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Webster City Area Chamber encourages continued support for downtown businesses following fire

Commerce extends its heartfelt thoughts to all those affected by the recent fire at J Watts Electric LLC. This unfortunate incident, which also led to the temporary closure of neighboring businesses including The Webster Theater, Gilbert Jewelers, and Sandi’s Attic, and Platinum Connect, reminds us of the unpredictable challenges our local businesses face. The Webster Theater will still host the free movie sponsored by Karl Webster City — “The Gremlins Special Edition” — at Jefferson Gym on Saturday December 2. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Showtime is 2 p.m. The parade route ...

About that splash pad

People have asked: How can we impact local decisions? In this case, they are referring to the City of Webster City’s proposed splash pad for East Twin Park. If you joined the conversation late, here’s the Cliffs Notes: On November 17 in this space I challenged people to put their name where their mouth is by openly expressing their opinions on issues that potentially impact all of us. Then I proceeded to dive into the punchbowl by saying I, for one, think the splash pad stands way down in a long list of major expenditures this city is facing and cannot avoid. In response to ...

Weighty thoughts on being heavy

Going through scores of old family photos recently reminded me of something for which I need no reminder: I’m the heavyweight in the family. From age four on, every photograph shows a chubby me. While the rest of my family was of normal proportions, I was wearing “husky” jeans from JC Penney. At one time in my childhood I actually wondered if I had been adopted by a skinny family. My first experience with dieting occurred during the summer between seventh and eighth grades. As a remedy for Osgood Schlatters Disease (knee problems) my doctor prescribed a diet and that summer I ...

Small Business Saturday is November 25

It’s customary this time of year for newspapers everywhere to write glowing editorials about the virtue of shopping local. After all, throughout the year, local businesses support the ability of local journalists to deliver local news, and we hope you will support them. Local news is important. We are not perfect, but we live and work in our communities. We care about the future because it’s our shared future. We grow as the community grows, and we need each other. I happen to be a natural born shopper. I grew up shopping extensively in my hometown of Webster City, and in mom’s ...

Reminisces of the ‘oom-pa-pa’

I am not a big football fan but on the rare occasions when I have visited a university stadium I love the halftime performances by the college bands. In particular, I enjoy the sousaphones in the bands. For those who are not tuba aficionados, a sousaphone is the round-belled tuba most common in marching bands as opposed to the upright tubas you see in an orchestra. The mellow bass notes of the glistening sousaphones in the marching bands or the oom-pa-pa sound of a tuba in a Dixieland or polka band always bring back memories of a brief love affair with the sousaphone when I was in ...

About that letter

Before me, I have the unsigned letter referenced in Thursday’s story announcing the resignation of this community’s assistant city manager. I could have published it, but I chose not to. There are several reasons for my decision, the first being that this newspaper routinely doesn’t publish unsigned letters. Yes, the letter I am talking about was submitted to all the city council and to the mayor. In fact, it was the mayor himself who forwarded a copy to me. So it is public record. Still, I chose not to publish it. The second reason I chose not to publish it is its intent. ...