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National Friends of the Library Week

Lifestyle Columns

October 20-26, 2024 is National Friends of Libraries Week. It is a chance for libraries throughout the United States to recognize the contributions of their Friends of Libraries groups to their communities. New Ulm Public Library is grateful to have an active group of library Friends who support our collections, programming, newsletters, and more through their efforts and donations of both materials and funding. The Friends of the New Ulm Public Library is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) community organization that believes in the importance of the library and its services for people ...

Fall

Lifestyle Columns

Fall has just begun. On Sunday, September 22, the autumnal equinox occured. The word “equinox” comes from the Latin words “aequus” meaning “equal” and “nox” which means “night”. So “equal night,” simply put, is the time when daylight hours are roughly the same length as nighttime. After the autumnal equinox the daylight hours become shorter and the nighttime hours lengthen. This all ends with the winter solstice when daylight hours lengthen and nighttime hours shorten. Most of us don’t mark the passing of the season with such a scientific explanation. We like ...

When a $2,000 barrel isn’t a barrel

Lifestyle Columns

For thousands of years, artisans have found ways to make one material look like another. The history of furniture is filled with examples, like wood painted to resemble marble, metal, lacquer or other expensive or exotic materials. Sometimes, other materials are sculpted or painted to look like wood. The faux bois (literally “false wood”) technique was popularized in France, as its name suggests, in the mid-1800s, although its roots go deeper. Garden furnishings made of reinforced concrete sculpted into tree or branch shapes, which blended into the natural landscapes but were not ...

Rock collector finds beauty in the common stone

Communities

NEW ULM – In 1952, Jerome Zitzman’s father—Albert Zitzman-- came home carrying a large rock that he found while working in the field. The rock weighed over 50 pounds and appeared to have a skull-like face carved into it. Albert Zitzman thought the stone looked unusual and wanted to show ...

Climate Prep Week

Lifestyle Columns

This past week is designated as Climate Preparedness Week. Many organizations across the country host informative or practical events to better understand weather or to prepare for emergencies. Our big event each year is the New Ulm Emergency Preparedness Fair held, for the past two years, in conjunction with the city’s National Night Out festivities. I would like to extend my gratitude to all of our community partners who make the emergency preparedness fair a success. Truly, when we work together we can achieve so much more. For centuries, the go-to topic of polite, banal ...

Form vs function: Debate surfaces over teapot

Lifestyle Columns

By Terry and Kim Kovel Artists of all levels, critics and admirers alike have long wondered: What is art? Collectors of ceramics face a slightly more specific question: What is art pottery? To a collector, the term “art pottery” usually refers to a kind of pottery made in the U.S. from ...