March 2022

The Community Newspaper

When I was growing up in the early 1980s, we had a weekly newspaper in our town. There was a woman assigned to cover our little neighborhood. I remember her calling each week to ask my mother what was new in our family. Did Jeremy make the honor roll this quarter? Had we gone on vacation recently? Did we get a new pet? She would take this information from anyone in the neighborhood who was willing to share it and would write a column each week. When the paper came out on Wednesdays, my mother was always excited to read what was going on in the neighborhood. Everyone on our street knew each other. We played outside with the kids every day until dusk. My parents were in a bowling league with our neighbors. We had a block party in the street in the summer. When a new family moved in everyone welcomed them and introduced themselves. I guess you could say it was a great community.

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From the Editor’s Desk

My fingers (and a couple toe pairs) are crossed, hoping there are stories, photos, and ads on the pages this week. We are muddling our way through our new “content management system” for the first time. If you find something weird, it is fine to tell me about it, but it is also possible it is just a goof that won’t happen again.

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Hi to all our community residents

My name is Rhonda Miller and I am the Regional Accounting Manager for the Minnesota newspapers, and a few others, owned by CherryRoad Media. My office is located in our St. James site. I have been with the newspaper for almost 30 years and have dabbled in quite a few different rolls along the way.

Read MoreHi to all our community residents

Pruning the Vines

One of my Scripture professors made an observation that I hadn’t ever considered. He said that people who come from an agricultural background have a much better insight into much of what is presented by the Lord in the Gospels than those who do not.

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River Valley Speakers to host Public Performance next Thursday evening

The River Valley speech team members will participate in a public performance the evening of Thursday, March 17, at Springfield Public High School. The performance will begin immediately following the high school music concert, tentatively around 8:30 p.m. Each of the team’s speakers in grades 7-12 will present his/her speech in one of several classrooms. Audience members will have an opportunity to enjoy a variety of speeches from different categories. There is no charge to attend this event. This year’s River Valley Speech team consists of fourteen students from Springfield Public School, three students from Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s School and one student from Sleepy Eye Public School and is led by head coach, Darcy Hoyt and assistant coach, Brianna Jensen.

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