Breaking News

Editorial

Lights at Kennedy makes season festive

As Christmas approaches, the campground at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park is once again being transformed into a holiday wonderland. The 19th annual Lights at Kennedy will help make the season more festive for area residents and visitors. Additionally, the event raises money to support the important Backpack Buddies program. The light display, featuring multiple different exhibits, debuts Saturday night. It will be open again on Sunday night. In addition to this weekend, the upcoming dates are Dec. 9-11, Dec. 16-18 and Dec. 23. The display will be open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on each ...

Sign up to ring bells for The Salvation Army

People going in and out of the major Fort Dodge stores recently may have noticed that something usually found near the entrance at this time of year is missing. During the Christmas season a red kettle and someone ringing a bell greets those going in and out of stores. The kettles and the bells are a primary fundraiser for The Salvation Army. But this year, the kettles are largely out of sight and the bells are silent. Why? So far, at least, there are not enough people to stand by the kettles and ring the bells. The Salvation Army is in urgent need of help for the annual kettle ...

Today is Small Business Saturday

Shoppers, including many who hit the big box stores in an early morning frenzy Friday, are encouraged to spend today checking out the unique things offered by our community’s small shops. In Fort Dodge, many of those small shops are downtown. And those coming downtown today to do some business can also be part of some events to get the holiday season started. Nationwide, today is known as Small Business Saturday. It’s a long-standing effort to encourage people to spend some of their Christmas-shopping dollars with small stores. Small businesses employ about 50 percent of those ...

Shared Thanksgiving is fine tradition

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday that features family, food, and yes, the occasional football game. In the spirit of the holiday, thousands of people in the Fort Dodge region gathered around tables with relatives and friends for a traditional feast on Thursday. Dining room tables throughout the area were laden with turkeys, stuffing, corn, cranberries, green bean casseroles, pies and all kinds of other delicious things. But some of our neighbors couldn’t afford such a meal. Perhaps some lost a job; perhaps others had been hit with unexpected and high medical bills. The ...

Let us give thanks

Sometimes in America, it seems as if we actually enjoy advertising our trials and difficulties. And, yes, we have had plenty of them this year. There really were trying times in the early days of our nation also. That is why America’s first formal Thanksgiving observance had far more significance to our people than today’s often perfunctory observance. With all our troubles, we Americans are among the very few people in the world who feel it necessary to officially observe a day of thanksgiving. The words of George Washington, our first president, recognized that need. His Oct. ...

Iowa Central students show spirit of giving

The cynics in our world are quick to assert that college students live in a self-indulgent, self-centered world where truly being a part of the community where the college is located is simply not a priority. For some students, that may be true. It’s certainly not the case, however, for the Iowa Central Community College students who work hard to orchestrate a service project called Share What You Wear. Their commitment to this charitable undertaking illustrates that finding time to help make the world just outside the academic halls a better place is very much a priority for many ...