Once again the Christmas season is upon us and for some of us it is time to get that “little kid” feeling — if only for a short time. I guess I’d have to say that I still get a certain warm feeling inside whenever I drive past houses lit up with colorful Christmas lights. It seems as if there are getting to be fewer and fewer houses displaying Christmas lights each year, which is kind of sad. Maybe it’s the economy or just a sign of the times. I know that our little granddaughter, Emma, still marvels at houses that are all lit up and thinks it’s a real treat when Mom and Dad go out of the way to drive past those houses.

I can still remember my folks loading me and my sister Judy into the car and driving around town to see all the houses decorated with lights. There were a few homes with nativity scenes which depicted the true meaning of Christmas, and I can remember thinking how special that was. We would also go “Uptown,” which has now turned into “Downtown,” to shop or just look in the windows of the stores that were all decorated for Christmas. I can still hear the Ho-Ho-Ho of the mechanical Santa in the window of the Skinner Chamberlain Department store. Those were simple times when folks had time to talk and weren’t all consumed with the electronic toys of today’s world. The town was always lit up with the traditional strings of garland and lights strung across the intersections and the sounds of music playing with the Salvation Army bell ringers chorusing in. Our family didn’t have a lot of money, but we didn’t really need a lot because we were satisfied with the simple things that meant the most;  like a good home, food on the table and most importantly, family.

Speaking of family, my grandson Trevor is not only an avid fisherman but he’s also quite the hunter. He loves waterfowl hunting and he especially loves to goose hunt. On one of his goose hunting excursions he bagged a different looking goose and, after doing a little research, he discovered that it was a Quill Lake goose which comes from an area in the vicinity of the village of Quill Lake Saskatchewan. It is thought that these geese actually have a genetic trait that developed over the years while nesting in this particular area of Canada.

The following is a quote from an experienced waterfowl hunter from South Dakota about this particular goose.

“Quill Lake goose is a distinctive goose with mainly white patches on the wing tips and a white stripe on the bottom of it neck starting at the bottom of the chin (so called) all the way down to the start of the crop. You will also notice that there is a big white patch or two or three on his chest which is very distinctive. It is resident mostly in Canada and they migrate (very few) to the southern states.”

This particular hunter said that if you are lucky enough to shoot one, you should mount it because you don’t see them very often.

When I asked Trevor what he wanted for Christmas, he said I could just give him some money to put towards getting that goose mounted. That works for me and it is also something that he will have for years to come.

Now that the waterfowl season is behind us for a few months, I am hoping Trevor and I can spend some time doing a little “hard water” fishing. Of course now it’s him doing most of the work and I am just going along for the fun part. It’s kind of funny how things go full circle from the days when he’d go fishing with me and I’d spend a fair amount of time untangling lines and retrieving lures from shoreline tree branches. Ahh! Those were the days that seemed to go by all too fast.

As I write this column my mouth is beginning to water, just a little, because I’m thinking of the lutefisk feast that lies ahead. Until next time, have a very “Merry Christmas” and a joyous New Year.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers during this holiday season because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes From the Loafers’ Club Meeting

"I got Mom a box of those chocolate-covered cherries."

"That’s what I got her, too."

"Oh, oh."

"No worries. I ate all of those I bought for her."

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: always buy more wrapping paper, Christmas cards and Scotch tape than you think you'll need.

I’ve learned

• Anyone who believes a man is equal to a woman has never watched a man wrap a Christmas present.

• A pitchfork makes a great Christmas gift because there is no tine like the present.

• My wife likes chocolate-covered chocolate.

‘Tis the season

It was windy, but only on one side.

It was just over 75 degrees. Somewhere, but not where I was. There were sounds of windshields being scraped and snow shoveled.

Santa Claus was coming to town, weather permitting.

Despite the weather conditions, if I’d been a bell, I would have been ringing. I’m not a bell, so I was ringing bells for the Salvation Army in a busy store having a sale on jaegerschnitzelmeisterstrudel.

A shopper came into the store in which I rang bells. She was carrying her little boy. The tot, wearing a snowsuit, was sound asleep. She grabbed a shopping cart and placed the lad into it. He remained asleep. A half-hour later, when she wheeled her cart back into the herd of carts, the boy was still asleep. He was surrounded by bags of groceries, but remained slumbering. He had learned the secret to painless shopping.

