I recall being a youngster playing video games over at my neighbor’s house. He had an Atari, and that was the cream of the crop when it came to video game systems in the early ‘80s. However, we faced a problem at times. What would we do if the phone rang or someone knocked at the door? The Atari didn’t have a pause button, so it would either be ignore the phone/door or completely stop our game. (Usually the game took precedence!)

And lo, there came progress with video games – a pause button! It was amazing; no longer did we have to make a choice! Pause buttons also inundated boom boxes and VCRs, and we didn’t dread the ringing of the phone anymore! Plus, I could have my boom box set to record with the pause button depressed and then just hit it again when a good song came on the radio. I could tape out the commercials when I recorded a show on the TV. Life was good!

Pause buttons can still be found ubiquitously. However, kids today seem loath to use them. This is the problem in our house quite often. As soon as we remind our children of some chores awaiting them, we’re told they’re in the middle of an episode on Netflix or a video on YouTube. When reminded that it’s easy to pause and resume after the chores are complete, an eye roll often ensues. “Consider it a commercial break,” I might posit.

One of our largest problems in our technology-based educational system today is that students DON’T have any problem pushing the pause button on their homework. It’s quite easy, while working on an iPad or Chromebook, to skim over to YouTube and catch that latest Dan and Phil video or scan through the latest cute kitty memes. It’s not long before the homework is forgotten and the pause button quickly morphs into a stop.

We all need breaks at times. I freely admit to sidestepping work for five minutes to clear my mind. Over break, I had a virtual stack of stories to read, creative writing ranging from 2-11 pages in length. There’s no way I could barrel through even one section without a respite, especially when students continue to refuse to use the shift key while typing. Usually I can finish 5-7 stories like that before needing to come up for air. A couple games of Candy Crush or a jaunt through a comic book will get my mind cleared and back on track. In a way, it’s good for the kids whose papers I am correcting since I won’t let my frustration get too out of hand.

But that’s where it ends. I DO get back to my work in a timely fashion. I try to get work corrected and back to students within a day; the exception is essays and stories, where I might need a few days, depending on my schedule. In doing this, I try to model the behavior I expect of them – items completed on time. I know I can’t take huge breaks from plowing through some vocabulary sentences or they won’t get done. Once students recognize that a pause button is meant for brief breaks, the quality of work goes up.

One parent recently shared her frustration with her son’s iPad. “He always wants to play games and doesn’t get his work done,” she told me. I told her there are ways to limit some of the access and to only allow him use of the iPad when a special code is used. However, part of what we’re working on is teaching students responsibility with technology. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, part of that teaching has to come at home. If students are hitting that pause button too much, parents need to hover a bit, just as a boss will do at work someday if the employee isn’t getting work done.

Wouldn’t we all like to pause more? I just had my hair cut, and the lady who did the work showed me the back in a mirror to make sure it looked okay. As much as I didn’t think it would bother me, noticing the beginnings of a bald spot unnerved me a bit. I wish I could pause the loss of my hair, but it seems inevitable at this point.

Don’t we all wish we could have hit a pause button at various times before saying something we later regretted? We’ve all heard the axiom about thinking before speaking, but we’ve also all broken that at times. Oh, to have those moments back and pause before uttering those fateful words.

As we embark on the new year, it’s good to pause and take inventory of ourselves. We all look back at 2015 and glance ahead to 2016. However, don’t pause too long; you still have those chores to do!

Word of the Week: This week’s word is viridity, which means the state of being green, as in, “After the virdity of his yard disappeared under the snow, he was reminded that the shoveling wouldn’t complete itself.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

Moving rapidly into the New Year, the scurs had the Weather Eye firing on all cylinders. Will our lull in the snow activity continue or will we see more white stuff this time around? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of snow and sleet. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow rain in the daylight hours, then a good chance of snow by evening. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 30’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance of snow. Highs in the mid-30’s and and lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy and cooler with a slight chance of snow. Falling temperatures with highs in the low 20’s and lows near –5. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a slight chance of snow. Highs near zero and lows in the mid-single digits below zero. Monday, mostly cloudy and colder with highs near 10 and lows near zero. Cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-single digits above zero and lows near -5. The normal high for January 7th is 22 and the normal low is 4. The scurs have decided with the cooler forecast, hibernation suddenly looks very attractive.

