“United we stand. Divided we fall.” – Winston Churchill, among others Welcome to the final days of December 2023. For many of us, it’s a time when we look ahead to 2024 with optimism, trepidation, or both. After all, it’ll be a year to cheer on Olympic hopefuls competing in Paris (optimism), but it’ll also […]
“I will not be right back after this message.” – Merv Griffin’s epitaph This etching on Merv’s tombstone has always struck me as the kind of “last laugh” I would love to provide at my own gravesite. My grave marker isn’t big enough to make that happen, and neither is my bank account for that […]
“Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” “Our thoughts and prayers are with [fill in the blank].” My late father was a minister. My oldest brother is a retired minister. I know about the power of prayer. But the “thoughts and prayers” phrase is one that I’ve come to at least dislike, if not hate, […]
Columnist Paul Lockwood bought a police ride-along in a silent auction. This is the second part of his report on the experience with Officer Lucas Schmidt. With the COVID lockdown occurring only six months after officer Lucas Schmidt started at the Woodstock Police Department, the inability to do much hands-on training was a challenge. In […]
By Paul Lockwood He didn’t have an “extreme burning passion” to get into law enforcement. He’s been with the Woodstock Police Department only since September 2019. He’s the second youngest officer on the force, but still gets called “Junior” by his colleagues. He’s Lucas Schmidt, he’s the school resource officer (SRO) at Woodstock North High […]
“Telling stories and having them received is so important. That dialogue is everything. I tell my students all the time that what separates us as human beings is our ability to hold stories. Our narrative history. There is so much power in that. Storytelling is our human industry.” – Kathi Appelt, children/young adult author and writing […]
“Birds have wings; they’re free; they can fly where they want when they want. They have the kind of mobility many people envy.” – Roger Tory Peterson, ornithologist/naturalist (1908-1996) “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.” – Stevie Wonder Until the past year, I never thought too […]
“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” – Charles M. Schulz “The true Christmas spirit is putting others’ happiness before our own, and finding you’ve never known such happiness.” – Toni Sorenson At 8:15 a.m. on a mid-December Saturday, I was in a drive-thru lane I’d never been in before. I was listening […]
How do you think Woodstock could be a better place to live or work? What do you like about our community? What one word – other than “community,” “family,” or “home” – might you use to describe Woodstock? North Star, a branding and marketing consulting firm out of Nashville, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla., hired by […]
“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” – Unknown Depending on the particular website, the quote above – or a variation of it – might have been said by Sigmund Freud or by Colette, the author of “Gigi.” Honestly, the source isn’t that important to me; the fact that it’s 100 percent true is. You […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
