McCook Daily Gazette: Features

Knowledge is our best defense (03/19/10)
In the past I only had to worry about "shade-tree" mechanics taking advantage of me, but this self-serving approach to doing business seems to be spreading like wildfire these days. I first noticed it when I was in Seattle and found myself having to stand my ground with my dentist, whose suggestions for an unnecessary monthly teeth-cleaning and replacement of fillings for "cosmetic" purposes eventually brought me to the realization that he wasn't offering me what I needed, but what my insurance would pay for.. ...

Healthy foods for healthy kids (03/19/10)
FAMILY FEATURES -- It seems that parents are on a continuous hunt for healthy foods that kids will actually eat. One of the simplest solutions is to choose soyfoods as the basis for snacks and meals. Great tasting soyfoods provide essential iron, calcium, potassium, fiber, and high-quality complete protein for growing kids and adolescents. ...

Election workers in for the long haul (03/17/10)
The year was 1978. A gallon of gas was 63 cents, the Sony Walkman was introduced and the Fleetwood Mac album, "Rumours," was flying off the shelves. It was also the year when Nancy Mousel, then a stay-at-home mom with two young kids, acted on a suggestion by a friend and worked for the first time at an election...

Making weekday meals with what's on hand (03/12/10)
Back to Basics FAMILY FEATURES -- Dinner is the perfect time for families to reconnect and enjoy a nourishing meal, but when evenings are hectic, firing up the range can seem daunting. While people often turn first to non-perishable pantry staples in a pinch, a well-stocked freezer also can inspire convenient, easy-to-prepare meals...

Our first Sweet and Sour Chicken (03/12/10)
This week I set my sights on a sweet and sour chicken recipe I found in a Pil Publications cookbook called "Chinese Favorites." My hope was to duplicate the dish I typically order when dining out. While the chicken in this recipe is not battered and deep fried, as you find in many restaurant versions of the dish, I found it just as delicious and guilt-free. ...

Bringing back the local menu (03/05/10)
For those that know me, you know that when I say "it is with great excitement that I take over as editor of the weekend menu page," it is said with the utmost sincerity. From my family members that know how easy I am to shop for each holiday season, cook books never get old to me, to my coworkers that must listen to my daily babbling about what I cooked the night before in my endless quest to find balance between healthy food and what my 4-year-old son, Declan, deems good food for him. ...

Corporate challenge comes through for United Way (03/02/10)
A friendly competition among businesses in McCook has paid huge dividends for the McCook United Way. In fact, the support of the competing businesses and their employees provided more than 70 percent of the funds raised in 2009-10 campaign for the non-profit organization that helps fund 15 local agencies...

Winery honors determination of ancestors (03/01/10)
FARNAM -- Gary Wach is in awe of the drive and the determination -- and faith -- that his great-grandparents must have possessed to leave their home in Russia and immigrate to a young, wild America 125 years ago. Gary's great-grandparents, Friedrich Hermann and Maragaretha Minna Nagel Wach, came to America with nine children in tow, and arrived on Ellis Island on June 18, 1885, the same day as the Statue of Liberty, Gary said. ...

Lenten lesson: Weakness revealed, strength restored (02/26/10)
It had been a long time since he had visited the synagogue. Once a strong, vibrant young man, skilled in his trade, able to provide for his family, now his right hand was withered and deformed, and his life had completely changed. With these words, the stage was set Friday afternoon by the Rev. Clark Bates, pastor at McCook Christian Church, during the second Community Lenten service for a congregation of 126 at Memorial United Methodist Church...

Eagle Scout project benefits Hillcrest Nursing Home residents (02/26/10)
By DAWN CRIBBS Associate Editor Michael Sides, a 17-year-old junior at McCook High School didn't suffer from a shortage of ideas for his Eagle Scout project. Instead, he struggled to review them all, winnowing them down to a select few. A project in the summer garden at Hillcrest Nursing Home helped tip the scales in favor of collecting a variety of sensory stimulation products the nursing home can use on a daily basis to the benefit of each resident...

