Columns

     After I wrote the Faces in the Crowd piece on teaching penmanship in school, my mind drifted  slightly sideways toward learning how to print in the first and second grade, and then cursive writing a year later.  That class…

by Jim Whitehouse Tomatoes. Wonderful things are tomatoes. Every spring when I plant tomatoes in our garden, I anticipate eating one of those sun warmed beauties picked right off the plant and scoffing at the memory of the rock-hard flavorless…

In celebration of our “Festival of the Forks,” coming up this next weekend, we go way back to the beginning of Albion’s history. Tenney Peabody (1792-1856) was the first white settler at “the Forks” of the Kalamazoo River. In March,…

We all have an expiration date. There are at least two things we must do and there’s not much we can do about them. We are all going to die sometime and we must all pay taxes. You really don’t…

Today is Wednesday, September 11, 2024, now 23 years since 9/11. This morning I noticed that Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all U.S. and Michigan flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff to honor and remember the victims of…

Sometimes prayer isn’t so easy. Sometimes it is really easy, especially if things are going well. Meaning that we are not worried about anything, everyone is healthy, the future is bright, we are on good terms with everything, and relationships…

By Scott SullivanEditorEthics CodeThere is nothing wrong with dusting off an old Saugatuck Ethics Code. City council, at members Russ Gardner’s and Logan White’s urging, reviewed its 2004-established code last in 2008.Filling 102 Butler Street seats then were Tony Vettori,…

Welcome back Congress, I hope you enjoyed your six-week vacation. That’s right while two wars commanding our attention, an economy that is not well, and a border that is actually borderless, our elected leaders took six weeks off.Of course they…

“The best road to progress is freedom’s road.” -John F. KennedyWe celebrate Labor Day this week. If your child is not already in school, he/she will be by the end of the week.Not only do we celebrate September 2 as…

Well school is back in session — but not for our “grands” around here. They are all grown up and “adulting” just fine.I’ve been looking at pictures and remembering all the busy falls we used to have when school started…

Wow! First thing you know summer is about over and schools has started. It’s time to put away summer fun things, begin to tie down everything, store stuff and prepare for the cooler and colder and darker moths ahead. Does…

By Scott SullivanEditorAnother Roundabout“Here we go again,” I thought hearing news Pine Trail Camp had sold within 10 days of Saugatuck Township scheduling a $3.6-million bond request towards buying the land itself.Private money moves fast and nimbly, especially for largely…

    Dr Lucy Pollock just published a new book:  The Golden Rule:  Lessons in Living from a Doctor of Ageing, Perhaps the most important of her rules is the most basic, “Do not work in a nursing home if you cannot…

Once in a while, when I have no other topic that peeks my interest, I like to scan stories I find interesting in other media. Here’s what my latest look see from stories I found to be odd, but interesting.Headline-…

By Frank Passic             Happy Labor Day to all our workers, and enjoy the day off. This day is for you! As we observe Labor Day Monday, we remember the history of another Albion factory union formed during World War…

by Jim Whitehouse My beloved wife Marsha and I took a little trip up north to see friends and ride our bicycles along the Lake Michigan shoreline. We stayed in an old summer resort hotel. It was great. These old…

A couple of weeks ago, I shared information about the Stone Cottage Free Store in Three Rivers. Rumor has it that we have a homeless problem here in St. Joe County, and I wanted to let everyone know how much…

The weatherman may not be saying it, and these sunny warm (hot) days we have been having aren’t showing it, but you know that fall is in the air again.Labor Day is Monday and August is over already.I just don’t…

Recently I was asked by a patient about how I manage to listen to so much negativity? After all, people who are not depressed, anxious, don’t have substance abuse issues, legal issues, or relationship issues do not usually seek counseling.…