Out and About Blog by Norm Stutesman

Ah, the holiday shopping season is now in full forward motion. With “Black Friday” behind us, we can now venture into the stores without fear of being trampled, stomped on, or being severely scratched. I’d like to give the ladies a few suggestions, so that when they shop for that man in their life, they might have an idea what …

Welcome to Thanksgiving week. The day after tomorrow, everyone should take a few minutes to sit back and reflect on the many things that they should be thankful for. This should be done prior to sitting down and stuffing yourself with too much food, then assuming a prone position on the couch and watching your favorite football team lose. A …

My office is a mess. I consider it my den, or it may also be considered my “Man Cave”. I use the office for several different things. I, of course, prepare my column here; I also handle a lot of Lions Club business, do a quarterly high school class newsletter, and have recently taken over preparing the monthly Lions Club …

This past weekend was another weekend spent in “God’s Country”. My wife and I attended a seminar held at the R.A. MacMullan Center near Roscommon, Michigan. We’ve both attended seminars there in the past, so we were looking forward to this opportunity to gather once again with about one hundred of our closest friends, enjoy some great food, share a …

Welcome to November and the holiday season. There are already Christmas decorations out, but they’ve been out for a week or so, so this isn’t any real news. We still have Thanksgiving to look forward to, and I have plenty to be thankful for this year. This past weekend you should have set your clocks back one hour. If you …

In last week’s column, I told about a trip that we made up north to the West Branch area, and I mentioned specifically about visiting the small town of Fairview, which was where many of my aunts, uncles, grandmother, and cousins lived during my childhood years. This trip back affected me in a way that I’ve never been affected before. …

We missed the Annual Color Tour again this year. We spent the weekend of October 13 up north near West Branch and Gaylord. We would have enjoyed the Color Tour, but the colors up north were quite spectacular, plus, we were expected to attend an Appreciation Dinner for one of the governors on my council. We had fun visiting, and …

My father used to ask for my help from time to time. I really became needed during my high school years, when I was usually busy working a part-time job or hanging out with my buddies. I generally made it to the end of the driveway, before I’d hear, “Norman, come here. I need your help.” He really didn’t need …

Summer held on for quite a long time. We are well into October, yet, at times, the temperatures have made it feel like late August. Every time I mow the lawn, I keep wondering if this might be the last time the grass needs to be cut for the season. That’s okay; this nice weather can stick around for another …

For the first time in I don’t know how many years, we missed the annual St. Joseph County Grange Fair. We always manage to make it over to the fair at least one or two times every fall. We were attending a Lions Leadership Forum, along with about 2500 of our best friends, in Overland Park, Kansas. We missed walking …