I’m not a fan of autumn. Mostly, because I know what season comes after it - the loooong one with only a few hours of sunlight, bitter cold temperatures and snow. Oh, the snow.
The older I get, the more I hate the snow.
However, this year, for some odd reason, it was a good autumn.
Temperatures finally dropped.
Kids were - kind of - back in school. (Big hallelujah!)
After being off, some high school sports were back on. (More applause!)
What is it that makes us fond of fall? Walking outside and hearing dead leaves crunch under our feet?

About every four weeks, my sixth grader, Anna, has to report to her class on a current event. She needs to report on one local, one state, one national, and one world headline throughout the school year. The students present their findings on a rotating basis, so the classroom gets a few “top news stories” each week. After the presentations, students can ask the presenter a few questions and discuss the topic. It’s a pretty cool project.

Life lessons are playing out in front of our eyes. Are we paying attention?
The death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in the custody of a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, has sparked outrage, protests, riots, violence, looting, and arson in Minneapolis and across the United States.

Times are crazy now. The economy is scary. People are protesting over businesses staying closed.
Masks are the recommended new facial accessory.
We aren’t supposed to hug when we see people anymore.
Six feet - that’s as close as we can get when talking to someone.
Kids are frustrated they’re not “in” school, playing sports with their friends.

So much has changed in the world in the last few weeks.
We’re entering unchartered territory in this fight against COVID-19.
Everyone at Suel Printing Company's newspapers (Montgomery Messenger, The New Prague Times, Waterville Lake Region Life and Elysian Enterprise) remains dedicated to providing you with a high-quality newspaper with consistent news coverage and delivery.
That said, we’re doing what we can with the resources we have to keep ourselves, our families, and our sources healthy.

Milliseconds.
Nanometers.
The blink of an eye.
Those flashes are the measures of the most significant events in our lives.
We have all experienced them - and they usually happen when someone passes away. One minute they are here. The next, they’re not.
In a blink.
The lives of many people were changed last week when a Lonsdale family and the Tri-City United family - again - lost one of its own. Blake Ryan Asher, age 17, died tragically in a car accident on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020.

(Editor’s note: Bill Marek has lived in Montgomery for close to 46 years. As an attorney, he and his brother, Scott, own Marek Law Office & Tax Services. In the mid-2000s, Bill was instrumental in the idea of changing the former elementary school on Highway 13/2 to a high school and creating an elementary and middle school campus on Second Street.)

I purchased a piece of Montgomery history a while ago, and it’s pretty cool.
It came by way of Charlene Washa, of Le Center, who was cleaning out a closet when she discovered a “slightly used and aged” Montgomery Messenger cigar box. She posted it online, and Kathy Peterson tagged me on it because it had to do with the Messenger.
Charlene said she didn’t know much about the box, but she received some information from Kathy Heyda, who has extensive history on the Richter family history.

I love to read. One of my favorite books is Mitch Albom's “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” At this time of year, I often reflect on the past 12 months - its ups and downs, joys and sadnesses.
Remembering this book, I thought of the five people I'd like to spend Christmas with again. First and foremost would be my dad. It’s been 22 years ago on September 28 that he unexpectedly passed away.
Even after all of these years, I think about him.
Every. Single. Day.
I talk to him - sometimes out loud (no judging allowed).

In our democratic society last week, residents voted down a solution to solve the fire, ambulance and police departments’ building problems. With totals of 452 to 174, the $6.7 million decision was soundly defeated by Montgomery voters.
I attended almost all of the public meetings, council work sessions and regular meetings on the issue prior to the vote. I listened to the pitches from the architects, discussion from the council and complaints from the public.
To be clear, nobody has ever said the departments don’t deserve something better than what they have now.

On Tuesday morning, it was hard to focus. On one hand, I heard the slight moans of my new ninth grader, who was kind of depressed, but secretly excited, he had to return to school. On the other hand, I barely heard him over my cheers that he had to return to school.
The Tuesday after Labor Day is a glorious day, indeed.
Since the local students’ had an extended vacation from the construction in the district, I am so happy school is back in session.

Your plans for Memorial Day are made.
A picnic in the park. A vacation to the lake. A trip to the shopping mall.
Or maybe a visit to a military memorial or a parade.
These are all well-deserved breaks and rests. We work hard.
However, this Memorial Day, as in ALL Memorial Days, we need to force ourselves to pause and remember the fallen.
We need to remember those who fell in combat during America's conflicts. Desert Storm, Vietnam, Korea, Afgahnistan, Iraq. They are all important, and if a serviceman or woman died, we need to remember that.

Sometimes, you just need to laugh. 
I've been a mom for almost a decade now and have seen my kids do things I never knew were possible... like getting mastitis as a newborn, getting stuck in a chair, requiring "super" (fake) teeth because their baby teeth failed to grow in, having the backs of earrings grow INSIDE their earlobes... It's a never-ending list. 
I didn't know how little I knew until I became a mom.
And, honestly, after a rough day or two, I start to question myself.

A new series on Netflix serves a stern and shocking warning: we need to do more to save our planet and the inhabitants on it.
The series is narrated by the velvet voice naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, the most famous nature storyteller on television. The 92-year-old producer, narrator, and documentarian essentially invented the genre of television nature documentaries in his decades-long career at the BBC with programs like “Life on Earth”, “Blue Planet”, and “Planet Earth.”

New Year’s Day has come and gone. How many of you made a New Year’s resolution?
Did you make the perennial favorite to lose weight? (I should have.)
How about make better food choices? (I should have.)
Quit snacking on the fattening and unhealthy food, sugars and refined white flour-products? (I should.)
Did you resolve to eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and good foods? (I should.)

In my older years, I have started to feel cynical (dare I say bitter?), and my Christmas list for this old world looks more like a massive complaint rather than a heartfelt letter to you.
So, in search of the true Christmas spirit, I pulled up one of the most famous editorials ever written, "Is there a Santa Claus?"