Nashua School Board at its regular meeting Monday, Jan. 20, in the Nashua School Library. Brenda Koessl, board chair, stated that the board would not be voting on the issue at the meeting. She commented that board members have been researching the pros and cons of a four day week versus the current five day week. Koessl said that surveys given to parents, teachers, and students had been returned. A decision on the four-day school week will be made by the board at...
A couple of weeks ago I was bitten by some bugs – rearrange the furniture bug, clear out the closet bug, get organized bug. So I sat down, made a list of what I wanted to do and materials needed and set to work. I got some empty boxes and started in, sorting through my clothes. It wasn’t long before I had several boxes filled with clothing, that while in good shape, I no longer wanted. As I neared the end of the project, I spotted a plastic container filled with pictures. Since I’d been at the sorting for quite a while, I decided to take a brea...
On a recent Saturday night, I discovered the main drain in our house was busted. There was water all over the basement floor. We tried that night and all the next day to fix it, with no luck. Not only was it busted, it was plugged. Next step – call a plumber. Monday morning the plumber I called said they would get to us as soon as possible, but they had a lot of calls from people whose furnaces had quit working so it would be at least a day or two before they could take care of the drain. I said I understood – having heat when the tem...
A new year has arrived. 2014. Wow! I remember as a child wondering if I’d still be alive in the year 2000, and what would life be like then if I was. I think I was all of 10 at the time. To think of living to the age of 60 or 70 or 80 is hard for a child to comprehend. At the time I thought anyone who was 21 was old. But once I reached the age of 21, no age looked old. Of course there’s always talk of making New Year’s resolutions. There’s the standard ones – lose weight, becoming more physically fit, save more money, get more organized. Some m...
Snow. Big flakes, little flakes, wet flakes, dry flakes – lots of flakes. Winters in northeast Montana can bring a little snow or a lot of snow or an outrageous, unbelievable amount of snow. Sometimes records of snowfall amount are broken – much to the despair of many. One of my mother’s favorite Christmas songs was “White Christmas.” Of course, since Mom loved it, I did, too – and still do. I was born and grew up in southeastern Iowa, where the snow is always wet and heavy, and sometimes in abundance. If you are into lifting weights to...
Hinsdale, Saco, and Opheim school superintendents were guest speakers at a presentation Tuesday evening, Dec. 17, at the Nashua school concerning the idea of Nashua switching from a five-day to four-day school week. And they all – Hinsdale's Julie Gaffney, Saco's Gordon Hahn and Opheim's Ed Ray – said their communities have become accustomed to the four-day week since making the switch and fully support it. Stated reasons for that included improved student attendance, reduced school transportation and lunch costs, some students being able to...
Last Saturday, I joined my daughters and daughters-in-law for our annual baking day. The next day, when I told a friend of all that we made and about going to the Christmas party in Nashua sponsored by the Lucky Clover 4-H Club, I was asked why I do all these things. As I was putting away a few groceries, I asked myself the same question. The baking day is a chance for me to spend a day with my daughters, daughters-in-law and some of my grandchildren. This year I taught a granddaughter how to make the filling for the Croatian nut roll that is...
By the time this is printed I will have been home for a week. As I looked out the window on the train, my thoughts drifted back to the two weeks I spent with my brother in Iowa. We had not seen each other for a little over two years. My original plan was to drive to his place in October and drink in the beauty of the trees along the way as their leaves changed color in preparation for winter. But, as sometimes happens, plans change of their own accord. So the decision was made to go to St. Paul by train and then by bus to Des Moines, where my b...
Turkey. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Dressing. Cranberries. Pumpkin pie. Can’t you almost taste all these wonderful foods? I can and will as I sit down to the table with my brother and a cousin and his family for Thanksgiving dinner. And before we attack the sumptuous meal set before us, we will give thanks for what we are about to eat and for all the blessings we have. But at this moment my thoughts are on some what-ifs. What if, instead of just putting a can of vegetables or other food item in the collection basket for the food bank, we gave t...
Three World War II veterans, who were on an honor flight to Washington, D.C., in October, and one WWII veteran who was on the April honor flight, all agreed -- one of the most impressive sights they had the chance to see was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “I couldn’t believe you could find three young men who look exactly alike - height, weight, faces - and not be triplets,” said Cap Holter of Glasgow, in reference to the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “And I got to see Audie Murphy’s grave in Arling...
The hunting season is in full swing. Everywhere you look you see people dressed in camoflauge clothing and quite often you spot a pickup that has one or more deer or antelope in the box. Walk into a sporting goods store, and you will see hunters purchasing what they need for hunting. Although I’ve never gone deer or antelope or elk hunting, I vividly remember hunting squirrels, rabbits and quail when I was growing up in southeast Iowa. Fishing and hunting were a necessity for my family. Dad, a coal miner, was out of work from the first of A...
The past few weeks, thoughts on many subjects have been swirling through my mind. So I decided I’d list a few of those thoughts. A few days ago, I saw a headline that intrigued me so I checked out the article. The headline read, “Marriage isn’t for you.” Going through the article, I felt admiration for the gentleman who wrote it. He related how after meeting his wife while in high school, and their being best friends for 10 years, led to them deciding to marry. However, as their wedding day approached, he began wondering if he’d made the right...
