Heat wave

We've got an impressive and memorable one-day heat wave going in the Bonanza Valley.

At last check, the vehicle thermometer said 83 degrees! We have partly cloudy conditions, and a whole heck of a lot of humidity!

Rest assured, this will change overnight, and fall conditions will be back tomorrow.

(VIDEO) Fifth annual Color FUND Run

Here's more video from last Wednesday's Color FUND Run at the high school athletic campus. In the video, awards were given out after the group photo was taken.


Additional coverage will follow in upcoming Bonanza Valley Voice issues.

Homecoming football

With 55 seconds left in the first half, Browerville has a 20-0 lead over our B-B-E Jaguars football team.

Browerville scored in the first two minutes of the game to go up 7-0. The Jaguars been dug in and put up a fight with them until the middle of the second quarter, when costly B-B-E mistakes led to two Tigers touchdowns.

Final: Browerville 33, B-B-E 0.

Tonight's Homecoming game and high school dance marks the end of the 31st annual Homecoming week at B-B-E. The week was really, really terrific. Students - and their parents - should be proud of all the fun they had. Here's a shout out to everyone who made it happen!

Calling it an early night. Good night, Jaguar Country.

(VIDEO) Homecoming tennis

Here's a short video clip from the home tennis meet on Tuesday featuring a singles match.


The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team hosted Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area in a Prairie Conference match. The Jaguars won by a 5-2 score for the fourth win of the season.

Today we have the high school pep fest later this afternoon plus the annual Homecoming football game later tonight.

We are having a great day in Jaguar Country!

Homecoming volleyball

Tonight's Homecoming match has the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team attempting to remain undefeated in the conference. They host Kimball Area with a varsity start time of approximately 7 p.m.

Updates to follow after 9 p.m.

**Here's video of the introductions for the Homecoming royal court before the start of the varsity match:


The Jaguars won game one 25-21.

*With Emily Kern serving, the Jaguars jumped out to a 10-0 lead in game two.

Final set scores: B-B-E 3, Kimball Area 0. Game scores were 25-21, 25-7, 25-20. Homecoming hype may have played a big part in the hitting percentage of the Jaguars in game one: 3.4 percent. They rebounded in a huge way in game two and hit with red-hot 50 percent hitting efficiency. Wowza!

**Here's video from the third set tonight.


Before that set started, C-squad volleyball coach Megan Amundson (also a sixth-grade teacher) gave a really great pep talk to the elementary volleyball player section that had gathered in the corner of the bleachers.

I'd like to take a moment to remind anyone browsing around here that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website includes a very robust community calendar for local towns. It is filled with upcoming activities in the local towns of the B-B-E school district. You can check it out here (short link): https://bit.ly/2EvexOA.

And thank you to the premier website sponsors of Central Square of Glenwood, The Local Pantry of Brooten, Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten as well as Glacial Ridge Health System of Glenwood, Brooten and Starbuck. Those four businesses are key in supporting the administrative costs of operating and running the newspaper's website.

(VIDEO) Powder Puff Homecoming football

Here's video from the final minutes of the first quarter today in the B-B-E Homecoming Powder Puff flag football game. This is an annual event with members of the junior and senior grades battling it out on the gridiron.


It was a remarkable game that included three quarters of action. The kids had a blast, and that's exactly what you want to see in this type of spirited rivalry amongst a group of peers who get along very, very well!

A high note

On a really high note, I just learned that participation by the B-B-E high school student body in today's Color FUND Run will likely be the highest ever in the five years the school has done this fundraiser.

That is something to be very proud of. To top it off, the weather is mild, sunny and beautiful for this type of event!


**Update on Wednesday evening...here's a video from today's fifth annual B-B-E Color FUND Run!


Quite frankly, everything was stupendous! Marvelous! From the music by KCLD to the enormous level of volunteer support from the public and the local B-B-E business community. Early reports say that the fundraiser hauled in over $30,000 for the school's activities fund.

GREAT JOB, JAGUAR COUNTRY!!!

Homecoming win

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earned a 5-2 win tonight against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area. The win is the fourth of the year for the Jaguars, and they got it in front of a terrific Homecoming crowd on the home courts.

