Clear Lake was known as the Saratoga of the Midwest for good reason. Our natural environment offers us a playground for sport and recreation. When the water turns from summer soft to the frozen ice of winter, the games don’t end. Some are now just beginning. Are you excited to lace up those skates and [...]
Ah, the good old days. Full of romance. People lived simpler lives. Things weren’t as complicated. Perhaps. This photo is from around 1910. It gives us something to consider. When you walk into your warm indoor bathroom, be happy you don’t have to shovel a path to it after it snows. Especially in the dead [...]
The New Year brings us a time to reflect over the year just passed. One thing for sure- it passed in a rush! The Steve Miller Band sang in Fly Like an Eagle that “Time keeps on slipping into the future.” As we contemplate a whole new year ahead of us, some people like to [...]
Could anything be sweeter at Christmas than the songs of children? Christmas pageants, programs, and plays by the kids renew the magic for kids of all ages. All the practices culminate in a crowning glory of the big day. Nice clothes and shined shoes covered by robes make each kid feel special. Because they are. [...]
Twixmas- the unofficial term for the relaxed period between Christmas and New Year. Time to shift from high gear to glorious neutral. The possibilities are endless and Clear Lake holds them all. Get creative with holiday leftovers. Then walk them off in one of our beautiful parks or wild places. Shop for bargains. Meet friends [...]
What an incredible Christmas by the Lake weekend we just had! Hats off to all the people who make it happen. Clear Lake has always loved Christmas. The Clear Lake Observer reported in 1875 that Christmas bells were ringing. Decorated trees, resplendent with twinkling lights, stood over nativity sets. Citizens were looking forward to “a [...]
The first public library in this country was established in Franklin Massachusetts in 1790. Benjamin Franklin donated 116 books with the intention that townsfolk could borrow them for free. What a gift! Our Clear Lake Public Library began in 1889. The beautiful Carnegie Library that still stands was opened in 1918. And not only are [...]
Who are your people? Where do you come from? Genealogists tell us that if we only go back 12 generations, it took 4,096 great greats for you to be here. Even if your family tree is well defined, the nature of human beings needs to be considered. People love who they love and those couples [...]
Is Abraham Lincoln’s government “of the people, by the people and for the people “ still alive and strong or will it “perish from the Earth.” What is democracy anyway? Democracy is a government that places power and responsibility firmly in the hands of the citizens directly or through their freely elected representatives. Democracy is [...]
How do you read your Mirror Reporter? Do you read from the front page to the back page? Or are you like me and you immediately open to the "Remember When" column? I will never forget my shock the first time my friends and I were mentioned in the 25 years ago tab! Our hometown [...]
