Isaac Griffin was voted the highest honor by his Spring Grove baseball teammates, one of his four team awards as four Lions were honored for their contributions during the 2021 spring season. Besides receiving the Todd Oakes Most Valuable Player award, the senior was also voted the Cy Young Best Pitcher and the Ernie Banks Best Teammate awards and received the Derek Jeter … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past His horse wore snowshoes; hundreds of deer couldn’t move
Norwegian emigration, part 9 “The new generation lacks both the knowledge and imagination to grasp the actual conditions of life as it was lived by the pioneers,” wrote Hjalmar Holand in 1920 about Norwegian pioneers in southeast Minnesota. Hard work was a given, but these pioneers were at the mercy of weather, insects and specifically for that era – epidemics. Chinch … [Read more...]
Caledonia, Lanesboro meet in substate baseball finals; Warriors advance to state
The Caledonia Junior Legion boys rallied from a late four-run deficit to overtake Lanesboro in the championship game of the Southeast Substate Baseball Tournament on July 28 and advance to the 2021 Division II Junior Legion State Tournament (age 16 and under). The Burros led 6-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning (seven-inning game) before the Warriors rallied for the … [Read more...]
Griffin voted MVP as Spring Grove honors four baseball teammates
Isaac Griffin was voted the highest honor by his Spring Grove baseball teammates, one of his four team awards as four Lions were honored for their contributions during the 2021 spring season. Besides receiving the Todd Oakes Most Valuable Player award, the senior was also voted the Cy Young Best Pitcher and the Ernie Banks Best Teammate awards and received the Derek Jeter … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past First immigrant farms were near water and woods
Norwegian emigration, part 8 The Norwegians who first pioneered southeastern Minnesota preferred farm sites near rivers and creeks rather than prairie acreage. When they arrived on wagons, the prairies were easier to cross than more direct routes through marshland and dense undergrowth along the Root River. But for farmsteads, they first sought flowing water and woods, the … [Read more...]
Legion Lions close summer season, edge Cougars 2-1
It was a night for pitchers as Spring Grove closed the American Legion (age 19 & under) season with a tight 2-1 win over visiting Mabel-Canton on July 22. The Lions managed only four hits, but a trio of Spring Grove pitchers combined to toss a one-hitter. Each team used three pitchers, surely by design, since all but one logged more strikeouts than walks. There was only one … [Read more...]
Cougars, Lions, area trap shooters compete at national tournament
Among 158 trap teams, Mabel-Canton finished 19th and Spring Grove 63rd at the National Championships of the USA High School Clay Target League. Two Cougars earned individual acclaim; Colton Heintz-Kuderer placed 20th and Austin Snell 35th - both in the top 2% among 1,684 individual shooters. There were also individual competitors from Kingsland, Lanesboro, Fillmore Central, … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Beware of death, Judgement Day, the devil and loan sharks
Norwegian emigration, part 7 When immigrants from Norway finally reached southeastern Minnesota, there was plenty of farm land available. According to the Distribution-Preemption Act of 1841, a squatter could live on 160 acres of federal government land and then pay the minimum price of $1.25 an acre ($39 value in 2021) when the land was officially opened for settlement. One … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past “Where this place Minnesota was… I had no idea”
Norwegian emigration, part 6 Many of the Norwegian immigrants, which would settle in Houston and Fillmore Counties as early as 1851, had their ocean voyage end at the port cities of Quebec or New York. Then after another voyage across the Great Lakes and/or a train ride or two, they reached Chicago or Milwaukee. Some, like the families of Thore Elemoen in 1853 and Knud … [Read more...]
Cougars, Lions, area trap shooters compete at national tournament
Among 158 trap teams, Mabel-Canton finished 19th and Spring Grove 63rd at the National Championships of the USA High School Clay Target League. Two Cougars earned individual acclaim; Colton Heintz-Kuderer placed 20th and Austin Snell 35th (both in the top 2%) among 1,684 individual shooters. There were also individual competitors from Kingsland, Rushford-Peterson, Lanesboro, … [Read more...]