Additional coverage of the win will be in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

That's all for now.

B-B-E Homecoming week kicks off

B-B-E held the school's 31st annual Homecoming coronation at the high school's auditorium. It was a magnificent evening!

Due to technical difficulties, I haven't gotten my web article ready to post on the Bonanza Valley Voice website. I have video uploaded from the program. Stay tuned.

*Update: here's the link...to catch some video and other coverage from the coronation program tonight at B-B-E high school (short link) https://bit.ly/2mK7jRB.

Tomorrow, calling all Jaguar fans! The B-B-E girls' tennis team is in search of their fourth win of the season. They play at 4:30 p.m. on the home courts against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Upsala-Swanville Area in Prairie Conference action.

(VIDEO) Worship at Norway Lake

Or...worship near Norway Lake, last Sunday at East Norway Lake Lutheran church in rural New London.


Coming up is Homecoming week at B-B-E schools. This will be the school's 31st annual Homecoming week.

Don't miss the "Grandpa Wisdom" web article at the Bonanza Valley Voice website...(short link) https://bit.ly/2kzpx7E.


...Thank you to Al's Butcher Shop of Belgrade for their advertising in the Bonanza Valley Voice! Check out their ad on page 3 of the last two issues.

Website updated

Finally gotten updates with a fresh batch of brief web articles at the Bonanza Valley Voice website...check it out: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Don't forget that Turkey Fest is going on today at Brink's Beer Joint in Swift Falls! Their advertisement has been on page 10 of the last two issues of the Voice.

At 6 p.m. tonight, social hour begins at Rooney's Bar in Sedan with the Sedan Fire Department's 13th annual gun raffle fundraiser.

Have a wonderful day, Bonanza Valley and beyond!

##ConquerEveryDay

Friday Night Lights IV: struggles on the road

At Royalton tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars football team lost 28-6 after falling behind 28-0 in the third quarter.

Next: the Jaguars (0-4) host Browerville for Homecoming next Friday, September 27. The Tigers beat visiting Benson tonight 36-14 to improve to 3-1 on the season. Benson remains winless.

Announcement!

The Bonanza Valley Voice will gradually be restoring full operations! News, sports, etc...it may not get back to what we've been used to just for health reasons, but we're gonna get there.

We're taking the newspaper back. We're gonna be fine. We can still have our disagreements, but it can be done without straight up fighting. Cooler heads, adult conversations and old-fashioned, small town peacemaking. It's a great alternative than small town bickering. I want to see healing take place, even when we still don't have a full picture of what has happened. I'd like the public to know that bridges are being restored, and we're gonna be okay. In a small town, that is really your only path forward.

A wise man once said, "If you get a sliver under your fingernails…it hurts like be hell until you pull it out. Today, I just got the sliver pulled out of my fingernail. It no longer hurts."

Hug your spouse. Hug your children. Love your family. Go to church. Go outside. Smell the roses. Enjoy the sun above your head. We're all in this together.

In sports news...
The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team won at Paynesville by a 3-1 score last night. Set scores were 25-27, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15. They are now 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference. Next: the Lakeview Invitational in Cottonwood on Saturday.

Also, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team earned their second win of the season last night. They defeated Parkers Prairie 5-2 in Prairie Conference action.

##LifeisGood
##NoOneDied
##AirInYourLungs
##ConquerEveryDay

Radio

Tonight's volleyball match at Paynesville will be on Smooth Magic 107 FM.

An upside

An upside to all the stress lately. I've lost about 10 pounds since Bonanza Valley Days weekend.

There's always some kind of silver lining, right?

We've gotten majorly off track here at the newspaper. I may be getting pushed right off of Main Street in Brooten, and I don't even know it.

On a day when I should be excited about our fall sports teams and general excitement in the school, I'm sitting here on my sports blog venting. Everyone has family. Stress deflects out to everyone around us. When you're fighting for your existence and your livelihood, it creates monumental stress.

Answers are coming, it may take some time, though.

Eventually we'll get operations back to normal at the Voice. I hope it won't take the full length of the fall sports season. We'll see.

