Check out this week's "Out of the Past" entry from Gene Miller, which includes the conclusion of the following report, and more from 150, 125, 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago:
125 Years Ago

The third leg of the Kossuth County Historical Society motto, ​Enriching the Future​, is an ongoing step forward. There are different areas of reference.

...About 10 miles south we arrived at the renowned Salisbury Cathedral, parked and took a walk all around that beautiful structure before entering. The wide open 80-acre grounds surrounding the cathedral is the largest in Britain. The gorgeous interior with its artwork and sculptures compelled us to take our time walking all around and absorb its beauty. ...
 
Read the next installment in Jim Sloter's weekly Travelogue in the Sept. 10 Kossuth County Advance.

...Our idea of love was not the same as we now know love to be. Love isn’t something you “fall” into, and the Bible makes it clear that love isn’t something you “fall” out of. Love was easy as we were dating, because there were no complications in life – like finances, job changes, children and other stressors. I realized that my wife had grown in her understanding of love one day a couple of years ago. I was going through a difficult time. She drove out of her way to come and see me.

Check out Randy Roeber's letter to the editor in the Sept. 3 Kossuth County Advance. Here's an excerpt: "Of course, a liberal would make any excuse to criticize President Trump. It seems that no credit is ever given for his accomplishments. How about these Trump and company accomplishments for starters: The recent quick recovery of Wall Street – it took Obama eight years to manage less change than the Trump administration policies have accomplished in five months.

Who had Iowa Hurricane on their bingo card for August? I saw this on Facebook the other day, and it accurately summed up the feelings of this year. 
2020 has been a challenging year. It seems like each new month brings a new tragedy and many worry about what can possibly come next. 
Some have even suggested that 2020 be a four-letter word.

Now, a new change to Paycheck Protection Program paybacks is being floated in D.C. It can't happen, Brad Hicks says in his weekly On the Side column. What is it? See the column in the Sept. 3 Kossuth County Advance.

Kossuth County EMS continues to move forward running the Kossuth County EMS System. The past few months have been challenging with the pandemic we are experiencing, but we have and will continue to make this goal a reality. 
 
Read all of the Our Kossuth County column, this week from Philip Albers, on the Kossuth County EMS program, in the Sept. 3 Kossuth County Advance.

... It is always enjoyable to immerse ourselves into the local culture whenever possible. We feel that we get a better insight into how people live. It seems that wherever we have been, people live, love, laugh and play. They gather together in groups large and small, to socialize and enjoy life in their own way, content with who they are and where they call home. I am reminded of a song my father used to sing.

... His Houdini traits have also manifested themselves in his ability to jump over the nearly-6-foot chain-link fence in our back yard. He doesn’t go far – just trots around the house and waits to be let in the front door. On one memorable occasion, I came home from getting my hair cut to find him, not in the house where I had left him, but in his crate with the door latched. I asked him how he did that, but, like the original Houdini, he refused to share his secrets...

... Thus, while our ancestors weren’t perfect, their works and their faith are still treasures worth preserving so that we (and our descendants) may benefit from them. It’s worth looking at the saints who’ve gone before us, so that we might emulate their character and virtue. We study their writings so that we might learn from them and know what they knew. ...
 
Get all of the Rev. John Koopman's Families of Faith pastor column in the Aug. 27 Kossuth County Advance.

In "40 Thieves on Saipan," Joe Tachovsky brings to life the antics and humor, horror and heroism of his father, Lt. Frank Tachovsky, later retiring as colonel, and his men who spearheaded the invasion of Saipan June 15, 1944. Tachovsky sought out his father’s former Marines and, after contacting Bob Smotts, Roscoe Mullins, Bill Knuppel and Marvin Strombo, found a wealth of information for this no-holds-barred memoir. 
 

Welcome to the party, Congress! Where you have been? I suppose on recess, campaigning, writing and selling books, taking stock tips, reconfiguring the tax code to benefit your friends and such. OK. Maybe that’s a little harsh. Maybe... 
 
Read Brad Hicks's On the Side column about funding the postal service and politics in the Aug. 27 Kossuth County Advance.

...There was no ceiling and the smoke from the fire wafted up through the reed or straw thatched roof. The passive benefit was that the smoke kept birds and rodents from making a home in the thatch. Later, when the fire pit was replaced with a fireplace, smoke was carried out above the roof and birds and rodents moved in. The birds and rodents became easy prey for dogs and cats that managed to get onto the roof. When it rained hard, the thatch would get slippery enough that ...

Let me tell you a personal story that ties to the importance of restoring the Carnegie library into the Carnegie Centre for the Arts: One very cold January day, Harley, my son Josh and I were driving home from San Antonio after attending a disappointing bowl game the night before. After traveling for quite some time with two grown men rehashing every single football play, I saw a green sign listing Waco, Texas, as one of the cities on our route.