By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

When a new piece of land was settled in the early years, the most important thing to be established was the church. The congregations of old were devoted in their religion, and felt the need for a God's House where they could meet and praise the Lord.

Though they often had to meet in homes at the beginning, and later share time with traveling ministers, they worked to establish a church of their own.

Such was the case of St. Peter Lutheran Church of New Richland, which is preparing to celebrate its 125th anniversary this weekend.

For the church’s 125th anniversary, the Rev. Scott Williams, former pastor Rev. Philip Lewison, and Bishop Steven Delzer of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod will lead the Sunday worship service on January 25th at 10:30 a.m. and a dinner for the members of the church will follow.

My 7th graders are working on essays right now, and sometimes, as a way of becoming better at teaching, I’ll engage in practicing along with them. Following is an essay I’ve put together regarding mandatory community service:

Look at me, look at me! I’m the center of attention! For many teenagers, this idea is the beginning and ending of their world. If something does not help or affect them, it does not matter. This is why mandatory community service should be a requirement for high school graduation. Helping others is a good resume builder. Volunteering is a good way to broaden a social network. Plus, community service is needed and is the right thing to do. For these reasons, all students need to perform community service before being awarded a diploma.

If everybody has to help with community service, how can that possibly help a resume? Wouldn’t everybody have the same thing? This is only true if you do the bare minimum and do not put forth much effort in your search for community work. However, if you have an idea of what you want to do after your schooling, you can find many opportunities that would fit into your future area of expertise. Students going into a medical field can volunteer at hospitals or nursing homes. If you are interested in teaching, you can volunteer in a school or with a parent-teacher organization. Opportunities abound for motivated students to build their resumes through community work.

Look at a typical teenager’s Facebook page; they probably have hundreds of friends. Why would they need a bigger social network? The real question should be: how many of their “friends” will help them get a job someday? In a world where jobs are becoming scarcer and being outsourced to different countries, the idea of who you know becomes more important than what you know. President Obama said in Time back in 2009, in regards to community service, “You'll get work experience, you'll make contacts, you'll network, you'll expand your community in a way that ultimately will be good for you.” These contacts will be good references to have when in the hunt for a paying job someday. Who knows? Maybe they will help you get a job at the location you volunteered.

If all this community service is supposed to be for the good of others, why make it mandatory? Many people do not realize how good something can be for them until they try it. Think of some of the foods you did not want to try when you were young. Some of those are probably now foods you enjoy. According to Richard Stengel, also in Time, but in 2007, “It is the simple but compelling idea that…national service… should become a countrywide rite of passage.” For a generation of young people who have a reputation of being egocentric and focused only on themselves, this is a chance to show that they can rise above that and look out for the welfare of others as well.

As you can see, mandatory community service would be a good thing for all high school students to complete. The duration of that service could be debated, but the reasons to do it are clear. Helping others is a good resume builder.  Volunteering is a good way to broaden a social network. Plus, community service is needed and is the right thing to do. Thank you for your time and for considering the idea of community service for all students.

Okay, some of you are shuddering at memories of essay writing when you were in school (or currently, if you are right now!). Still, I’ve always thought that essays are the easiest pieces to write since they follow a basic pattern: introduce your topic, elaborate and prove, and wrap everything up. Creative writing is much more difficult since you have to start from scratch, but that’s a column for another time.

So should we have mandatory community service for our high school students? Clearly, by my essay, you can see that I think so. The question is: how do we make it happen?

Word of the Week: This week’s word is pregustator, which means a person who has the job of tasting food or drink before it’s served, as in, “The student needed to volunteer, so he became a pregustator at the nursing home, making sure the food wasn’t too spicy.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs smiled smugly about their use of Exlax in the Gremlin radiator. Cleaned the Weather Eye out big time. They’ve liked this recent weather so much they’re considering putting aground up copy of the ACA in it next. Someone told them it says if you like your weather, you can keep it. Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs near 30 and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the low 20’s. Friday, mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy Saturday with a slight chance for evening snow showers. Highs around the freezing mark with lows in the low 20’s. Sunday, cloudy with a modest chance for snow. Highs around 30 with lows in the low teens. Cloudy on Monday with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Tuesday, cloudy with a modest chance for snow. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows around 10. We’ll experience 9 ½ hours of daylight on the 23rd, the first time since November 19th. The normal high for January 25th is 23 and the normal low is 4. After a trip to Wisconsin, the scurs are thinking they may be able to heat their abode for the remainder of the season with all the foam cheese head hats they found in area dumpsters.