In the mean time, I'm still going to try to continue enjoying summer!

81 degrees and basically full sun shine today!! Holy macaroni!!!

Still enjoying summer!

We're still enjoying summer in September in the Bonanza Valley! We got well into the mid-80s on Tuesday. It was great!

Wednesday night will bring us a Belgrade Lions family picnic. I'm looking forward to it. I hope to get more coverage of the Belgrade Lions in the future. The town of Brooten owes them one, when they came through to help save the Miss Brooten program this past summer after the program was beaten and battered by the Brooten Commercial Club-related crimes that went down over the past three-or-so years.

That's old news by now, but I definitely won't let the Belgrade Lions' huge favor (a $2,000 donation) be forgotten.

The lengthy list of businesses plus local school and community-related groups who have been put in tough positions because of the Brooten Commercial Club-related crimes is shameful. I just shake my head.

Enjoying summer

We're still enjoying summer in grand fashion across the Bonanza Valley!

Today we had temperatures in the 80s with strong sunshine and a "fair" amount of humidity. Tomorrow we should peak out at 86 degrees locally, which probably will be the warmest day of the fall. After tomorrow we'll continue with warm weather for at least another week, according to the forecast.

Locally, the newspaper has been "intensely" busy working behind the scenes on a number of developments.

Have a great week!

The return of summer

Today we'll see a high of 75 in the Bonanza Valley! With partly cloudy conditions. They're even talking 80s in the coming days. I will take that!!

We have a particularly wonderful day ahead of us for the annual Rooster Ramble fundraiser at Prairie View Golf Course. The shot gun start is at 9 a.m.

Football Friday! Friday Night Lights III

At the end of the first quarter, the B-B-E Jaguars football team has an 8-0 lead over visiting Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.

Halftime: B-B-E 8, LP-GE 6.

With 4:04 left in the third quarter, the Thunder have gained the lead at 12-8.

*At the start of the fourth quarter, LP-GE has a 19-8 lead.

Final score: LP-GE 26, B-B-E 8. The Thunder improve to 2-1 on the season. LP-GE starting quarterback Tye Urman passed for 243 yards to lead his team's offense. Neither team got much on the ground, with LP-GE having 68 rushing yards for the game and B-B-E having a total of 31 rushing yards.

The huge difference in the game was on third-down efficiency: LP-GE converted eight of 13 third-down plays, while the Jaguars moved the chains just three times on 10 third-down tries.

Up next: the Jaguars (0-3) travel to Royalton next Friday. The Royals matched up with Parkers Prairie team coming into tonight in a battle of two teams searching for their first win. No score has been reported yet.

Volleyball coverage vs. EVW

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team's home match with Eden Valley-Watkins will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Coverage will begin soon after 6:45 p.m.

*Update: the Jaguars have a 2-1 set lead but are playing from behind in the fourth game. The Eagles have a 15-12 lead.

Brittany Berge's 15th kill of the night tied the fourth game at 15-15. Karsee Kampsen then fired off her sixth ace serve of the night to give the Jaguars a 16-15 lead. They trailed by at least four points earlier in the game. Then a kill by Jenna Dingmann, her sixth of the night, put the Jaguars up 17-15. EV-W called a timeout.

Grace Illies's eighth kill of the night put the Jaguars up 19-18 in game four. An ace block by Ava Mueller made it 20-18. The Eagles tied it at 20-20.

Next, Mueller had a kill for a 21-20 lead. A hitting error by EV-W made it 22-20, and they called their final timeout of the set.

*The Jaguars won 25-21 to clinch the match and improve to 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference. Berge led the Jaguars with 15 kills, and Mueller added 10 kills for the night. Karissa Jones had three ace blocks, and Emily Kern had 36 digs.

Next: a road match at Paynesville one week from tonight.

NLS vs. BBE border battle

Tonight's match at NLS is on Glenwood radio.

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team is fighting with all they've got against a state-ranked and undefeated (7-0) New London-Spicer squad at Fort Knox 

NLS won game one 25-20. The next three games were all close battles.

