“It’s called a shouse,” Betty Johnson said. “We call it home,” her husband Darin finished. Betty, RN Lead at Olmsted Medical Center in Chatfield and Darin, who does construction work, live in a large shed that is also a house, called a “shouse.” When they first started thinking about building a shouse, their adult kids, Josh, Jess, and John were appalled. “They said, ‘Mom, … [Read more...]
Articles by Hannah Wingert
Reporter
hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Bike Share bikes moved to Harmony Visitor’s Center
The City of Harmony owns six bikes that can be “checked out” on a “bike share” program for free by residents and visitors to Harmony. The bikes are currently located at the library, but the council requested that the Chamber of Commerce move the bikes to the visitor’s center where they will be more accessible and easy to find. Six members of the Golden Happenings Senior Group … [Read more...]
Josh Krage remembers 9/11 experiences
Ask anybody over the age of around 20 about September 11, and they can probably tell you in detail where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news of the terrorist attack. The memories and horror from that day are seared into our minds as Americans. For Josh Krage, September 11 is especially poignant. In 2001, he was Corporal Joshua A. Krage in the … [Read more...]
Lanesboro council approves removal of old generator
The City of Lanesboro received a quote in the amount of $73,915 from Farrabee Mechanical for the removal of the old, non-working generator from the utility plant. The generator is huge and takes up a lot of space. It was manufactured in 1938 and was purchased by Lanesboro in 1968. “It has thousands of hours of operation,” City Administrator Michele Peterson noted, adding … [Read more...]
A fun new game for game night
If you’re from Harmony and love board games, you’re going to want to add Harmony-Opoly, a limited edition real estate trading game, to your collection. Melissa Vander Plas, who sits on the board of directors for the Harmony Chamber of Commerce, first brought up the idea of creating a game based on the City of Harmony during a chamber meeting last year. She had heard of … [Read more...]
Fillmore Central teachers prep for new school year
The Fillmore Central school board reviewed the preliminary enrollment numbers for K-6 at their August 28 meeting. Currently, there are 48 students signed up for the kindergarten class, 32 for first grade, 50 for second grade, 65 for third grade, 45 for fourth grade, 48 for fifth grade, and 59 for sixth grade for a total of 346 students. At this same time last year, 351 … [Read more...]
Lanesboro School Board discusses results of community meeting
On Monday, August 13, a special Lanesboro school board meeting was held at 7 p.m. in the elementary library. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed facilities project with members of the community of Lanesboro. A similar meeting was held earlier this year during the beginning stages of the project and, now that project is getting closer to being finalized, the … [Read more...]
Harmony resident asks city to pay her back for bills
At the August 14 city council meeting, Harmony resident Cindy Berge asked the city to cover her bills that have accumulated due to the sewer backing up into her basement. She said that when the road and utility project was done on her street, the wrong size of pipe was installed to connect her sewer system with the city’s and as a result, it has needed to be augered out … [Read more...]
Sheriff candidate DeGeorge addresses Lanesboro council
Fillmore County Sheriff candidate John DeGeorge addressed the Lanesboro City Council at their August 6 meeting. DeGeorge has been serving as the captain at the sheriff’s office for almost 10 years now. He spoke about his plans as sheriff if he is elected and what his priorities will be. If he is elected as sheriff, he plans to introduce a program to the public that … [Read more...]
Mabel librarian celebrates 90th birthday and 24 years at the library
“I can’t believe I lived this long to begin with,” Mabel librarian Donna Johnson laughed. Johnson celebrated her 90th birthday on April 8 and has no plans to retire from her job as library director at the Mabel Public Library anytime soon. “Everybody asks when I think I’ll retire. I tell them when it isn’t fun anymore.” Johnson began working at the Mabel library 24 years … [Read more...]
Lanesboro school board sets date for second community meeting
At the July 19 meeting of Lanesboro School Board, it was shared that the facilities committee has narrowed down the scope of the upcoming project to update, add to, and renovate Lanesboro public school and are ready for a second community meeting to discuss the plans with the public. Community members will also get the chance to see how their feedback at the first meeting had … [Read more...]
Facility projects at Fillmore Central making progress for upcoming school year
At their July 24 meeting Superintendent Richard Keith updated the Fillmore Central School Board on the facilities projects currently taking place in preparation for the 2018/19 school year. The high school lockers are being re-painted in a gray color, as they were beginning to chip. The Harmony baseball field relocation and parking lot are in progress. A lot of trees have … [Read more...]
Big Girl Stickers moves into Chatfield storefront
“We ended up with something we never planned for, and it’s just blossomed,” Melissa Burnett said. “It started as just a side gig for some extra money.” Burnett and her husband, Rocky own and operate Big Girl Stickers, a vinyl lettering, screenprinting, and décor business. When they first started it together with another couple, they never imagined it would be so successful … [Read more...]
Harmony library to receive proceeds from their clothing donation bin
The clothing donation bin at the edge of the Harmony Community Center parking lot has already been filled and emptied once since being installed recently. The Harmony Public Library will be receiving $0.10 a pound for the donations from the company that owns and sets up the bins. Once full, each bin holds approximately 600 pounds of donations. “It’s not a lot, but every … [Read more...]
Fillmore County 4-H member chosen as Minnesota delegate
“I told myself not to get my hopes up,” 17-year-old Maddie Smith said about her April trip to the 4-H National Conference, “but I knew that I had a greater chance of making it if I applied than if I didn’t,” she laughed. The application process to be a delegate at the 4-H National Conference is rigorous and selective, but Maddie was up for the challenge. She has an aunt who … [Read more...]