I don’t know about you, but…
It seems to me that a month’s time has passed very quickly, but it is time for our monthly review of recent happenings and future events.
I don’t know about you, but…
I would like to congratulate The Kewanee Voice for the production of the first edition of The Henry-Stark Voice which hit the newsstands on July 10, 2026. This weekly printed newspaper is a big undertaking for the non-profit group, but it can only enhance the dissemination of information to the people that live in this area. So, pick up a copy at one of the many available locations throughout both counties, but whatever you do, don’t stop reading The Voice online.
I don’t know about you, but…
I would also like to congratulate Sarah Titlow on being named the new director of the Kewanee Food Pantry. I have full confidence that she will do a great job in her new position as the head of one of Kewanee’s most important services.
I don’t know about you, but…
I have enjoyed the weekly food column found on The Voice, which is written by Kim Gehling. In full disclosure, I have not had an opportunity to try any of the recipes she has presented, but I did have an opportunity to consume some of her Seven Layer Bars (the recipe from July 18) at a Voice function, and I am happy to report that the bars were very tasty. I would say she knows about what she writes.
In case you didn’t know …
There are quite a few talented, amateur artists in and around Kewanee. On Saturday, July 18, I had the opportunity to help monitor the artwork entered in the Prairie Chicken Adult Art Contest at the Hog Capital Festival Building. The entries were quite impressive. They made me wish I had some artistic ability which I do not have.
I don’t know about you, but…
I hope you had a chance to view the final round of professional golf’s final major, The Open, completed in England on Sunday, July 19. I hope you noticed the pace of play of the eventual champion, Ryan Fox, as he birdied the 72nd hole to capture the Claret Jug. He took all of 22 seconds from the time his playing partner holed out, for him to execute the final putt that won him the championship. I think there is a lesson to be learned for many professional golfers who are guilty of slow play on the tour. In my opinion, there is no way that the average time for a two-some to play a round on the PGA tour should be almost five hours.
Did you happen to take in the final game of the World Cup that also took place on July 19? I don’t know about you, but…
The championship game between defending champion Argentina and Spain was another example of why I am not a big fan of the game of soccer. It was evident to me (and I don’t profess to really understand all the intricacies of soccer played at that level) that Spain was the vastly superior team. Argentina’s only hope for victory was to make the match into a street fight with lots of physical play that often seemed borderline unsportsmanlike at the very least. Only a heroic effort by the Argentinian goalie kept the match close (he set a record for saves in a World Cup Final). Heck, Argentina wasn’t even trying to score. They didn’t even have a shot (let alone a shot on goal) until late in the match, after Spain finally broke through and scored a goal in extra time (overtime). It seemed that their strategy was to get the game to penalties and take their chances there. As I have said before, penalty kicks, in my opinion, are a horrible way to decide the winner of an elimination match in the World Cup. It would have been a horrible travesty if Argentina had got the match to penalties and won The Cup. Are you kidding me?!
I don’t know about you, but…
I am all right with the Sunshine Protection Act recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. If the bill passes in the Senate and is signed by the President, we will no longer be required to do the biannual clock change now required by law. That works for me. It will be one less thing for me to deal with. Besides I do believe that they are keeping the length of each day at 24 hours!
I don’t know about you, but…
I am against the rescinding of the Roadless Rule (the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule). The rule historically limited new road construction and commercial logging on roughly 58 million acres of undeveloped national forest lands. Come on. Really? Does every acre of undeveloped land need to be commercialized for the sake of some already rich people making more money?
I don’t know about you, but…
I am also against “Erasing History” or “Silencing Science.” The National Park Service is mandated by law to tell the full story of America – from our darkest chapters to our greatest triumphs – and protect the landscape from being impaired for future generations. I am against any efforts to sanitize history or scrub undeniable scientific truths just because the current Presidential administration doesn’t like how they read.
On the lighter side, on August 1, 1897, the first free mail service came to Kewanee. I don’t know about you, but…
I believe those living in Kewanee at that time could never envision the mail service that exists today, not to mention all the other ways to communicate including e-mailing, texting, using Facebook, and all the other ways of sharing our thoughts and wishes with each other. We have come a long way since the days of the Pony Express.
Speaking of communication, I don’t know about you, but…
I often wonder if I own my phone, or if my phone owns me. I suspect it is the latter.
Aug. 3 is National Psychic Day. I don’t know about you, but…
I believe that if you are a psychic, you knew I was going to write that before you read it. Even so, count me as one of the skeptics of the existence of psychics.
Aug. 13 is International Left Handers Day which celebrates left-handed people. I don’t know about you, but…
I believe lefthanders or “southpaws” are an often unjustly maligned group of people. I do know that they are in their “right mind” physiologically speaking.
I don’t know about you, but…
Due to the fact that August is traditionally such a hot month in this part of the world, I will probably be taking most of my naps indoors in air-conditioned comfort.
I don’t know about you, but…
I think I should end with the thought of the month. This month’s thought, once again, comes from the great statesman, Winston Churchill. When speaking of tact, Winston said, “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip”.
The ability to balance honesty and courtesy when communicating with others is a skill not possessed by all. While I believe in the old saying “tolerate the truth even if it is bad news,” being blunt while being fully honest isn’t always the best way to communicate with people. There is an art to telling one the painful truth without alienating that person. I really wish I could have been more tactful in situations I have encountered in the past. Let’s say I am still working on it.
Be careful out there!
