5 Years Ago January 7, 2016 HASTINGS STAR-GAZETTE Pastor’s Corner: A season of patience, peace, hope By Dr. April Davis Campbell, First Presbyterian Church As we leave behind the Christmas season, I reflect on the joy it brings. I’m not talking about the merchandizing at the mall or the decorations covering lawns and homes. I’m thinking about the joy and awe and wonder that we revisit each year. We spoke of watching and waiting, hopefully with eyes remade for wonder. What made the Christmas season so special? We are moved by the generosity that brings love into our lives. I think the holidays are special in a challenging way as well. Something stirred in us hope and peace and patience as we waited.

I can appreciate the reminder to be patient and be present. Unfortunately, we get busy, stressed, overworked, overwhelmed and even sleep deprived and forget to rest in the comfort of God’s grace.

We forget to breathe deep and take in all the amazing blessings around us. In the Living in Hope Advent devotional, which contains meditations from Henri Nouwen, the reading for the second Sunday of Advent really moved me. The scripture reads, “In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him.” (The Message, Luke 2:25)…Buddha once said, ‘Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment.’ My New Year’s wish for all is that we live patiently and presently, seeking to let God guide us to wholeness in life and our ministries. I pray that you are filled with the many blessing in the joyous New Year.

Grace to you, and peace.

50 Years Ago THE HASTINGS GAZETTE January 14,1971 Merle Hoffenmiller, 65, Died Sunday At Hosp., Burial Wed.

Miss Merle Hoffenmiller, 65, well-known local resident, succumbed at the Regina Memorial hospital Sunday, following a long period of ill health.

A daughter of the late John and Katherine Reuter Hoffenmiller, she was born May 28, 1905 at Cologne, Minn.

The family later moved to Hastings, which has since been their home. She attended the Guardian Angels grade school and later graduated from the Hastings High.

Following the death of their parents, Miss Hoffenmiller and her sister Rose Marie continued to reside in the family residence, she taking care of the home, while her sister was employed in the office of the Smead Mfg. Co.

During her long illness she endeavored to be bright and cheerful, and bore her suffering with remarkable patience, courage and fortitude.

A visitation, with a parish vigil at 8:00 p.m., was held at the Ellis Funeral Home (at) 2:00 p.m. Tuesday until time for the funeral at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in Guardian Angels church, with Rev. John E. Mitchell officiating. The parochial school children’s choir sang.

Serving as pallbearers, were Arnold Reinardy, Paul McNamara, Ray Reuter, Francis Brooke, Thomas Cooper and Charles Brooke. Interment was made in the church cemetery.

Elsewhere and nearby: The Cottage Grove Community Club meets tonight (Thursday, Jan. 14) at 8 p.m. at the Community Club.

105 Years Ago CANNON FALLS BEACON March 31, 1916 Classified Ads.

[Ads in this column 1 cent a word each week. No ad inserted for less than 15 cents. All ads must be in on Tuesday and paid in advance Telephone No. 157.] FOR SALE—a 1914 Ford in good condition. Frank Watts.

FOR SALE—White dent seed corn. R. M. Poe, phone 192-9.

FOR SALE—Some seed corn, Minnesota 13. Inquire of Mrs. Frank Watts.

FOR SALE—A second- hand automobile. Also some clover hay. Oscar Olson, Cannon Falls.

Local Happenings Items of Interest Gathered About Town and Vicinity.

City election on Monday, April 3.

The public schools closed Friday for the spring vacation.

There will be a temperance meeting at the opera house on Sunday evening, April 2, at 8 o’clock.

The village of Cusson in Cook county has gone dry and the wets (anti-prohinbitionists) are cussin’ about it.

Don’t forget to vote next Monday.

COMING ATTRACTIONS AT THE GRAND THEATRE “A Yellow Streak,” April 5 “The Cave Man,” April 12 “The Great Divide,” April 19 “The Man Trail,” April 26 “The Misleading Lady,” May 3 “A Nation’s Peril,” May 10 110 years Ago THE CATHOLIC BULLETIN St. Paul, Minn., March 18, 1911 SCIENCE AND THE SUPERNATURAL Why Apparently in Conflict?

