Every August our Bond County rural community loves to love up the young livestock show youth. During the County Fair the show animals are auctioned off in an interesting combination of bragging rights (for who purchased – bid the highest … Continue reading →
A good friend invited me to Hutchinson, Minnesota last weekend to celebrate a joyous life event. Working in the Midwest most of my career, it is often easiest just to drive rather than fly to neighboring states. Earlier in my … Continue reading →
A cool thing happened to me a few years ago. Rob Clark, of The Tall Family, moved into my community. At the time, I didn’t know anything about The Tall Family, with billions of views on multiple social media platforms. … Continue reading →
For the first time in the last nine years, I participated in Greenville University’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony as a civilian, rather than faculty. Saturday, May 10th, was a glorious day, and so fun to see former colleagues and students and … Continue reading →
I had the incredible opportunity to build an undergraduate agribusiness program at Greenville University for nearly a decade beginning in 2016. I have four agricultural degrees from public land grant universities and worked in university research and extension. But working … Continue reading →
When the benefits of an activity are difficult to put a dollar value on, or monetize, the traditional cost curves don’t tell the whole story. Total costs are the sum of all the variable costs and fixed costs. Undervalued community … Continue reading →
What is the value of a local home high school football game? How about the value of a community service organization? When I began my teaching career in undergraduate economics, I also moved back to my ancestorial home, Greenville, Illinois, … Continue reading →
The local high school Christmas Concert was this week. It was packed. Hours of practice by the students, hours of extracurricular energy from teachers and staff, mountains of volunteer hours from students and parents, and 90 minutes direct joy from … Continue reading →
The Bond County Fair happens the first weekend in August each year. A summer highlight is the Junior Livestock Sale. Once 4-H livestock projects have been completed, the show animals are auctioned off. This year’s sale was last night, 8/5/24. … Continue reading →
