Spring Grove closed out the home volleyball schedule with a 3-1 payback win over Randolph on November 18 and then finished the virus-shortened season with a November 19 road triumph at Houston. The 2020 season that started late also ended early, due to public health concerns. Late-season scheduled matches with Grand Meadow and Lanesboro were among many area athletic events … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Taking oxen for a walk or putting ‘em on a ferry for 50 cents
By Lee Epps They came on foot, walking beside a yoke of oxen, which pulled a cart laden with their belongings. Sometimes the women and children rode atop the load in the cart. These were settlers of the early 1850s, making their way into what would become Houston County, Minn. Some of these migrants had accompanied oxen from as far away as southern Illinois. Others arrived … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Boatmen, Indian blacksmiths and finally a few farmers by 1850
Eight years before Minnesota statehood, Minnesota Territory was included in the United State census of 1850. A year previous, the Minnesota Territorial assembly had created nine counties. What is now Houston County was then part of a very large Wabasha County, which extended from the Mississippi River west to the Missouri River (now in central South Dakota) and from the Iowa … [Read more...]
Spring Grove girls cannot slow state-ranked Cougars
The Spring Grove girls (6-4, 6-4 SEC) remained close only in the third and final set during the conference volleyball rematch at Mabel-Canton. The Cougars (11-0, 11-0 SEC) appeared deserving of their No. 4 state Class A ranking while taking all three sets – 25-15, 25-15, 25-20. The Lions had more earned points (kills, blocks, aces) than errors in each set, but they could not … [Read more...]
Big fourth-period plays propel Lions past Cougars, 28-24
Spring Grove needed two 97-yard possessions and three plays covering more than 80 yards to finally overtake Mabel-Canton, 28-24, on snow-frosted Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field on Nov. 12. Trailing the Cougars (2-4) by two scores in the fourth quarter, the Lions (4-2) rallied with two home run tosses from Isaac Griffin – first for 86 yards to Caden Grinde and then for 82 yards to … [Read more...]
Spring Grove spoils Lyle/Pacelli Homecoming, 36-22
Spring Grove (3-2) won at Lyle/Pacelli (2-3) with a second-half shutout on an unusually warm and sunny Saturday Homecoming Saturday afternoon at Lyle. The Athletics had only 23 yards of offense in the second half after 206 yards before halftime. Lyle/Pacelli led at halftime, 22-21. But three plays into the second half, an interception by freshman Elijah Solum at the L/P 17 … [Read more...]
Grove girls Shackle Schaeffer, Houston
Spring Grove volleyball improved to 6-3 with a second 3-0 sweep of 0-7 winless Schaeffer Academy (25-7, 25-13, 25-20) and a far more competitive 3-1 victory over Houston (25-10, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17). For the week, Maggie Lile served 32-for-34 with 9 aces. SG 3, Schaeffer Academy 0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-20,) In this fifth straight win over the Lions from … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past – Hoot ‘n’ Holler, the Big Black Horse amid railroad recollections
“Tell that animal up there to go slow and not run over us!” yelled John Sand up to the conductor in the train that was bearing down on them. The “big black horse” (steam locomotive) endangered their little motor car all the way from Rushford to Houston. “We had that big headlight beaming down on us, and we were going as fast as we could.” Sand, who resided in Houston, long … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Two days, two searches in two states, eventually two deaths
Second of a two-part series on the Village of Bee. There were two searches within two days in 1921. The first search came right after the December 12 death of the victim, the ensuing two-state search before the apprehension of the perpetrator. Inga Magnusson, 1918 graduate of Spring Grove High School, taught 21 students at one-room Bergen School, located one mile south … [Read more...]
Spring Grove netters swamp Schaeffer, fall at Lanesboro
Error totals were very similar in both volleyball matches. However, Spring Grove had far more offense than did visiting and winless Schaeffer Academy (0-6) but a far less efficient attack at Lanesboro. The Burros improved to 6-1 (6-1 SEC) while Spring Grove slipped to 4-3 (4-3 SEC) SG 3, Schaeffer Academy 0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-14) The Lions served 25 aces against a struggling … [Read more...]