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At 3:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoons, Dan Pepper’s classroom fills with the music of middle school students. Three dozen or so kids pluck away at ukuleles, more or less in unison, learning an instrument that has joy embedded in its strings. Dan, who t…
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It’s that time of year again. The days when haunted houses and apple orchards are filled with visitors. The time when you can eat candy corn by the fistful and walk down grocery store aisles filled top to bottom with assorted bite-sized candy. And th…
Earlier this week, the Quad Cities experienced what Winnie the Pooh would surely have called a blustery day. It was windy. The kind of wind that kindled fires in fields of dry crops. The kind of wind that would knock someone right off their bike. As…
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Kathie Heaps first saw the story on Facebook, of a barber in Dubuque that gives free haircuts to kids as long as they read a book to him. Immediately, she knew: “I can do that!” Kathie, a hair stylist for more than three dozen years, has tutored stud…
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There is a fear epidemic in America. We are a people full of fear. Swapping stories of fright has become our national pastime. If you want to kill anything in politics these days, just get people good and scared about what some action or legislation…
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My father, “the Good Reverend” as I called him, lived 84 magnificent, fulfilling years. This weekend we will have the opportunity to honor and celebrate a life very well lived. While it is normal to be sad on these occasions, I take tremendous comfor…
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An 11-pound bowling ball with purple and blue swirls rolled down the alley and toppled every single pin in its path. Carma Schwarz stepped away from her throw and says with a smile: “They just felt sorry for me and fell.” Carma is 89 1/2 years old. S…
A gray steel box in the St. Paul archives, locked and taped, has an envelope that says it is a time capsule, sealed in April 1994, and to be opened 100 years later. While there is no indication of what is in the box, the year leading up to that day w…
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The bell tower of Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois, rises from the green fields and roadways of western Illinois. Inside is the 2,471-pound metal bell, shipped by railway from Ohio and installed in 1881. Don Norberg, church custodian, r…
On the first day of class, Jessica Schultz asks her students to write down their future goals. “To be happy” almost always is at the top of the list of responses, she said. “Happiness is built into the framework of our country,” said Jessica, an assi…
A mailbox. Doors. Cabinets. Windows. Light fixtures. A crew from Habitat ReStore recently visited a house recently purchased by St. Paul that is slated for tear down. They spent a day removing items that will go on to new life. “Each house is a littl…
They break bread in worship, then they share a meal. The Golden Agers Worship & Luncheon is a joy-filled annual tradition at St. Paul. For those who are age 75 and older, it’s a time of togetherness – a message, songs, entertainment, and food. Th…