Sunday, following a dinner at church, one of my grandsons went over to the rotary dial phone that's in the church basement. Picking up the receiver, he asked, "How do you work this phone?" His question took me by surprise and for a moment, I couldn't quite believe he didn't know how to use the phone. Then I realized that he'd never seen anyone use such a phone. For him, picking up a phone to make a call you simply push buttons. And that you even have a phone you can carry in your pocket or purse. That led me to thinking about other changes that...
Last week a friend sent me an email about the loss of a loved one in a car wreck. Several days later, my friend emailed me the eulogy they’d written asking if I would proofread it. I did so, sent the eulogy back to them and extended my condolences. At the end of the eulogy was this paragraph: An old German story says God finished naming the flowers, but left one without a name. So as not to be forgotten, a small voice pleaded, “Forget me not, O Lord,” and so it came to pass. The Lord named the tiny blue flower forget-me-not. This summer I decid...
I was sitting in my recliner on a chilly March day a little over three years ago when my phone rang. Answering it, I heard, “We want you to come down to the bowling alley and pick up your prize.” Prize? I knew the women’s league bowling tournament was taking place that day but I hadn’t entered it. Three weeks prior to the tournament, I’d had a mastectomy after being diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. I asked how could I have won a prize when I wasn’t even in the tournament. “Just come down to the bowling alley and pick up your prize,” came... Full story
The Nashua Civic Center was the site for a Sept. 24 meeting between Nashua area residents, representatives from HDR Engineering of Billings and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) concerning the proposed construction of a railroad overpass in Nashua. Paul Grant, the public involvement and meetings representative of MDT, introduced project engineer Tim Erickson of HDR Engineering, who gave a presentation of four options for the overpass. Jeremy Miles, Lisa Fischer and Chris Kelley of HDR Engineering were also at the meeting....
Recently we attended a wedding. Attending a wedding evokes so many emotions and memories. For me, I think back to our wedding day – 45 years ago on Saturday. Next comes remembering the birth of each child, followed by the memories of their childhood, then their wedding days and the birth of their children. It all comes full circle when going to a wedding. Lately, I've noticed a couple's engagement announcement appear in the newspaper, then the invitation to their wedding. I always thought it was so nice afterwards to read about the wedding o...
Nashua residents had a chance to ask questions and voice concerns about the building of an overpass to alleviate the problem of the village's railroad crossing being blocked by trains. Approximately 40 people were at the meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. in the Nashua Civic Center. A presentation of four options for construction of the overpass was presented by Tim Erickson of HDR Engineering in Billings. Also present at the meeting to field questions were MDT officials. No representative from BNSF was present. Although several people... Full story
One of the stories this past week that has gained so much attention is the action of a 19-year-old worker in a fast food restaurant. The young man noticed a $20 bill falling out of the pocket of a blind customer and the lady behind the customer picking up and pocketing the money. When asked to return the money, the lady denied she’d picked it up. The restaurant employee proceeded to tell the woman she could leave the premises as he would not serve her. He then took $20 out of his pocket and gave it to the blind customer. When asked about w... Full story
The air the past few mornings has had a crispness to it. A sure sign that summer is ending and fall is just around the corner. Other signs of fall have appeared. Football games, homecoming parades, leaves on the trees beginning to change from green to yellow or red or brown. In some gardens bright orange pumpkins will soon be ready to harvest. When I was a child, this was the time of the year our family took to the woods to gather black walnuts and hickory nuts. I remember shucking the black, soft husk off the walnuts and my fingers having a...
For quite a while now, I’ve been able to watch “old” television shows. Shows such as “My Little Margie,” “Dick Van Dyke,” “I Love Lucy,” and more. To me, these programs are just as funny as they were when I first saw them. They still make me laugh. The first television my parents owned was, of course, black and white, and had a very small screen. However, the time my brother and I could watch was limited. There was no sitting in front of the television when we got home from school. We had chores to do. Once they were done, then we had to set th...
Recently I added texting to my cell phone. I’ve been resisting it for a long time. One of my sons told me being able to send text messages from a cell phone is a great tool. After sending text messages for just a few days, I have to agree that it is indeed that. Therein lie my thoughts for this week. So many things we use every day and take for granted are really nothing more than a tool. However, it seems at times that tools such as cell phones and what can be done with them have taken over our daily lives. Not long ago, as I sat in a restaura...
Saturday night we went to the fair in Boulder, Mont. As I watched the people walking along and heard the squeals of laughter from the children, I thought back to going to the fair when I was a child. There were games and rides galore. However, most all the games were for the big kids and adults. But then there were the rides. My favorites were the carousel and the ferris wheel. How wonderful it was to seem like I was sitting on top of the world looking down on what was happening below me. Music from the carousel provided the background for the...
By the time this column is printed, school will have started in some of our school districts. Not long ago, one of my grandchildren told me, “Only 20 more days until school starts.” I smiled as I heard the child’s excited voice. Of course, part of that excitement is getting back together with your friends. The days in the first couple of weeks of the new school year are not near long enough for everyone to catch up with everyone else about their summer. I remember how excited I was at the new school year beginning. Not only did I get to see a... Full story
A golden river is beginning to flow from combines into grain trucks. Harvest is getting underway. Time is of the essence to gather the bountiful crops. It was the last day of a great harvest. A couple more loads and all the bins would be filled. Returning to the house at 10 p.m., we were beat. Walking into the entry, we noticed a sheet had been tacked across the door to a kitchen that was not very well lit. I had gone back to the house between loads to fix a quick supper for our children. Before I headed out the door, I told them to be sure...
