Stargazing - by Eli Lutgens

A full week

The world welcomed my niece Aria Leigh Nowak into the world Saturday evening at about 11:30 p.m. Congratulations to my sister Jessica and her fiance Damon. My sister tells me she went into the Owatonna hospital at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Both she and the baby were pretty exhausted by the...

Life's little suprises, giant gifts

It was my dad’s 63rd birthday this past week, Oct. 14. My dad, James Dwight Lutgens, was born on Dwight Eisenhower’s birthday, which is how he got his middle name. My dad has been a newspaper person for a long time. Since the day he was born, in fact. The local Waseca Journal published his...

From Lake of the Woods to Mississippi

Last week I wrote about my schedule putting the newspaper together. This week I was on vacation. I left on Saturday for Hill City, Minnesota. My two best friends are Kyle and his wife, Anastasiia. Kyle’s parents own the Blue Moon Resort located on Hill Lake. Three or four times over the...

A week in the life of a publisher

Preparing entries for the Minnesota Newspaper Association writing contest this year, there was a category that stuck out in my mind: “Explaining newspaper operations to readers.” I’ve been asked about this numerous times. How does the paper go out? How do you do it? How does it work? My week...

News doesn't wait, it chases me

I did a little garage sale shopping on Friday. At the very last house I visited, I was greeted by the mother of Terry Huber. It was her garage sale, you see. She stopped me and asked, “Are you from the paper? I recognize your picture.” Yup. That’s me. I wouldn’t have thought the little photo...

My favorite part of the interview

I enjoyed lunch with Deb at Oscar’s this week. I’m reminded how much I enjoy their “fry” sauce. It seems to be essentially mayonnaise with some added seasonings or sauces, but it is delicious. Musing between the two of us, I recalled happenings in Waseca that should be mentioned in the paper...

A weekend adventuring in Akeley

I spent an incredibly relaxing weekend up north at a cabin on a lake near Akeley. It was the first time I have gotten away for a short reprieve in more than a year and a half. The trip started with much uncertainty. Schedules, cars, and moving to a new office complicated matters on Friday....

Piecing my life and apartment together

I was interviewed by the Mankato Free Press today. After going through multiple interrogations by Deb Bently who has written about me in the past, this was a walk in the park. I probably talked too much for my own good, but it was an interview after all. My favorite part was the surprise...

Fond memories of Grandma and Joie

Something about operating a newspaper, there’s no way to guess what will happen next. Let me describe a recent exchange. Last week a reader with the last name Hagen, an experienced reader in New Richland, stopped into the office to renew her subscription. I didn’t get up from my desk as it was...

Sitting around talking baseball and news

In my world of newsing this week, it was pretty busy. New Rchland held its annual night out and had record attendance. I spoke with the Waseca mayor for a while Tuesday night and came away with a nice story. Chatting with Randy, he made the comment that he probably shouldn’t be suggesting stories...