With the holiday season upon us, giving to those we care about most is at the forefront of our thoughts. For many, this also includes giving to causes we are passionate about as nonprofits in our community need charitable support to address ever-growing local needs.

By Shane Goodman, CITYVIEW

Doing the dishes was a nightly task in my childhood home and one that my siblings and I argued over each evening. Who would clear the table? Who would wash the dishes? Rinse them? Dry them? Put them away?

150 Years Ago

The Cliff Hotel has changed hands. Lamb & Henderson have taken possession, and under their management it is bound to be a success.

125 Years Ago

By Jim Sloter

By the Rev. Walt Reemtsma, Burt/Lone Rock Presbyterian Churches

The following thoughts were inspired by Bill Crowder while reading his book “Windows on Christmas.” 

There is a Christmas Carol that is not heard very often on radio yet its lyrics bear quoting:

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus, the Savior did come for to die.

For poor ornery people like you and like I

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

By the Rev. Thomas Cowell, St. John's Lutheran Church, Burt 

By Dar Elbert, KRHC CEO/CNO

No matter what community in which one lives, there is almost always one constant complaint: There is nothing to do around here.

Let us amend that statement here and now. Instead of that statement, we should be inquiring: What is there to do around here that I heard about but never did?

By Brad Hicks, Publisher

The battle over whether rural Kossuth County residents should be forced through eminent domain to accept the construction of a carbon pipeline across their properties is real-time battle between personal property rights and the argument such an installation serves the public good. The proposed public good is ethanol. The question is: Is ethanol worth it. 

By Jim Sloter

After spending the night off the beaten path parked at a Red Cross station near the outskirts of Paris, we had a simple breakfast of coffee and the special sweet waffles Guido’s mother had made and sent with us. 

By Shane Goodman, CITYVIEW

Bob Dole ran for president three times. I was eligible to vote for him twice. I did so once. Reluctantly.

By Kathie Obradovich, Editor in Chief, Iowa Capital Dispatch, copyright-Iowa Capital Dispatch

Iowans turned out in better-than-usual numbers for last month’s city and school board elections. It’s always encouraging to see improvements in voter participation.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, attributed the higher turnout to increased voter engagement in local issues.

150 Years Ago

Furs and Game - Go to Martin’s with your Games and Furs. He will pay you the highest market price for all you bring him.

Winkle & Minkler, at the Meat Market, will pay the highest Price for Beef Cattle, Hogs & Poultry, Hides and Furs. 

125 Years Ago

I’m writing this a week before Thanksgiving, but you will be reading it when Thanksgiving is over and we’re into December. My point is, it’s hard to know what tense to use when writing in the now but being read in the future. Oh Bother, as Winnie the Pooh would say. I love quoting Pooh and his friends, as you’ve probably noticed if you’ve read one or more of my columns.

During the Algona Community School Board meeting on Oct. 11 and the Lu Verne School Board meeting on Oct. 21, both local school boards approved the following members to be on a joint reorganization committee. Algona CSD’s six members will join four members who have been appointed by the Lu Verne CSD to serve on this committee.