My 44th birthday was at the end of December and I remember waking up and thinking, “Wow, I am middle-aged. If I have half of my life left, how do I want to spend it? What should I be doing with my time?” It is easy to look at others, make comparisons, and start wondering if I’ve done enough or if it’s good enough.
My condolences to the family of Terry Viessman. Amanda & Grace Grinager visited Catherine Thomas last Sunday afternoon.
We’d like to welcome to the world three fine sock puppets, at least one of whom is named Gerald. They were brought to life last Friday by Betsy Pardick and her sons Carson and Dexter, a few of the creative folks who attended the opening reception for the Arts Council’s current Emerging Artist gallery exhibit (MO- BIUS, the visual and audio art of another parent-and-child set, Miles & Stafford Taylor). Many of those sock puppets and people then took themselves to Bluenose and performed karaoke at the Gopher’s deck fundraiser benefit… including us, your CAIR staff, who would like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to the community – and the estate of Leonard Cohen – for our enthusiastic yet flawed rendition of “Hallelujah.” Missed notes, minor glue gun burns and all, it was a fantastic night.
Editor’s Note: “Meet your local business community” is a new feature of the Advocate Tribune that aims to better connect our community to the people behind the businesses and services in our local area. To participate in this feature, contact Jessica Stölen-Jacobson at jstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com
Crime Stoppers Minnesota The increased rate of certain crimes in very visible stories during 2021 has heightened awareness that law enforcement agencies are working harder at making communities safer. A key element to this effort that Chief of Police Brian Struffert has recognized is engaging the public to safely come forward with information about crimes and criminals.
The Yellow Medicine East High School Trap Team will get started for the season on Sunday, March 27th with their first official practice shoot. Anyone can watch, learn, and cheer them on starting at 1:30 pm at the Minnesota Heart land Preserve just outside of Granite Falls. The team is now on its fifth season. They have twenty athletes signed up and registered with five of those being new team members. The team includes three seniors, four juniors, four sophomores, one freshman, three in eighth grade, three in seventh grade, and two sixth graders. The team welcomes the community to watch a safe, fun season!! The end of the season will include a State Championship shoot in Alexandria sometime in June.
Healthy Tip of the Week: Feeling a little blue? Eating nature’s healthiest and most nutritious foods might help! No food’s a miracle cure, of course, but a healthy diet full of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein can work wonders when it comes to filling you up, energizing your body, and just generally helping you feel your best. Pickleball at the KCC: Groups are playing on the following days / times: Monday’s & Wednesday’s - 1:00pm – 3:00pm Tuesday’s & Thursday’s nights - 6:00pm - 8:00pm Friday’s - 9:00am - 11:00am FREE for members, and just the daily fee for non-members.
One of the topics of discussion at Monday evening’s Granite Falls City Council meeting was bids received for the Airport T-hangar project. The Airport Commission met on March 16th to open and review bids received. Three were received in total, ranging from $1,704,202.41 to $2,350,545.10. The bids were for the construction of an 8-unit T-Hanger that was designed through a grant provided by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in July of 2019. Because funding was not available for construction in 2020 through 2021, the original goal for completion was not met. Because MnDOT now says the funding is available, the project has come up for re-evaluation.
As a college student, Jessie Hennen most enjoyed improv writing activities done in writer’s groups. Having had to figure out what to do with her time during the pandemic, Jessie’s husband Miles Taylor suggested she join streaming episodes he was creating online. The first suggestion that Jessie read from her novel fell short of interesting viewers, and Jessie came up with an idea for a pivot to working on sketch comedy with her friend Maddie which proved to be much more popular. Miles says, “It turned into Jessie doing more of a Garrison Keillor parody that turned into kind of a two-hour staged, sketched sort of show.” Jessie worked on the episodes under the title “Jessie’s Dollhouse”. “It was just me and Maddie reading our sketches, but I love Prairie Home Companion but I have complicated feelings about it, so I decided we were going to redo the entire show,” Jessie says.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the March 31st edition of the Advocate Tribune to grab a coloring sheet for the Granite Falls Area Chamber of Commerce coloring contest! Thursday, March 24th: A Free Virtual and On-Site Event, “In the Garden”. The third in a three-part video-play series for the Remember Project hosted by the Granite Falls Living at HOme/Block Nurse Program.