At the regular midmonth meeting of the Granite Falls City Council, the possibility of purchasing a mower to be designated for use at Memorial Park was discussed. The Public Works Department has requested the purchase, as the park has historically been mowed through a contracted mowing service but considering the City has added a Park Caretaker Position, it was suggested that a mower could be purchased for that employee to complete the work.
Ben Bothun started his role as an Insurance Agent with F&M Insurance on March 14th. Prior to joining the agency in Clarkfield, Bothun worked for an insurance agency in Madison for five years. “This opportunity came up and it was a better fit for my family,” he said. Bothun says he appreciated the culture at F&M Insurance, and that he has found the company culture to be just as described. “I’m happy here. The people have been great, and the customers I’ve met have been great,” he says. Bothun lives outside of Dawson where he and his wife of sixteen years, Chelsie are raising two sons, Mason and Max, ages 13 and ten. Both Chelsie and Ben grew up in the Austin area, and lived in the cities after college for around 10 years. The couple decided to move back to the area for the slower-paced lifestyle. “We wanted our kids to grow up in a similar town around relatives and family,” Bothun says.
Last week, the Clarkfield Assembly of God Church had a special delivery of a new piano, purchased from Carlson Music in Alexandria by way of donations. The original piano was purchased in 1949 by Inez Appleseth Carlson in memory of her first husband. The current pianist for the Assembly of God Church is Paulette Heald (photographed with the new piano). The Clarkfield Assembly of God Church has only had a few pianists in their history. The first was Evangeline Landmark, followed by JoAnn Hildahl and Elsie Carlson, then Lillian Falkum. Photo by Jessica Stolen-Jacobson
According to a criminal complaint filed with the Eighth Judicial District Court, Christopher Lee, of Clarkfield, was arrested on April 15th on allegations of Second-Degree Assault as well as Reckless Discharge of a Firearm, and Domestic Assault. Lee was at the time of his arrest, the Upper Sioux Community Chief of Police.
Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office Villata Reyes, Hector Alexander, Montevideo; Offense date 2/1/22 Driving without a Valid License or Vehicle Class/Type (Misdemeanor); Plea 4/10/22 Guilty; Disposition 4/10/22 Convicted; Court Decision 4/10/22 Payable without appearance; $100 Fine. Beery, Ryan John, Park Rapids; Offense date 9/4/21 Fourth Degree DWI – Operate Motor Vehicle – Body Contains Any Amount Schedule I/II Drugs – Not Marijuana (Misdemeanor); Plea 4/18/22 Guilty; Disposition 4/18/22 Convicted; Court Decision 4/18/22 Sentenced Local Confinement (90 Days, Stay 0 Yr 0 Mo 0 Days); $50 Fine.
As Prince said, sometimes it snows in April. Yesterday, as snowflakes tumbled in gale-force winds, I found myself longing for a gorgeous day in early fall: blue sky, leaves tinged with orange, grass deep green instead of stubbly half-brown tundra. Minnesota’s weather, while always interesting, may not always be pleasant. I’m confident in saying, though, that late summer / early autumn is most reliably beautiful. The weather – along with all of the fun fall activities (see: -the Meander) – is part of the reason our new -community artist in residence will come to Granite Falls in August, September, and October. What will they do when they get here? A few weeks ago, in this column, you read a brief overview of what a CAIR program is. Essentially, cities host an artist who teams up with local organizations, community members, and government to create new projects that foster cohesion, equity, collaboration, and play. These differ from usual artist residencies (in which an artist works on projects more or less alone) – in that the emphasis is on community-building rather than on, say, having the time and space to finally finish one’s novel. CAIR programs have a lot of different names: for instance, Minneapolis calls its version Creative City-Making. They also range widely in shape. In Pittsburgh, one residency is only three weeks long; artists work out of a retrofitted shipping container on the banks of the Allegheny to collect stories about the river. Pittsburgh has also hosted visual artists, who created Snapchat filters that used augmented-reality technology to offer new perspectives on familiar locations. In Japan, a centuries-old paper factory hosted an American artist who learned traditional materials and techniques to create a contemporary art project – a map of the town – in her style, along with drawings of gifts like plants and produce that were given to her by the residents as she worked.
Spring might finally be -here, and with it always -comes an anxiousness to clean up and get rid of the -things we don’t need or are cluttering up our homes or our yards. That also holds true for the waste that has piled up along our streets, our ditches, our parks, and along the river. Earth Day is always on
Anderson-TeBeest Funeral Home owners Kevin and Judy TeBeest both grew up in Montevideo, purchasing the funeral home in Montevideo in 2012. The history of the funeral home began in 1908, when the Anderson Funeral Home was first established in South Dakota by brothers John and Joseph Anderson. The brothers moved to Montevideo in 1912, along with their business. When Kevin and Judy purchased the business in 2012, the name was changed to Anderson-TeBeest Funeral Home.
The American Legion Auxiliary was first established in 1919 with the idea to support the American Legion and the nation’s Veterans. The first department in Minnesota was established in 1920. While Granite Falls has had an American Legion Auxiliary group in the past, membership and meetings had fallen to the wayside. A group of members have now revitalized the organization, holding their first meeting in March. This month, the meeting was held to establish those members with Wanda Seidler, President of Minnesota’s District Seven branch of the Legion Auxiliary in attendance for a ceremony in which the members took an oath, and newly elected officers were installed.
Much of the central, west central, and northern Minnesota saw temperatures into the upper 40s and low to mid 50s on Sunday. Portions of southern and eastern Minnesota, however, even saw some 60s! Minneapolis hit 61 degrees, while Jackson, Windom, and Austin all topped out at 63 degrees.