Articles written by Bill Blauvelt
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Editor's Notebook
Readers are vital to the success of a newspaper. If newspapers were not read, there would be no need to prepare a newspaper but the importance of readers does not stop with reading. They are also the... Full story
Editor's Notebook
After last week’s below zero temperatures, it almost feels like we are living in a tropical paradise. On Monday afternoon, at least one person called at The Express window in shirtsleeves. That didn’t happen last week. Following the death of...
Editor's Notebook
One hundred years ago today my father was born in a farm house a couple miles or so north of Abdal, Nebraska. He was his parents fourth and last child. I don’t remember Dad or his parents talking about the circumstances surrounding his birth. But...
Editor's Notebook
Regular readers of this column know I grew up in a house that wasn’t much more than a stone’s throw from my father’s business. The house was designed so my fathxer could keep a close watch on his business. There was even a switch within reach...
Editor's Notebook
As a youngster I disliked wearing jeans, I much preferred overalls but apparently overalls for youngsters were falling out of favor. The J.C. Penney store quit offering overalls in the smaller sizes I needed and I bought the last two pair the Troudt...
Editor's Notebook
Regular readers of this column know I grew up in a house that wasn’t much more than a stone’s throw from my father’s business. The house was designed so my father could keep a close watch on his business. There was even a switch within reach...
Editor's Notebook
With this week’s winter weather. It has been a bit hard for this weather watcher to focus on the newspaper work he should be doing. Instead of working, I would have liked to have taken a position where I could watch people coping with the falling...
Editor's Notebook
After writing a weekly column for the better part of five decades, I fear I repeat my stories all too frequently, and with the continuing pandemic and an attempt to avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus, I’m not acquiring new stories. Last week a...
Editor's Notebook
I grew up believing I lived in the world’s melting pot, a place where people of various races and backgrounds came together and made decisions which benefited the majority. I counted among my friends people from Nigeria, India, Iraq, Hong Kong,...
Editor's Notebook
Richard Schmeling, a frequent contributor to this newspaper sent a story about his Aunt Freda and slip-on seat covers she installed on her new Pontiac with the expectation when it came time to trade-in the car. it would be worth more. His story...
Editor's Notebook
Late Sunday a friend shared on social media an experience she had earlier that evening. Her dog was incessantly barking and keeping the household awake. On a bright moonlight night, she got up and went, while dressed in her pj’s and house...
Editor's Notebook
n my 50 years with The Express, I’ve investigated a number of ideas that were to bring new revenue to the newspaper business. Most have not lived up to their projections although some were ahead of their time. One of the first was the copy...
Editor's Notebook
In recent days I watched part of a 45 minute long video in which a hobbyist restored a Maytag gasoline engine. In the nearly 40 years the Maytag Company of Newton, Iowa, manufactured engines, several...
Editor's Notebook
While talking with a subscriber on Monday, it was suggested I should write more about my life and the business my family operated on a hill overlooking Superior. I thanked her for the suggestion but noted it has been nearly 50 years since I lived on...
Editor's Notebook
Miniseters have long asked people to remember the true meaning of Christmas but it hard to combat the commercialization of the holiday. While we try to maintain some degree of normal, this year all holidays are different. Earlier this week, a friend...
Editor's Notebook
This newspaper is dated, Thursday, November 26, 2020 but I suspect many readers of this column will not do so until after the Thanksgiving holiday. However, because the health departments are discouraging family gatherings this Thanksgiving, I...
Editor's Notebook
A friend from my growing up years in Superior, Stan Copeland will be back in Superior on Sunday to speak at the First Presbyterian Church service. A combat veteran and former U.S. Army chaplain, he is now living near Quinter, Kansas and conducting...
Editor's Notebook
Since the arrival of the pandemic, area residents have been presented with a series of challenges. Rita and I are long-term Sunday school teachers but the classrooms at the church we have regularly attended are not large enough to allow for social...
Editor's Notebook
I have often been impressed by the intelligence shown by the animals we closely associate with. A current example is our neighborhood cat. I don’t know who the cat belongs to but he is a friendly animal who enjoys being petted and likes to be with...
Editor's Notebook
Several important days are included in the coming month of November. As a youngster, I thought there was only one important day in the entire month of November, that being Thanksgiving Day. I liked Thanksgiving Day for a number of reasons. It would...
Editor's Notebook
When it comes to making mistakes, few people are immune. What sets some of us apart is how we recover from our mistakes. When opening the Monday morning mail, I realized an envelope from a national printing company had been flipped in the printing...
Editor's Notebook
A private funeral will be held for Dale Adcock, one of the last of my old neighbors from the days when I lived on Blauvelt’s Hill. I want to emphasize the term (old) as opposed to those I classify as the “youngsters.” While I consider them to...
Editor's Notebook
If we were to assemble a list of all the specially designated days, weeks and months into a book, I suspect that book would be as big as an unabridged dictionary. Though there are only 365 days in a year, the National Day Calendar group now tracks...
Editor's Notebook
Monday evening a Superior resident appealed the denial of her request to build a chain-link dog run in the yard behind her home. She had paid the application fee and submitted the requested design plans which apparently comply with city regulations...
Editor's Notebook
This is National Small Business Week, a week designated to celebrate the resolve and ingenuity of American entrepreneurs. The week is usually observed the first week of May but this year the pandemic changed the date. While small businesses are...