About: Margaret Vander Weerdt

Sparky the Fire Dog®, the official mascot of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), marked his 65th birthday on Mar. 18. Sparky is legendary. Sparky the Fire Dog is a Dalmatian who has been the official mascot of NFPA, a United States organization in charge of creating and maintaining minimum standards and requirements for fire...

Happy Easter, everyone. I’ve been thinking on the importance of this very special weekend coming up, considered by those of Christian faith to be the holiest of the year. Does it all make sense to you? How did chocolate rabbits holding baskets full of purple, pink, and yellow eggs ever wiggle their way into this sacred...

Nearly every holiday we celebrate starts with a story. That story gets told throughout the years until it becomes legend, at which point people decide the legend is worthy of celebration. Somewhere on the way to legendary status, the original story often gets embellished to the point where it becomes difficult to separate truth from...

Each state’s part leading up to the November election is bringing us closer to only a Democratic and a Republican candidate for president of our country. What if you were the U.S. President? I’d dare to bet most of you are thinking, “No way would I ever do that.” It’s a huge job. Have you...

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up (it’s Feb. 14 every year for those still unaware of it!), I was going to share from Mandy Len Catron’s “Modern Love” essay, “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This.” She refers to a study by the psychologist Arthur Aron (and others) that explores whether a relationship between...

Let’s see, I think I’m over a month late. The holidays are always a good time to remember those who are important to you. Like readers. Recently, columns in this space have come to mind and been formatted into a computer file. That happens all the time. What doesn’t happen all the time is all...