*The Wildcats won 3-1, and it was a great match! Worthy of the hype. The last three sets were all decided by a two-point margin. The Jaguars won game three 27-25.

*Below is video from the final minutes of tonight's match.


Next: at home on Thursday against conference rival Eden Valley-Watkins (9-3, 1-0).


**I want everyone to take a moment to view new content at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website...click here: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. You can learn about an upcoming local men's retreat as well as the B-B-E Fellowship of Christian Athletes 5th Quarter event. Additional details about these events and others can be found in the September 12 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice that hits newsstands on Wednesday afternoon this week.

Wildcats loom on the horizon

The New London-Spicer Wildcats are having one of their best starts to any volleyball season in school history. They continued their undefeated streak with a quick 3-0 sweep at Prinsburg tonight over Central Minnesota Christian school.

The Wildcats, who climbed to No. 8 in the latest Class 2A state poll, are now 7-0 overall heading into tomorrow night's home match up with our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team.

##ConquerEveryDay

Santa Day in Brooten

The town of Brooten will host Santa Day and a celebration of the Christmas season on Saturday, December 7, 2019.

Beyond that, no other details have been worked out yet. Since the town has no viable civic organization, we are working to organize business leaders to "figure it out" - we will move heaven and earth to make sure Santa Day is pulled off and is a success for local youth to enjoy.

I want to put two rumors to rest:
1. there will be no Santa Day...that's not true. We will have Santa Day in Brooten! We have to ensure whoever is included in the planning is trustworthy and will communicate in an above-board manner with the public.
2. the Brooten Commercial Club will spearhead Santa Day just as they have for the past many number of years. Again, that's not true either. The Brooten Commercial Club is in the nasty vice grip of the Minnesota Department of Revenue. That is an ongoing process, and all I'll say to it is that it is ugly.

Watch upcoming issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper for additional information.

Saturday success

In day two of the Southwest Minnesota Challenge invitational in Marshall today, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team rebounded in grand fashion with a 3-0 record.

The Jaguars started the day with a straightforward 25-14, 25-14 win over Yellow Medicine East. They then earned wins over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (20-25, 25-21, 15-10) and Burnsville (25-18, 25-16). This marks the first time in the years they have been competing in this 32-team tournament that they've gone 3-0 on Saturday.

B-B-E is 6-2 overall now heading into a huge road match against state-ranked and undefeated (6-0) New London-Spicer on Tuesday next week.

*Don't forget that Belgrade V.F.W. Post No. 1825 has their steak fry and pork chop feed tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. Their advertisement was on page 4 in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

And thank you to our local business sponsors for their support of the news and sports departments of the Bonanza Valley Voice! We've taken our share of hits lately, but the continued support of the local business community will keep the beat going. "...and the beat goes on...!"

##WatchYourSix (a new motto I've gotta use)

Marshall tournament

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team lost 25-19, 25-22 to Benilde St. Margaret's in their first match tonight at the Marshall Southwest Minnesota Challenge tournament. The Red Knights are a Class 3A school who went 19-10 last year.

Tonight they finish the first day of the tournament with a match against Russel-Tyler-Ruthton.

*Update: the Jaguars lost 25-13, 25-23 against R-T-R in the second match tonight to fall to 3-2 on the season. They open at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) against Yellow Medicine East (2-2). YME went 0-2 tonight as well with straight set losses to Class 3A schools Champlin Park and Eastview.

I know that the late Coach Weimerskirch's granddaughter played for Champlin Park and was a senior on last year's team. On a whim, I looked up how the Rebels did last year. Holy moly! They went 32-2 overall and finished as Class 3A champions. Seeded No. 2 for state, the Rebels defeated No. 1-seeded Eagan 3-2 in the state title match after dropping the third and fourth sets to erase an initial 2-0 set lead. Holy moly!!!! Not only that, but they prevailed in game five by a close 15-12 score. Holy moly! Add to all that the fact that it was Eagan's sixth straight appearance in the Class 3A state title match. It was not only Champlin Park's first state title in volleyball, but it was the school's first-ever team state title in any sport in the 27-year history of the school district! Holy moly!

