Once upon a time many of our public meetings opened with prayer. more

There are times when historical moments pass before your eyes. Some are monumental, while others are only important to your immediate life. more

This past weekend, I was doing some online searching of old songs that I loved from the 1980s and 1990s. I would YouTube the music video and be taken down musical memory lane. Some of the songs that would come up in the “Maybe you would like” list were great songs I hadn’t heard for a long time and almost forgotten about. I have to say that, in my opinion, the music of the 80s and 90s were some of the best ever written and performed. more

Catching an Indian runner duck is harder than you might think. As their name implies, the ducks run — en masse. Like flying geese that veer whichever way the leader heads or sheep that follow one another off a cliff, a group of Indian runner ducks acts as a single organism at times, moving in a swarm. more

I am sitting at this writing on a sofa set catawampus in a living room cluttered with stacks of cardboard boxes, pieces of furniture, luggage and computer parts, recuperating from the exertion of two hours spent unloading a truck about half the size of a railroad boxcar. more

Dear Editor, more

I told someone last week I was going to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Fireworks Museum. They acted shocked that a museum focusing on fireworks was strange for Dallas County. more

Long before Missouri conservation agents would confirm their presence, some of us who hunted the remote woods of Dallas County were certain the hills and hollers along the Niangua River harbored black bears. more

Remember the ABBA song from 1977 “Take a Chance on Me”? more

It is commendable that we remember our own mothers with cards and other tokens of love this Mother’s Day, but it is even more fitting that we thank God and pray for mothers everywhere. more

The year was 1968. I was riding down the road with my parents. Dad was tokin’ on a Marlboro Red, and Mom was dragging on a Benson & Hedges cigarette. I was running and climbing all over the car, even hiding out where the spare tire rides. It was a 1960 Ford station wagon — a big old gunship. I know you’re saying, “Running around without a seat belt on, and the parents were smoking with the kids in the car.” It wasn’t politically correct, but it was 1968 when people were free. I don’t think the car had seat belts, and we did not have those odd bicycle helmets. How did we ever survive without all the safety features of today?   more

We are less than two weeks away from legislators throwing stacks of paper in the air to celebrate the end of the 2023 session of the Missouri General Assembly, and like every year, there are still a lot of bills in the air. Missouri Farm Bureau is focused on a few key issues as we approach the finish line.  more

Did you know that they have safety glasses for yard work? more

Cool mornings and hot afternoons, like we have been experiencing lately, remind me of camping and fishing trips to the river and stays on the lake in my younger days. I rarely, if ever, get around to camping and fishing trips anymore during the season. But when I was a kid, that was how my dad wanted to spend his time after a long, hard week of work at the sawmill or timber. more

To the Editor: more

School’s almost out, and industrious teenagers are looking for summer work. more

Just recently, I stumbled across a tidbit of interesting information while researching for a future novel. Of course I’m always coming across interesting facts that I was not previously aware of, but this one had to do with Dallas County. more

I’m betting that if we had the philosophy that everything will work itself out, we, as a culture, would be more relaxed and find contentment. But, instead, do we spend our lives and focus on learning how to facilitate and control every aspect of our life? Do we worry too much? more

I last talked to Angela 32 years ago. It was the evening of April 20, 1991. She called to let us know she would be coming home the next day from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. more

Tax Freedom Day this year is April 18. The day marks when the nation has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year. Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income. more

Spring and Easter are times of renewal. We think of baby bunnies and chicks, smells of fresh-cut grass and floral scents from blooming flowers. We celebrate the risen Christ with special church services, dinners with family and egg hunts for the children. However, this time of year has brought me a heavy heart over the past eight years. more

“The only thing we have to Fear is Fear Itself.” — President Franklin Roosevelt, March 4, 1933. more

Moveable electric fencing has become an important grazing management tool for cattle producers over the past half-century, or so. more

“Because that’s how it’s always been done” is a terrible phrase. Everything about it goes against the grain of improving upon the work for which we are responsible. Innovation is stifled and progress is delayed because of such expressions. If farmers lived that way, they would still be putting seeds into the ground by hand one by one. If farmers never adapted to changing practices and technology, the world would not have the abundance of food, fiber and fuel it enjoys today.  more

I grew up in Dallas County; however, I now live in California and have for many years. I would like to express how much I enjoy reading the Buffalo Reflex each week. My husband, a California native, enjoys the editorials and all the other articles, also. more