ruminations
By Mavis Fodness, reporterSeptember 11, 2024Ten years. It was September 2014 when I started working as a full-time reporter at the Star Herald. A decade’s worth of time capturing the local news and happenings of Rock County. It seems like time has just sped by, and yet it doesn’t. I’ve attended hundreds of meetings and events … talked to hundreds of sources and completed hundreds of stories. I’ve been there for times of joy and…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterAugust 14, 2024Two months ago I wrote about how my mother blossomed into a different person since moving into Tuff Home in Hills late last year. For as long as I can remember, she mainly showed her stubborn side and rarely let a softer side of her personality shine. On Sunday, at the age of 96, and after living a full life on her own terms, my mother died. Her service is today (Aug. 15), and I agreed to…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterJuly 17, 2024Standing in the middle of Main Street Luverne during Thursday’s Hot Dog Night, I heard a small voice ask, “Are you a newspaper reporter?” Mary (Galagan) Arnold, LHS Class of 1972, was the voice behind the question. With an affirming smile she explained that nine members of her family came to Luverne. One, her son-in-law Kendall Rhyne, set attending Hot Dog Night as a bucket list item. He wasn…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterJune 19, 2024Father’s Day meant a three-generation gathering at our Hardwick farm. There was food, an air-conditioned garage and a recently purchased jungle gym to keep the youngest generation busy. Laughs and a good meal were shared by all the families involved. Family, I’ve realized, has a myriad of definitions. A more traditional definition of family is those related by birth or marriage. Another…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterMay 22, 2024September marks my longest stint working at the same job, and I’d like to thank my predecessor for the opportunity. I began working at the Star Herald in September 2014 as Brenda Winter left the newsroom to focus her energies on her health. This year will mark an important milestone for her, too. Luckily for the Star Herald and our readers, Brenda continues to regularly write her column, “…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterMay 01, 2024Mother’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…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterApril 10, 2024Steps through life are very straightforward. As children we’re told we’ll attend school when we’re old enough and we’re encouraged to achieve a high school diploma. Then we embark on a 50-year journey working at a job or advancing a career before retiring. Some of us get married, have children and become grandparents. And then we die. Instructions for the first three-fourths of my life have…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterMarch 20, 2024Next week the Star Herald will publish its annual Home, Lawn and Garden special section. For this year’s feature in that edition, I interviewed Madison Ziegler who recently started Carzel Interior Solutions in Luverne. Among other things, her business finds solutions to the clutter we tend to collect in our homes. After talking with Madison, I’ve decided to do some decluttering by joining…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterFebruary 28, 2024In an era of political correctness, I’m happy to see a state agency is not shying away from humor, and it comes from an unlikely department: the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Eight years ago, the Department of Transportation began “Message Mondays,” where the state’s electronic message boards along state highways and interstates display safety messages to travelers. The target…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterFebruary 07, 2024Attending 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…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterJanuary 17, 2024For the new year, I am participating in a 12-week Healthy Human Challenge with about 120 like-minded individuals. Daily points are assigned for meeting our nutrition and step goals. More points are added for drinking water, getting enough sleep, and listening to a self-improvement podcast. I’m motivated to amass the 2,600 points necessary to fulfill the three-month challenge. One thing I’ve…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterDecember 27, 2023Last Tuesday the Star Herald newsroom received devastating news from the Luverne community. Josh Stroh, a 15-year-old student at LHS, died at home, another precious child lost to suicide. Our hearts instantly hurt, the shocking news momentarily bringing office chatter to a halt. In the silence, the news began to sink in and my reporter instincts began to rise. I asked myself, is this incident…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 29, 2023Spending time with my grandchildren over Thanksgiving brought home the fact that they never sit still. If they needed to get somewhere, they ran. Running, to children, is second nature. Running, to an adult, means relearning what used to come naturally. I want to regain that carefree feeling of my childhood, where I could run for what seemed like miles with very little effort. For several…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 08, 2023Several times I’ve watched Chelsie Hermsen’s YouTube videos. I’ve learned she is funny, poignant and a realist. Never mind she uses a wheelchair and her cerebral palsy slows her speech. The spunky 38-year-old started her own channel in March, regularly producing and posting videos. Her goal: To reach 300 subscribers. She currently has 65. I don’t know Chelsie personally and only became aware…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterOctober 18, 2023Members of the S7 Wellness Group (which includes me) have been challenged this month to get more individuals signed up for our virtual health group. For each new member we attract, we’ll receive $100 — that we can split with the new member. I thought I would give the challenge a try and completed the required Facebook posts about my own wellness journey that began a year ago. At that time, I…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterSeptember 27, 2023A teal-colored envelope arrived in our mailbox last week, days after our farm dog, Lucy, was struck by a car. The card inside read, “There will forever be a place in your heart for such a good and faithful friend.” Its message brought tears, and they spilled over to sobs when four squares of paper slipped out of the card. Inked on each square was a single paw print – for each of Lucy’s four…
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