Another day, it was 12° below zero, yet the wind still managed to blow fiercely. The woman said that the parking lot was far from her workplace. After her long walk in the wind and cold, she had never been happier to get to work.

Give grace to those in long lines and may the temperature fall more slowly than your credit card balance.

Yes, it tis

At a typical Christmas dinner, Mom yells, "Get out of my kitchen!"

The older kids yell at the younger ones, "Stop running! You'll break something!"

Dad yells, "Get out of the way! I can't see the TV!"

The little ones yell, "It's my toy! Give it back!"

All this yelling is why this is known as the Holler Day Season.

May the force of Christmas be with you

It was the fight between good and evil. Darth Vader battled Luke Skywalker. Suddenly in the middle of the fight, Darth pulled Luke to him and whispered, "I know what you're getting for Christmas."

Luke said, "No, you don’t."

"Yes, I do," Darth replied.

This bothered Luke, who screamed, "How could you know?"

Darth took one of those creepy breaths before responding, "I felt your presents."

Customer comments

Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut and the sixth man to walk on the moon, told me that when he saw Earth from space, he thought it silly to divide it among nations.

Did you know?

• According to a Wall Street Journal study, the average amount of time the football is in play during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.

• Men's noses are about 10 percent larger than women's on average according to a University of Iowa study.

• Allstate America's Best Drivers Report named Fort Collins, Colo. as "America's Safest Driving City." Washington, D.C. ranked at the bottom of the list.

• Only four MLB players played in every game last season — Prince Fielder of Detroit, Billy Butler of Kansas City, Joey Votto of Cincinnati and Hunter Pence of San Francisco.

• There are 147 nations that have a leader who is titled "President."

• Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter pays $265,000 in property taxes on his Tampa, Fla. mansion that includes two three-car garages, yacht docks and lifts, seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

• According to an article in Scientific American, the human brain has a memory storage capacity of 2.5 petabytes. If the brain were a digital video recorder, that would hold three million hours of TV shows.

Nature notes

"Can birds predict the weather?" Apparently. Most birds can sense small changes in barometric pressure. If the activity at bird feeders becomes more intense than normal, a storm may be approaching. During storms, a feeder becomes a reliable food source. Birds aren’t dependent upon feeders, but the foods offered there might make it easier for birds to weather a storm. Besides, feeding them allows us to see lovely creatures.

Meeting adjourned

"Life is mostly froth and bubble; two things stand like stone; kindness in another’s trouble, courage in your own."-–Adam Lindsay Gordon

Merry Christmas.

As 2014 approaches, many of us think about ways to change our lives for the better in the new year. Many make a big deal about resolutions, but the reality is most of us don’t keep them for very long.

The practice of making resolutions goes back to the ancient Babylonians, who promised to repay their debts in the year ahead and return any objects they had borrowed. The Romans made the same promises to their god Janus, who was a two-headed god. He looked both behind and ahead, which is where we get the name of our first month of the calendar year. Even medieval knights took what was called a “peacock vow” to renew their vows of chivalry.

I’m guessing the knights kept their vows for the most part, but the Babylonians and Romans might have been in the same boat as many of us: the resolutions went by the wayside by the end of January. A study in 2007 showed that 88% of all people who make resolutions fail. That success rate makes you wonder why people even try.

But try we do, and those who find success can feel even better about themselves; after all, they’re a small percentage! Studies have also shown that the success rate goes up when the resolution is shared with others. With that in mind, I’d like to share some resolutions that maybe we can all work on together and find success in some shared goals.

One area I’d like to improve is judging other people. It’s very easy to do that, and I’m certainly guilty of it in this column. There are times someone needs to be called out or a discussion can ensue about certain actions from prominent figures in the news. However, in day-to-day life, this is an area I can improve, and I’m guessing I’m not alone.

If it’s one thing Mr. Bunn has brought to our school as the principal, it’s to look at the whole person before we pass judgment. It’s easy to get upset with a student who does not do any work or who takes attitude with you, but sometimes there is more to the story. Maybe the child’s parents are going through a divorce. Maybe someone in the family was diagnosed with an illness. Maybe Dad lost his job or Mom got evicted.

All these things can lead to a student acting out or not being motivated to work. We should try to help that student through the difficult time but also give the child a comforting place in which he or she can feel safe and wanted, which might not always be the case at home.

I can always work on being a better father and husband. Again, many of you might be able to say the same; I don’t know if any of us are ever perfect.

