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Community Voices

A day at the sale barn

It had been many years since I’d sat down and watched a livestock auction in person. I was pleased to learn that most things about sale barns hadn’t changed. My wife and I raise a few Jersey steers. We normally sell them as halves and quarters of hanging beef to friends and relatives. For ...

Yelloh home delivery leaves a lasting legacy for Marshall

Last week truly marked the end of an era for Marshall residents, the end of a 72-year business tradition. A group of Yelloh drivers paraded their trucks through Marshall on the last day of home delivery service. The event marked the end of a business that started when Marvin Schwan began to ...

Steady by jerks

“How’s it going?” is a common conversation starter. I use the reply that Grandpa Nelson favored. “Steady by jerks,” I’ll say. This has never been truer than during my recovery from treatment for tonsil cancer. There are going to be repercussions whenever they slightly kill you ...

Social media: the greatest oxymoron of the 21st century

Social media has changed lives, often for the better but at times for the worse. It’s transformed how people communicate. It used to be that the phone, the postal mail and face to face were the only options. Now people have online resources and social networking sites to talk to ...

While world seems unmoored, there are familiar things to bring us together

Our church held its annual fall auction this past Sunday, an event organized and hosted by our women’s group nearly every year for nearly five decades. The event always draws a big crowd, including those outsiders who come to steal our baked goods. Coffee and bars are laid out on the ...