Who doesn’t like the Fourth of July? Well, dogs clearly don’t. Our soft-coated wheaten terrier, prior to her death last year, used to bark and wail with every firecracker. Her reaction to the vacuum cleaner was warm and cordial, by comparison. No won…
On the night of the strawberry moon, a sailboat made its way on the Mississippi River. Drenched in moonlight, the boat moved along the places where the pelicans come to sit in the evenings. Barges passed by as they hauled their goods to ports in the…
This photograph, from the archives of area historian and collector Doug Smith, was recently featured on the Facebook page of Davenport Iowa History. It captures the St. Paul’s Sunday School float in a June 1910 parade. At the time, St. Paul was locat…
Gayle Bisesi first set her sights on music at the young age of 3 – when her stage was her living room couch and her microphone a vacuum cleaner hose. “My earliest memories of music were in my home and at church, growing up in Decatur, Illinois. My mo…
A few months ago, I found myself sitting in an O’Hare airport terminal, waiting several hours for a delayed flight. I’d already exhausted most of my entertainment options—taking several laps up & down the long corridor of numbered gates, finishin…
They come from all over the country, from small towns and big cities. For several weeks this summer, 70 or so teenagers and their adult leaders will unpack their lives into the basement at St. Paul. They will live here for five days, serving i…
For four weeks beginning Wednesday, July 8, St. Paul Lutheran Church’s Mental Health Awareness Team will host a midsummer mental health movie series. Come and watch a movie and join in discussion afterwards. Movies begin at 6:30 p.m., popcorn and jui…
Every Wednesday in July, St. Paul pastors and staff will guide a conversation about saints. The sessions begin July 1, noon-1 p.m. in the Library Commons. Bring a sack lunch and settle in for some thought-provoking discussion. Each week will feature…
I understand what it means to dislike someone, or to treat a person with disfavor. I “get” the idea that it is possible to view another human being as distasteful. But I cannot wrap my hands around a hatred that completely devalues the other. How doe…
The name is Junebug, and it is setting out on a 2,000-or-so-mile journey along Route 66 from Missouri to California. The journey is called the Great Race, where the “newest” car is a 1972 model, and the oldest is from 1915. Junebug is a 1971 V…
It started out as a small water slide. Nothing fancy. Just some water, some slippery stuff, and a small pool at the end. It was a lot of fun. So if that was fun, wouldn’t a bigger slide be even more fun? The answer? Of course! Today, Jennifer and Mik…
She had just returned from a backpacking trip in Colorado with fellow St. Paul youth when the blurry vision, weight loss, tiredness, and having to go to the bathroom all the time put her at the doctor’s office. Aryn (Zager) Lloyd was 17 years old. An…