I don’t always understand the needs of my kids and sometimes get frustrated when I can see a clear solution to their problem, but they cannot. Sometimes logic does not take center stage, and the better I understand that, the better parent I can be.

I don’t always express my feelings to Michelle either. Too many times, I have too much going on in my head, and I fail to tell her something important or don’t listen enough when she has something to tell me. As you read this, maybe you can relate. Michelle and I have a great marriage, but I know it’s an area that many couples find needs work and constant vigilance.

There are times I feel I am too busy. It seems there is something going on every evening and/or some meeting at school that I need to attend. Instead of cutting back, I have at least tried to stop taking on more. I’ve got to start limiting the stretching I do to accommodate the needs of others, or the people closest to me will suffer, as will I.

The kids will always keep me busy, and that’s great. I want them to be involved and try new things. They’re learning too that sometimes there is only so much they can do, but finding those boundaries is a great life skill to know already.

Won’t you join me in trying to become a better person? I know I’m not alone in these resolutions, and maybe together we can be part of the 12% that succeed!

Word of the Week: This week’s word is importune, which means to ask someone repeatedly to do something, as in, “The columnist importuned his readers week after week to make progress on their shared resolutions.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs are ready to close out the New Year once again. Seems like it was only about a year ago. What will the reaper leave on our doorstep this year? Starting Wednesday, a slight chance of snow with partly sunny skies. Highs in the mid 20’s and lows near zero. Mostly sunny for Thursday, highs in the middle single digits and lows between -5 and – 8. Friday, partly sunny with highs in the upper teens and lows of 10 to 15. Partly sunny again for Saturday and warmer with highs in the upper 20’s and lows near 10. Mostly cloudy Sunday with highs of 10 to 15 and lows near zero. Mostly cloudy for Monday with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the upper single digits. Partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow for Tuesday. Highs in the mid-teens and lows in the upper single digits. The normal high for New Year’s Eve Day is 23 and the normal low is 5. The scurs will be breaking out the noisemakers and filling themselves with good cheer.

Permanent fish houses have begun to appear on area lakes. There are a few people driving out, but they are tending to park their vehicles on shore and walk out to the houses. Frost depth in the ground somewhat mirrors the ice thickness on area lakes. Reports of a foot or so of ice on area lakes are not uncommon. As of last Monday there was 15” of frost in the ground as measured at the SROC in Waseca on bare ground. This week’s cold temperatures and relatively light snow cover will promise to drive that frost and make the ice even deeper.

The trees are silhouetted against the sky now, with the exception of the evergreens of course. Those deciduous trees, however, serve as a reminder of all the birds that nested over the summer. The hard maple tree had three nests in it. As dense as its canopy of leaves were this past year, there was no telling what might’ve been nesting in it. There are many other bird nests scattered in the trees throughout the yard, another reason sleeping with the windows closed in June is a good idea if you don’t want to wake up at 4 a.m. Numerous squirrel nests have also appeared scattered throughout the trees. The squirrels seem to have it figured out. They come down out of the nest when they feel like it. Otherwise they stay in bed. The pin oak tree is bitterly clinging to last summer’s leaves. With each blustery winter day a few more are loosened up and by spring, they’ll be history as well.

With the snow melt this past week, snow cover has become patchy. As a result, the bird activity has slowed once again at the ranch. Out here it almost seems that we need to have pretty good cover to bring out the best variety. Sure we still have our faithful downies, hairies, blue jays, and juncos, but it seems the more exotic things like the cardinals are less apt to be seen without snow here. We have had a Harris sparrow that seems to be hanging around with the juncos, but that’s about as exotic as it gets for the winter so far.

Staying inside once we get in from chores seems to be the order of the day. I have learned one thing though: You have to be careful with all the static electricity in the house right now. Ruby loves to play with her ball and hence generates a lot of it. When her tail happened to bump against the laptop, I heard a spark and immediately the screen turned to snow. I couldn’t get back what I was working on without rebooting the confuser and then parts of it that weren’t saved were gone. I’m sure what I was working on wasn’t literary award winning material. Still, wouldn’t want to have that happen too many times.

