Columns

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to breaking news of the grass fire last week, this installment of The Village Naturalist was moved to this week. Though Leap Day is past, the history of Leap Year is quite interesting.

Jack Lynn, an avid baseball fan and player, once persuaded to attend the races, where he put a $2 bet on a 50-to-1 shot. As his horse came down the stretch neck-and-neck with the favorite, Jack hollered: “Slide, yuh bum! Slide!”

From the Collection of Pat Young A lady having lunch at the house of a friend praised a sauce that was served and was given permission afterward to ask the cook for the recipe. The cook said she didn’t have the recipe - just worked things out as she went along.

After the examination, the doctor informed his patient that he was suffering from gout and rheumatism. “Well, doc, what’s the difference between them,” asked the patient.

Was it only six months ago that we heard the phrase “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”? The reason “it’s the humidity” is because of the way we cool our bodies. When we get hot we sweat.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of Nebraska’s kids is our state’s top priority. Providing access to programs that best guarantee the delivery of nutritional foods is vital.

Every New Year’s Eve our family would gather and play a wild air hockey tournament, watch a movie, and then cheer as the ball dropped in Time’s Square. However, did you know that the ball dropping has a long and illustrious history?

Q: Where can single men over the age of 60 find younger women who are interested in them? A: Try a bookstore, under Fiction. Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause? A: Keep busy.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week I shared some rather startling statistics about the state of the newspaper industry in our nation. This week we will explore the cause of the decline, and what we can do to prevent our area from joining America’s ever-growing “news desserts”.

Reading the article in the Oct. 19 issue of the Courier about the Callaway Hospital receiving recognition brought back memories for my wife and me. It was 51 years ago, when Callaway was searching for a doctor that we had a part in Ron Sheppard, MD, eventually moving to Callaway.