Viewpoints

To the Editor:
This Thanksgiving dinner at the K.C. Hall may be the last one held there. Rich Schulte has done this for 18 years. He announce this was the last year he was doing this. This is a wonderful meal. He has such a nice group of people working with him.
This time of year I always think of a Thanksgiving dinner we had many, many years ago. My dad Harry Westerholm worked in Baraboo, WI in the defense plant. So did the Johnson brothers Spike and Earl. We had a snowstorm right before Thanksgiving. They couldn't make it home, so no pay check, no groceries.
I don't know what the Johnson families had for Thanksgiving dinner. My mom, my three brothers and me had scrambled eggs and baking powder biscuits. Not the usual Thanksgiving dinner, but it was a special one that we talked about often.
Betty Schwamman
Waukon

Just by chance and circumstances, three strangers became wonderful examples of this season of goodwill.
See, I donated to a second-hand shop and was given an artificial Christmas tree. The problem was we had an adjustable twin bed to move out of our living space to make room for the tree. So, I put the bed on a Wanted, For Sale or Free site while the two chunks of wired garland loosely referred to as a tree waited patiently, as it had obviously done in a former lifetime, to perform it’s one-and-only illuminating role.

To the Editor:
My husband, Rocky, is looking for the medic who saved his life in June of 1967. Rocky caught his leg in a power take-off and couldn't get it out because he had on new jeans which didn't rip. It was on Hwy. 9 about seven miles east of Decorah.
The medic was home on leave from Vietnam. He was wearing a white shirt and navy pants. He tore off his white shirt and tied it around Rocky’s leg and applied pressure points to stop the bleeding or he would have bled out. He went with Rocky and Paul Estrem to the Decorah Hospital.
Rocky never got his name or was able to thank him for it. He just seemed to disappear like a guardian angel who did what he needed to do and then left. We would appreciate anyone who would be able to help us find him.

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

by Pastor Samantha Houser
Zion United Church of Christ

A poem as we head into the Advent season:
In spite of war and terror, Mary gives birth to the Prince of Peace.
In spite of hunger, Mary gives birth to the Bread of Life.
In spite of lost sheep, Mary gives birth to the Good Shepherd.
In spite of hearts pregnant with hatred, Mary gives birth to LOVE.
It is not done!
It is not done!
It is not done!
The birthing is not over.
The blessings continue.
Angels wait in the wings!
-Ann Weems

To the Editor:
Readers – before driving off to big city malls, check out our small town stores. See what they have to offer, all of them. You may be surprised. If they are ignored long enough they will go away, and we really don't need any more empty storefronts.
Local dollars spent, it is said, circulate five to seven times before heading off to Washington, D.C., or wherever. Those dollars do a wonder of good. They end up in local church collection plates, pay taxes for new streets and sidewalks, contributions for 4-H projects at the County Fair, also given to fire departments and special school fund drives, and to any number of community benefits.
Where are you going to find contributions at a big city mall when your aunt who has cancer, or your cousin who was in a farm accident suddenly has need for a benefit fund raiser? Just who would you ask in a far off city for a contribution? How would one even go about it, and would they care? Think about it.

Both sides of Congress don't want to close Gitmo, and the majority of us citizens don't want it closed. Bringing the worst criminals to the USA is a big mistake. Gitmo is a very modern, up-to-date prison, it's more like a resort. There is no danger of the criminals coming to Waukon, but I'm concerned for the people where they get put. No other country will take them.
The current administration has insulted our military and US law enforcement - how sad - they need our support and prayers.
Plus, he has insulted our Congress. Had we had a balanced budget amendment and term limits, we would not be in the fix we are now. Our children will have to pay for our high living in a borrowed economy.
Keep them in Gitmo. Support our troops and law enforcement. Question - does our nation (USA) make you feel like the inmates are running the asylum.

Ozzie Quandahl
Waukon

Dear “whoever”,
Just the other day I saw you in a restaurant, but you are looking at a glowing screen. The people you were with were carrying on a conversation without you. I didn’t feel comfortable interrupting just to say “hi” to my own cousin/grandson/neighbor?
What a wonderful story about being reconnected through Facebook/ Twitter/ Google with someone you hadn’t seen since high school! You might never have communicated with them again if not for technology.
By the way, I do hope you enjoyed that lunch you were picking at while typing away.  It looked wonderful, at the very least, worthy of your attention.
My question is, how do I communicate with you now days?
Sincerely (and I do mean sincerely),

Ann A. Gallagher
"Catfish Annie"
Lansing

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus