At their September 12 council meeting, the Caledonia City Council unanimously approved the request to inflate and display three hot air balloons at the Veterans Park on October 22, from 5-8 p.m. In the past, hot-air balloons have flown from the high school but this fall balloons will not fly in the skies over Caledonia. City Clerk/Administrator Jake Dickson did not know why … [Read more...]
State veterans home scheduled to open next summer
Local and county officials, veterans home committee members, and interested citizens met for an in-person meeting at the Preston Servicemen’s Club on June 21. Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Herke opened the meeting. The focus of this meeting was the need to find and contract with community suppliers for services. Herke introduced a number of MDVA … [Read more...]
Opportunity to support veterans through donations for poppies
Wear the poppy proudly in honor of all the fallen veterans and support the living. Through late May, area Legion Auxiliaries will have poppies and donation cans displayed in local businesses, as in the past years. Your generous donations are appreciated. National Poppy Day is May 27. The poppy became part of our Memorial Day after the death and destruction of World War I. As … [Read more...]
Preston Veterans Home on schedule
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...]