Columns

By Maggie ConklinAngels Among UsMy dear mother Molly passed away in March and this is my first Christmas without her.Her birthday went by me not unnoticed, but closer to numb. Same with Mother’s Day, other holidays, and then my birthday…

By Scott SullivanEditorWhat the DoveDeliveredA sign outside Gun Lake Casino read words broken into illumined pixels: BONANZA BUCKS. I pumped gas in my tank at the Mobil station across the street and another picture formed. As a boy in my…

      It is the time of year when we start drawing up our list of New Years Resolutions. Adults do it, even if they know they will shatter everyone of them by the first week in January.  Many of us will trot…

I never thought I would be writing about 2024. When I was a youngster, the year 2000 seemed so futuristic, let alone 2024. We are almost a quarter of the way through the 21st Century, yet my mind always reverts…

A quote worth sharing: “Ten men in our country could buy the whole world, and ten million can’t buy enough to eat.” – Will RogersWinter officially begins this Thursday, December 21. This is my favorite day of the year, because…

When I was a kid, we celebrated Christmas Eve with Dad’s family, at home in Marion, Michigan. It was a grand time for the Berry cousins. We had each other, our aunts, uncles and Grandma. It was quite a houseful.…

About what seems like hundreds of years ago, Hilary Clinton made a statement that it takes a village to raise a child. Bob Dole then said that not a village, but that it takes parents to raise a child. I…

Monday morning, kids all over will be getting up before the sun to see what that chubby guy in red might have put under the Christmas tree during the night.That tree, Santa, the gifts, Christmas lights, caroling, the holiday goodies…

By Maggie ConklinHam Four WaysHam, Day 1: My dear husband purchased the smallest bone-in ham at Meijer (or “Thrifty Acres” to us old folks) and it was still so large I had to cut the end off to get it…

By Scott SullivanEditorWay BackMachine dreams — nightmares about cameraman malfunctions — proved more than daydreams as I handed Carter my race video card. I could blame squalls, forecast to clear as we drove home from Lawless Park, for my victimhood.This…

I may be nearly 95 years old, but being that I’m still on this planet, I have plenty of New Year’s Resolutions. Many of them are what others need to be doing, starting with Congress and Hollywood. My grandson pointed…

My father would sometimes say the least expected and most odd things. For example, if we were driving somewhere, enjoying a mild April Sunday on country backroads, he might say, “I hope I don’t hit a skunk.” Or, if it…

The story of Christmas is ever evolving for you and I. The biblical story never changes but your story is always changing. How we celebrate and view the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus may change throughout…

One hundred years ago, everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today, everyone has a car and only the rich have horses.If you are planning on sending Christmas gifts to family and friends via the U.S. Postal…

The Christmas season is a wondrous and magical thing, and never more so than when a completely unexpected gift comes along. When I opened the first box of Christmas decorations just such an unexpected gift was waiting for me. Atop…

When praying the Nicene Creed at mass we speak that we believe that God created all things “visible and invisible”. Much of the thinking of today discounts the idea of the invisible.A nineteenth century philosopher, Aguste Compte, promoted the idea…

It has been an interesting day.Now that my office is here at home, you would think I’d be bored hanging around the house most of the time, but my “schedule” doesn’t allow that. How can it when now I get…

By Maggie ConklinSavory Winter Squash SoupWhen it’s cold and blustery outside, and all you feel like doing is curling up in front of a fire with a good book and a dog, cat or significant other to keep your feet…

By Scott SullivanEditorRecordingLawless Park, not yet flooded, still furnished islands on its 820 acres. As runners splashed between them, video gear I lugged and tried to make work to track their soggy treks didn’t always.Audio sputtered picking up voiceovers, drowned…

Here at the Arbor Springs Old Folks Hotel, I explained to my friends why I stopped watching the news back in April of this year. Yes it was partly for my peace of mind, but it was then that I…