Last week in my Memory Lane article, I wrote about Lowell Madsen’s uncle, Andrew Madsen, arriving in America and his experiences adjusting to a different country. This article is about Andrew’s experiences in World War I...

Lowell and Janet Madsen have a cottage on the west shore of Upper Gar Lake. Upper Gar is the passageway to East Okoboji from Lower Gar and Lake Minnewashta. Their site has several advantages in that they do not have to remove their dock or boat hoist for the winter but on the other hand it is very shallow. ...

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, (lake). Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream...

This morning was great and it reminded me of the summers of my youth. The sun was out, a little breeze and the whole day before you. What should I do? I grew up in the late 1920s and 1930s and if I recall correctly our parents did not plan our day nor even pay much attention to our activities. ...

Teaching school was my occupation for 36 years. I received my B.A. degree in 1949 from Iowa State Teachers College (University of Northern Iowa) at Cedar Falls, and my M. A. degree in 1950 from Colorado State College of Education (University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley, Colorado. My first teaching position was at Meeker Junior High School in Greeley in the fall of 1950...

Please pass the following information along and be proud of our men and women who served in our armed forces to protect our God-given rights and freedoms. I am sure many of you have attended funerals for veterans and observed the ritual of the flag-draped coffin. ...

The Iowa Great Lakes have spawned many industries over the years: fishing, boat liveries, fishing gear, bait, docks, boat hoists, scuba diving, roller skating, dancing, music and boat building...

Do you have any rules in your house? Max, our grandson, has everybody remove their shoes when they enter the house. Several rules at our house are no wearing hats or caps and a shirt is required when eating at the table. Our boys, now adults, still adhere to those rules. I can imagine you have some rules at your home...

We have resided on Emerald Meadows Drive in Arnolds Park for 20 years. During the summer months, the weekend traffic on Highway 71 is atrocious. Many times vehicles are backed up from the traffic light to the south down to The Hutt. We are able to turn north due to some courteous driver who will let us in the lineup. ...

The growth and devolvement of automobiles in the United States is an interesting history. Many of us who grew up in the 1920’s and 1930’s were intrigued with all the new models and makes. I was born in 1925 so I always recall riding in cars. My first recollection was my parents’ 1927 Chevrolet...

The newspapers, signs, email, TV and phone calls today are evidence of businesses seeking employees. Last week we took our son out for lunch to a very popular restaurant and all the tables were occupied. We felt sorry for the waitress as she was the only one on duty. ...

The little things make life bearable. Think of those somewhat insignificant gadgets that we simply can’t live without. Some examples are wireless phones, remote TV channel changers, fuzz busters, screw-pull corkscrews and my favorite - the Swiss Army knife. You can probably name many more that have been around for years like a fly swatter or the Chinese back scratcher...

Connie and I were married in March of 1948, and that summer we attended Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls. Our first home was a one-room apartment on Olive Street, one block from the campus. It was very convenient to walk over to our classes. We had no garage for the car and parked it on the street; but it did have a washing machine in the basement and a clothesline in the back. We usually did the wash on Saturday (weather permitting)...

The Iowa Great Lakes is truly a wonderful place to live, especially if you are a fisherman. The lakes abound with species of fish that appeal to all varieties of skills and equipment. Many people in the area depend on fish to provide them with a living. That is true today as well as yesterday and the following article is about one of those individuals – Delos Peck. (1891-1981)...

“Spring is sprung, the grass is green and it’s time to get the blankets clean.” So went the popular ditty when I was a youth. Lots of things happened in the spring, such as a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts that the girls have been thinking of all winter...

A math problem arose the other day while I was getting a haircut at 95 years old. I've had my hair cut seven or eight times each year that sums up to over 700 haircuts. I won't even address the cost of haircuts in my lifetime but am still blessed with hair to cut!...

Our son, Randy LaFoy, visited us last week. He lives in Birchwood, Minnesota, and he brought his new family addition, an Australian cattle blue heeler dog named Tilly. Tilly was only 3 months old and a ball of energy. She wanted to play fetch, tug of war and beg at the dinner table. Didn't take her long to figure out who was the most likely candidate to slip her a snip of food: Me. I am a sucker and easy prey for food. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for dogs...

Several days ago, our driving took us to the State Pier on the waterfront at the Arnolds Park Amusement Park. We viewed it from the comfort of our van. Wow!...

Jules Verne published a book in 1872 entitled "Around the World in Eighty Days." In the story Phileas Fogg and his newly employed French valet circumnavigates the world in 80 days on a wager set by his friends...

Our Earth is huge and contains many people in many countries. According to Google, in 2020 there are 8 billion people on the earth. I read someplace years ago that each and everyone has a twin. I don't know about you but I can't recognize myself except when looking in a mirror. Even then I wonder who that old geezer is who is looking back at me...