Columns
Three of my four grandparents were raised on dirt floors in the Ozarks. None of them had more than a high school education. At least one dropped out of school to take care of his siblings, eventually earning a GED. Two generations ago, their Christmas seasons and daily lives looked very different...
Last week was horrible. Unspeakable tragedy, grinding exhaustion, aching grief, sobbing children, and chaos set the stage for a lot of opportunities for God to show up and provide loving care in the little ways that sustain us poor mortals when life stops making sense.
All those little...
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Every small town in America would be better if everyone had a Wendell Bailey. There is no one who has done more for this city, and he has done it with flair. He is synonymous with Willow Springs.
In 2019, Wendell asked me to do...
It is a humbling experience to be chronicler of Willow Springs the week after Father Sherman Wall died. I’m no one important – just the current steward of an inconsequential newspaper. How can I string together any words to adequately honor a man like Fr. Wall?
His obituary appears here. It...
After the last month, there's one phrase I wish I could erase from the English language.
"Mistakes were made."
It's been offered a lot lately as the reason to stop talking about, or reporting on, the money mess at the Willow Springs R-IV School District. It's a phrase in the passive...
Last week, the limitations of a weekly newspaper became glaringly obvious. That is not always the case but last week, the news moved too fast for this publication to be the first source of local information as it unfolded.
As a general rule – news that happens on a Monday or Tuesday is...
The traditional wedding gift for six years of marriage should be made of iron. Each passing year, the gifts are supposed to be made of progressively stronger material -- paper, cotton, leather, wood. Having recently celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary, it makes sense to me. Every...
Take it from this transplant, there are few things more inspiring than an old-fashioned Fourth of July parade in the Ozarks. Independence Day in Willow Springs blew me away the first time I saw it, and it has never stopped being anything short of thrilling.
Many of my readers will...
Next week, America will celebrate her 249th birthday. In Willow Springs, you won’t be able to miss it. City leaders and non-profit organizations have come together to create nearly 12 hours of festivities all over town. We’ll parade. We’ll picnic. We’ll sigh and gasp over a fireworks display. We’...
In our continuing efforts to engage our readers in meaningful and productive conversations, we are launching a new mini opinion-sharing feature. Have you ever had a quick, insignificant gripe? Or a minor attaboy? Just a little opinion that wouldn’t hold up to a full letter to the editor? Send...