Columns

The twenty-third Annual Ice Breaker is scheduled for Saturday, February 22. The venue is the Armstrong Recreation Hall, 1015 Maple Street, in Three Rivers and is open to the public.The doors open at 6 PM for the Silent Auction Fundraiser,…

As a lay person who “goes to mass”, it is easy for me to think that the priest prays the mass and that I am there to cooperate, say the right responses, fulfill my weekend obligation, stand, sit, and kneel…

Fighting with a sinus infection this week left me wondering what in the world I could write about. Besides feeling icky, it’s winter with a capital “W”, and tomorrow it will be February again, the shortest, longest month of the…

By Scott SullivanEditorStart Like FinnishLearning Finland is the World’s Happiest Country has plunged me into depression. By the time I pay for a 12-hour flight that will cheer me up, I’ll be too broke for a sauna, then to jump…

If you’ve been watching the crisis at our southern border, you might wonder what has happened to the millions of illegal immigrants that crossed the border the last few years. Where do they go, and how are they supported you…

By now we have all seen bleak photos from the fire zones in southern California. Thousands of homes, busi-nesses, churches and schools have been reduced to rubble.Other places have been so badly damaged they may have to be pulled down.…

by Jim Whitehouse “Mom, what’s that bird?” says a boy sitting next to me on the sidelines of a futebol pitch, which I’ve been told by my Brazilian friend Sergio is the same thing as a soccer field. My beloved…

The population of Three Rivers is down a bit from what it was a month or two ago. The reason is because there are some folks who prefer to spend the winter months in the southern part of the United…

It may seem a bit ironic and even insensitive, but in speaking and doing therapy with many people, some, but not all have arrived at a place where they see the blessings they have gotten from having undergone traumatic experiences.…

By Scott SullivanEditorRealI like anything that starts with “real.” So real estate, Realtor, realize … the four-letter prefix gives me substance. At this stage, when so much amounts to vapor, firmament like the earth I’ll be buried in soon feels…

Only the Olds will remember the chart above the blackboard in every fourth-grade classroom across the nation. It was the alphabet, both capitals and lower-case letters, in cursive.It was bad enough having to learn how to print; now that we…

Welcome to the greatest political comeback ever recorded. America has gotten the president they wanted, and Trump has chosen the cabinet he wanted, and now it’s time to get down to business and make sure the promise that were made…

by Jim Whitehouse I was moving into our new home, bit by bit, as my beloved wife Marsha was closing out our old house, 45 miles away. So far, my furniture consisted of an inflatable mattress, a lawn chair, a…

George Carlin was a comedian, who at times was someone you wouldn’t want to take your mother to see. Other times he made a lot of sense. Here are some of his more famous quotes:

Our brief un-Christmassy weather seems to be over now. With the arrival of the New Year, temperatures have dropped back to the 20s (and teens) and snow is gently falling outside.It’s pretty. I just wish it wouldn’t fall on the…

What is the opposite of femininity? What is the opposite of management? What is the opposite of clergy? What is the opposite of wife? What is the opposite of white? What is the opposite of democrat? How many of us…

By Scott SullivanEditorStarlight by ProxyHow many photons have there been in the history of the universe? 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, say astrophysicists. More or less.Since we don’t know when — or even if — time started, nor where/if the universe ends, this could…

According to physicians, therapists, pollsters and others, we are sadder than in the past. We smile less and feel gloomier, leaving many without much hope or enthusiasm for the future.In fact, about one in four, or some two billion people,…

In the midst of all the drama many of us experience I thought I’d write about an unusual story, actually better words would be strange and bizarre, that comes from the Ozarks in Missouri.Here’s the setup:A man wanted to cash…

A very Happy New Year to all! I’m finally scheduled for my open-heart surgery on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 a.m. This means that for the rest of this month, my columns will include more items from my files of…