Marriages: Some have rocky spots

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 11 June 2013 12:38

I am proud to say that I am still married to my first wife—since June 8, 1967. I have had about 20 cars since then, but they lose my interest or something is wrong with them after a while, if you get my drift.

Nancy said the other day most people aren’t even as old as how long we have been married. That is true if a person is younger than 46.

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When we started using the U.S. Postal Service for Free Press delivery almost 15 years ago, I thought it would be for life, kind of like a marriage. How else could we deliver our product to the good folks living in roughly 1,000 square miles that surround us?

Our relationship with the post office through the years has been marriage-like in that there are rocky spots now and then, but you...

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One more use for duct tape

Written by Joel Klaassen Wednesday, 05 June 2013 12:17

Smart phones with cameras and video have come so far in quality that for most situations they do just fine.

As soon as I figure out how to put my smart phone on a tripod I will have everything I need. In fact, I have figured it out; I just need to make sure I have enough duct tape on hand.

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It seems we never fail to see someone we know when we happen to be dining out in other towns within 25 to 60 miles.

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When the new Tabor Fine Arts Center is built it will be big for the college, the town and the area. The plans look awesome and based on Tabor’s past record of accomplishing what they set out to do with fundraising, it will be finished in due time.

I recognized the music on the video that President Glanzer showed at the...

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Museum a treasure for old printer

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 28 May 2013 10:32

For an old printer like me, the Peabody Print­ing Museum is a real treasure. I drove over Saturday to get the tour from Wes “George” Bentz, who has been shining up the place for the past year or so. Based on what I saw the last time I was there and this recent trip, the place really glows.

I started to feel like an old codger when he was talking about pieces of equipment that were used more than a half century ago—I had run all of it myself, beginning as a teenager.

From the hand-fed open presses and the Kluge press to the California job cases where type was set by hand to the linotypes, the Babcock cylinder newspaper press and the addressograph, to the casting box and the smelter—it was all there and I knew how it all...

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Irv was one of a kind, for sure

Written by Joel Klaassen Tuesday, 21 May 2013 15:55

Irv Schroeder was one of a kind. He lived to age 90 years and packed a lot of life into all of them.

I learned to know him after he and his family first moved to Hillsboro when he bought the Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership on North Main where Hillsboro State Bank is now located. It was 1962. A few years later he built a new facility where USD 410 District central office is now.

He was one of Hillsboro’s biggest boosters wherever he went. He never met a stranger, and more people in this area knew Irv than anyone else I can think of. He was a people person in every sense of the word.

Promoting his business was at top of the his list and he never missed an opportunity. Even after his retirement, he still dabbled in selling cars.

On...

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