Since my re-diagnosis of cancer, I have been downsizing and “getting things in order.” In doing so, (and since my retirement) I have been looking through old work papers, including notes I had taken at various presentations I had attended. Recently, I ran across some notes that I feel are worthy to highlight in this column.

We had a frost advisory on Saturday night into early Sunday morning for much of Greater Minnesota. Temperatures generally fell into the mid-30s across central and west-central Minnesota.

As a gardener, I’m an amateur at best, so whenever I sow a seed, I’m sure I’m doing it wrong – I always think, there’s no way this tiny thing will become an actual plant. And yet for two seasons now, I’ve been astonished.

Friday evening, the 29th annual Chippewa and Yellow Medicine Counties American Cancer Society Relay for Life event was held at Smith Park in Montevideo. The event began with a performance by the community band, while guests were able to visit vendor booths, enjoy a meal and sign up for the split-the-pot. Luminaries were set about the path through the park, and one section was designated as a “survivors garden”, featuring photographs and paper flowers with the survivors names.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest member nonprofit organization on a mission to plant and distribute trees around the world. The celebrating of Arbor Day began in January of 1872, when a Nebraska Newspaper editor named J. Sterling Morton proposed a tree planting holiday at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The first celebration was held on April 10, 1872, offering prizes to those who planted the largest number of trees. Estimates for trees planted that day totaled more than one million trees. The City of Granite Falls planted trees in Rice Park in honor of the day. Pictured are Water Plant Superintendent Chris Anderson and Granite Falls Mayor Dave Smiglewski. Photo by Jessica Stolen-Jacobson

On Saturday afternoon, a crowd gathered at Montevideo’s Smith Park for the annual Mental Health and Suicide Awareness Walk. The event was hosted by the organizations Western Mental Health, New Directions, Lac qui Parle Local Advisory Council and the Montevideo Community Center and featured speakers Ray Stenglein and Jared Wosmek.