Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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This weekend, where do I even begin? Probably with the burst waterline that turned my bathroom into a splash pad and sent me out of my Davenport office early on Friday. Nothing like mopping your own floor before heading to a crab feed. Once the water chaos was temporarily handled, I pointed my car toward Odessa, assuming a calm evening at the annual Lions Club crab feed. I was wrong. Cars lined the streets, and inside the community hall I barely made it through the door...
Almost twice in one month. Yes, I know. It sounds excessive. But when Uncle Sam fires up the National Guard Bat-Signal in the sky, you answer the call or you get accused of going AWOL, handed discharge paperwork, and introduced to a lovely assortment of “corrective training.” Translation: pushups. Because in the Army, you either get smart or you get strong. So there I was again this weekend, alarm blaring at 4 a.m. Saturday morning, feeling like I’d been knocked flat before my boots even hit the floor. But anyone who’s...
I write this column with the kind of caution usually reserved for handling live grenades. Why? Because this time last year, I innocently mentioned sunshine, a lack of snow, and, oops, the county apparently thought I was issuing a challenge. Snow piled in, my inbox nearly exploded with frustrated messages, and the latest gem arrived just in time for this column: if anyone has to shovel snow after I write this, I’ll be receiving a bill. Consider this a very polite, slightly nervous preemptive apology to Mother Nature… and my...
Some people collect memories. Others collect auction paddles. I, your local editor, appear to be collecting fundraising events, and this year's Sprague Chamber of Commerce auction did not disappoint. First, let's address the elephant in the room, or rather, the margarita machine that I did not accidentally win this year. For those still emotionally recovering from the Odessa Hospital semi-formal soirée of last year, rest assured: no one pulled their own name this time....
This past weekend with the National Guard did not involve firing ranges, roaring engines, or anything even remotely resembling a tank. No camouflage-face-paint, no action-movie moments, no "tell me about your drill weekend" stories that would impress anyone at a bar. Instead, I voluntarily spent a full eight hours learning how to stand still. I signed up for Honor Guard training, which, if you don't know, is the unit responsible for military funerals. The ones who show up...
Sure, Lincoln County may not lack events from spring through fall, but once winter rolls in, the cheer and excitement seem to hibernate alongside the local squirrels. So this year, your intrepid editor packed up Winnie the Wiener Dog and her Air Force friend for a chilly, thrilling New Year's Eve adventure in Leavenworth. Our first day in town offered a curious spectacle: Leavenworth without snow. Children slid down barely frosted grassy hills on sleds, squealing with a mix...
Christmas this year came with a co-pilot, four very short legs, and absolutely no concept of moderation. Winnie, my mini dachshund, traveled out of county with me and fully committed to the holiday spirit. While I packed the usual human essentials, Winnie arrived with one goal in mind: celebrate everything. Every room. Every snack. Every person who made the mistake of sitting down. Winnie is firmly convinced that Christmas is her season, and honestly, she makes a compelling...
Last week, I made what I thought was an innocent, wholesome decision: I took my dog, Winnie, to get her Christmas photo taken with Santa at the local doggy day-care center. I imagined a tasteful holiday keepsake. Maybe a gentle paw on Santa's knee. A framed photo I could send to relatives to prove I'm a functional adult with festive priorities. Instead, Winnie treated Santa like an obstacle course. The moment she was placed on his lap, she clawed at his beard like it owed her...
This week, Winnie and I made our annual pilgrimage to the vet in town. You know the routine: smiles, treats, betrayal. Winnie has spent the last few days deeply offended by her updated shots, while I have been informed, through dramatic sighs and side-eye from her, that this was entirely my fault. Our recovery plan has involved Christmas decorating and extreme lounging. Mostly for Winnie. While she has been roasting herself in front of the fireplace like a gas-station hot dog that’s been on the roller too long, I’ve been han...
This past weekend brought another round of Army National Guard shenanigans, the kind where you spend half the time training and the other half realizing you are, in fact, stronger than a kid who hasn’t even unpacked his ruck from AIT. I talked a brand-new private into trying one day of my bodybuilding routine from Barb, and I’d love to tell you the story ends with grace and humility. It does not. I outlifted him and then outran another soldier who still had that fre...
While most people spent Thanksgiving worrying about overcooking the gravy or forgetting the rolls in the oven, I spent mine on my knees praying to the culinary gods that my turkey wouldn't explode. Yes, explode. Not because that's a normal concern, but because I've seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and if you think I'm above imagining my bird turning into a puff of Thanksgiving confetti, you're wrong. In that movie, Cousin Eddie's wife's turkey is cut into at the...
This year, I’m hosting my first Thanksgiving at my own house, meaning chaos, smoke alarms, and the very real possibility that someone will eat all the stuffing before dinner. And yet, as I run through my mental checklist of mashed potatoes, gravy, and rolls, my mind drifts to the seats I wish were filled. Not just family, but friends from a Thanksgiving many years ago, far from home in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Fort Huachuca, Advanced Individual Training (AIT). I was 20 years old and facing my first holiday without my family. T...
