ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JOEL KLAASSEN
If you’ve seen the movie “Groundhog Day,” you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s ironic that our “Groundhog Day” at the Free Press actually happened the week that includes Feb. 2.
For the first time in the more than eight years we have published the Free Press, our printer left out two pages in our A section, pages 7A and 8A. By the time we noticed the pages were missing, we had already prepared about a third of the mailing with all of the inserts already in the papers and bagged for the post office.
We didn’t have time to reprint and make the mail. The inserts are time sensitive, so waiting another day didn’t make sense either. So, this past week we did the mailing again on Wednesday and sent out a complete A section.
We are sorry for any consternation this caused our readers who were trying to find the jumps to 7A and 8A. I applaud our staff and Hillsboro home delivery kids for taking this problem in stride and making it happen two days in a row.
Let’s say we were a daily paper for a short time-but we won’t be doing that until Hillsboro grows to about 7,000 residents.
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If anyone is looking for something fun to do in the winter, we could create leagues and play adult dodgeball like they do in Iowa. I understand it’s a big deal up there.
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Most of us who have worked on old engines and equipment know that when you have to remove four bolts, three will come out slick as a whistle and one will strip out or twist off. Then more drastic measures are required.
This past Friday I had my last two wisdom teeth extracted (it’s really pulled). The first two that were removed last summer came out easily and the first one this time was also a breeze.
Then came the last one and-you guessed it. It twisted off and didn’t come out. I have to give my dentist and his assistant credit. They didn’t panic. Just got out a drill and jackhammer and horsed it out.
When I left I told them I would never be doing that again.
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I wonder if there is a syndrome for those who are afraid to open a sleeve of biscuits. The woman at my house makes me do it because it’s too scary for her. I’ll bet they could come up with a drug that would cure that condition.
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My 1955 phone book shows that Hillsboro Dairy was located at 113 N. Ash-about where the Lumberyard Rentals is now.
Jake and Ruth Franz, the owners, lived in a two-story white house situated on the property behind the store.
Jake would deliver milk and dairy products to Hillsboro homes early in the morning in his red Willys Jeep. I remember Mr. Franz being a big man and a stranger to no one.
After hot August football practices in the early ’60s, many of us would go to their dairy and buy one, two and even three bottles of the orange drink they had in the case just to try to recover from exhaustion.
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My sister Elaine was here recently and went with me to the justice center hearings at the courthouse and a tour of the jail. Her take on the situation was that whatever decision is made about the justice center, we should close the jail immediately and take our prisoners to Chase County.
