Columns
Mike’s Musings: Engaging with scammers- don’t follow my son’s lead
I was talking with my son recently, and somehow we got on the topic of these pre-recorded prank calls he used to get. Unlike most of us he enjoys engaging with these pranksters. He know they are fraudsters but gets…
Life as Performance Art
BY G.C. STOPPELI came to know John Thistle when we played bagpipes in the Fourth Battalion of the West Mosby Volunteers Band. The name came from a tiny village a few miles outside of Mosby, Mont. He was a good…
Looking Out: Car Wash
by Jim Whitehouse My car is a mess. It is coated with salty, dirty, yucky stuff. The windshield and back window are streaked. My wipers and washers are not doing a good job clearing the constant spray from the other…
Out and About: Valentine’s Day, Medicare, and Leaders
“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” -Dwight D. EisenhowerThis Friday, February 14, is Valentines Day. We should let our loved ones how much they mean…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Road Trip part two … We are here
Woke up this morning (Tuesday) to birds singing and temperatures soaring.Seriously, it is actually 80 degrees outside with just a sprinkle of rain possible. (More was predicted) I don’t mind though, we are actually here in the “sunshine” state finally,…
May I Walk with You? PRESENCE IN ADORATION
One of the activities that many Catholic Christians participate in is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This is a time of prayer where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar in a monstrance and people present themselves to pray.…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorHotspotsWho knew Grand Rapids’ Gerald R. Ford International Airport is one of America’s Dating Hotspots?The website DatingAdvice advises GRX ranks tops in the state among most likely places to meet a prospective partner. So I headed there right…
Life as Performance Art
In December I wrote our list of Christmas cards was shrinking each year. Often this was because a friend had passed away. Our card would come back with a yellow USPS sticker saying it was undeliverable and the person’s address…
Mike’s Musings: State mandated minimum wage increases will damage small business
You gotta feel for small businesses. Not only are their pricing and services under attack by big box stores and internet giants from here and China, they must weave through a ton of regulations placed on them by the government.The…
Historical Notebooks: Good Mariages
by Jim Whitehouse Having just celebrated a wedding anniversary that ended in a 5, it occurred to me that we give special credence to zeros and fives. Sure, we tend to make a big deal out of 16 (drivers’ licenses)…
Out and About: Surgery recovery, and getting old
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.I was discharged from Borgess Hospital on January 15 after a successful open-heart surgery and have been recuperating at…
May I Walk with You? DISASTERS
Like me, I’m sure you have noticed some very unusual natural events that can only be called disasters. To my recollection, over 40,000 acres have burned in southern California and thousands of homes have been destroyed. My sister reports that…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Guess What – Road Trip!
As of today, we are officially on our first “road trip” in years! As you read this we should be about one-third of the way to the sunny south, where we will stay for a bit with Sister-in-Law Marlene. I’m…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorBird FluWhy is the bird flu big news? Birds have always flown. You mean avian influenza? OK, that’s different, but still What does that have to do with the price of eggs?Word’s gone viral since a second case…
Mike’s Musings: Even county governments spend unwisely: Case study, Allegan County
Our government, whether it is at the local, county, state or federal level, makes numerous decisions on how they spend taxpayers’ money. Some we can agree with, some we can’t. I would like to think with the advent of social…
Life as Performance Art
Sixty years ago a classmate said something insulting and demeaning. It left me with a choice: I could either turn his nose to 12 or tattle to the teacher. I chose the latter and right after school he turned my…
Out and About: IceBreaker, moms, and hugs
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,…
May I Walk with You? PARTICIPATION PLUS
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…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: February again – might as well enjoy it
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…
Blue Star
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…
