Obituaries

The following are upcoming Mississippi Valley Blood Center (MVRBC) blood drives in the local area:?The Henry County community will host a blood drive on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at the E3 Center, in Mt. Pleasant from 2 to 6 p.m.?The Winfield Lions Club will host a community blood drive on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at the Winfield VFW, from 3 to 6:30 p.m.Potential donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 with parental ...

The Dec. 16 meeting of Wednesday Study Club was held at the Legion Hall with 15 members present.A Christmas brunch was served at 10 a.m., by the committee comprised of Pauline Richardson, Janice Twinam and Helen Lease.Members had brought paper products to be given to Lending Hands, in Washington, and Cathy Williams volunteered to see that they were delivered.One of the club's members, Julia Bletscher, will be ...

We have seen abundant evidence that nature is good for us. One study after another has confirmed what we know intuitively: being active outdoors, in natural settings, offers significant physical and mental benefits. However, as winter sets in and it becomes harder to engage in many outdoor activities, we might reasonably ask if gardening indoors offers benefits beyond the simple beauty of plants.Studies suggest ...

DEAR ABBY: I found out a few months ago that my husband, "Hal," the father of my kids, has had affairs with five different women. I left, and we are now being divorced.I wanted revenge, so I have been secretly seeing Hal's good friend "Ron," whom he "forbade" me from contacting after I told him his infidelity gave me permission to act on the attraction I had for Ron. It's just a friends-with-benefits situation ...

Happy birthday!Logan Calhoun, Betty Hazen, Sally Johnson, Kim Kinney, Doug Marley, Jean Reschly and Kelly Smithburg

Outgoing Salem Friends of the Library President Cathy Helman recently presented a check to Connie Weatherman, chair of the Salem Crew Library Board.Friends of the Library, who supported Santa?s visit to the library on Dec. 5, actually presented the library board with two checks totaling $800.The money will be used to acquire new children?s books, now on display at the library, with the theme ?A book is a gift ...

World Heritage International Student Exchange Program (WH) is seeking representatives to work with volunteer host families and international exchange students in the local community.WH provides academic year and semester exchange programs in the United States for high school students from around the world. Students are 15 to 18 years of age, have passed a series of academic and character requirements and are ...

Mary F. Long, of Mt. Pleasant, will be celebrating her 97th birthday on Tuesday, Dec. 22.To help her celebrate her special day, birthday cards and well-wishes may be sent to Long at the Van Vorhies Haus, 601 West Monroe Street, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa 52641.Long?s friends and family wish her a very happy birthday.

The Iowa School Report Card is a new system to show how each public school is performing on certain educational measures. Schools receive a score for each measure, and then the scores are combined into an overall score. Based on the overall score, one of the following ratings is assigned to each school: Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement and Priority. The Iowa School Report ...

DEAR ABBY: I was divorced 10 years ago. My children are all over 21. I talk with them once a month, but I contact my ex-wife only when there?s an issue that relates to our kids.My ex now has cancer. When she dies, am I expected to attend the funeral? I would like to go as a show of respect to my kids. However, I don?t know how they would react because they know I have had little contact with their mother for the ...