From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist “May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early!  My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!”  ~Alister Crowley, British poet During this New Year’s Eve celebration my two six-year-old granddaughters had a fun-filled sleepover at… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune To the disappointment of many voters in the United States, it somehow appears now that we will suffer through a rematch for President in 2024 with another Biden vs. Trump ticket. Before this new world of conspiracy theories, disinformation and misinformation and distrust of any… Read More

Pope County Salvation Army says ‘thank you’ From Donna Ortendahl, Central MN Salvation Army Field Representative The Salvation Army in Pope County would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all those who impacted our 2023 Red Kettle Campaign. Local businesses, local churches and individuals that gave to our kettle. The Pope County Salvation… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone Our annual trip to spend a couple of days with our Wisconsin daughter and family was a little different this year, with the bulk of the changes varying from normal with the unseasonable weather. The other changes, like the three granddaughters getting older, taller and wiser, were expected, the changes… Read More

The Outdoors By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist By the time you read this, the 22-23 pheasant hunting season will have come to a close. My Dad always used to tell me that if you want to see how fast time flies, take out a 90-day note at the bank. I will add to that with how… Read More

View From The Cab By David Tollefson, Columnist I don’t have to tell any of my Minnesota or upper Midwest readers that we had an extraordinarily warm month in December. I do get the monthly weather reports from the West Central Research and Outreach Center at Morris. Heidi Olson-Manska sends them to me by email very soon… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist I sit here, in my little corner of the world on this day that the Lord has made and stare, as I always do, through my window and across the prairie. It is a strange winter, indeed. Record warmth. Rain for Christmas. Lakes opening up in early January…. Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist “And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet, 1875-1926. As I turn the calendar to January 2024, I wonder what the new year will bring. The past year has been unsettling. Not only have politics, the wars… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune The weather news has been much of the talk around Minnesota in the past few weeks.  First it was the speculation that we were likely to have a “brown” Christmas.  Then, it was the warm weather devoid of any real precipitation. Then the Christmas rains came. … Read More

Minnewaska Musings by Paul Gremmels When I was newly enlisted in the Marine Corps and still stateside, my unit was granted a ten day leave over Christmas and New Year’s.  I excitedly told the Marine that bunked next to me that I would be going home for the holidays. He was a very funny, good natured… Read More