I can’t believe school enrollment is already beginning. This summer just flew by for me. While talking about school, the subject of favorite lunches came up recently, and I started craving a big bowl of mashed potatoes smothered in chicken and thick noodles. I’ve made chicken noodle soup plenty of times, but there’s something very different about the kind of […]

The Marion County Fair wasn’t quite to the granger as some remember it in the past. The Marion County Fair Board responded with a simple request on social media – what do you want to see at the fair next year that might move the needle. The response from the fair board is a good one. If attendance was low […]

It’s Friday and I just picked up my mail from the mailbox. Any guesses as to what I found? Like you I’m sure, my mail was filled with campaign flyers. Today the count was eight, although if you add them all up, it’s probably been about 50 or so that we have received. Of the eight, seven of them were […]

A person never knows what can be found at a second-hand store. I was perusing the bookshelves at a local charity shop recently and came across an interesting paperback, “The Band Name Book.” Its pages contained just what one would expect in a volume with that title, a list of thousands of rock music group names. The original retail price […]

For a small-town girl like me, traveling and experiencing new things doesn’t happen every day, and I definitely have some wanderlust. I certainly wouldn’t call myself a “country girl” to say the least, (I just went fishing for the first time this summer and ended up waist deep in a mud hole, if that puts it into perspective for you) […]

I made it! I have provided this column to my editor every single week for 20 straight years. When I realized what was happening, I had to keep going. I thought it would have been a travesty to miss even one column during the previous 20 years. There were only two that I can think of that were tough to […]

I am excited about our upcoming street scape project slated for construction next spring. The construction company has started its planning by requesting the council to pick the brick color, or colors in this case, so the order can be placed and delivered when the work starts. It was quite the discussion for the council. Have you ever tried herding […]

This upcoming election isn’t for homecoming king and queen. It’s not for whom is most popular in the county and it’s certainly not something that should be taken lightly. Unfortunately, in many local elections the issues get thrown out the door and instead the most popular person running gets elected. People sit down, say XXXX candidate is a nice guy […]

Community Band was a success Thank you to all who performed with and/or supported the Hillsboro High School and Community Band in the Marion County Fair Parade. Each of the musicians gave their time for an evening rehearsal and the parade. The high school band members performing were Noah Bartel, Rylie Daniels, Malorie Hein, Charlie Major, Grace Major, Callie Plenert, […]

I was at a loss for what to write this month, so naturally, I searched Google for column prompts. One of the first things I stumbled upon was a New York Times article titled, “650 prompts for narrative and personal writing.” It sounded intriguing, so I clicked on it. The article grouped questions by category, for example, “overcoming adversity,” “role […]