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LifeWorks fundraiser is tonight

A fun way to support a local organization that serves the disabled returns to a live, in-person format tonight. It’s called A Night for LifeWorks. It was a regular tradition in Fort Dodge for years, providing entertainment and raising money for LifeWorks Community Services, which provides daily living and employment supports to about 200 people living with disabilities. The pandemic forced the event to become an online one for the last two years. Tonight, however, it will return to its traditional live, in-person format with a musical competition very much like what you would see ...

Make sure to vote in this general election

Voting for next Tuesday’s general election is actually already underway. As always, there are many important matters on the ballot this year. Nationwide, the races on next week’s ballot will decide which party will control Congress. Here in Iowa, we will pick a governor, attorney general, secretary of agriculture, auditor, treasurer and secretary of state in addition to selecting all 100 members of the state House of Representatives and half of the state senators. Closer to home in Webster County, two seats on the Board of Supervisors will be filled. Voters in Calhoun and ...

Let’s keep Halloween fun

Unlike most holidays, Halloween really has no serious purpose. It’s primarily an opportunity for harmless, child-oriented fun. Costumes, trick-or-treat activities and an opportunity to engage in make-believe combine to make Halloween a favorite of youngsters and those still young at heart. Unfortunately, what can be a day filled with happy festivities can turn tragic if adults don’t ensure that important safety precautions are observed. Drivers in particular need to be mindful that in the dark of early evening, large numbers of children preoccupied with trick-or-treat pursuits ...

Grab a scoop, put on a hair net to help the hungry

Spending a couple hours scooping rice and other ingredients into plastic bags may not seem like a way to change the world for the better. And it may not sound like much fun, either. But when all that scooping and filling of bags is part of a worldwide effort to get food to the hungry, it is indeed a way to make our world a little bit better. And as people who have volunteered in previous meal-packing efforts of this sort can tell you, it can also be a blast. An opportunity to be part of a global effort to feed hungry children is coming soon to Fort Dodge. Feed My Starving Children ...

Holiday tradition will return to John F. Kennedy Memorial Park

This is the season for ghosts, pumpkins and bats. Go ahead and enjoy Halloween. After all, who doesn’t like a spooky story on a cool, crisp fall evening? Halloween starts the run of holidays that fill the last months of a year. In a few short weeks, people will be filling up on turkey and sacking out on the couch in front of televised football games. And then comes Christmas. There is a Christmas tradition in Webster County that generates a lot of happiness while also raising money for some tremendous causes. It’s called Lights at Kennedy. In advance of Lights at Kennedy, ...

It’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Most people never experience domestic violence. Unfortunately, however, some estimates put the incidence among Americans at more than 12 million people each year. Women, men and children all can be victims. No socioeconomic or age group is spared. Researchers tell us, however, that young women between the ages of 18 and 34 are especially likely to experience domestic violence. Roughly one in four American women over the age of 18 become victims of abuse at some point during their lives. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Making people more cognizant of this problem and ...