'We care and we want to help in any way we can' By Scott Thoma Don Kuehl and his son, Donovan Kuehl, at Health Insurance Services, Inc., in Willmar. Don Kuehl started Don Kuehl Agency in 1952. Donovan purchased the company from his father in 2000. Contributed photo One of the more stressful times for a senior in recent years is trying to figure out the complicated Medicare Advantage plans and the seemingly continual yearly changes. Donovan Kuehl and his staff at Health Insura

By Carrie Classon It’s caterpillar season. I remembered this yesterday as I sat out on the deck with my parents and two of their oldest friends at their cabin “up north.” We noticed as a tiny, furry ball began descending from the trees far overhead. Lower and lower it dropped until it was just over our heads. “What is that?” my mother asked. We didn’t know. At this point, the furry ball seemed to know it had an audience and began to swing, just a little at first, but soon in

Glencoe couple has huge collection of tractors By Maggie Gray September 11 is a day etched into our memories—a day of remembrance, reflection, and honoring the lives and stories that matter. As baby boomers, we have witnessed historical moments that have reshaped us—perhaps teaching us to know more, be more, love more, and appreciate the simpler things in life. This past September 11, I wanted to do something special. And I did. I met a remarkable couple who opened their hear

By Cheryl Barry of Underwood If you are a snake lover or you have a queasy stomach, read at your own risk. When I had my house built a number of years ago, I thought having a small deck adjacent to my bedroom complete with a sliding glass door and pergola overhead would be cool. Once, when I was on my deck reading, I noticed a small snake had climbed the vines and was observing me from above. Another time there were raccoons on the small deck outside my patio door screen dur

By Bill Vossler Few people at five years of age set themselves up for what they do later in life. But Brad Miller of St. Joseph did, leading him to become a director of choral music for his upcoming 26th year. Brad Miller conducting his St. John’s University choir at a recent Christmas performance in the Great Hall. Photo courtesy of College of St. Benedict’s and St. John’s University “I do not remember a time when music was not exciting to me. I loved singing along with the

By Jim Palmer An old interview between Toby Keith and Clint Eastwood resurfaced recently. In it, Keith asked Eastwood how he stayed active at the ripe age of 88 (at the time). Eastwood responded, “I try to get up and be productive and don’t let the old man in.” The phrase connected with Keith, and he went home that night and wrote a song called “Don’t Let the Old Man In.” That song was released in 2018. I hadn’t thought about that phrase since then, but it came back into my h

By Carrie Classon I am made entirely of habits. This is not an original observation. Annie Dillard wrote: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I either love that quote or hate it, depending on how I spent my day. I am thinking about this because I was trying to break a habit of mine: sitting up late at my computer, mindlessly scrolling and snacking. I do this because I am tired—not hungry—and I feel too lazy to read a book or do anything useful, but

By Stanley Musielewicz of Little Falls It was after supper, and, although I was more than ready to relax after my work day, my wife Geri told me that she would take care of dishes and things, if I was willing to take our nine-year-old, third grade daughter Amy to her first softball practice. That sounded like a “dad” thing to do, so we threw the ball gloves into the car and headed across town to the practice field. Mom had done her part, by paying attention and getting our

By Marilyn Salzl Brinkman of St. Joseph Everyone should have a little pink wagon. Mine came about when I moved from a four-bedroom house to a third-floor, two-bedroom apartment in Cold Spring. I had to leave behind or relocate many of my things. For two weeks, I was fine unpacking and adjusting to my smaller home. However, one day I realized I needed groceries. Off to the grocery store I went. I had a list, so I grabbed a shopping cart and began picking up items I needed—some

Today’s Wisdom: Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure. –Irving Wallace By Bill D. Ward Many years ago, back in college, a friend of mine and I struck up a conversation with two new girls in the campus coffee shop. They were freshmen from Minneapolis, stuck way out in Marshall, and complaining that there was nothing exciting to do there. Being very quick thinkers, we told them, for a good time, we would take the