The Prejudices and Assumptions of So-Called Science Discard the Supernatural, Says Rev. F. C. Cremin of St. Paul Seminary Few who regard the signs of the times can deny that between science and religious belief, there exists a widespread opposition. In considering this opposition it is well at the outset to try to discover the root and source of this hostility… why, then does the scientist regard as beneath notice the arguments in favor of a Divine Revelation which, to the millions who in all the ages of Christianity have, by force of these arguments been led into the Faith, are overwhelmingly convincing?…The explanation is this, and this alone can give even the semblance of reason to their attitude. They approach the study of Christ and Christianity blindfolded by an invincible prejudice in regard to the miraculous and the supernatural. They reason after this fashion: Miracles are impossible. They cannot happen because the laws of nature are constant and immutable. All experience proclaims this truth, and to depart therefrom is to admit that nature’s course might have been changed in the past, or may be changed in the future. This is to overthrow the whole fabric of science, and to destroy scientific certainty, which is based on the uniformity of nature… (miracles recorded in history, but rejected)…So history—irrefutable history!—is repudiated in the name of science! When science, so-called, finds itself in such straights is it not its plain duty and rational course to revise its assumptions and re-consider its prejudice— which if strictly applied to history, would land us in universal skepticism in regard to past events?…True science in its genuine discoveries, in its proven conclusions—the parent of so much that is good and great, the motive power of material progress to which the race is deeply indebted—entails no such dire consequences. (It is here worth noting that as of 1951 and a document entitled “Humani Generis” with English translation, that the Catholic Church itself is not opposed to the theory of evolution itself, nor to discussion of it, provided that the Supernatural is not discarded in the process). 115 Years Ago THE FARMER’S WIFE A monthly journal priced at 15 cents a year April 1906 The Corset.

My daughter, now thirteen, wishes to wear a corset. “All the girls do,” she says, “and they look so much nicer.” What shall I do about it? I myself wear comfortably fitted waists, but as I am thin I need nothing except to support my skirt. My daughter complains that she “looks bunchy,” and wants a corset to remedy this effect. Is there not a health waist of some kind that can be had instead of the corset with its stiff bones and steels? Mrs. A G L This is a question that comes to every mother and is a most perplexing one. Art points to the statue of the Venus de Milo as the natural and beautiful female figure, but the corset manufacturers and the dressmakers have so compressed and “shaped”(!) women’s waists that they bear no semblance to the natural figure, and one wonders how the vital processes that sustain life are carried on—where the modern woman’s stomach is located and what she has done with her ribs. And one of my chief objects in life is to so impress my own daughters with the hideousness and the sin of this distortion of “the temple of the soul” that they will never wish to thus disfigure it.

Yes, there are “health waists” that are stiffened with cording instead of being boned and steeled, which, worn fitted just easily, but not so as to restrict the movements or the breathing, will hold the clothing down and do away with the “bunchy” effect the girls all dislike…there is little comfort ahead for the women who must keep pace with the times. The popularity of athletic sports and physical culture among girls and women, however, is attaining the proportions of a “fad,” which is a hopeful sign, and has already been the means of deliverance for many from the bondage of the torture of tight corsets and high-heels, neither of which can be worn on the golf links, the tennis court, or in the gymnasium. Let us do all we can to promote the athletic and health fads, and trust that our daughters have inherited enough good sense from their mothers to prevent them from ruining their health by blindly following fashion’s dictates.

—Unattributed. 135 Years Ago ECHO DE L’OUEST (Western Echo) Motto: Fais Ce Que Dois, Advienne Que Pourra April 1, 1885 Deces (Death Notice) We have the burden of announcing the death of Dame Aurelie Fleurie, wife of M. Pierre Gauvreau of this city, as of March 26 last.

Madame Gauvreau was 37 years old, and succumbed to a cruel sickness of four months. The comforts of religion have softened her sufferings following a long sickness, as well as (ainsi que) the anguish of the last hour of departure for a better world (un monde meilleur). She leaves to mourn her passing eight children and an inconsolable husband.

Her funeral took place last Sunday afternoon at l’eglise Notre Dame de Lourdes, in the presence of a grand assembly (concours) of relatives and friends.

(Note: The above church is still in existence, with an apparent website at https:// lourdesmpls.org and street address of 1 Lourdes Place, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Mrs. Gauvreau is listed on Find a Grave with memorial ID 94819203 in St. Anthony Cemetery. Her husband Pierre died July 3, 1919).

Hastings in the Civil War 157 Years Ago HASTINGS CONSERVER April 5, 1864 A Drama in Real Life.

Scene.—Conserver Office, April 1st, 1864.

Characters.—Small Boy, Foreman, Devils*, and Ye Editor Time.—11 o’clock A. M.

Enter marriage notice, cake and wine, and Small Boy.

Small Boy.—Is Ye Editor in? I wish to see him individually.

Foreman.—He is not at home. Be seated.

Small Boy set. An hour passed. Small Boy growing nervous, and thought he had better go.

Exit Small Boy.

// Scene 2d.—Small table in private room. Enter Devils stealthily.

Devil No. 1.—Now for a go. (Brandishing the wine bottle.) Devil No. 2.—That’s me. (Depositing a large cake on the table.) Devil No. 3.—Hurrah for a feast. (Drawing his pocket knife.) General cheering and shouting, with a simultaneous disappearance of the edibles. Enter Ye Editor. Great rush for the door on the part of Devils. // Scene No. 3.—Room as before. Devils soliloquizing.

Devil No. 1.—That corn bread was too heavy for me. Bah!

Devil No. 2.—How’s sweetened vinegar? Ugh!

Devil No. 3.—O, golly! My in’ards are completely demoralized.