About: Margaret Vander Weerdt

We all know laws help maintain order, keep society safe, and give people a structure by which to live their lives. We all know common sense is way better than lots of laws. But the laws are on the books because at least one person forgot common sense and did something unintelligent and then a...

The month of September is here and signals the end of summer, the beginning of autumn, and the start of a new school year. The ninth month September comes from the Latin root septem-, meaning “seven,” because in the original Roman republican calendar, September was the seventh month of the year. How about a different kind...

Ninety-five years ago, John B. Gruelle (1880-1938) was issued Design Patent No. 56,149 on Aug. 24, 1920, for a Doll (Raggedy Andy). One hundred years ago in 1915, Gruelle created Raggedy Ann. Though she may look a little differently than she did when she was created, Raggedy Ann still has her most-loved features: Button eyes,...

For the past few weeks, numerous articles and items have been shared about the fact that Aug. 27, 2015, was 60 years since “The Guinness Book of Records” was bound for printing. Back in the 1950s, if you wanted to know something, there wasn’t Google or anything called the Internet. So, after a 1950s shooting party...

In June, I was looking for the following article when celebrating that birthday with a big zero. Of course last week, I was looking for something else, and it makes perfect sense where this was. I was never much of a Jay Leno fan, but wherever he got this statement making its way around the Internet...

Several times in the past, I have at year’s end often written here about things my days with my grandchildren have taught me. At my age, I think I might forget and/or lose some things, so I will share a few this week instead of waiting for the end of the year. I just found something...

August has arrived with busy days as everyone tries to cram in just a few more summer activities. Most of us only use august capitalized for the eighth month of the year. But did you know, when we describe something as august, we are saying it is majestic and inspires reverence or admiration? The word can...