Opinion

To the editor:WOW. Monday I participated in laying out the new labyrinth at the First United Methodist Church. This is the third one I have had the privilege to work on creating. Our culture has become so ?heady? that we have lost touch with much of the work of the heart we talk about often rather than doing the experience. Labyrinths are an ancient Christian experiential prayer form. They are found in the ...

To the editor:Growing food on our own land is a fundamental right. The city council is seriously considering taking the first step to take that right away from us. With reference to the June 14 article ?Vegetables won?t be allowed in city right-of-way,? here is a simple suggestion to those who ?don?t want vegetables in their front yards?: Don?t grow vegetables in your front yards (but don?t prevent others from ...

Here we are at last. The change in the temperature and the colors in the trees are all saying that fall is finally here. After a summer of 110-degree days, I really appreciate the coolness in the air. As I have said before, October is my favorite time of year. Being the confirmed Halloween junkie that I am, I can?t wait for the annual trick or treat ?round the square when all the little ghosts and goblins show ...

To the editor:To the town of Fairfield, parents who have children at Pence Elementary and the Fairfield Middle School and pick them up, the superintendent, the city council, the mayor and local law enforcement.I live on South Sixth Street and am seriously upset by the parking problem that occurs EVERY school day by the people picking up their children from the north end of the building. Please know that I ...

To the editor:Congratulations to all the cast, crew, orchestra, and set design team, and all who took part in the Fairfield Area Community Theatre production of Willy Wonka! What a fantastic show! I smiled until my face hurt. You all did such an amazing job and it was such a delight! Thanks for presenting such a fabulous family show and doing it so very well! Kids ? once again you knocked my socks off! ...

Local government is alive and well in Fairfield and Jefferson County. I know because I spent four hours of my Monday at the courthouse and city hall with a pen and notepad.With Ledger reporter Lacey Jacobs gone for the day, those duties fell on my plate. I thought I might have gotten away with just a morning supervisors meeting, but a ?Willy Wonka? dress rehearsal and school board meeting took Michael Leach ...

The Washington Street Committee has been talking a lot recently about sidewalks and how to make the town safer for pedestrians. At the most recent meeting, I heard a suggestion to purchase mobile reflective signs that could be put around the square, or perhaps at other streets, to warn vehicles about heavy pedestrian traffic. The discussions I?ve heard have got me thinking about all the places I?ve walked to in ...

It?s well known that little kids are easily frightened of all manner of things from monsters under their bed to the boogieman hiding in their closet. Those things never scared me as a child, I?m proud to say! But there was something that terrified me throughout my childhood: extraterrestrials.I remember the exact moment in time I became fearful of aliens. My family and I were visiting friends of ours in ...

Participating in the band was one of my favorite activities growing up. I played the trumpet, taking after my mother and Chuck Mangione. At my school in Pocahontas, we started band in fifth grade, which was in the elementary school. The band room was in the high school, which was just one block north of the elementary school. It seems crazy in retrospect, but we rode a bus for one block from the elementary school ...

This is probably of no comfort to Washington?s fans, players or coaches, but the Demons are the best 1-3 football team in the state of Iowa.According to power rankings compiled by Brent Moore ~ Washington is the best 1-3 football team in Iowa and the 25th-best team in Class 3A.But saying you?re the best 1-3 team in the state is kind of like saying you?re the best finger painter in kindergarten. You?re a ...

Sept. 26, 2011Washington, Iowa To the Editor: I want to correct a reporting error in The Journal recently. Washington can boast of having TWO players in the NFL. Keith Molesworth was born in Washington in 1905 and graduated from Washington High. Due to his size (5 feet 7 inches and 98 pounds) he never started a prep football game. At 5 feet 9 inches and 167 pounds, he went to Monmouth College in ...

I have always been interested in strange names for people. You probably know some of the names celebrities have given to their children. Musician and composer Frank Zappa thought of some creative names for his children, Diva, Ahmet, Dweezil and Moon Unit. Sylvester Stallone, star of the ?Rocky? and ?Rambo? series, named his son Sage Moonblood. Actor Jason Lee of ?My Name is Earl? named his son Pilot Inspektor. My ...