column
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 23, 2025I enjoy seeing the variety of Christmas trees this time of year as people’s personal tastes and holiday spirit are expressed in their choice of lights and ornaments on the branches. Many are truly beautiful, and I marvel at the creative investment in each of them. My tree is also beautiful, in its own homemade sort of way. When the kids were little, they made ornaments in Sunday school and…
By Rick Peterson, General ManagerDecember 23, 2025It’s not often that my column hits the stands and mailbox the day before Christmas. So, I thought I would take the opportunity to share a few of my Christmas memories from childhood to grandpa-hood. My earliest childhood memories of Christmas date back to the late 1960s and very early 1970s. The Peterson family Christmas schedule was the same year after year. There was the Christmas Eve church…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterDecember 17, 2025My youngest child was married Saturday in an early evening ceremony in southern California. The event brought a little glimmer of happiness to my days that have been overshadowed with grief at the loss of his dad five months ago. As I sat watching Adam and Adriana exchange vows, I reflected on those two weeks in July — of waiting in the hospital for hopeful news followed by Bryan’s visitation…
By Rick Peterson, General ManagerDecember 09, 2025There are only about three weeks left in the 2025 pheasant hunting season, and due to some mobility issues, I haven’t hunted once this season. However, I have hunted vicariously through other hunters’ Facebook posts and watching YouTube videos. By all accounts from the locals, I am missing out on a banner year of available roosters. Jeff Haubrich had a recent Facebook post where he shared what…
By Scott Rall, Outdoors ColumnistDecember 09, 2025As soon as Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is the Christmas shuffle that creeps up on me. I do not wait until the last day or two, but I am never way ahead of time. I get a bad taste in my mouth when I must default to a gift certificate when all else fails or the procrastination overcomes me. I am a “consumable-product-gift” kind of guy. Buying a gift that sits on a shelf or hangs on a wall…
By Lori Sorenson, editorDecember 03, 2025This week’s Star Herald went to press without the trusty guidance of our proofreader, Esther Frakes, who retired after our Nov. 26 edition. We have smart and capable staff who are assuming Esther’s duties, but we are all nervous about carrying on without her. For 21 years, we’ve enjoyed the assurance of Esther’s eagle eyes on our final drafts before press time. Her job was to catch errors in…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 25, 2025Over the decades, Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday. It’s a day where I’ve stayed home, and Bryan and I would prepare a Thanksgiving dinner. We grew to be partners in the kitchen, each of us preparing a portion of the meal. At first, the guest list included only grandparents, but it grew to include our four children and my sister’s family. We’ve served as many as 20 people in our…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 25, 2025Last weekend The Blue Mounds State Park was closed to the public because of the annual youth deer hunt. Ten hunters between the ages of 12 and 15 spent the weekend trying to harvest a deer. Each of the hunters along with an adult mentor, generally a parent or grandparent, spent the time in pre-determined hunting zones. Only the youth hunters were allowed to harvest a deer. This will be the…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianNovember 25, 2025The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Dec. 11, 1941. A 91-year-old “youngster” who can walk 10 blocks down town and back faster than many people 50 years younger, is this week’s member of the Star’s Diamond Club. He is David Wood McKay, better known as “Dave” among his many acquaintances in Luverne and surrounding community. Born in Scotland on August 15, 1850, and not coming to…
By Brenda Winter, columnistNovember 19, 2025On an early November morning three years ago, Mom and I sat in the living room. She was holding a fluffy, blue and white blanket. Her shortness of breath made it clearer that her remaining time on earth was short. I didn't know the blanket’s ownership was in dispute between Mom and my nephew until she said quietly, “Kingston gets the blanket.” Apparently she and her 8-year-old grandson had a…
By Scott Rall, outdoors columnistNovember 19, 2025The news is always full of car crashes and other accidents. Some are farm- or work-related or others might be as simple as a guy falling off a ladder or crashing to earth from a tree stand. Almost all of these have one thing in common: The name of the person who died or was critically injured is a name I have never even heard of before. That changed on Nov. 8 when Luverne lost a community…
By Lori Sorenson, editorNovember 12, 2025The American poet John Russell Hays wrote, “The Groves Were God’s First Temples” in 1895 as a tribute to nature. I’m not a fan of abstract poetry and didn’t even know the poem existed until a friend shared it with me after learning about my frequent walks in our grove. I’ve written columns about the joy of long walks on gravel roads, either with a friend or with a dog. However, our aging lab-…
By Rick Peterson, general managerNovember 12, 2025This Friday is opening night for the Green Earth Players’ musical production of “Little Shop of Horrors” under the direction of Shawn Kinsinger and Carol Ceynowa. There will be seven shows altogether: Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week and Thursday through Sunday next week. Show times are at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Ticket prices are $14 for adults and $7 for students…
By Mavis Fodness, reporterNovember 05, 2025Marie Kondi is a professional organizer who’s developed a way to create a happy living environment by using our feelings, in particular, the feeling of joy. I find myself craving joy in my new-found widowhood, and the search for joy has been exhausting and elusive. There’s been retail therapy, emersion in each grandchild’s activities … and even a tattoo. Meanwhile, I’ve been working to…
By Calla Jarvie, Rock County Library directorNovember 05, 2025November at the library Holy cow, you guys, the library is busy this month. Normally I save the last couple of paragraphs for events at the library, but there’s so much going on in November, I’m going to use the entire article to talk about it. The Rock County Community Library is having its very own series of TED Talk showings! At 6 p.m. for three Mondays (Nov. 10, 17 and 24) the library will…- By Pastor Joshua HaydenOctober 29, 2025In a conundrum or in despair we run in haste To a life of prayer that revives, But when life is good we slow our pace Because we do not understand the word “abide.” A sign in our yard to keep on praying Is easier than to actually meet for an hour. Yet we see churches all over decaying Because we are not dependent on God’s power. “But I can pray wherever I go!” We shout with self-…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
