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The Empty Halter By Melanie Mainquist Every kid who's ever showed at the county fair and sold an animal in the auction has experienced the heartbreak of saying goodbye. Or at least most young 4-H or FFA members have battled those emotions where your throat swells up and there's certainly dust in the air, causing your eyes to water. The moment when you lead the animal you've worked with all summer to the chute sitting outside the auction arena. Whether the judge granted you a blue or red ribbon,...
The Courtland Journal The first time I went with Mom and Dad to the Formoso Community Christmas Dinner it felt weird to think we were just showing up even though we knew several people who expected would be there. It was only the three of us so it didn’t make sense to prepare a big holiday meal at the house. A few years later, we added Ray and I helped LaVernia Peters do dishes while Ray and Dorothy Sjolander had a few laughs. Fast forward to this year and the Formoso Community Dinner was on the official agenda of our trip south fro M...
The Courtland Journal Ada Lutheran Church was blessed with a wonderful addition to this year’s Christmas eve service. Cayden Gonzales from Lincoln, Nebraska, was a guest pianist, organist and violinist. He has been learning to play the organ for about a year and a half. While going to school, he works for Bedient Pipe Organ in Lincoln, which tunes, builds and restores organs. He has played at Ada a couple of other times and back in September, along with the owner, Mark Miller, Cayden graciously offered to tune Ada’s organ for allowing him to...
Back in May, my friend, Lori, posted a picture on Facebook of her husband and grandson; it tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Newt is the same age as our granddaughter, Hailey. I cried because I knew that finally Avery was getting those grandparent moments with Newt that I’ve captured countless times with my husband ,Ray, and Hailey. Shortly after Newt’s first birthday he contracted E. coli. He was in the minority group where the bacteria sent his little body into a medical spiral which put him in the hospital for nine straight mo...
This Mother’s Day we salute the moms who continue to endure sheltering at home or lockdown as some refer to it. The mom that never thought she would have to home school her children or the mom who knows full well now, she was never meant to be a teacher but has so much more appreciation for her little darlings’ teacher. The mom who referees who gets the devices and fights the daily battle of limiting screen time when the youngsters defend their Wi-Fi position, “but it’s schoolwork!” We salute the grandmothers who aren’t able to visit their...
