Where does the time go? Here it is May already and I feel I haven’t had winter, and I am not sorry. However, when May arrives there are all kinds of activities to convince you that it is later than you think! There was a time when we made May baskets and took them to our friends and neighbors. I haven’t heard of anyone bringing May baskets this year. I hope this tradition is not forgotten, as it was something the entire family could get involved with. Our weather has taken a turn back to cold temperatures once again. A cold wind has been blowing nearly every day. It has sort of grounded my spring fever. The weather forecast is for warmer temperatures to return later this week. I hope they are right, as I am ready and anxious to get outdoors and dig in the dirt. However, the weatherman has been known to make promises, and more promises, but let’s hope for the best this time! Friday evening visitors in the Henrietta Huenink home were Glen and Audrey Winter, Little Rock, Iowa.Lisa Telford from Sioux Falls recently had back surgery and is recuperating at the home of her grandparents, Orrin and Bernice Aukes. The Hills-Beaver Creek senior class will observe their Skip Day on Friday, May 20. They are planning to go to Valleyfair. Hope they enjoy it!There will be a Family Book Fair at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in the elementary school library. Everyone is welcome. The H-BC basketball players named to the All Conference team were Travis Broesder, Kale Wiertzema, Tyler Bush, Zach Wysong and Tom LeBoutillier. Jo Aykens and Mildred Keunen, both of Steen, and Joyce Aykens, Worthington, were dinner guests at the Vince and Laurie Kurtz home in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday, April 23. The event was in honor of McKenzie’s third birthday. Other guests were Paul and Carole Aykens, Susan Veldkamp and daughter Jadeyn, all of Orange City and members of Vince’s family. Among those from the Steen area attending the Southwest Crisis Center 9th annual Women’s Expo at Luverne United Methodist Church was Malena Boeve.The mother-daughter banquet will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at Steen Reformed Church.Congratulations to Shanna Tilstra, daughter of Arlyn and Melanie Tilstra, Hills, who will graduate from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, on May 7 with a degree in nursing. There will be an open house bridal shower for LaDonna Sandstede at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21, at Steen Reformed Church. Her parents are Terry and Glenda Sandstede, Steen. We will observe Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. It is our special day to honor our mothers and to let them know how much we care for them. I hope you enjoy the following thoughts regarding Mother’s Day. A Mother’s DayTheodore Roosevelt once said, "The successful mother, the mother who does her part in training her children who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies, if she would only realize it, a more honorable as well as a more important position than any man in it. The mother is the supreme asset of national life."Many titles and phrases can define the word mother, yet none can fully capture the essence of the woman. We can conjure up visions of her smile or her frown; we can readily remember the security of her presence and the warmth of her touch. We can reward her with gifts, give her bouquets of flowers, relieve her from kitchen detail on her special day But the most precious gift, the gift that lasts, is our love for her. We honor mother best by doing what she would have us do, being what she would have us be, saying what she would have us say. We honor mother best by never forgetting who we are — her beloved children. A Tribute to MotherIf there is one word divine, it must be "Mother." Without her tender care, while still a part of her, my life could not have been. Without her dreams and aspirations, that spark which burst forth at birth could not burn so brightly. Without her earnest prayers and seeming sternness, Life’s purpose could not surpass its goal. And so to you, my Mother, a tribute to the name you bear — the sweetest word that was ever spoken — ‘Mother."Metha D. Keith