AND ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE...

I am indebted to Jim Fisher of The Kansas City Star for telling the story of Sweet Springs, a tiny town on I-70 that turned down a bunch of federal money for a new library because residents didn't want all those strings that go with funding from Washington.

On a personal note, I know quite a bit about Sweet Springs. It is the hometown of my wife, Marge. Interestingly, I just learned about a year ago that the late father of Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast Missouri State University, also was a Sweet Springs boy. Art's father and his mother, Mildred Wallhausen of Charleston, were married in Immanuel Lutheran Church in Sweet Springs, an imposing structure whose grounds amost touched the back yard of the home where my wife grew up.

Anyone who has ever had anything to do with Sweet Springs would likely agree on a general characterization of the populace. Kind assessments would use words like "independent." Less charitable folks might use words like "bull-headed." In any event, Sweet Springs is such a close-knit community that it takes a while to warm up to outsiders.

Sweet Springs once upon a time was known all over the nation for its curative spring water. In more recent years, the water that gets the most attention comes from the city park, where an artesian well known among locals as "the gusher" spews out a sulphur-laden brew that smells like a rotten egg factory.

The town is a German Lutheran stronghold. It is only seven miles from Corcordia and even closer to Emma, home of the famed Emma Creamery, which in its heyday produced the finest cheese (and cheese curds) I've ever eaten.

Even theough Marge's folks, Jerry and Beulah Nichols, were neither German nor Lutheran, they were staunch Republicans. Beulah was a loyal supporter of the public library, having introduced her daughter and two sons to the joys of reading. A special memorial was established there when she died in 1995.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the good burghers of Sweet Springs would turn down money from the feds. Marge and I also know Jerry and Beulah would be proud.