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Happy New Year! Welcome to 2025.

Soon, we will welcome in a new year. Tomorrow, no doubt many readers will stay home, joining the ranks of those sitting on the couch, counting down the final moments of 2024 while participating vicariously in the festivities broadcast from Times Square in New York City. Others will celebrate the passing of another year by making merry until the wee hours of the new year. And yet others will let the new year come in just as they let each new day, week or month arrive — snugly tucked into bed getting some sleep. There is no right or wrong way to mark the arrival of another year. ...

Enjoy a festive holiday season

It is that time of year when holiday parties pile up one after the other over the course of a few days — and many of them are held after dark and feature alcoholic beverages. Everyone wants to get to and from all these gatherings safely. No one wants to be added to the grim table of statistics compiled by the Iowa Department of Transportation which records all of the deaths resulting from traffic accidents. As of Friday, 344 people had been killed in traffic crashes in Iowa during 2024, according to the department’s statistics. That is 28 fewer deaths than last year, a decrease ...

Silent night, holy night …

All across the nation, a feeling of anticipation is in the air. It is almost Christmas Eve, a time when those whose jobs do not demand that they be at work complete preparations for Christmas, the biggest day on most of our calendars. Once the packages are all wrapped, the last decorations are adjusted on Christmas trees, cookies are taken out of the oven and, perhaps, a turkey begins cooking, a time of peace descends upon many of us. Weary from the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we relax for a few moments. Many of us go to evening church services, where “Joy to the World” ...

New middle school group shows promise

A recent development at Fort Dodge Middle School reveals a promising truth: If you give kids something constructive and interesting to do, they will go for it even if it doesn’t involve staring into a screen for hours on end. That development is the debut of a new chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It has attracted more than 100 students. It is so popular that more than one meeting a week may be held. Fellowship of Christian Athletes describes itself as “an interdenominational Christian sports ministry to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of ...

Iowa companies step up to provide food for the holidays

Food, like twinkling lights and carefully wrapped presents, is a major component of the holiday season. At family meals across the area, dining room tables will be just about creaking under the weight of all kinds of good things to eat. But unfortunately, not everyone can afford even a modest holiday meal. Two Iowa companies recently stepped up to ease the burden for families struggling to put food on the table.Their efforts got thousands of pounds of meat to thousands of Iowans, including many in the Fort Dodge area. The first of those efforts, Operation Christmas Meal, was ...

Lights at Kennedy makes season bright

As Christmas approaches, the campground at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park has once again been transformed into a holiday wonderland. The 21st annual Lights at Kennedy will help make the season more festive for area residents and visitors. Additionally, the event raises money to support local service groups. Although it is now mid-December there is still a chance to see it. Lights at Kennedy will be open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Free will donations will be accepted. Some of the donations will support the philanthropic efforts of the event’s sponsors, the ...