We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
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I love the Christmas season and the goodness it brings out in people throughout the world. As we celebrate the most glorious gift given us by God, I am always impressed at the benevolence and kindness of our neighbors and our shared Northwest Illinois values. I often get asked what I mean when I say, “Northwest Illinois values”. I first wrote about my definition of this in a Guest Column back in July 2019. At the time, I wrote the following: Living within one’s means. An honest day’s pay for...
I used to love flying away on vacation. As a kid, I can remember the first time I ever flew with my family – sitting at the window seat with my nose pressed up against the glass trying to see everything I could outside the window. “Wow mom, we must be miles up. Those people look like ants.” “Those are ants, we haven’t taken off yet.” (Sorry, I know it’s an old joke, but I couldn’t resist.) But now as an adult, even though I still enjoy – and often need – a good vacation, flying just doesn’t...
Did you ever notice that a woman’s “I’ll be ready in 5 minutes” and a man’s “I’ll be home in 5 minutes” are exactly the same? This is the time of year when we usually look back and reflect on the past year. If I could sum up the year 2021 in one word it would be “blessed". My wife and I went from no grandchildren to one on January 11th - a 100% increase! Our church family has more than doubled during the last year. We’ve added more people, more fellowship, and we’ve seen more spiritual growth...
Oral arguments in the McConchie v. Illinois State Board of Elections federal court case concluded during the week, and a court ruling on whether the Democrats’ legislative maps violated the U.S. Constitution is expected before Christmas, according to State Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport). Also during the week, a new study reveals that Illinois was one of the states hit hardest by identity theft and fraud throughout the pandemic. In other news, the Illinois Rental Payment Program application p...
Some of you probably already know this, and many others may have heard through the grapevine, but for many more an explanation is needed for why this week’s paper is what I would term “inferior” to our normal effort. Just before Thanksgiving, I got sick – really sick – and sure enough, as it turned out, yours truly became one of the many to fall victim to Covid. My Thanksgiving holiday was spent in isolation down in the basement while my family enjoyed all of the regular trimmings and festiviti...
Birthdays must be good for you because statistics show that people who have the most, live the longest. (Anonymous) I like to write. I write this column, a church newsletter, plus a note on the back of our Sunday bulletin, a sermon, an adult Sunday School class, and a Thursday Bible study lesson. Every class I teach gets a handout with my notes printed out. Sometimes I overlap the content. Most of the time I don’t. Some people enjoy what I write, others are offended by it. Every year when we s...
The holiday season is quickly approaching. And while that always brings out holiday decorations, Christmas Carols, lots of goodies, and trips to see relatives. The one thing it also tends to bring out are ... movies! Some of the best movies ever made were released over the holidays, and this year I for one am already looking forward to the King Richard movie – the one about Serena and Venus Williams - while my wife and daughters have been talking about the Gucci movie. Neither one of us wants t...
Silence is golden, unless you have kids, then silence is just really suspicious. Well, we made it through Thanksgiving which means all the pumpkins in front of the house can finally be disposed of. It’s always fun to go out to the pumpkin patch and pick them early in the fall, and then decorate by placing them in strategic places around the homestead, but now it’s time for them to go. We have Christmas decorations to set up. The day before yesterday I got the lawn mower out for the last tim...
Growing up on a 32 -cow dairy farm in Wisconsin, one of 10 children, working hard was a given. We all pitched in. We all did our part. I could not have been blessed with greater parents. There never was excess but they saw to it that there was always enough. We learned early on to make do with what we had. Along the line, I developed a strong work ethic. Reflecting, I'm sure it was seeking parental approval. Nothing made me prouder than being complimented for "a job well done." In our little...
Dan, When people have power, they will use it one way or another and not always in the best way. Recently the Athletic Directors from the seven schools in the NUIC who have a wrestling program voted whether to allow Aquin to co-op with Dakota and Orangeville for wrestling. Aquin has one student who would like to participate in a high school wrestling program. Wrestling is not available at Aquin. Dakota, Orangeville and Aquin had agreed they could work together as a co-op and the proposal was brought before the group of seven Athletic Directors...
A late-night bill to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act in Illinois, which was controversially passed through the General Assembly by Democrat legislative leaders late in October, has not yet been acted on by the Governor more than three weeks later. In other news, Illinois is on course to be a leader in the manufacture of electric vehicles and parts with the signing of a new law that received strong bipartisan support. The Illinois Department of Transportation has released a map that...
My teeth were stained, so the dentist asked me, “Do you smoke or drink coffee?” I told him I drink it. Last week I had a funeral in Amboy, illinois. Amboy is exactly 83 miles from my house. It’s a pretty drive from here to there. The trees were still in full fall mode making for outstanding scenery. The 8-man high school Amboy football team had just played a game against the Orangeville Broncos. The closer I got to town, the more signs popped up encouraging the hometown team to beat their oppon...