What a welcome change in the weather from the week before. A January thaw was just what the doctor ordered. To be on the safe side, I purchased a couple pair of new long johns at the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. I am betting it will remain warmer now for the rest of the winter. Short term forecasts are trending that direction and depending on whose longer term forecasts you read, some of those would tend to agree. At choretime Jupiter greets us in the western sky in the mornings and in the evening we’re treated to Venus getting a little higher in the sky each night. Even Mercury was visible beside it marking one of the few times one could actually pick it out.

Birds are responding to the recent changes in the weather also. The cardinals have vanished again now the snow has largely disappeared. Even the bane of the feeders at the ranch, namely the house sparrows have suddenly been decreasing in number. Perhaps it has something to do with the recent feeder changes that were made. They did figure the Roller Feeder out as I suspected they probably would. However, it’s certainly not their favorite as perhaps it takes too long to make a big mess underneath. Apparently they don’t like having to compete with the blue jays and larger woodpeckers on the other feeder either. The red-bellied woodpeckers don’t take any guff off of anyone including the blue jays. 

The horizontal suet feeders arrived last week so they were pressed into service. So far so good. The sparrows haven’t touched them and the starlings that showed up were having a tough time flying up to get a beak full. The woodpeckers were quick studies though, with the downies hanging upside down on the new feeders within minutes. One type of suet feeder we’re trying is made of metal so it makes it less attractive to the squirrels. A little tough for the larger woodpeckers to navigate although they got the hang of it after watching the downies. The squirrels on the other hand just sorta burp after filling up on ear corn, then climb farther up the tree where they can nap in the sun. Way too much work as fat as they are to put a lot of effort into messing with the other feeders.

Phone books arrived the other day and was shocked to see what they’ve become. They’re certainly a pale imitation of what they used to be. Mrs. Cheviot isn’t going to be able to sit on one of those to see over the steering wheel. In the Bugtussle phone book, there are now only 4 ½ pages of phone numbers listed. In 2007, there were 9 ½ pages of listings. Granted the font size is small, but it’s likely a sign of the times. Many have dumped their land lines and after some crummy and complete lack of service, there are certainly more of us considering it. Cell phones have certainly been a major factor and I fear the telemarketers will have all but sealed Ma Bell’s fate in the not too distant future.

Some have wondered what happened to the little fat buddies. Not to worry. They’re very much alive and well. While gathering more clandestinely and in an impromptu fashion, we still have our gang signs and secret decoder rings. And of course, there are the meetings themselves. Some have asked what’s accomplished at these discussions. Plenty. Always some old business to hash over and new business as well. This includes arranging humanitarian aid for friends who have become pale and downtrodden. We just try to help out in any way we can. And we discuss interior decorating; especially now that Christmas is on the wane. Betsy’s dad was excitedly looking forward to putting his newfound favorite Christmas ornament on the tree for next season. Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year. 

See you next week…real good then. 

The Waseca County Historical Society and FarmAmerica are hosting Ice Harvest 2015 on the frozen shores of Clear Lake, Waseca Minnesota. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11 in Clear Lake Park. Outdoor enthusiasts are needed for Winter Survival Station, Ice Cutting and Warming Fire. Also needed is horse, mule or other team and wagon for rides around the park. Please call the Waseca County Historical Society for more information or visit our Web site to view the Ice Harvest video.

Funeral services for Betty Jean Miller of Freeborn, formerly of New Richland, MN and Minneapolis, MN, will be held on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 10 a.m. at St. Peter Lutheran Church in New Richland, the Rev. Scott Williams officiating, and on January 24, 2015 at 11 a.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Milaca, MN, the Rev. Stephen Blenkush officiating.

Betty passed from this world on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at Naeve Hospital in Albert Lea, MN, at the age of 72.

Betty was born on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1942 at the University of Minnesota Hospital, the daughter of Algot (“Jack”) and Edith (Lamprecht) Jackson of Minneapolis, MN. She started and ended her life at the University of Minnesota with the donation of her body to science.

Memorial services for Donald Keith Batt, age 81, of Hartland will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 24, 2015 at the Hartland Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Rev. Shawn Stafford will officiate. Interment will be in the Hartland Cemetery. Military Honors will be accorded by members of the American Legion and VFW Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m., Friday, January 23, 2015 at the Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home. Online condolences are welcome at www.bayviewfuneral.com.

Donald died on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at St. John’s Lutheran Community, two days before his 82nd birthday.

Funeral Services for Doris G. Breid, of New Richland, will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 25, 2014, at the Vibrant Life Assembly of God Church,  in Ellendale.  The ReverendPatrick Stitt will officiate. Interment will be in Berlin Cemetery, rural Ellendale.

Friends may visit with family one hour before the service at the church. Bonnerup Funeral Service is assisting the family.

Doris died on Thursday, November 20, at the New Richland Care Center, where she had been as resident for the past five years. She was 94.