Strong communities don’t just happen. They rely on connection—residents knowing what’s going on, businesses reaching the customers who keep them open, and citizens having the facts to make good decisions. Local newspapers provide that connection in ways no other...
As I start this article, I’m on a plane back to the U.S. from being in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico. I was part of a team of 14 people who helped build a building to serve a small community, present childrens programs and visit an orphanage. It’s the orphanage I’m...
Growing up in New York, I’ll never forget the blackout that hit the city in 1977. I remember my mother being in the shower when the lights went out, and blaming my brother and I for playing a prank on her with the lights. But it was far from a prank, the city lost...
My grandfather was a blacksmith. To supply his shop with the metal, wood, and other materials he needed to operate, he attended auctions. Auctions that sold all types of items. Since his shop was located in Ashdown, Arkansas, that gave him close proximity to the...
My mom and her mother saved 7-1/2 books to get us that swing set. Just three years before in 1966, my parents had saved to buy their first house. Money was tight, so, if my sister and I were going to have that new addition to the backyard, Green Stamps would be the...
As we approach the end to another year, we often ask if we’re better off than we were a year ago. Has this year summed up to be a winner or loser? Globally, are we a better world? Are people of all nations better off? Is there more peace on earth? When we use the...
Here we are again…it seems like just a few months ago we were celebrating year-end holidays, and now we’re just days away from Christmas Day. How time flies! Christmas may hold different meanings for many people. For some, they remember family and friends that are no...
Have you seen the first Spider-Man with Toby McGuire? I love that movie and I watched this one part the other day. After he gets his spidey powers he starts learning how to use them. He’s climbing walls and jumping from building to building. At one point, he remembers...
My mother must’ve kept everything my sister and I ever made for Christmas. Some things were put together in school, but most were done in Sunday School. Same is true for anything we ever made, regardless of the time of year. Decades later at a Christmas gathering, if...
