Columns

By Ashley D. Swanson

Let me begin by saying every parent is different when it comes to parenting their kids. I understand and truly respect that. However, like many others, I have my own opinions on how kids should be raised, even if I am not a parent myself.

Last Thursday, while driving Loetta to school, we were listening to one of our usual radio stations when the question, “Should kids be paid to finish their homework?” was posed.

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By Tory Duncan

I often times find myself holding back on my thoughts and feelings in some areas, especially on the political stage, but not this week.....

Monday in several news outlets it was shared that President Donald Trump exclaimed, “American farmers are great patriots. They’ll understand we’re doing this for the country. And we’ll make it up to them.”

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By Tory Duncan

My term as president of the Nebraska Press Advertising Service (NPAS), one of the two corporations under the Nebraska Press Association, comes to a close here in a few weeks.

The past year, to say the least, has been quite the ride. Lots of changes, a great deal of decisions, but more than anything, a huge amount of learning to be one of two leaders for nearly 180 Nebraska newspapers, both daily and weekly.

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By Ashley D. Swanson

D o you know how funny it is to watch a bunch of teenagers search for eggs? It’s incredibly funny, in case you were wondering.

Saturday I hosted my first holiday in the new house. Due to the weather, our Easter plans moved from Easter day to Easter Eve. Loetta and I hosted 10 people, ourselves included, so our house was more than a little busy, but that’s OK.

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By Tory Duncan

Throughout my career in the newspaper and printing business I’ve been told to be involved, pay attention and be a part of the communities that you live in.

One bit of advice several of my mentors always shared with me, including my father, is that we’re all only as good as the people we surround ourselves with.

That rings so loudly in my mind nearly each and everyday.

So when Saturday night came and the Sutton Area Chamber of Commerce honored me with the “Volunteer of the Year” award, during their annual banquet, to say the least I was humbled and had I took the microphone to share a proper thank you it certainly would include the chamber for the honor, but more importantly it would be the many other people that I surround myself with that makes this honor that much more special.

By Ashley D. Swanson

O ne of my favorite parts of covering an event is re-living it through the photos afterward.

When I’m back at the office and move back and forth between this photo and that one, laughing at the funny expressions or smiling at the precious ones.

This weekend I was able to do that again. When Sunday morning came, I unloaded all of the photos I had taken over the week/weekend and re-lived those moments.

I re-lived Thursday’s state speech competition at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, laughing at the funny faces and remembering the amazing speeches that got our county students to the final meet.

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By Ashley D. Swanson

There’s this country song by Scotty McCreery called “Five more minutes,” and starts out with a couple of kids fishing by the pond when their mom calls that supper is ready.

All they want is five more minutes to continue their fishing expedition.

From there, the song highlights moments when all a person wants is five more minutes to feel the way they are feeling. Five more minutes to soak in the moment. Five more minutes of that first kiss (“...yellow light flipping on and off, interrupting that goodnight kissing; we wanted five more minutes”), of that last sports game as a senior (“And I cried man next time to get in here I’ll have to buy a ticket; can’t you give me five more minutes”), of those final moments with a loved one (“All the family gathered ‘round knew the time was coming soon; with so much left to say I prayed Lord I ain’t finished; just give us five more minutes”).

By Jordyn Hulinsky

Man, the struggle is real... This weekend, I cried, a lot. I felt and dealt with all of the possible emotion combinations in a 48-hour period. It was a struggle and it was confusing, but it happened.

I felt and found extreme joy, I felt happiness and I felt love and warmth from friends and family. But the tougher ones were when I felt scared, confused, angry, sad, disappointed and at one point there was simply no emotion because I had nothing left. I didn’t go through these emotions alone though. I dealt with all of these emotions with my family and with a few select friends. (God bless those friends by the way.)

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By Tory Duncan

After watching the NET special Sunday night regarding Mister Rogers, also known as Fred Rogers, to the kids that are growing up this day and age it really is a misfortune that you didn’t get the privilege to grow up watching his show.

He talked about birth, death, and life. He spoke of divorce and even disarray in life, but he did so in such a way that his demeanor left an impact on you...you learned from his teachings!

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By Vicki Ozenbaugh

I wish I knew why the days and weeks go by so fast. Each week I think I’m going to get my article written, and then, whoosh, the deadline passes and I’ve missed another week. Part of the problem this last month has been the preparation for and then the twoweek rural mail count.

I have talked about the rural mail count before, but this year it was a national requirement that ALL rural routes be counted. So in preparation I had to physically ride the route with each of my seven rural carriers. So that was seven days out of my office over a three week period.

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