I did a quick Google search of stories from the 2018 volleyball season, and on the first hit, I got the MN Volleyball Hub via the Star Tribune. In the article, Coach Weimerskirch's granddaughter Kaitlyn is quoted. She played the libero position. It was really neat to see her quote in the article. Coach Weimerskirch's fighting spirit lives on in the younger generations of his family, and for that, we can all smile in the midst of our immense sadness.

Champlin Park went 5-0 last year at the Southwest MN Challenge invitational in Marshall. They earned straight set wins over perennial Class 3A powers Lakeville South and Lakeville North to close out the last day of action. Back in 2016 in Kaitlyn's sophomore season, Champlin Park lost 3-1 to Eagan in the state finals. In her freshmen season, the Rebels took third at state. In her junior season, they placed fifth at state.

In speaking about volleyball's libero position, I found it noteworthy that the St. Paul Pioneer Press's article didn't mention player digs or have a quote from Kaitlyn Weimerskirch. I'll be the first to admit that sports reporters can get lost in the excitement about player kill totals and hitting efficiency and other offense-related statistics. That's a shame, because you don't get a balanced offensive attack (generally necessary to win state titles) without a magnificent set of back row players. Having kids diving for every ball is extremely crucial in the sport of volleyball.

So kudos for the Star Tribune's writer for getting that quote from Kaitlyn following that exciting match! As I said earlier, it was Champlin Park's first state volleyball title. And you can bet with all certainty that Coach Weimerskirch was there cheering his heart out for Kaitlyn and her team at Xcel Energy Center. I can imagine him now in the stands at Xcel yelling and shouting and beaming with pride as he soaked up the win with the rest of his family.

He will be so dearly missed here in Jaguar Country.

At Swanville tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars football team lost to Upsala/Swanville Area (2-0) by a 52-14 score in their Sub-District III opener. The Jaguars take an 0-2 record into next Friday's home game against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.

LP-GE broke into the win column for the first time this season with a 28-20 win over Benson.

It was noteworthy to see the final score in tonight's game with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City against Sauk Centre. The Falcons (2-0) named the score and decided to win 49-6.

Conference opener

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team earned a 3-0 win last night at Holdingford. The match was the team's Central Minnesota Conference opener.

Today the Jaguars (3-0) travel to Marshall to open the Southwest Minnesota Challenge invitational. Their first match is at 5 p.m.

The true rural way of life

People who have money and little to no morals deliver a unique set of challenges to those around them.

One big issue to wrestle with is that in small towns we are raised to trust just about anyone we come into contact with. This happens in churches, on main street, in schools, in civic organizations...basically anywhere that anything goes on in a small town, you are looking at a group of people who all trust one another. Often we trust implicitly. It is just implied in our day-to-day way of life.

I'll say it again so this point is not lost: if you see a group of people hanging out in a small town, doing anything in any location such as at a bar, a church, a church basement, a church sanctuary, cheering at a football game, gathered at a picnic at the park, etc...there is a high probability that what you are seeing and witnessing is a group of people who all trust one another.

I come from the farm. While I do enjoy being around people, I certainly am extremely comfortable sitting in a tractor tilling the soil, cutting and baling hay, spraying fence line, picking rock and planting crops. Working in dirt, getting your hands dirty, practicing the best animal husbandry that you possibly can...that is the stuff that puts me at ease.

I am very blessed to have a childhood on a dairy farm, plus to have spent part of my adult life working and living on that same farm.

When you're just a straight up farmer working in a rural area like Norway Lake Township, rural Sunburg, it is very easy to be at peace with everyone around you and everyone you come into contact with. Neighbors help neighbors. We do anything for one another. When my dad was killed in January 2005, the countryside rallied for my mom, my family and our family farm. It was a tragic but truly unforgettable part of my life. Seeing neighbors helping neighbors and giving anything and everything in support of one another is a thing of pure beauty. It's difficult to put it into words and describe it to anyone who's unfamiliar with the natural camaraderie of living in the setting of rural Norway Lake Township.

