By Jim Nichols It all started at 5218 Olive when I was six years old. My father planted two small elm trees in our back yard. One officially “belonged” to me and the other to my only sister at the time. One thing I learned was that getting trees started successfully after transplantation was uncertain. Indeed, my sister’s died within
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury To most Texans, the name “Rambo” may mean little, but to Todd Compton it evokes memories from his childhood, when kinfolk spoke of 17th century ancestors who lived in what is now Philadelphia. Peter Gunnarson Rambo (1611-1698) was most discussed, and Compton, now 52, remembers the accounts he heard in his grandmother’s kitchen. His genealogical
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A Holocaust remembrance exhibit is on display at the Grace Museum through Jan. 31. International Holocaust Remembrance Day takes place each year on January 27th, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. For the past few years, the Grace Museum has collaborated with Abilene Christian University’s Introduction to Public History: Interpreting American Pasts course to create monthly
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Seven and One Books, 1138 N. 2nd St., is hosting a Lunch & Learn event 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29. Bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy a Q&A with Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, founder of The Peace Project. Bishop Songulashvili is from Georgia in Eastern Europe. His visit was facilitated by Dan McVey. The following is from Seven
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By Nancy Patrick My family greatly diminished on Friday, January 10, when my younger sister Peggy passed away. Our little family consisted of my parents, Henry (Buddy) and Norma Carr Smith, and the two girls. We began our lives together in Arkansas where my parents maintained their connections to the Carr family (most of whom remained in Arkansas) and the
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By Jay Moore In the early 1960s, Abilene Lutherans boldly pushed the envelope of local architecture. Twice. Since the early ‘50s, Abilene has had three Lutheran congregations. They are Grace Evangelical, on S. Pioneer Drive; Our Savior Lutheran, at S. 7th and the Winters Freeway, and the granddaddy of Lutheran churches here, Zion Lutheran on Antilley Road, organized way back
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By Jim Nichols How many loaves do you have?Why are you afraid? Who are my mother and brothers?What do you want me to do for you?Who do you say that I am? A quick Google search for “questions Jesus asks” yields a staggering 135 and who knows how accurate that is. It is a topic worth considering at another time, but
Read moreBy Marianne Wood My word for 2025 is optimizing. I have some questions to guide why. Have you ever noticed that food tastes weird when you are sick? I’m sure you have. Even chocolate cake. But especially salsa and other spicy foods. Mild salsa on a tongue infected with a cold feels like an acupuncture treatment. And even the best
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The Abilene Association of Congregations is kicking off 2025 with a presentation by Missy Denard, founder and director of New Beginnings-Big Country, a transitional housing and life skills program for women coming out of jail or prison. The meeting will begin with lunch at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Jan, 22, followed by a program, which ends at 1 p.m. A $3
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Spirit Of Abilene 