Footprints in the snow.

Footprints were easily visible in the freshly fallen snow. It was only a dusting really, just enough snow to whiten the ground and conceal the icy patches. These footprints on the sidewalk outside the Post Office revealed a short stride and a firmly planted foot. Both feet dragged close to the ground with each step, so close that a lug sole brushed the snow forward nearly the length of the stride.
The feet belong to an old man, I thought to myself. He’d been to the Post Office early this morning, before the rush. His shoes — boots, I surmised — were thick soled, good for gripping the slippery sidewalk.

The future isn’t what it used to be.

We’re still fighting in Iraq and now it looks like we’ll be fighting in Iran, too.
The enemy is everywhere. The religious zealot shooting at us and planting roadside bombs are invisible; the bastard never show their face. It’s time to resurrect, mobilize and redefine the Gideon Army; they want to wage a religious war, fine, they can do battle with our army of Bible Carrying, Assault-rifle Toting New Red Necks (the Gideons).
Capitol Hill is looking for answers to Iraq, this is it: the New Gideons.
But the Iraq war these days is being pushed off our front pages and television screens by the 2008 presidential election, which IS STILL two years away and we’ve already got too many candidates and too much hype.

Saying thank you to the community with a check

Local businesses no doubt noticed the annual Hillsboro Business Association dues statement that arrived with last week’s mail.
This week’s mail delivered an HBA letter to both association members and non-members asking for help in purchasing a new electronic billboard sign for downtown.
Seems like everyone has their hand out.
True, they do, from the Hillsboro Medical Center’s request for help in its building project to the Hillsboro Community Partnership’s ongoing effort to save Union Block to the most recent plea for help: HBA’s solicitation for assistance in buying an electronic sign that will replace the decades-old sign at the intersection of Caledonia Ave. and Main Street.
All worthy causes, without question.

February 2, 2007

50 YEARS AGO
January 31, 1957 — Players for the South Dakota State University basketball team were stranded briefly in Hillsboro when their bus broke down on Hwy. 81. Local law enforcement shuttled the players to city hall to keep warm while another bus was summoned around midnight. They’d won their game at UND that night and were on their way to play NDAC in Fargo the next night. They later won the Fargo game by two points, the Banner reported.
Hillsboro firemen battled a truck fire for nearly five hours in bitter cold weather. Temperatures dipped to 28 below zero as firemen poured a steady stream of water on the grocery transport for three hours. Firemen moved the truck off Hwy. 81 to unload some of the load from the rear to get to the fire at the front of the trailer.

Lester Hanson

Lester Hanson, 78, Ulen, Minn., died Saturday, January 27, 2007 at MeritCare Hospital, Fargo, N.D.
Anderson Funeral Home of Twin Valley, Minn., was in charge of arrangements.

Chester J. Anderson

Chester Anderson, 84, rural Cummings, N.D., died Saturday, January, 27, 2007 at his home.
Funeral services were Thursday, February 1, 2007 at Mayville Lutheran Church, Mayville, N.D.
Burial was in the Carlson Cemetery, rural Mayville.
Baker Funeral Home of Mayville was in charge of arrangements.

Exchange students from different countries become ‘brothers’

By ANNA AUSTIN
Kentendre Fikse and Gregorio Rojo are in it together.
Although the two could be mistaken for brothers, they are from two different continents and met only upon arriving in North Dakota last summer. The two exchange students are living with Tim and Terry Lee of Hillsboro.
To avoid any mispronunciation, the boys prefer to be called by shortened versions of their names: Kent and Greg.
“Or, friends who like to kid around call us the Chilean and the Norwegian,” joked Kent a 17-year-old from Verdal, Norway.

Main Street bistro more than just coffee

By NEIL O. NELSON
Januarys are a great month for children to shadow their mothers to work, according to Amy O’Brien, owner-operator of Amy’s Floral and Coffee Shop, downtown Hillsboro.
Being the young mother that she is, Amy can speak with authority on the subject.
She only has to point to 5-month-old Jack Robert for confirmation.
Sitting in his infant seat on top of the same table his mother makes arrangements on, Jack Robert is in complete agreement.
So is Kathy Duval, owner-operator of the next-door business, Uniquely Yours Gift Boutique.
“This is what we do in January,” the two women said on Wednesday, the last day of January.
“We play with the baby.”

Hillsboro church members answer call for help

Volunteers from Our Savior’s Church see firsthand devastation of Hurricane Katrina; help rebuild Biloxi, Mississippi home

“I’ve been on 20 mission trips and that’s why I’m doing this job,” said Amy Crawford, director of youth and family ministry at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Hillsboro.
“In going on these trips, I felt called to the youth ministry . . . it has strengthened my faith. Sometimes people become numb because of all the terrible tragedies they see on television, but,” she emphasized, “individuals can do things to assist those in need. We’re all called to help others.”
With this goal in mind, Crawford, who had been in Mississippi in February 2006 — six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area — assembled a local group through Our Savior’s to again visit the area.

Region, state hit with blast of winter weather

Frigid cold air swept in from the north this week, blanketing much of the state with subzero temperatures.
The week started off with snow showers on Sunday. A Winter Weather Advisory was issued Monday. Meanwhile, daytime temperatures edged closer to the zero mark during the middle of the week.
Blustery winds and freezing cold temps returned Thursday as the Red River Valley and the state was hit with its first week-long blast of winter.
Highs this weekend aren’t expected to be above zero, prompting the postponement of the sleigh rides behind Hank Geray’s team of Belgian horses planned Sunday at Woodland Park. The popular Sunday in the Park was rescheduled for Sunday, Feb. 11.