ST. PAUL, MN – Veterans seeking skilled nursing care in southeastern Minnesota can look forward to a summer 2023 opening of the future Minnesota Veterans Home in Preston. Officials from the Minnesota epartment of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) shared that good news during a virtual meeting with Preston community stakeholders last week. Indeed, the most common questions MDVA leaders … [Read more...]
Preston’s veterans home on track to be completed by March 2023
It has been four months since construction started on Preston’s new veterans home project, and it is already 10% completed. Project Executive Derek O’Connor, Knutson Construction, a 110-year-old company out of Rochester, took time to answer questions and share aerial photos of the work completed at the construction site over the past four months. But first, O’Connor … [Read more...]
Quilts for Veterans
The ladies of the Quilter’s Therapy Quilt Club design and either hand or machine sew colorful red, white, and blue patriotic themed quilts for the community’s veterans through their project, Quilts for Veterans. The quilts protect and provide warmth and comfort for veterans every night. Traditional quilt patterns are often used: Ohio Star, Fence Rail, and Log Cabin. Many of … [Read more...]
State of Minnesota Veterans Day event to be virtual again
ST. PAUL, MN – The official State of Minnesota Veterans Day Program will be held virtually again this year in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A 30-minute recorded program will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Veterans Day, Thursday, November 11 on the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs website at MinnesotaVeteran.org/VeteransDay2021. The Minnesota Department of … [Read more...]
New Veterans Memorial In Harmony
The Harmony American Legion Gustav Berg Post 81, in conjunction with the City of Harmony, will be installing a new Harmony Area Veterans Memorial in Harmony’s Selvig Park. The new memorial honors all veterans of the United States military, with a special focus on local veterans from the Harmony area. The Veterans Memorial area will provide locals and tourists a place to … [Read more...]
History plays feature local World War 2 veterans’ tales
After months of oral interviews, Pop-up Plays: Lanesboro WW II and Beyond brings to the stage local accounts of soldiers in D-Day, German prison camp, the Norwegian Resistance, Japanese nurses in Rochester, and farmers growing food for Europe. Area veterans Orval Amdahl, Don Ward, Bob Earley, Dr. Westrup, Paul Abrahamson, Ruby Nelson, Signe Soma will come to life again on … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… Working together for our Veterans
Publisher Fillmore County Journal jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com Over the past decade, there has been a collaborative vision focused on serving Veterans in our region. On Nov-ember 11, 2015, Veterans Day, the first Veterans were laid to rest in the second Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery located in Preston, Minn. Nearly six years later, on Monday, August 9, 2021, … [Read more...]
Veterans home groundbreaking celebration
A large crowd gathered on August 9 for the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future state veterans home in Preston. This was the first of three groundbreaking ceremonies for the new veterans homes to be built in Minnesota. Ceremonies will be held in Montevideo and Bemidji later this month. Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Homes Healthcare Douglas Hughes said the … [Read more...]
Preston transfers veterans home site to state of Minnesota
At the August 2 Preston City Council meeting, the council formally approved the transfer of 16.6 acres for the veterans home site including the Anderson triangle to the State of Minnesota. City Administrator Joe Hoffman explained the veterans home donation escrow fund will be released to the state as requested by the state. This fund is approximately $1.4 million and … [Read more...]
Preston Veterans Home groundbreaking scheduled for Monday, August 9
The groundbreaking event for the new Minnesota Veterans Home in Preston will be held on Monday, August 9. This is a change from the Thursday, August 19 date announced at the meeting last week when MDVA officials visited with Preston stakeholders to provide an update on the new veterans home. More details on the groundbreaking event will be shared soon. We look forward to … [Read more...]