The cold winter temperatures also have us watching TV when there is actually something fit to watch. Sunday night The Sound of Music was on, so we decided to watch it after not seeing it for a long time. The dogs sometimes like to come in and watch too, although Fudgie is indifferent about television, usually opting to stay in her room and sleep. Typically that’s a good call. Ruby and I were all curled up with our popcorn. All was going well until Julie Andrews made her appearance. Ruby saw her and started one of her patented growling fits that escalated into loud barking. First Clint Eastwood and now Julie Andrews. What on earth is the world coming to? 

And with the advent of the smartphone, I’ve become lazy in my gift buying decisions for the staff at the Star Eagle. These days, since we can just point the phone at anything and our problems are magically solved without having to think or work, I figured I’d find them some apps as gifts. Can’t wait to see this stuff show up on my bill. Here’s what we found:

Let’s see for Jim, a hair growing app. Point the phone at your melon; you grow hair. Simple. If it stays this cold he’s going to need it. For Mark, an app that makes your voice sound like Jules Perlt so you’re ready for the Barn when they call. For Al, a bird ID app. Oops! He wrote it. O.K., a hat app instead. Careful, Jim may steal it. For Kathy, a column writing app. Hey, that’s what I use. For Kugie, a sports trivia and prognostication app. The scurs use the weather version. Guaranteed to increase your predictive capabilities or your money back. Did I mention it’s a free app? For Sara, a hair and makeup application app. Should save time on those rushed mornings when you’re late to work. My sheep shearer uses a similar version. Hopefully I got the right one. For Nicole, a copy correction app.  Won’t work on Fencelines columns. They are beyond repair. And for Reed, a little fat buddy secret decoder app. It reveals those hidden messages in Fencelines columns. Paul is dead…Paul is dead. See? It really works. Truly a one of a kind, just like Reed.

Merry Christmas! See you next week…real good then.

Memorial services for Donald Howard Koppen of Ellendale, MN, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 28, 2013 at the Bonnerup Funeral Service Chapel in Albert Lea, MN. Pastor Lisa Dodd will officiate. Friends may greet the family one hour prior to the service on Saturday. Interment will be in the spring at Graceland Cemetery, Albert Lea, MN.

Donald died Friday, December 20, 2013 at the Valley view Assisted Living in Owatonna, MN. He was 64 years of age.

NRHEG School Board

By REED WALLER

Staff Writer

NRHEG’s 2013 payable 2014 budget shows an approximately $200,000 increase in next year’s tax levy over previous years, as revealed at the district’s annual Truth in Taxation hearing Monday, Dec. 16 at 6:00 p.m. just preceding the regular monthly board meeting. This represents an approximately 16 percent increase.

The Truth in Taxation hearing is held every December for taxpayers’ information purposes, and is required by law if there is a substantial change in the levy amount from one year to the next.

The reason for the upcoming levy increase is building projects undertaken this year which required bond financing, including first payment on the new construction at New Richland, and extensive asbestos abatement.

By REED WALLER

Staff Writer

The Ellendale City Council, at their regular meeting last Thursday, approved a four percent increase in the city levy for 2014. This represents an increase of $11,646 over last year’s $318,764.

This decision followed intense discussion regarding a recent increase in state funding, and whether a levy increase was really called for.

City Clerk Lee Ann Hojberg reported to the Council that the City of Ellendale should be receiving a 28.4 percent increase in Local Government Aid for next year. This would mean approximately an additional $35,000.

The Minnesota State Legislature in their 2013 session okayed an additional $80 million for LGA funding. 

Main Street Dental Clinics of Blooming Prairie, Owatonna, New Richland and Rochester will provide free dental care to less fortunate children on Saturday, February 8th, 2014 at their Blooming Prairie and New Richland locations. People interested in scheduling an appointment may call the dental office at 507-583-2141 for our Blooming Prairie clinic and 507-463-050 for the New Richland clinic starting on Wednesday, January 1st, and ask to schedule for “Give Kids a Smile.”

By DALE KUGATH

Sportswriter

The state’s top-ranked Class AA team has shown no dents in the armor yet. 

The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls’ basketball team humbled a pair of opponents last week. 

The Panthers buried Waseca on its home court last Tuesday. 

NRHEG pounded Gopher Conference foe Faribault B.A. into submission Friday. 

The two wins lifted the Panthers to 2-0 in the conference and 4-0 for the year. 

Waseca

WASECA – NRHEG coasted to a 47-18 halftime lead in blasting the Bluejays 70-31 in Waseca Dec. 10. Waseca fell to 1-3 with the loss.