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On Sunday, the Yellow Medicine East Volleyball and Football teams hosted a fundraiser in order to raise funds to help local families fighting cancer. The event was held in the parking lot of the High School and featured a meal hosted by new to Granite Falls food truck business - Scotty Biggs Barbecue Company, and beanbag toss games. There was a drawing to win an autographed volleyball or football, as well as a 50/50 pot. Scotty Biggs Barbecue Company posted to their social media after the event, saying, “I have done lots of benefits. Not sure I have ever seen this kind of support! I’m new to this community and seeing this support tonight was awesome!” Organizers of the event on Sunday estimate between 200225 people attended. On Tuesday, the fundraising efforts continued with more chances to win an autographed volleyball and 50/50 pot at the YME home volleyball game against Canby. On Friday, at the home football game against Lakeview, the winner of the autographed football will be announced. The Lakeview School District also helped out with the fundraising efforts, advertising the event to the families of students attending the school in Cottonwood.

Jessica Stölen-Jacobson Editor jstolen-jacobson@cherryroad. com During this year’s Meander Art Crawl, local artist Autumn Cavender joins the lineup of artists on the route along the… Login to continue reading Login…

Kyle Haugen began his new role as Executive Director of the Granite Falls Economic Development Authority on September 12th. As a recent transplant to the community, Haugen was drawn to the position as he and wife Melissa have both come to have a great appreciation for what the community represents, as well as a desire to help the community grow. “Melissa and I moved to Granite about three years ago and we really, really enjoy the town. Having a skill set that I thought would be a good fit for what the EDA was doing and then being able to help the community, I thought that sounded like a whole different challenge for me. It’s different than what I’ve done in the past, but something I think I would really enjoy,” Haugen says.

OF THE WEEK Note from Myrna: During World War II, sugar was rationed. Every family got tokens that were used to get sugar.

Tucked back away from the road located at 5073 Highway 212 just outside of Granite Falls exists Moonstruck Creations LLC. It is owned and operated by Bryan and Peggy Mooney of Granite Falls. They are on the Meander Art Crawl map for the 2022 Meander coming up from Friday, September 30 – Sunday, October 2nd. When you first find the driveway for the Mooneys home and shop, it may look like the driveway disappears into the forest, but soon you can see their home and their large wood shop where their creations are made.

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When my class was traveling through Cottonwood County in southern Minnesota, we stopped at a dairy farm and listened to the family talk about what it took to run their farm. It was quite interesting seeing their large operation from newborn calves to welltrained milk cows taking their place to be milked, to the vast amounts of hayblown tubes for easy storage and removal for feeding.

If you ask local musician Charlie Roth how long he knew the local and surrounding arts community legend Jerry Ostensoe, he’ll tell you it was over 40 years, as they met around 1980. Ostensoe recently passed away from ALS. In his final hours both Roth and another arts community pillar, Malena Handeen, played live music for Ostensoe as he lie in wait. Handeen had her accordion and Roth had his guitar and they played Ostensoe’s music just hours before he’d passed on. Dave Smiglewski, the mayor of Granite Falls and one of Ostenoe’s bandmates, was also present at the bedside performance.

At the 32nd annual Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame Banquet on October 29th, Wayne Viessman, one of the founders of Viessman Trucking will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for his years spent with the Clarkfield Softball Team. Viessman played on, managed, and sponsored the Viessman Trucking Softball Team based in Clarkfield from 1971 to 2003. Viessman became involved in the softball program in Clarkfield at just 19 years old. “I started out being a sponsor and coach right away and played for quite a few years. Later in life, I was a sponsor and coach,” he says. Viessman, who came to the area from Iowa, played a lot of softball there and decided he enjoyed it enough to continue to stay involved in the sport. “I just liked the competition,” he says.