In the past 11 years I think I have called in sick to work a total of one time. That instance occurred with what I like to call the Chow Mein Hot dish fiasco in which I got sick from eating hot dish with an Asian flare. Of course, when you are the boss and… Read More

To the Editor, As the Shrine philanthropy centers around the well-being of children, and with the name of safety in mind, we will not be having our Annual Birak Shrine Circus in 2021 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Our Shrine Circus is mainly sponsored by small businesses in the area, we would like to thank each and… Read More

By Tucker Henderson Special to the Dispatch Once you get to a certain skill level in family history research, you start to notice and find things that were formerly unknown. I guess I have achieved to that level, because while searching old newspapers online for any and all variations of “Piippo” (which is misspelled more often than… Read More

Sometimes, you just have to sit down and list some of the  occurrences that happened during the past week or so. By doing that, you find out whether or not the “plusses and minuses” come out your way. Or not. It does sometimes boil down to an old saying: “Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes he… Read More

By Rod Bernu Special to the Dispatch Living in a small town like New York Mills in the 1930’s was a quiet life without modern conveniences, but great farm products. My father, being a farm boy loved buttermilk. Often, on Saturday morning he would send me on my bicycle with an empty syrup pail to buy buttermilk… Read More

By Tucker Henderson Special to the Dispatch After attending the Finn Creek annual meeting on the 13th, having purple doughnuts for St. Urho’s Day on the 16th, and speaking with Finns all week long, I thought it was appropriate to write about the story behind the Finn Creek Open Air Museum south of town. The Minnesota Finnish… Read More

The last time I had any commentary on my occasional instances of doing harm to myself was from one of my children. I had slipped and chipped two front teeth as I was climbing onto one of my tractors on the farm. “Look,” one of The Young Girls said to me—(and they’re not that young anymore)—“We’ll… Read More

To the Editor, In a recent response to my letter to the editor, the writer made some statements which I need to address.  Especially so when affronted by still displayed Trump flags/signs and worse. Also, by the ridiculous claim that Trump somehow “will rise” to the Presidency on March 4th. And, sadly, perpetuating the “Big Lie”… Read More

I have in the past written about how to best kill an apple tree. Let’s clear that up. Should you want an apple tree to survive, you must: Select an apple tree correct for this growing zone; support it with posts and ties to keep the wind from shaking the soil loose around the roots; protect… Read More

Someone told me the other day that we do not have four seasons here in Minnesota, that we actually have five. “And they are,” I asked him? To which he replied: Summer, winter, fall, spring, and mud. That’s hard to argue with, because like a lot of people around here who live in the country on gravel… Read More