By Linda Cunningham of Monticello The blazing sun beat down as Tim Johnson stopped his tractor. Grabbing the lunch his wife Sharon made for him, he stepped down from the non-air-conditioned tractor cabin and sat under an old oak tree for shade. Tim wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared across the cornfield. The farm had struggled through a dry season, and money was tighter than he liked to admit. Sometimes he worried that his children were missing out on the adventures

St. Cloud man was an only child on farm in the 50's By Bill Vossler When Al Bjorklund of St. Cloud was growing up as an only child on a small farm near Osakis, he had only his imagination as a regular friend. Al had a John Deere 1936-B toy tractor like this one, which he played with a lot in his little farm, but also drove the farm’s big John Deere B when he was 10 years old. Contributed photo “One of my favorite things to do was to play with my ‘little farm,’” he said. His G

By Tim King “They are back,” my wife announces with dismay. I know immediately that the “they” she is referring to is a countless number of feral honey bees. A bee keeper once told me that a commercial hive likely held around 40,000 bees. These bees, which we have grown to refer to as Our Bees, do not number in the tens of thousands, fortunately. That many bees would not fit in the crevices under the wooden siding of our house. They do, however, number in the many hundreds a

By Rachel Barduson of Alexandria As I take a sip of water out of my refillable water bottle I pause to think about the good old days. You know, when we went to school without a water bottle. How’d we ever manage to get through a day? I will venture to guess that every one of us drank water out of the water fountain at school. I would approach that fountain with great anticipation, hoping for the high arch of water spewing out of the spicket – cold and refreshing. The vision w

By Zada Engen In the fall of 2004, a hand-written sign posted at the Sons of Norway completely changed the ways of Scandinavian music in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Lynne Bommesmo and Marilyn Jones hung up the notice on the behalf of a small group of musicians. Some knew the music well, but most were just beginners. Despite the difference in skill levels, there was one thing uniting everyone together – the strong desire to learn the accordion together and to carry on their Scand

By Jeanette Hoppes of Fergus Falls Grandma left Norway at the age of 17. Her two brothers wanted her to come and live with them while they proved their lot and built a house on it. She was to cook and keep the place clean. During the trip from Norway, Grandma had a basket with dried fish and some crackers. She had to guard it because others did not bring food. She was riding in the basement of an animal truck. It was dark, didn’t smell good, people died, had babies, and got s

By Glen Larson of Columbia, SD (This is a fictionalized story to show life in a country school. District 71 was located in Tordenskjold Township in Otter Tail County.) The bell rang as I arrived for the first day of second grade. I was nervous and excited to meet the other kids and meet my new teacher. An old neighbor told me she was an old mean woman with a long crooked nose. As I entered the school, I saw a smiling young woman dropping the rope attached to the school bell.

By Daniel Hayes of Fergus Falls The cliché “life happens after you have made other plans” rings very true sometimes. Happenings, surprise happenings, are common in both the city or country. I came to Otter Tail County in 2017 from the Metropolis, specifically St. Paul. Perhaps you the reader have spent your entire life in northwestern Minnesota or another rural area, but retiring brings the same hopes no matter if you are from New York City, St. Paul, or Dalton, Minn. There a

Man has helped the less fortunate at every life stage By Vivian (Makela) Sazama In a world that focuses on what we can do to meet our own needs, wants, and desires, it is rare to meet someone whose life reflects service to others, rather than to self. Thomas Reiffenberger of Detroit Lakes is one of those people. Tom Reiffenberger of Detroit Lakes began his work at Becker County Developmental Achievement Center in 1974. He has worked and volunteered for Lakes Homes since its

By Carrie Classon I spent last week “up north” with my parents. While my husband, Peter, and my cat, Felix, stayed at home and played cat games, I drove up to my parents’ cabin four hours north. The city was hot, but right now, even up north is hot. So I decided to go swimming. I hadn’t been swimming in a long time. I walk in the woods every chance I get, but I don’t go in the water as often as I could. Sometimes it feels like a nuisance to get wet. Sometimes I get self-consc