guest column
Janet Mills: A Christmas slowed by grace
December is the time of year when faith asks me to breathe, but life asks me to hurry. My heart wants peace, but my calendar demands performance. Christmas doesn’t enter quietly anymore. It seems to crash into our lives with noise, color and urgency. I find myself staring down a holiday to-do list longer than a receipt at the grocery store.
Michelle Hilburn: Fall into season’s readings
Even though summer temperatures are still lingering, the calendar says that fall has arrived, and I couldn’t be happier.
Melissa Hamilton: From the Garden
The last tomatoes have been plucked, the vines are starting to wither, and the Barry County Community Garden is officially closing its gates for the season.
Terry Held: The levers of Democracy — Finding our public voice again
After reading Ron Chernow’s biography Alexander Hamilton, I was struck by my own ineptness in supporting the freedoms granted by our founding fathers’ work.
Michelle Hilburn: Reading recommendations for post-graduation
Graduation season is here, and as the parent of a senior, it’s not just a milestone for my son — it marks a transition for my husband and me as well.
Janet Mills: Gifts of the car wave hello
Since the earliest days of human history, our neighbors have shaped our lives in profound ways. It’s difficult to find true purpose if we can’t first create a sense of peace with the people around us.
Jon Horner: What’s next?
As I started on this month’s column, the graduation season was concluding. That became the reason or idea for my “What’s Next” theme.
Janet Mills: The most honorable man I ever knew
Is the road to acquiring genuine compassion only found by traversing painful experiences? Is it in times of trials and suffering when our deepest bonds of connection to others are formed? Maybe a transformation takes place when we personally connect with our own pain and then we can truly begin to understand the pain and suffering of others. The hurdles and obstacles we face can easily embitter our outlook and cause us to become self-centered and even angry.
Lynn Hilburn: Work still needed on Bayless-Salyer house
We have finally completed the placing of the columns on the front porch at the Bayless-Salyer House at 9th and Townsend streets. The Barry County Historical and Genealogical Society would like to thank the people, families and businesses who have contributed money to pay for the purchase and installation of the new columns.
Michelle Hilburn: Faith in the future of literacy
April is not only a month to celebrate the return of spring, but it’s also the month the library community celebrates school libraries and school librarians. Executive members of the American Association of School Librarians created this annual celebration to highlight the work school librarians and school libraries do to support student learning.
