LOCAL

Crookston FFA Results

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023 Crookston FFA competed in a Minnesota Region 1 LDE (Leadership Development Event) Day. The Conduct of Chapter Meetings team took 1st place out of 7 teams. The Conduct of Chapter Meetings LDE is a contest that has members demonstrate their ability to use proper parliamentary procedure in a mock meeting. They are scored on the quality of their discussions, proper use of motions, and their overall expression. They also answer oral and written questions about proper parliamentary procedure. The team advanced to the state competition in April.

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Fish and Wildlife Almanac

DNR webinars cover state parks and northern pike, registration open for winter topics The DNR invites people interested in fishing, wildlife and outdoor skills to tune in to upcoming webinars that will discuss outdoor opportunities at Minnesota state parks and fishing for northern pike.

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Drop the baggage, keep the pie

Maybe we need the quiet holidays as much we need the over-the-top holidays. We live in a culture of excess, as the coming of the commercial version of Christmas hasalready been reminding usfor weeks. But the days of reflection on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving–even with a somber note or two –are welcome. Countercultural though it is, it’s often best to give explicit thanks for simply having enough. The very idea of “enough” gets too little attention.I worry right along with so many others that the commercial and cultural mandate to skip straight from Halloween to the frantic dash to Christmas threatens to shove Thanksgivingaside.After all, what is there to sell at Thanksgiving but turkey and boxes of stuffing?But that’s the point. Thanksgiving amped up like the Fourth of Julyor Commercial Christmaswould contradict the spirit of the whole thing. We cling to a lot of needless myths. Colonists and the Wampanoag invented Thanksgivingout of thin air 401 years ago. No, they didn’t. It symbolized harmonious relations between cultures in clash. That’s a cruel misreading of a painful history. I could go on.Let’s go at it this way: As with so many things, what matters is cherishing and keeping what’s essential about the holiday whilecontinuing to remake it, as we have done again and again over the centuries. Commented [KZ1]: Do you mean to have Thanksgiving at the end of this sentence?

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Cherishing tradition . . .

While I enjoy watching the Food Channel, I’m not a foodie. I come from a family that eats the basic provisions. We’re not big on spices, or fancy dishes. My mom is a good cook. She will tell you that she isn’t, she is modest that way. She has cooked for our family for decades and if you’ve seen any one of us, you know we aren’t starving. Her potato soup with its simple ingredients, has the power to heal bruised hearts, tired souls and the common cold. I think it’s the love she puts into her cooking. Love enhances food more than exotic ingredients ever could.

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