New garden, outdoor living column in Sunday Gazette

We've added a new feature to our Sunday Home and Real Estate section: Sean Conway's column, “Cultivating Life.” Tribune Media Services, which distributes the column, says Conway will explore for you “easy-to-do projects and simple solutions for outdoor living, cooking, gardening and entertaining.”

Conway is a nationally known garden designer and expert on outdoor living around the home. He is from Tiverton, Rhode Island, but has done work for several media outlets, including NBC's “Today” Show. Last week, on Feb. 28, his column told us about solar water pumps. His topic this week... check it out in the Sunday, March 7, Gazette.

Conway's column complements the Homegrown Highlights column that our own Cindy Hadish writes for the Home and Real Estate section and for her blog.

Reminder:

If you are in or near Lisbon on Tuesday, March 9, please join us for a public forum about what it's like to be an emergency responder in a small town. The forum, sponsored by The Gazette, is a part of the Linn Area Read program, during which people are encouraged to read Michael Perry's book, "Population 485."

Perry's book is about his experience as a first responder after moving back to his small home town of New Auburn, Wisc. It's a good read and I recommend the book.

Our forum will start at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Lisbon Public Library, 101 E. Main St.  Local folks will be there to talk about their experiences. The panelists will be:

• The Rev. Tom Mattson, pastor at the Lisbon United Methodist Church.
• Lisbon Fire Chief Joe Long.
• Lisbon Mayor Rex Cook.
• Iris Cook, a retired preschool volunteer who happens to be Rex Cook's wife and who, forum organizer and Gazette News Content Senior Manager Mary Sharp reports, has "a great story about why she moved to Lisbon."

I'll be the moderator. I wrote about the forum and the fact that I come from a small northeast Iowa town in my Sunday, March 7, Gazette column and also on

Friday, March 5, on my blog. See you Tuesday.