Retiring engineer won't miss long hours (02/25/10)

Lenten lesson: The power of healing (02/19/10)
This broken world, disease-ridden bodies and hearts gripped by grief, all cry for healing. A word, according to the Rev. John Strecker-Baseler, pastor at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, that is foreign to our culture. Strecker-Baseler, addressing a community congregation of 113 at the first of seven Community Lenten services at Memorial United Methodist Church, said that in our culture, we "want a quick fix, if something's broken, we want it fixed and fixed now."...

Automotive business passes to next generation (02/09/10)
The legacy of Otto Nilsson -- a man committed to service with a sale and fair, friendly treatment of everyone -- continues into the second half-century of the automotive business that the Swedish immigrant started in McCook in 1950. Annette Nilsson Irwin, Otto's daughter, assumed ownership and control of Automotive Sales and Service in August 2009, moving from Omaha to McCook last summer...

Medical miracle baby celebrates 60th birthday (01/26/10)
Every year, when Pat was little, her parents made a big splash for her birthday, even though it came right after Christmas. "The folks always made a big to-do about my birthday. I always felt so special," Pat Powers, of McCook, said recently, smiling with the memories. "I guess they thought it was really something that I made it."...

Welding program offers new chance at life (12/29/09)
By his own account, Casey Stewart of Fremont kind of drifted along in life. Getting a job was never a top priority, the 24-year old recently admitted. "I worked at a telemarkerting company once," he said, "but I had no direction. Finding a job was hard."...

Keeping it simple with a 'Night Tree' (12/24/09)
Birds, squirrels and other outdoor animals will be making a bee-line to Marti and Roger Siebrandt's backyard this winter. A giant blue spruce in their backyard is covered with about 110 necklaces made from rings of fruit-flavored cereal strung on yarn, thanks to the efforts of kindergartners at McCook Elementary and Marti's annual reading of "Night Tree."...

Chamber Santa Cash Auction Saturday (12/16/09)
The value of the dollar has taken a beating in recent months, but Chamber Santa Cash is still a strong currency at the McCook Chamber of Commerce. Only a few days remain for shoppers to exchange their receipts from participating local businesses for the unusual-looking greenbacks. After Saturday's Chamber Santa Cash auction, they will become worthless...

Hillcrest resident, 99, stays involved with current events (12/14/09)
Some people become apathetic to the ways of the world as they get older. Not 99-year-old Esther Wissbaum of McCook. Wissbaum keeps busy on her 1977 manual Smith Corona typewriter, pounding out letters to newspapers about a variety of issues, such as the decline of common courtesy ("What's wrong with saying 'You're welcome?'" "Nowadays people say 'No problem.' What does that mean, exactly?'") to legalizing industrial hemp...

Director wanted library to be a welcoming place (12/10/09)
Patty Hall was never a big one for "shushing." Retiring last week after 24 years with the McCook Public Library, the past nine as Library Director, Hall said she used to get flack now and then about noisy kids who stay at the library after school. But for Hall, the library should be a place kids -- and adults -- feel welcomed...

Basket full of Naughty (12/03/09)
Kittens Cali and Stormy enjoy a rest in a bread basket.

The first Thanksgiving -- Pumpkin pie was probably beyond first American feast (11/25/09)
Third grader Gabe Sehnert shared his family's bakery and his grandpa Walt Sehnert's gift of storytelling when he and his fellow students and teachers Linda Brewster and Lara Stewart stopped by for stories, pumpkin dessert and a session of singing Thanksgiving songs...

'The Kloset' Hormel winner open for business (11/23/09)
Only five months after winning the Hormel Business Plan Competition, clothing retailer "The Kloset" opened the doors of its much-anticipated boutique at 217 Norris Ave. in McCook this morning. "Our motto is trendy yet affordable," said co-owner and McCook native Stephanie Dusatko, who founded the Kloset together with her husband, Jeffrey Dusatko, and her sister, Ashley Hagan...