An ice cream social will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 201 N. Locust in New Hampton. Serving will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July, 20. The menu includes maidrites, hot dogs, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, homemade bars and eight flavors of ice cream.

    Community members joined Jeanette Kottke, secretary of the Chickasaw County Genealogical Society, Tuesday at the Fredericksburg Public Library for instructions on how to research family trees.
    Kottke is the editor of the “Chickasaw County Genealogical Society Quarterly” and is currently working on records for Rosehill Cemetery in Fredericksburg.
    “I have over 2,500 names with records dating back to 1886,” Kottke said.

    The Chickasaw County Historical Society met on July 8 in Nashua.
    The society members saw the new ramp to the newly completed Kraft School at the Old Bradford Pioneer Village Museum.

    The Little Brown Church in the Vale, the Old Bradford Pioneer Village Museum and Nashua's Main Street Matters are sponsoring a combined celebration Aug. 2-3.

"I Kissed A Girl” is one of those songs that makes you go, “hmmm." It begins with that infectious beat, like early No Doubt or Pink songs. It loops you in and then before long you’re hooked. The same goes for “I Kissed a Girl,” only to think so might feel oh so wrong, or it might feel oh so right, to put it in Katy Perry’s words.

These DVD titles are slated for release Tuesday, July 22.

The Oscar drums already are beating loudly for Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” the tragically deceased young actor’s swan song. Given the premature Oscar buzz, with the critics’ Heath hosannas already piling up, I was starting to fear overhype. Then I saw the movie.

When Don Felder grew weary of limited musical opportunities in the Boston area and having to work odd jobs to support his family in 1973, he and his wife sold most of the furniture and other items in their duplex. He’d decided to take a friend’s advice and head to California, and before long that led to a spot in the Eagles.

Pure panic can’t accompany the predictable. Even the worst plans in scare-tactic politics — continuing war, rising gas prices, dying dollars — are, unfortunately, practices to be foreseen and accounted for. But what of those crawling from an abyss of unanticipated evil — fueled not by gain or revenge, but ideology and a chaotic interest to prove decent men cannot exist in indecent times?

Ledger's Joker comes up aces in “Dark Knight.”

If you’re excited about “The Dark Knight,” which arrives in theaters Friday, you should check out an earlier Batman movie that not only features The Joker, but also makes room for The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and Robin The Boy Wonder.

She’s the star of her own TV show, had a No. 1 movie at the box office, has been the subject of a pregnancy hoax and had revealing pictures leaked all before the age of 16. Of course I’m talking about Miley Cyrus, the Disney sensation who is releasing her new album, “Breakout,” Tuesday.

A look at movies currently in theaters.

Cracker has been described as many things over their lengthy career, everything from “roots-rock” to “traditional-rock,” but as frontman and guitarist David Lowery said, “I really sort of just considered ourselves a rock band.”

Jean is on point. Producer 9th Wonder is, too, bringing a little soul to the proceedings. But while there are some great moments, both lyrically and musically, it doesn't all work together as well as it could.