I always thought Thanksgiving was supposed to be cozy, heartwarming, and vaguely magical. I did not realize it involved a 14.5-pound turkey that outweighs my Wiener dog, Winnie, and roughly the same amount of panic I feel every time I try to cook anything larger than a frozen pizza. This week, I officially embarked on my first at-home Thanksgiving in my very own tiny house. Just me, the turkey, and enough sides to feed a small army — or at least seven or eight humans who may or may not comfortably fit in my living room. I...
This week, I checked a couple of things off my personal “life challenge” list — and lived to tell the tale. I finished my 12-week gym program (yes, the one where I discovered muscles I didn’t know existed), and I attended the Veterans Day assembly in Davenport. One of those accomplishments comes with sore quads, the other with a lump in your throat. Both came with lessons I’ll carry forward. Even though I’m still in the National Guard and not technically a veteran, Veterans Day always makes me stop and think about the people...
You know what's scarier than Halloween on a Friday night? Having National Guard duty the day after. While everyone else was sleeping off sugar comas or regrettable costume choices, I was living the true soldier's nightmare: clerical work. Yes, the "hurry up and wait" game was in full swing - times ten. Thrilling? Not even close. My highlight was probably refilling my pen ink. But before duty called, Halloween itself went off without a hitch. It was my first one in my own...
Well, folks, I did it. I finally took a vacation day. Singular. One day. And I used it to go visit my family on the west side - my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, stepdad and mom. You know, the usual suspects. It wasn't too wild of a trip: stop in Lacey - check. Stop in Tacoma - check. Fresh seafood - check, check, check. I'm sorry, but when you've spent enough time eating "crab" that's actually just dyed perch, you develop a moral obligation to find the real thing. But this...
Odessa had two special visitors this week - Madison Wade, reporter for King 5's Unsolved Northwest, and Joseph Huerta, an Emmy Award-winning photojournalist who somehow managed to make our small-town office look cinematic. Now, I went to school to be behind the camera, not in front of one. But apparently, the universe decided it was time for me to face my greatest fear - being on television. I always figured if I were on TV, it would be for something like winning a Jet Ski...
Ahhh, October — the month when the air smells faintly of cinnamon and chaos, and the world collectively agrees that it’s finally time to start pretending our front porches are haunted. It’s my favorite month of the year and the glorious start of a new season — arguably the best season (sorry, summer). Halloween has always had my heart. Maybe it’s the spooky atmosphere, maybe it’s my lifelong love of horror movies — the classics, the campy ones, the meta ones like Scream — or maybe it’s just my inner child thriving on excus...
Harrington Fall Fest brought the usual: food, friends, laughter, and enough pumpkin spice to put a scarecrow into a sugar coma. But this year also brought something new-your local newspaper mascot and part-time diva, Winnie the weiner dog, scored her first athletic medal. Bronze, baby. The 5K Fun Run kicked off at 9 a.m., and while I was still shaking off Deutschesfest laryngitis, Winnie was in prime form. The crowd was packed, and while I was just another runner pinning on a...
There are two kinds of weekends: the kind where you sip coffee on the porch and listen to birds chirp, and the kind where a deer body-slams your Jeep before sunrise. I had the second kind. At 4 a.m. Saturday, I was up, bright-eyed, and determined. The plan: take my best furry friend, Winnie the Ween, and enter my first-ever car show in Rockford. I had visions of polished chrome, impressed onlookers, maybe even a ribbon. Instead, God apparently said, You wanted adventure? Buckl...
If you've ever stepped on a gym scale and heard it sigh, you know the feeling. My first weigh-in for this 12-week program was Aug. 4, and I approached it like I did basic training back in 2023-straight-backed, eyes forward and praying it wouldn't yell at me. It all started with a simple question. I asked Barb Badgley-our town's resident fitness superhero and retired bodybuilder-if she knew anyone who could help me get back into shape. Instead of giving me a name, she said,...
The fable says "slow and steady wins the race." That may be true for tortoises, but no one ever tested the theory on an 11-pound wiener dog with stubby legs and an inflated sense of athletic ability. This Labor Day weekend, Winnie - my miniature dachshund - and I found out the hard way. We'd just wrapped our August challenge of running at least a mile a day and walking an average of closer to five. That means we walked and ran more than 150 miles - basically a cross-country...
This past week, America grieved twice. Thursday marked the somber anniversary of 9/11, a day of collective memory and sorrow. The day before, we lost activist Charlie Kirk to an assassin - a man who claimed Kirk was a fascist but, in taking his life, became the very thing he condemned: a silencer of voices, a taker of speech. No matter what you believe, this assassination will live in infamy among my generation. Maybe there were things I didn't fully agree with, but Charlie...
This weekend's National Guard duty handed me a new challenge: the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. Or, as I like to call it, "the gun that grows you chest hair on contact." Seriously, this thing isn't so much a weapon as it is a personality test. The second you touch it, you're expected to sprout a beard, start driving a lifted truck, and casually refer to deer season as "harvest." Clearly, the M2 was not designed with women - or anyone under 200 pounds - in mind. The first...
There are certain weekends in small towns where it feels like the whole world gathers in one place. For Odessa, that weekend is Deutschesfest. And let me tell you, I came away with a full heart, a full stomach, and absolutely no voice. The first thing that struck me wasn't the food (though trust me, we'll get to that). It was the sheer joy of it all-the laughter spilling across Main Street, the families bundled together on hay bales, the sound of polka drifting out of the...
