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Thank you for supporting the St. Thomas Ball

Letters to Editor

To the Editor: Thank you to everyone who attended the 24th Annual Friends of St. Thomas Ball and Auction on Saturday, May 3. What a joy it was to gather as a community for socializing, celebrating, and supporting a great cause. The evening was filled with laughter, generosity, and goodwill — a true testament to the spirit of Webster City. A heartfelt Thank You to our generous sponsors, who we will continue to recognize throughout the school year. Events like this are only possible through the dedication of many caring individuals. I am especially grateful to the St. Thomas Ball ...

Let's take a train to Chicago

Local Columns

If you ask me, Webster City needs a passenger train to Chicago. The last train, Illinois Central's Hawkeye,* left Webster City for Chicago the night of April 30,1971. The next day, 182 passenger trains across America were discontinued, half of all trains remaining in service at that time. Amtrak, the new national passenger train operator ran only one train across Iowa — The California Zephyr. It was, and is, a perfectly good train with everything you could want: coaches, sleeping cars, a dining car and a glass-topped lounge car. It runs daily between Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Salt ...

He seldom met a meal he didn't like

Local Columns

One word you won’t read in my obituary is “gourmet.” Not that I have anything against fine foods and good wines; it’s just that I’m content with meat and potatoes. Or casseroles. Or pizza. Or cheeseburgers. I wasn’t aware that people ate fancier foods until I was a teenager. By then I was hooked on Mom’s meat and potatoes home cooking which, by the way, I’ll put up against any other in the Midwest. Shortly before I left home, I foolishly began to tire of Mom’s cooking. Restaurant menus seemed more exciting. I’ll never forget the first time I visited my parents ...

What Ebeneezer Griper learned in school

Local Columns

My grumpy old buddy Eb Griper and I were chewing the fat in the post office parking lot when a big yellow school bus drove by. “Sure glad I’m not on that thing,” I said over the rumble. “You’re not alone,” Eb said. “I hated school.” “They had schools when you were a kid?” I teased. “Don’t be a smart aleck,” Eb snapped. “Of course they did. I went to Superior Township No. 3. A one-room school house out in the country — two outhouses, a swing set and a merry-go-round. And I learned more than kids do today with all their voodoo games.” “I think ...

The joys of fatherhood

Local Columns

One of the many joys of fatherhood is bringing home the occasional gift for my 2-year-old daughter. Most days when I walk in the door, she runs down the hallway to greet me, hollering “Dad!” the whole way. On those occasions when I come with something in my hand, she stops in her tracks when she sees the present and invariably asks in eager anticipation: “What is it, what is it?” Her joy and excitement in welcoming me home and her desire to know what I’ve brought her are treasured blessings. Our Lord Jesus Christ says to His disciples in Luke 11 that earthly fathers, ...

Protect the tax credit that makes homes safer and energy bills lower

Letters to Editor

To the editor: I’m a fifth-generation Iowa farmer, and I’ve been renovating the home my grandfather and great-grandfather built in 1955. Like others in my community, I recently had a close call with carbon monoxide poisoning. After getting severe headaches and numbness, I knew I had to make a change — I didn’t want gas appliances in my home anymore. We’ve since electrified the entire house. We rebuilt the kitchen with electric appliances, including an induction stove, replaced our old propane furnace with a heat pump system, and added an EV charger circuit in the garage. ...