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How do you define Mom?
By Mavis Fodness, reporter
May 01, 2024
Mother’s Day is just over a week away, and my thoughts have turned to what to do to honor that female parent in my life. Along the way, I’ve thought about what the definition of Mom means to me, and I’ve realized I have more than one Mom. … Because Mom is more like a list of characteristics beginning with the letter “L.” To me Mom is someone who learns, listens, leads, laughs and lives in the…
Sometimes knowing we matter is all the thanks we journalist need
By Mavis Fodness, reporter
February 07, 2024
Attending last week’s Minnesota Newspaper Association Convention reminded me why I chose a career in newspaper journalism. Being a conduit for information speaks to my creative nature and fits my personality, and the like-minded conference attendees rekindled my news passions. They include an eagerness to tell people about exciting news, a sense that what I do actually matters and pride in a…
A little bit of Rock County finds home in rural Iowa
By Mavis Fodness, reporter
January 19, 2021
A little bit of Rock County has found a home in Iowa. I recently toured a brand new 4,800-head finishing barn near where my daughter lives in rural Schaller, Iowa. She is the reason a part of the county she grew up in now has a home in another state. Courtney works for a company that builds those large hog confinements. Midwest Dry Cast, located south of Luverne, makes the concrete floor slats…
Pandemic hits this MeeMaw straight in the heart
By Mavis Fodness, reporter
May 19, 2020
My last in-person visit with my granddaughter, Jayden, was March 6. Almost 60 days later, on the bright, sunny Sunday morning of May 3, the grandmother in me knew it was time to see Jayden face to face. Unbeknownst to me, when my daughter Courtney told Jayden that MeeMaw Mavis was coming to Iowa for a visit, her response was “MeeMaw Mavis is not dead?” It’s been a long two months for my 2-year-…
Do as I say, not as I do
By Jason Berghorst, reporter
October 15, 2019
They say that working with kids keeps you young. Now in my 17th year of teaching, I’d say that’s true. As a teacher, I hear many of the new slang terms and even know what quite a few of them mean. I’m aware of many famous people on YouTube and I have a front row seat to unfortunate trends in clothing and hairstyles. I won’t comment on the return of male perms, but my profession did allow me to…

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