As of September 1, 2021, Whalan’s number one auto body shop, Doc’s Auto Body and Repair, will have a new name: Whalan Auto Body, LLC. New owner Jon VanMinsel will officially take over the shop from former owner Dale Peterson. Peterson owned the shop for almost 19 years; VanMinsel worked for Peterson for over 11 of those years. The transition had been in the works for several … [Read more...]
Emily Thompson’s Alpine wins Champion at ADGA nationals
GCH Kara Kahl PGW Akebono, a six-year-old French Alpine owned and shown by Emily Thompson, earned champion Alpine in the open class at the recent ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association) national show in Louisville, Ky. Akebono beat out a field of 200–300 other Alpines to win the national champion award from the judges. This was the first champion win in the Alpine class at … [Read more...]
Masks “recommended” at all R-P events
After a 2 1⁄2 hour meeting in the people-filled Forum Room, the R-P school board passed a resolution to “recommend” (not require) masks at a school and all events and activities; this leaves the decision on wearing a mask to the parents of each student. Any change to this policy will be made by the school board. In addition, the board passed a separate resolution that … [Read more...]
Vintage base ball with the Fungis
The Fillmore Fungis are a bunch of guys ranging in age from 74 to 16 who like to have fun playing vintage base ball – hence the name Fungis (fun guys). The Fungis play according to the vintage rules of 1860, the first real set of rules written down. The biggest difference between their base ball and our current baseball is that no gloves were used until the 1870s. At that … [Read more...]
Ribbon cutting at Money Creek Park Playground
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...]