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Those good old days

Local Columns

Ah, those good old days! Weren't they so much fun? Filled with laughter and festivities? All was wonderful back then, right? Well maybe I better lay off from consuming so much coffee for awhile when I note how those good old days were nothing but good. Allow me to remove some of the sugar coating from those good old days and introduce some reality to the subject. I like to think of those good old days as a rose bush —beautiful flowers but with prickly stems. First of all, what are we referencing when we talk about those good old days? Naturally, it all depends on our personal ...

Churning for crappies

Local Columns

The churn of a recreational lake doubles when the wind blows from your side on the hottest days of summer. The roll of waves from wake boats, pontoons and jet skis is nonstop as the temperature climbs into the 80s and lower 90s, and people seek the calm side of the water to cruise, see and be ...

'Crazy' opportunity to support retail businesses

Editorials

Any time a business closes in Marshall a lot of criticism is directed toward the city, especially on social media. While businesses do close now and then, new businesses are opening up as well. Take a stroll down Main Street and you will notice the changes. You will also find a vibrant retail atmosphere that offers a variety of products and services. It’s not the city’s responsibility to advertise for a particular business. But several organizations connected with the city work tirelessly to market the retail community as a whole. On Thursday, the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce, ...

Art is everywhere

Local Columns

Art is everywhere you look, especially if you’re at a large and artsy gathering such as the Brookings Summer Arts Festival. The Summer Arts Festival attracts enough people to Brookings fill a stadium. We’re talking about a stadium that’s packed to the rafters as in a fiery World Cup ...

Kulla speaking up on Main Street

Community Voices

This week I decided to walk down to the Bike Shop on Main Street in downtown and talk with owner Chad Kulla. He was one of the more vocal merchants at the last week’s meeting of the Marshall Downtown Business Association that I reported on in my last column. In fact, Kulla has been vocal ...

Biodiversity has value for our region’s natural landscapes

Community Voices

This summer I’ve noticed for the first time some widespread effects of Emerald Ash Borer in the Marshall area. There are clusters of partially defoliated ash trees in locations such as Southwest Minnesota State University and the Eatros Place housing addition on the opposite side of town. There are at least several other locations where more than a couple of trees are affected. The ash were widely planted in the 1970s and 1980s after Dutch Elm Disease killed off many of the nation’s elm trees. In many communities, elms provided a stately canopy over residential streets. They ...