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Country School Kids – Larry Van Moer – Beginning school at District 64

We have been learning about Larry Van Moer, the second of five children born to Marie (Marcotte) and Herbert Van Moer. Larry and his siblings grew up on their family farm north of Amiret. Larry began his education in 1946 in the 1st grade at the nearby, District 64 country school. He ...

On the Porch

The social news or gossip columns in the old newspapers are always fascinating to read. A special section in the newspaper was devoted to the social media of the day. The whereabouts of local people and events were often featured in these columns. Here are a few from The News Messenger of Lyon ...

Enjoying Toast

My wife, my sister Jane, and I recently got toasted. It had nothing to do with overconsumption of alcohol or being feted at a festive gathering. This toast had to do with bread. Sort of. The music group Bread flooded the AM airwaves with hit tunes during the 1970s. Bread essentially created ...

A certain futures market

Your opener is coming up soon. I don’t care if you’re a waterfowler, a pheasant hunter or have that coveted firearms deer tag for this autumn, opening day is approaching faster than a set of mallards with cupped wings descending on your decoy setup. Which is why now is the time to prepare ...

The old ballgame

I enjoy a baseball game. So... ... Take me out to the ballgame...take me out with the crowd... We recently had the opportunity to attend a St. Paul Saints baseball game with two of our sons. It was my first time at the Saints’ ballfield, and it was fantastic. ...buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I never get back... But I would like to go back to before the game. We wanted to have something to eat before the game, and we ended up at the Lost Fox Restaurant. We ordered our food items. Ours was a shared plate of hummus and crackers which was very tasty. Of ...

Empty buildings now just ghosts

For 90 years, summers in Sleepy Eye followed the rhythms of the Del Monte factory on the west end of town. Sights, sounds, and smells that everyone knew ebbed and flowed through the pea and sweet corn canning seasons. Now the lot that saw trucks and employees busily crisscrossing sits empty. Weeds grow from the cracks. The conveyors that carried ears of corn into the plant sit quiet, rusting. It’s still weird to drive by, even though it’s been six years since there were piles of sweet corn. Depending which way you go through town, Del Monte is the first or last of three prominent ...