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Build all your life around God

Local Columns

Our world often turns simple decisions into complex problems. Want raisin bran for breakfast? Walmart offers at least 9 options, not counting the size of the box it comes in. Raisin Bran comes bearing multiple brand names – Kellogg’s, Post, Great Value or General Mills. You can have it with extra crunch, extra raisins, oat clusters or cranberries. There’s an organic option if you’re concerned about your health. (Does anyone really eat raisin bran for any other reason?) So before you consume raisin bran for breakfast, you have some choices to make. This idea that simple choices ...

Early Marietta: A wounded soldier goes home

Local Columns

They called it the "War of Rebellion." Southerners used the understated phrase “The Recent Unpleasantness," as though the Civil War never happened. Over 600,000 perished from combat and illness. Many more were wounded. A seriously wounded Union officer of the 53rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry ...

The Backyard Gardener: Divide and conquer the iris

Home and Garden


Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Cooler temperatures prevail this week as we say goodbye to July and hello to August. I want to send a big thank you to all the supporters of our 4-H and FFA livestock program here in Wood County. We had a successful week at the Wood County 4-H and FFA Summer Showcase where youth display their talents and their animal projects. We appreciate the community support of 4-H and FFA. These programs build lifelong skills in our local youth including responsibility, decision making, self-confidence, people skills, sportsmanship and problem ...

Giving often brings reward

Local Columns

An analysis of the Forbe’s Most Generous Givers list for 2023 revealed that nearly half of the 25 people on the list were Jewish. In America, Jews make up only 2.4% of the population, but in the list of generous givers, almost 50% were Jewish. While folks often make jokes about Jewish frugality, Jews are actually far more generous than most of the rest of us! That’s because tzedakah, or charitable giving, holds an important place in Jewish culture. Many scholars believe that the Mosaic Law actually allowed for a double tithe. (Remember, a tithe is 10% of one’s income.) With their ...

Unusual names in early Washington County

Local Columns

Names of early settlers in Ohio were quite different and strange-sounding from today. Many reflected Puritan virtues (from New England settlers), Biblical figures, Greek or Roman classic names. Here are a few I've noticed. Readers likely have many curious names in their families or acquaintances. Return Jonathan Meigs Sr. was an early settler in Marietta, a distinguished Revolutionary War veteran, surveyor, and civic leader. His son, R. J. Meigs, Jr. was Ohio's 4th governor. "Return"? According to family lore, Meigs Sr.’s grandfather Janna (another unusual name), was courting a young ...

Our giving reveals what we think of God

Local Columns

The late Larry Burkett told about a preacher friend who did something that is not recommended for preachers who value their jobs – he took up the offering himself. As the preacher carried the plate around the room, he watched what people put in and, if they put in a sealed envelope, he opened the envelope and looked at the amount inside. The following Sunday, to a congregation seething with anger, the preacher said, “Many of you are angry that I looked in your offering envelopes last week. Has it ever occurred to you to consider what God thinks when he looks in there?” Brett Blair ...