Snowfall totals last week after press time varied somewhat, although amounts of snow in the 7” – 10” range were common. Melting the snow revealed .6” - .9” of liquid equivalent precipitation. It made for a mad scramble on Wednesday morning to get snow moved and transportation going again. Luckily, as has been the case with many snowfall events over the past several years, there wasn’t much in the way of a plunge in temperatures or wind following it. And not surprisingly, no one complained that there wasn’t. We wound up with 12.6” of snow for the month at the ranch, only .4” off of the normal at the SROC

About the only people complaining are those who want to do some ice fishing locally. Ice in the southern part of the state has been treacherous and the snowfall on top of it hasn’t helped matters. Some have been working along the lake edges with their portables, but there have been no reports of major activity. The predicted first below-zero temperatures of the season should help. In the meantime most have been convinced it’s not worth the risk. Colder temps, less snow, better ice and fishing to the north. 

The wind with the snowfall itself was northeast, so it dumped snow in places for many who really didn’t like it. At the ranch it was no exception, although the feedlot escaped relatively unscathed. Getting the driveway cleaned out enough to navigate didn’t take as long as I’d feared, in large part thanks to the time spent putting the chains on and moving things out of the way prior to the snowstorm. Not my first rodeo.

There have actually been a few clear nights and mornings in which to enjoy some of the astronomical occurrences. The brightest feature in the morning sky has been the “Morning Star” or Venus. The moon has had a partner as well with Jupiter tagging along in close proximity last week. Probably the most unique event though was the appearance of the Northern Lights. There was a fair amount of solar activity that was causing the particles to react in the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere. Of course the one night I wanted to see them, they were nowhere to be seen.

As mentioned in a previous edition, we continue to have a cat that adopted us sometime in the latter part of the summer. It has grown on us so that we did actually name it, calling it “Tincture.” It has helped keep the sparrow population at bay in the barn and is friendly, although it has a nasty habit of getting underfoot from time to time. Another negative is the fact it’s a female. We’re likely to see a bunch of kittens in the spring. After all as Betsy’s dad has always maintained, cats are a renewable resource.

With the snowfall we continue to see an uptick in bird activity around the yard, including pheasants. Up the road they’ve been congregating at one of the neighbors including a large number of hens. At the ranch we were blessed with a small group of Hungarian or gray partridge. The plump little gamebirds scurried around and kept me amused with their antics. Best of all they were in close proximity to the pear trees. Coincidence? I think not.

Some of the fruit of the new seeding from the kindly neighbors was put into action over the weekend. The Big Dubya brought one of the round bales up the road from the stash at his place. It was a welcome respite for Mr. Cheviot as this meant a temporary end to hand feeding the ewes in the feedlot. They of course were happy to see the bale and wasted no time once they discovered it to tear into the contents. Sure they’ll waste some of it but it’s not 160 RFV hay. It should be ideal for their stage of gestation is right about now. Somehow they still beller when they see us but at least they’re doing it with their mouths full.

Bumped into an old friend at the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. We couldn’t believe how the last year flew by and how quickly we’re already starting to saw into this one. Doesn’t seem to want to slow down either. Quite the contrary. Still lots of Christmas gatherings to attend yet too. Best solution: Buy lots of goodies to spoil grandkids and have treats on hand in case someone comes over. All part of the process.  

See you next week…real good then. 

Funeral services for Donald E. Myhre will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at the Cross of Glory Church, Hartland. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hillmer will officiate. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. 

Donald passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN on Friday, January 8, 2016. He was 83 years old.

Margaret Ann Crumb passed away at home with her husband and four children by her side on January 7, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. at the age of 83.

Margaret is survived by her devoted husband, Bill of 64 years. Bill married his dear, Maggie on June 26th, 1951, on Margaret’s 19th birthday at the First Presbyterian Church in Albert Lea, MN.

Margaret is lovingly remembered by children, Christine (Tom) Meyer of St. Paul, MN, Dennis of Duluth, MN, Rex (Collette) of Mahtomedi, MN and Rebecca (Jeff) Crumb-Johnson of Washburn, WI. She is survived by her grandchildren, Nick and Anne Meyer, Jake, Mackenzie and Will Crumb and Ida and Seth Johnson. She is also survived by her sister Marie Hall in Kanawah, Iowa, and many nieces and nephews.

