With my 49th birthday looming just around the corner, it sure is a good thing that 50 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 30. I am not sure what all that means other than it’s apparently a new way of not admitting you’re getting older. It’s hard to say what we’ll be reporting on the week of my birthday, but I thought I would check back to see what the Star Herald was reporting on 49 years ago the week of my birthday. According to the Star Herald, Merle Geving had just been named the new City Superintendent. Gilbert Tuff had left between $100,000 to $150,000 dollars to build an "old folks" home. His will had two stipulations, and they were that construction on the home had to be started within two years and the new home was to be built in Hills. I wonder who suggested it be named after Mr. Tuff. I also found it interesting the paper published what other family members received in the will.Creegers was advertising men’s Hyde Park suits priced at $65; women’s HAVENMIST 100-percent wool fall coats sold for $65 as well. The local Piggly Wiggly had round steak on special for 69 cents a pound and coffee sold for 95 cents.Farm markets that week were posted at rye-$1.00, wheat- $2.02, soybeans-$2.06, No. 2 corn-$1.07 and No. 3 at $1.02.Back-to-school specials at Nelson’s Department store included denim jeans at $1.00 to $1.98 and Converse basketball shoes were priced at $6.98.Renfro Variety Store was offering a free bag of freshly roasted peanuts to school kids when they made a purchase of 50 cents or more.The Luverne Style Shop had a rack of cotton dresses on sale for $5 each.Herman Motors was having a sale on used cars. A 1951 Mercury Sedan was priced at $525. A 1949 Chevy Sedan with a radio was listed at $149 and you could get a 1949 Dodge Sedan for $95.On the subject of birthdays, at a recent birthday celebration, Bernie H. bought a round for friends. Apparently Bernie’s friends were so shocked by Bernie’s generosity that they requested we give Bernie a Thumps Up from the paper. Well, this isn’t a thumps up, but it’s close. And remember, Bernie, it’s always better to give than receive.