I bought a very large bag of fresh cranberries recently. This led to a lot of Internet searching to decide how to incorporate all of them into several delicious recipes. The one I’m sharing with you this week for cranberry bars was requested by Joey, who said he thinks bars are an underappreciated dessert medium. I agree. After all, it’s […]

Good News of Great Joy “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11 This announcement, made by an angel to the shepherds, is […]

Recently I was asked to speak at an event hosted by the Texas Center for Community Journalism in Fort Worth, Texas. The event allowed me to get out of town for a few days, see my sister in Texas, and catch a basketball game while we were there. What the trip also allowed me to see was the Oak Cliff neighborhood […]

“Magic is something you make.” ~ Keegan Hall I grew up in a Catholic home, part of a family that went to midnight (literal) Mass every Christmas Eve. Year after year, I was one in a long line of kids wearing a robe and silver pipe cleaner halo, grasping a tiny candle as we marched up the aisles of the […]

I’m sure more than one set of eyes rolled when the news broke that the state of Kansas recalled some 731 license plates with the letters “JAP” on them. Apparently, one of the vehicle tags was spotted in California, and a gentleman there wrote our governor, the Kansas Department of Revenue and the U.S. Department of Transportation to express that […]

Now that I am nearly eight years past retirement age, I will be ending my daily trips to the office after the first of the year. I agreed to stay on three years after I transferred ownership to the business and now it is nearly five. I sold my interest on April 1, 2014. Where did the time go? I […]

The holidays are a time when I spend probably the most time with my family. My aunt usually drives home from St. Louis, my sister drives north from Texas, and generally, there is a packed house in Buhler to greet me. I have never once thought about that not being the case for me until recently. My best friend lost his mother […]

“He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.” Proverbs 28:19 Thanksgiving, 2018 is now a fond memory. I choose to dwell on the good, the family, and our time together. It is no secret to anyone living in this part of Kansas that the fall harvest has […]

When one of our long-time commissioners told a fellow commissioner during a public session to “shut up,” it was not only unacceptable, but it left me wondering what has happened to us. In fairness, it’s not just a Marion County problem, but rather it’s a problem throughout the country. Yet this type of bitterness, mean-spirit and lack of respect for […]

This wintry weather has me dreaming of baseball and sunshine and warm summer days. That reminds me, I need to start planning my next baseball trip. Each summer, I try to attend a game at a new Major League Baseball ballpark, with the goal to watch a game in all 30. I’ve got exactly 26 to go, so at this […]