The Waseca Sleigh and Cutter medallion is hidden outdoors, on public property within the Waseca city limits.

A $1,750 prize of Chamber Dollars and store certificates will be awarded to the person who finds the medallion.

Bring the medallion to Charlie’s Hardware. Clues will be published each week in the Waseca County News and NRHEG Star Eagle. Clues will also be broadcast on KRUE and KOWZ Radio and will be available online at Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Duane Roland Wachholz, age, 79 of Nisswa, passed on Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at Good Samaritan Society–Oakwood in Brainerd from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was born on July 19, 1936 in Waconia to Rueben and Luella Wachholz. He attended Waconia High School then entered and dutifully served in the Marine Corps from 1954-1956. His long career in sales and marketing of the music industry gained him great success and many long-lasting friendships before retiring to a lake home on Roy Lake. Duane was an avid boater who loved the outdoors, especially his shed that housed all of his toys. He loved Jesus, life, laughter, and most of all his family.

Funeral services for Florence E. Possehl will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. Pastor James Kassera will officiate. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at Bonnerup Funeral Service in Albert Lea. Interment will be in Hillcrest Cemetery.

Florence E. Possehl passed away Friday, January 1, 2016 at Thorne Crest Retirement Community in Albert Lea, MN. She was 90 years old.

On July 17, 1925 Florence was born to Rosamunda and Otto Neumann in Waseca County, rural Minnesota. She graduated from high school in New Richland. She worked at the Hemp Plant and the meat market in New Richland after high school. Then, she married her husband, Alfred John Possehl at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in New Richland on January 20, 1950. After getting married, Florence worked on two dairy farms and help with chores. In August of 1958, the couple moved into their Adams Ave residence in Albert Lea.

The University of Minnesota, Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC) will hold their annual Winter Crops Day meetings at five locations.

Beginning Wednesday, January 13 the program will be held at the Community Center in St. Charles. On Thursday, January 14, programs will be held at the Community Center in Arlington and a new location, Lakes Sports Bar & Grill in Lake Crystal. On Friday, January 15 the program will be held at EVENTS in Kasson and the Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca. The program will be similar at all locations. 

For specific topics and times, details can be found at the SROC web site at: www.sroc.cfans.umn.edu or contact your local or regional Extension office of the SROC at (507) 835-3620.

New Richland represented well in 1948 district finals

(Editor’s note: Part four of a seven-part series about local, area, and state amateur and professional boxing.)

By RODNEY HATLE

Contributing Writer

A review of the process shows how boxers of Gene Mobley’s New Richland training group faired in the Golden Gloves District 17 boxing tournament of 1948.

The fight card of eight bouts for the Wednesday, Jan. 28, finals lists four individuals as compared with six from Bethlehem Academy in Faribault, and three each from Owatonna and Northfield.

The finals began with New Richland’s Lester Root, flyweight at 105 pounds, and Earl Parriott, bantamweight at 118.

In the fourth bout was 133-pound lightweight Rodney Zwiener, who had advanced Saturday night with a second round TKO when the referee halted it because of the opponent’s increasingly swollen eye, the result of a round-one punch. But Zwiener was himself knocked out in round two of the finals by Jack Kennedy of Faribault. He “went down after a smashing right to the face and failed to get up by the count of ten,” was the Owatonna newspaper report.

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Everyone’s heard of the NBA’s version of The Big Three.

Around these parts, The Big Three reside in New Richland.

The NRHEG boys’ basketball team’s triple towers — Oakley Baker, John Cole and Tyler Raimann — all scored in double figures for the second straight game as the Panthers improved to 7-3, defeating Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 81-49 in Saturday’s Bethany Lutheran Christmas Tournament and blowing out visiting Blooming Prairie 79-52 Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Cole scored 18 points, Baker and Raimann 16 each at Mankato. Also for the Panthers: Chad Agrimson eight, Jack Schultz eight, Benji Lundberg seven, Sam Prigge three, Luke Overgaard two, Jason Jongbloedt two, Tyler Schlaak one.

The Panthers used a late first-half run to take a 16-point lead into halftime.