This year, Houston Public Schools welcomed six new teachers to their staff. Here is a little introduction to each of them. Lisa Skifton Lisa is the new special education teacher at Houston High School. Lisa grew up in South St. Paul, Minn. She has a plethora of teaching experience including teaching elementary special education in Winona (1995) and at Houston … [Read more...]
Houston County Township Officers Association holds 61st annual meeting
The Houston County Township Officers Association held its 61st annual meeting and fellowship dinner on Wednesday, September 14, at the Four Seasons Community Center, Caledonia. Over 70 township officers and their guests from the 17 townships, all five Houston County Department Heads, Houston County Commissioners, State Representative Greg Davids, State Senator Jeremy Miller, … [Read more...]
Museum proposed for Houston’s old community center
Shelly Jerviss appeared before the Houston City Council at the September 12 meeting to ask permission to explore the possibility of creating a museum in the old community center. Representing Jim Skree and herself, Jerviss explained the museum would be a non-profit run on grants and donations. It would collect the history of the city, accept items for display, and only hold … [Read more...]
Edwin C. Boldt
Edwin C. Boldt, 81, of Houston, Minn., died on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis. Edwin was born on December 19, 1940, in La Crosse, Wis. His parents were Raymond and Jean (Arnett) Boldt. Edwin was united in marriage with Nancy Laschenski on September 10, 1966. He served in the U.S. National Guard. Edwin worked for Allis Chalmers, … [Read more...]
Thomas A. Knutson
Thomas A. Knutson, 73, of Houston, Minn., died on August 30, 2022, at his home, surrounded by family. Tom was born on June 29, 1949, in Caledonia, Minn., to Ted and Adele (Johnson) Knutson. Tom married the love of his life, Melanie Fitting on May 2, 2004. Tom worked in the auto body business for 40 years. He owned and operated Tom’s Body Shop for 20 years. Tom was on the … [Read more...]
Doreen A. Auger
Doreen A. Auger, 76, of Houston, Minn., died on Monday, August 29, 2022, at her home with her family at her side. Doreen Anne Svendsen was born on April 5, 1946, in St. Paul, Minn., to Wallace and Marian (Gappa) Svendsen. She was raised in St. Paul and was a graduate of Archbishop Murray High School in St. Paul. She attended the University of Minnesota for three years. On … [Read more...]
Jerry Lee Johnson
Jerry Lee Johnson, 59, of Goodview, Minn., died at his home with family at his side on August 25, 2022, after a short struggle with lung cancer. Jerry was born on January 7, 1963, to Conrad and Isabel Johnson and grew up in the Money Creek area prior to moving to Goodview. Jerry was a 1981 graduate of Houston High School in Houston, Minn. He started his career at Brock … [Read more...]
Solar panels coming to Houston Schools
The Houston School Board made the decision to move forward with the installation of two solar panels, at their August 4 meeting. Originally, the plan was to put one on the elementary building and one on the high school. When the elementary roof was deemed incapable of supporting the panels, a decision was made to put both panels at the high school. On inspection, it was … [Read more...]
Richard “Dick” Snow
Richard “Dick” Snow, 75, of Houston, Minn., died at Gundersen Health System on Thursday, August 11, 2022. He was born on November 10, 1946, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. A visitation will take place on Friday, August 19, 2022, at Hoff Funeral Home in Houston, Minn., from 4-7 p.m. The memorial service for Dick will be Saturday, August 20, 2022, at Looney Valley Lutheran Church at 2 … [Read more...]
Allen L. “Bud” Fitting
Allen L. “Bud” Fitting, 90, of Houston, Minn., died on Saturday, July 30, 2022, at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis. Bud was born on April 7, 1932, in Money Creek, Minn., to George and Myrtle (Corey) Fitting. He attended Money Creek School through the eighth grade and was a 1950 graduate of Houston High School. Bud served as a cook in the U.S. Army during the … [Read more...]
Houston All-School reunion will feature school archives display
Since its inception in 1991, an All-School Reunion for Houston High School has been held every five years. Following a one-year COVID delay we are back! The festivities are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 30 at the elementary gym, which will include school tours and Wall of Fame Ceremony. That first reunion in 1991 also marked the formation of the Houston Public School … [Read more...]
End the month of July by attending Nordic Fest and Houston Hoedown
Experience all things Scandinavian at Decorah’s Nordic Fest celebration, July 28 through July 30. The Luren Singers and Nordic Dancers kick-off the festivities on Thursday evening. Take in all that the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum has to offer including the Skjaldborg Viking Encampment, folk art exhibits and demonstrations, and the 12- historic buildings in the … [Read more...]
Rolland “Rollie” Lee
Rolland “Rollie” Lee, 73, of Houston, passed away peacefully July 16, 2022, surrounded by family. Rollie was born April 26, 1949, in La Crosse, Wis., to Robert and Rose (Burfield) Lee. He graduated from Houston High School in 1967 and spent over 40 years at Cytec (Fiberite) Industries in Winona making many lifelong friends along the way. He was proud of his time there but … [Read more...]
Houston Schools redefining ready scorecard
The Houston School Board reviewed the updated June 2022 college and career readiness scorecard for Houston High School at their July 7 board meeting. Administration at the school participated in this program and gathered the information reported. This scorecard provides information about the class of 2022 and will be used for comparisons at later dates to see how the school is … [Read more...]
Houston wastewater treatment plant nears completion
John Graupman of Bolton & Menk visited the Houston City Council meeting on July 11 to present pay applications #14 ($171,369.05) and #15 ($205,894.32) from Wapasha Construction. Graupman explained that there were two this month since last month’s pay application had failed to be submitted. Graupman also submitted a change order to add new sidewalks at the wastewater plant; … [Read more...]