I admit it, cooking has never been one of my strengths. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Is this going to be another one of your stupid columns where you try and make excuses for yourself?” “Hi honey, nice of you to stop in.” “Don’t ‘Hi honey’ me. I have sat back and said nothing every time you come across with some lame excuses for why your inherent laziness is perfectly acceptable. But I’m drawing the line here.” “I’m not lazy.” “I had to buy you slip-on shoes because you didn’t want to bend over to...
I had a dilemma on my hands last weekend. I had a toothache. It started on Sunday night. It was just a low grade sensitive toothache but I knew what it would lead to. I’ve had them before. First thing Monday morning I called my dentist only to get a recording that their office was closed due to a broken water pipe that flooded them out. The recording encouraged me to leave a message because I’m important to them and they check their messages often. The nice voice on the recording said they wou...
Every November around this time of year my schedule gets nuts. This past weekend there were a pair of football playoff games to cover, Winter Sport teams getting set to tip off and the Aquin Bulldogs were down in Bloomington fighting for a state title. Lost in all of that, was a day that should never be lost, and one I admit I was as much to blame for neglecting it as the next guy when I was younger. Be honest, have you ever looked at Veterans Day as an obligation placed upon us – a chance to r...
The second week of Veto Session was marred with partisan rancor over issues which the Democrats swung the pendulum, again, too far to the left due to overzealousness to their progressive ideals over addressing the issues families care about. Their actions speak for themselves. I wrote in my last column about what Democrats perpetrated during Veto Session, but now I want to bring everyone up to speed on some of the bipartisan actions taken since August which do run up the scoreboard for Illinois...
My wife and I just returned home from a short vacation. The flight to Florida was without event. It was so uneventful I can hardly remember anything about it except that we sat in the very back seat of the plane. I refuse to pay extra money to reserve a seat so we take whatever seat the airline computer assigns us. I don’t necessarily mind sitting in the back seat, it’s just that it takes forever to get off the plane after it lands. While the flight to Florida was without incident, the fli...
“Is this Dan Stevens?” “Yeah.” “Well I’m gonna kick your ass. How can you possibly make that prediction?” “Which one was that?” “You think Dakota will beat Lena-Winslow in Volleyball? Are you crazy?” Now, in all fairness, I happened to know that the caller was long time Panther backer and friend. So all of his threats were in fun, and we had a good laugh about it … as well as a side bet for lunch. Like most of the people who read Village Voices, he knew that my “predictions” are nothi...
Dan, I got myself a free trial subscription today so I could read your articles on the school board. It is really nice to know others live on the same plane of reality I do! I attended that meeting after hearing how things were becoming nightmarish for my friends in the administration and on the board. Also, I was particularly incensed when I heard that Mr. Shexnayder had attended the Dakota board meeting to rally that audience to his cause. Wow, I was livid for days and only felt better after I sent the board the attached letter. I did go to...
"Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country". In 1961 my typing class teacher, Mr. Walks, had us type that sentence over and over on our new Royal manual typewriters. The phrase and its meaning never sank in. Today I see it as the most prophetic of comments. On January 20, 1961 President John F. Kennedy delivered his Inaugural Address. Near the end of his 1355 word address he stated: "And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you...
Ever go bike riding? When our children were growing up, my wife and I would take them bike riding. One trail we really liked was the Great River Trail along the Mississippi River. It’s a beautiful trail that winds its way right along the Mississippi River. We’d drive to Fulton, IL with our bikes in the back of the truck, then bike the trail down to Cordova, IL. There are tourist attractions to get your attention along the way. There’s also a 3M nuclear power plant right on the Missi...
As the Lena-Winslow volleyball team began to assemble around me for the postgame interview following their incredible two game victory over a very powerful Dakota squad, I was feeling guilty for having predicted that they would probably lose. “I owe you guys an apology,” I said. “I picked Dakota to beat you tonight, and you proved me wrong.” “You mean you didn’t believe in us?” asked Cierra Mapes with fake disappointment. “I’m sorry, I was an ass.” “Well … are you going to put that in your colum...
To say the Democrats “have taken Illinois families for granted in the past” is the understatement of the year. But now, they have openly declared war on families. Taxpayer funding of abortion was just the start a few years ago. Now, late at night in the second week of the Fall Veto Session of the Illinois House, Democrats passed legislation and sent it to the Governor to allow young girls, 17 and under, to be provided an abortion without ever telling their parents (Senate Bill 1169, House Ame...
I was recently asked by someone who is preparing to teach a secular class on transgenderism, what our church’s views are on the topic. I had never been asked this before and although I have strongly held beliefs, I had never formally presented them to someone. So I went to work and did some research and put my thoughts together and wrote them down. Then I met with this individual and had a two hour interview. It was very constructive, informative and enlightening, to say the least. The r...
It’s Halloween – one of my favorite holidays – so for a long time I was struggling over what to write for my column. I mean, I had already told my personal Halloween stories of when I was a kid, and I also did a column ranking the best Halloween Candy … so it was a serious struggle trying to come up with a Halloween topic good enough to make into a column when all of a sudden it hit me … I was watching television the other night when there was a commercial about how the station was going to...
