Sunday, August 15, 2021, found the community of Money Creek coming together to dedicate the new playground at their community park. Sunday was a beautiful sunny summer day, a perfect day for friends to gather under the shade of the pavilion to chat and share rootbeer floats. Kids had ample opportunity to make use of the new playground and get their faces painted. At 2 p.m., … [Read more...]
William Carlson — champion at national goat show
In the recent ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association) national goat show held in Louisville, Ky., July 17–23, 14-year-old William Carlson of Looney Valley came away with four champion awards! Carlson was awarded Junior Management Champion. This competition consisted of a written test of 30-50 questions testing his knowledge about goats, their care, illnesses, etc. Carlson … [Read more...]
EV charger coming to Houston
Kent Whitcomb, director of Member Services at MiEnergy, returned to the Houston City Council’s regular meeting on August 9 to further discuss MiEnergy’s offer of a car charging station for Houston. The offer was for a $5,139 level 2 charger. The 7.7 kW charger would have ports for two vehicles and would charge at the rate of 20–30 miles per hour. The city had contacted … [Read more...]
DreamAcres – feeding body and soul
Where can you get a tasty wood-fired pizza decked out with local veggies and watch an opera containing all three episodes of The Odyssey? Friday, August 6, the answer was DreamAcres in rural Wykoff! DreamAcres is a land collective ownership; it was begun by a group of people who had a goal of growing their own food while developing an alternative land ownership. After … [Read more...]
Masks “recommended” in Houston schools
At their August 5 regular meeting, the Houston School Board made the decision to recommend the wearing of masks in school buildings. Superintendent Mary Morem reported that the Section 1 COVID infection rate was currently the highest in the state with Houston, Winona and Fillmore Counties all in the high risk category for infections. Decisions on mask wearing and all COVID … [Read more...]
Caledonia finances in good shape
At their regular meeting July 27, 2021, the Caledonia City council heard from Finance Officer Stephanie Mann that the city was doing “well for midway of the year.” She commented that “nothing jumps out,” several times as she presented the second quarter report. With the first half of property taxes and the first half of LGA totaling $528,000 coming in, the monthly balances … [Read more...]
R-P School Board readies for the 2021-2022 school year
In a relatively short meeting July 19, 2021, the R-P School Board made necessary decisions prior to the start of the new school year. This included approving a new Athletic Training Outreach contract with Winona Health. The same trainer will be serving R-P schools again; students will be familiar and comfortable with the trainer as a result. The long term facility maintenance … [Read more...]
Geneva’s Hideaway — same name; new owners
As of May 1, Geneva’s Hideaway in Peterson has been under new ownership. May was already a busy month for new owners, Matt and Jenny Helgemoe; it was planting time for farmer Matt, while Jenny was busy wrapping up her 19th school year at Rushford-Peterson as a counselor. When the couple learned that previous owner Terry Highum was ready to sell Geneva’s, however, they decided … [Read more...]
Rushford Village quickly takes care of business
At a very short July 20, City of Rushford Village Council meeting, Planning and Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit presented the four new planning and zoning permits for CRV. Jeremy and Nicole Williams will be replacing a fence, Moonyeen Holle will be building a new garage, Darrel and Ellen Highum will be building a new house, and David and Marnie Brown will be reroofing and … [Read more...]
Mary Morem takes the helm at Houston Schools
Mary Morem attended her first Houston School Board meeting as the new superintendent July 15, 2021. During the Old Business section of the meeting, Mary addressed some of the items the board had chosen to wait to discuss with her. Morem opted to wait on a decision to hire an onsite instructional coach at this time. She wants to gather more information and knowledge of the … [Read more...]