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Many years ago, I was at a retreat at Blue Cloud Abbey by Marvin, South Dakota, and I was listening to one of the Benedictine monks who was also a priest. He was about 88 at the time and told us about his journey to get to this abbey. The story went something like this: He was a young aspiring academic with a passion for Christ. He received the call from God to become a monk. With goals of being a seminary teacher, he was excited because he was going to Rome to study at Sant'Anselmo, a prestigious university founded by Pope Leo XIII for the training of Benedictines from all over the world in philosophy and theology. It seemed like his call from God was manifesting wonderfully in his life. But then, in 1939 World War II broke and by 1942 there was little need for studying in Rome and he was sent to the Dakotas to work in missions. When telling his story, he said he went from studying in Rome to helping birth calves on the prairie; a life he wasn’t equipped or educated for but a new life God had brought him to—a life he cherished.

On Thursday February 17th at 1:00 PM, the Granite Falls Living at Home Block Nurse Program (GF-LAH/BNP) in conjunction with the Montevideo Area Memory Loss Network (MAMLN), Minnesota Area Agency on Aging, Pioneer PBS and JMHS is presenting a free virtual-hybrid Remember Project event featuring “Steering into the Skid.” This special program is to help family members, caregivers, local businesses, and the broader community engage in conversation around dementia and the most well-known form of memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease.

WCCO’s John Lauritsen was the guest speaker at the Granite Falls Area Community Foundation Awards Banquet last Wednesday evening. Having grown up on a farm in the Milan Area, Lauritsen shared ruminations of his experiences growing up in the local area and how that has shaped his perspective today.

Recently, the Granite Falls Area Chamber of Commerce presented First Dollar Awards to businesses that have started up or changed ownership. CO- VID-19 has changed the way, or how quickly the Chamber has presented these awards. Those awarded included Korthuis Jewelry, Betty Korthuis Pfaff, owner since June 19, 2020. Additionally, NAPA Star Group changed ownership on April 21, 2021.

Doug Bengtson says he was never good at English classes in school, however, when he decided to take a writing class at Senior College at SMSU, he found he quite enjoyed writing poetry. “I found I really liked to write. I had always kind of fiddled with poems, and once I learned about poetry in part of that class, I knew I was on the right track,” Bengtson says. That newfound interest eventually led to the publication of his first poetry book in 2016, followed by the publication of four more books, with his most recent book being currently published, titled Barns and Farms. He says the rhyming aspect of poetry is what led him to it, mostly practicing poetry as a four-stanza rhyming poet. “If you look through every one of my books, ninety-nine percent of it is rhyme. But I do want to learn more. There are a million different types of poems, and I’m hoping to find more classes to learn. I’m never satisfied with what I learned and always want more,” Bengtson says.