During the April 18 Lanesboro School Board meeting, thanks were extended to the family of Helen Benson who donated an Automatic External Defibrillator or AED device to the Lanesboro Public School. The AED will be kept at the football field. Athletic Director Bret Klaehn had originally contacted the City of Lanesboro and Ambulance Director Deane Benson to find out how to … [Read more...]
Articles by Hannah Wingert
Reporter
hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
New ice cream shop and deli opens in Harmony
When Bonnie Fisher first approached her husband, Kevin Fisher, and her brother and his wife, Richard and Rhonda Meldahl, with the idea of opening up an ice cream shop and deli, they all thought she was crazy. But the idea grew on them, and now the two couples are the proud co-owners of BReaKeRs in Harmony. “The more we got into it, the more exciting it got,” Richard said. … [Read more...]
Harmony City Council approves 2018 audit report
The April 9 Harmony City Council meeting began with the 2018 audit report, which was presented by Tom Olinger from Abdo Eick & Meyers. It was recommended that the city appoint someone other than the city administrator to review the bank reconciliations and look into purchasing a point of sale software to help document receipts. Olinger reviewed the city’s general, … [Read more...]
Lanesboro receives recognition from National Governors Association
At the April 1 Lanesboro City Council meeting, council member Autumn Johnson brought a report released by the National Governors Association to the attention of the rest of the council. The report, titled “Rural Prosperity Through the Arts and Creative Sector,” mentioned Lanesboro several times as a model of how to successfully promote the arts as a community. One of the … [Read more...]
Fillmore Central students place high in large group music contest
At the March 26 Fillmore Central School Board meeting, Principal Heath Olstad extended thanks to band teacher Duane Ledin and choir teacher Sarah Holten for their hard work and dedication to their students. Both the band and choir received superior ratings at the sub-section large-group music contest which was held at Fillmore Central on March 12. Dean of Students Chris … [Read more...]
Harmony Council meets with EDA and school board
The Harmony City Council met with the Harmony EDA and Fillmore Central School Board before their regular city council meeting on March 12 for the annual special joint meeting. EDA Coordinator Chris Giesen gave the highlights of the EDA’s progress over the past year. He noted that construction on the bike trail expansion will begin in 2020 thanks to the many volunteers who … [Read more...]
Fillmore Central board reviews Flex Learning Days
At the February 26 school board meeting, High School Principal Heath Olstad updated the Fillmore Central School Board on how the newly implemented Flex Learning Days have been going. He noted that things got off to a rough start as the first time students had a Flex Learning Day, they ended up with four in a row thanks to bad weather. After that first block of time, feedback … [Read more...]
Lanesboro school district continues to fine tune upcoming facility project
Lanesboro School Board member Steve Storhoff gave the Facility Committee report at the February 21 Lanesboro School Board meeting. The facility project plans are continuing to be reviewed and tweaked by the committee before they are finalized. Storhoff noted that it’s an ongoing process. More information on the project can be found under the Future Facility Project tab on the … [Read more...]
Heidi Jones settling into new position as Fillmore County Auditor/Treasurer
When the opportunity arose to run for Fillmore County Auditor/Treasurer, the decision was easy for Heidi Jones. Jones, from Ostrander, had been working in the Auditor/Treasurer’s office for 11 years and was ready to throw her hat in the election ring. “A lot of time was invested in it, but it was worth it,” Jones said. A lot of her campaign was spent visiting council … [Read more...]
19-day relationship leads to love and a 50-year marriage
Bill and Sue Lark met for the first time outside of the laundromat in Stewartville in 1968. Sue’s sister had moved out and Sue was spending so much time on the phone with her that their mom asked her to cut back so the phone bill wouldn’t continue to be so high. Rather than calling her sister from home, Sue stopped into the laundromat to call her instead. When she came … [Read more...]
SE MN Ethanol, LLC dissolves under POET merger
In the mid 1990s, a group of local farmers decided that Southeastern Minnesota should have a biorefinery to create ethanol from corn, which would provide them with a new avenue of selling their corn. With that in mind, they created Southeast Minnesota Ethanol, LLC, also known as SME, and purchased some land just outside of Preston. The next step was to find someone willing to … [Read more...]
Local Boy Scouts learn how Lanesboro government works
Seven members of Boy Scout Troop 67 were present at the February 4 Lanesboro City Council meeting to learn more about how local government works and what roles, rights, and responsibilities youth have in the community. Mayor Jason Resseman explained the role of the mayor and council members to the troop and encouraged them to take active roles in the community of Lanesboro and … [Read more...]
New Lanesboro School Board member sworn in
Lanesboro School Board member Dave Lawstuen administered the oath to returning board members Lolly Melander, Steve Snyder, and Steve Storhoff as well as new member Mike Willford. Lawstuen was nominated and approved as the board chair, Steve Snyder as the vice chair, Chris Troendle as clerk, and Lolly Melander as treasurer. The Lanesboro School Board meetings will continue to … [Read more...]
Newly elected member of Harmony City Council sworn in
Newly elected Harmony City Council member Tony Webber was sworn in at the council’s January 8 meeting, along with returning council member Steve Sagen and Mayor Steve Donney. The easement agreement for the land swap between the City of Harmony and Fillmore Central for the football field has been completed and was sent to the school district for approval. They sent it back to … [Read more...]
Donna Rasmussen named Minnesota 2018 Outstanding SWCD Employee
Fillmore Soil and Water Conservation District administrator Donna Rasmussen was awarded the 2018 Outstanding Soil and Water Conservation District Employee award on December 10 at the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ annual convention. She was nominated for the award by her co-workers at the Fillmore SWCD, who were thrilled to hear that she had … [Read more...]