There are 365 days in a year but only one day is your birth date. Mine is June 16, what is yours? I have spent every birthday celebrating with my family except for two. Those two were when I was in military service in WWII. I was in India (1944) and in China (1945) on my special day and have a scar for each to help me remember...

In 1932 the public had no access to West Lake Okoboji, but by 1933 that would change. In the years of 1933 and 1934 acquisition of property marked a long-felt need for a public area on Iowa's largest and most famous lakes. The Iowa State Board of Conservation announced the purchase of 71-acre tract on West Okoboji Lake at Gull Point, to become the major state park in the Iowa Great Lakes Region...

Arnolds Park again has a Roof Garden Ballroom. We bought tickets to hear the Glen Miller Orchestra. Wow! I remember dancing to his orchestra in 1940 at the Roof. For those of us who grew up in this area, it is a dream come true to have the new Roof Garden. ...

Will the daily newspaper disappear like our gas-driven vehicles? We subscribe to two daily newspapers, one here at the lakes and a different one in Arizona. Some seem to shrink in pages but not the price. The Dickinson County News still has plenty of pages as does the Lakes Shopper and Okobojian. Years ago, each community in the county had a newspaper and some had more: Spirit Lake Beacon, Milford Mail, Lake Park News, Terrill Record and Arnolds Park News...

World War II began for the United States on Dec. 7, 1941, with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Young men and women readily volunteered to serve but many men had been drafted into the military prior to Dec. 7. The population of Dickinson County in 1940 was 12,185. Before WWII was over, 1,000 men and women served in the military from this county...

In our world today we do not suffer from lack of communication: TV, radio, daily newspapers, smartphones, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The big question today is, how much of it can you trust to be true?...

Friday night is "party" night, TGIF, at the Emerald Hills Golf Course clubhouse and a social at the Okoboji Yacht Club. We see lots of our friends; make new acquaintances and lots of conversation. The entrance fee at Emerald is some snacks and your presence. ...

What Fourth of July tradition does your family have? The day is to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from British rule...

Highway 71 through the Iowa Great Lakes is a history lesson...

My only La Foy first cousin, Larrie LaFoy, recently passed away. He was born in 1935 when I was 10 years old and that year was a turning point in my life. The following article will illustrate those events or changes...

Traveling around Big Spirit Lake had been a problem for many years. Many people went to Crandall's Beach or to McClellan's Beach but going from one to the other required traveling several five miles into Minnesota and back from west or east. ...

I ran a similar article several years ago and a gentleman asked me to do it again. It is a good way to help new people to the area understand the geography of our county and lakes...

Memorial Day or Decoration Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering and honoring persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Originally known as Decoration Day in the years following the American Civil War (1861-1865), it became an official federal holiday in 1971 and is now called Memorial Day...

The elderly minister was retiring after a lifetime of service to his congregation. At his retirement party he was asked, "If you could have one wish what would it be?" After a moment of thought he replied, "I wish my 20/20 hindsight could have been 20/20 foresight."...

My sister and I were introduced to the Roof Garden early in our lives. When we were very young our parents would load my sister, Jean, and I into the car and drive up to The Park after work and supper. Dad would find a parking space below the Roof Garden and we all went up to the dance floor...

"Aubrey, go down to the fruit room and bring back a jar of green beans," Mother said. The fruit room at our house was in the basement and it was a separate room just to the left of the stairs. The door had a latch on it and it was always sort of scary as the light bulb in the room was small. ...

We moved to Emerald Meadows Drive on the Emerald Hills Golf Course in 2000. It is a town house and we do little work on the outside like mowing, weeding and snow removal. Connie does plant many flowers in pots and makes it a very desirable place in the summer growing season. ...

I love potatoes! When God decided to put some vegetables on earth, he couldn't have done a much better job than when he developed potatoes. I've often wondered why he didn't let Moses or Abraham in on the potato? It is difficult to believe that the rest of the world didn't have potatoes until Columbus brought them back to Europe. ...

"Mother, is it time to go for the boat ride?" Little Charley asked. Several days before his parents had informed Charley that on Sunday they were taking him for a ride on the Steamer Iowa. The setting was in 1900 and Charley was only seven and had never ridden on a steamboat so you can understand his excitement. ...