I must first confess that, before I could start this book review, I had to get  some detergent, a scrubby, and some really serious elbow grease to clean the area of the kitchen table where I’m writing this. That became clear to me when the book I just finished was stuck to the table. But it’s… Read More

Every now and then I feel driven to tackle the big issues in life. No, not politics. Not religion. Or not even why car tires keep getting bigger around and more expensive, but still wear out at the same mileage. The first big issue is: How come tape measures are all marked backwards. First, to qualify this:… Read More

By Tucker Henderson Special to the Dispatch Many families in our area, like most rural areas of the world, come from a line of poor farmers. Some were better off than others, and those who lived under better conditions helped those who didn’t have much. This was especially true in communities of socially-minded Finns such as New… Read More

It’s not very often that we toot our own horn and pat ourselves on the back—after all, there are too many deadlines to meet to get the newspaper out each week. Most importantly, I’m not one to be the center of attention anyway’s, so staying in the background and not seeking attention is fine by me…. Read More

There are several seasonal subjects about which I have written. Wood ticks. Fishing opener. Deer hunting. Those are just a few. Perhaps it is ego; perhaps it is lack of faith; whatever it is, first columns about those subjects are columns which I don’t think I can improve. Here is another: The first snowfall. With each… Read More

To the Editor, January 6 happened.  The attempted coup incited by Trump is despicable, grievous, hateful, and abhorrent. I watched the horror with sickening fear and disgust. I was further enraged by insurrectionists carrying the American and Confederate  flags, while they attempted to overthrow a legal election and assault Democracy. Now we hear of the death… Read More

The first time I realized appliances could talk to me was right after I got back from Vietnam. At that point, I was hyper “tuned in”  to my surroundings, so when my clock informed me that the refrigerator was poisoning me, and that I should move my bed over to Mr. Lennox the Furnace’s area,… Read More

If you have visited our website over the past few days you may have noticed a few exciting changes. This is the first time we have updated our website since it was launched nearly eight years ago and was long overdue, at least in my mind. First and foremost, you will notice a new and sleek… Read More

When I had the hardware store in Boatville, and Mom and Dad came up from Iowa to visit, Dad would come into the store with me Saturday morning. I had received a patio table and chairs from a customer in lieu of payment, and that sat up front in the store, and quickly became a gathering… Read More

General Electric the Washing Machine requested my presence down in the basement yesterday. Of course I went. You don’t mess with him; he’ll socknap your stockings and tear your shirts if you do. He can get pretty childish when the mood strikes him. What’s up, I asked him. He said: I wanted to keep you up to… Read More