Dear Editor: It is the season of the Envelope. So many envelopes and so many worthwhile causes, large and small, near and far. Tax deductible and most, with a letter I can tell they word-smithed and edited and sweat over, turning just the right phrase, bringing news of accomplishments and work left to do. One of the first to arrive,…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Letter to the editor
Dear editor, I would like to express my thanks to Dr Kim Cunningham and Maureen Jacoby for organizing a very successful 3rd annual Paton Gobble Gobble Run. They have organized an event that is family-friendly, good for you, and good for the county. Despite a very chilly Thanksgiving Day, the event had over 100 runners who donated over 500 non-perishable…
Read More“It’s déjà vu all over again,” said Yogi and my friend Barb
~a column about Jefferson by Colleen O’brien One of the very clever Jeffersonians who moved back to town over the last decade calls herself and the rest of us returnees the “deja vuers.” This is an astute observation, a droll way of calling us what we are, for the French phrase “déjà vu” means “already seen.”
Read MoreLetter to the editor
Dear Editor: A shout out to Linnette Sondgeroth on her retirement this week after nearly 17 years of maintenance work at the Greene County Courthouse. While Linnette has chosen to leave without fanfare, we want to take this chance to say “THANK YOU so much” for all the support and assistance she has provided to so many of us over…
Read MoreTree Tracings
~by Valerie Ogren Greene County Genealogical Society Meeting Notice The Greene County Genealogical Society will meet Saturday, Dec. 7, at 10 am in the basement meeting room of the Jefferson Public Library. The program will be given by John and Laurie Meyer. They will be telling about their trip to Germany last summer and locating relatives of John’s grandfather. A short business…
Read MoreCharitable giving
~a Consumer Advisory from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller Whether you’re thinking about helping others around the holidays, or you’re planning ahead for tax time, the time to check out a charity is before you give. Important Questions Before You Donate Be sure you understand the organization you are considering helping, where your donation goes, and where it doesn’t go:
Read MoreLearning to be thankful
I was raised saying grace before every family meal, and just about every meal was a family meal. “Bless us Oh Lord and these thy gifts,” my father would intone, “which we are about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ Our Lord Amen.” He said it in one breath with exactly the same lack of inflection every time. Maybe…
Read MoreGrace under pressure
~a column about Jefferson by Colleen O’Brien Avid for money of my own beyond the 25 cents a week I received as my very feeble teenage allowance, I went to work as a soda jerk when I was in eighth grade. This was in the spring of 1958, and it was a calculated piece of business. Working all summer would…
Read MoreDefiant grace
~a column about Jefferson by Colleen O’Brien When the day finally arrived that I got to go home from college my freshman year, I felt like I’d been a stranger in a strange land for three years instead of three months. The only time I’d been away from home prior to my 18th year was to spend a week each…
Read MoreThe annual return to Nov. 22, 1963
~by Denise O’Brien Van About 12:45 on Friday afternoon, I’ll be back on the University of Iowa campus, reliving what happened to me as a 21-year-old college junior who just happened to turn on her radio and hear horrifying news: President John F. Kennedy has been killed by an assassin’s bullets in Dallas, Tex. I’ve been there every Nov. 22…
Read MoreHistory doesn’t change; we do
Many folks older than myself are recalling this week where they were Nov. 22, 1963, when they learned President Kennedy had been shot. I remember the day well, although I don’t remember hearing the news from Dallas. What I remember is that my family moved to a new town two hours away. We went to school that morning and our…
Read MoreDeliver me
~a column about Jefferson by Colleen O’Brien When I was a kid – which is farther and farther away and easier and easier to remember (as opposed to yesterday) – businesses delivered all kinds of things to our homes. We received the Des Moines Register and Tribune during some wee morning hour. Many of us still get this delivery, although…
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