When we were in the middle of the trauma of mourning my dad's death while continuing to operate the dairy farm, help from neighbors came our way in many ways. We didn't have someone sitting at the end of the driveway "vetting" the people who stopped by to help or those who came to just give well wishes. We didn't look with one OUNCE of mistrust to the motivations behind a neighbor coming by to help get the farm work done. We trusted. We do that implicitly in a rural setting like Norway Lake Township.

The farm auction that we held a couple years after dad died was interesting because during the auction we caught someone who I believe was a shady character snooping around in our dairy barn. The dairy barn was NOT anything near the auction slab. It was mostly a machinery auction. The dairy barn was closed up and off limits. Of course, we didn't have a pad lock on our dairy barn service door, that's just not something you worry about in our rural area. So it was a bit unsettling to catch who I believe was a dirt bag just wanting to snoop around and see what we had in the barn that was NOT up for auction.

It was a bad experience for me to be a part of, although it didn't dampen my family's spirits coming from what was a very, very successful auction (courtesy of Ziemer Auction Service of New London! Thanks, Mark!)

As you can be sure, I have more to say, but for now I will leave it at that and call it a night.

Camaraderie: mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.

FCA Fifth Quarter

B-B-E Fellowship of Christian Athletes 5th Quarter

The Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter will host a Fifth Quarter youth event after the B-B-E vs. LP-GE varsity football game on Friday, September 13. The Fifth Quarter will be held at the Brooten Lanes from approximately 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. This is an event for youth in grades 7 to 12. Bowling and pizza will be provided by the FCA! Come and hang out with your friends. Bowl, play foosball and pool and have fun. "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up..." 1 Thessolonians 5:11. "Let us...run with perseverance the race that is set before us..." Hebrews 12:1.

In response

Recently the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper received news of a credible threat to the operations of a local, community organization.

This morning, the Voice filed a police report with a Minnesota law enforcement agency in response to this threat. This report is strictly confidential, and to protect my sources its contents will never be disclosed.

I want to make it very clear that:

"The threat is being handled." 

It is refreshing to see adults (and adult leaders) make adult decisions. Let's hope it continues. Often, people need to adhere to the advice of "watch your own bobber!"

(VIDEO) Back to 2013

This video was taken after the 2013 section semifinal football game in Belgrade...featured is conversations with Tim Wengler, a 1985 Belgrade-Elrosa high school graduate and a star three-sport B-E high school Redmen student-athlete. You can see Kevin Weller (former B-B-E coach and also a former Belgrade Redmen student-athlete) along with the late Dennis Weimerskirch and Julius "Evy" Evenson visiting with Wengler. The B-B-E Jaguars football team had just defeated A-C-GC by a 26-22 score after they trailed 22-18 earlier in the second half. It was an incredible and memorable game.


Dennis Weimerskirch, age 78 of Belgrade, passed away on Monday this week. To read more about him and his life, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website (short link): https://bit.ly/2kpsveN.


*Update on Wednesday afternoon: the Voice story on the web has gone viral! It shot past 1,000 views earlier this morning. Once again, that link is just above here to click on.

He will be so terribly missed by all of us here in Jaguar Country. He was one of the finest men I have ever known in my life.

Profound sadness

I have learned of a recent loss in our community in the senior citizen age category. It fills me with profound sadness.

I am waiting the traditional one-day period where I allow family to be notified before telling the general public about it. Only in rare cases do I stray from that, and I don't feel the need to do that.

What I'd like you to do if you read this is to think about the men and women in your life who live life with an extremely high level of integrity. I know so many who fit that mold. I hold them in such high regard, and some days I feel like that level of integrity is vanishing from society right in front of our eyes. When thinking of these people with lives filled with integrity, both living and deceased, I sit and wonder how to raise children to have that same level of integrity. It seems like an impossible task in today's world.

Proverbs 4:25-27 says, "Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."

Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Integrity is a quality that every human must work on, whether young or old. I know many senior citizens who have it down to a science. They've lived a life of integrity. Made mistakes? Sure. We all do. We're all imperfect humans. We are all sinners. But we all have a duty to strive to live a life of integrity on a daily basis.

Our kids are watching us adults, and we need to set the right example.