News

Julia Redner, daughter of Frank and Helen Redner of Echo, was named to the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence at the University of Minnesota Duluth for the sixth time during her academic career. A senior, Redner is a major in the Studio Fine Arts department and enjoys working in a wide variety of mediums, and is currently working in 12th-century Japanese scrolls. In her letter of congratulations from the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Prof. Youde expressed his great pride in her achievement, noting that “the Dean’s List is an honor and a special accomplishment—one you should be very proud to have attained.”

Caregiving can feel simultaneously rewarding and exhausting. As conditions progress, caregivers may begin to feel more and more isolated and even burned out. Pandemic restrictions have only exacerbated this. I was recently reminded of the wonderful resources and opportunities that Lutheran Social Services offers to caregivers in our area and wanted to make sure that you were aware of them, too. You don’t need to go through a difficult time on your own.

Mark this Date on Your Calendar! Last fall, MAMLN partnered with the Living at Home Block Nurse Program in Granite Falls and brought The Remember Project to our area. We heard very positive comments from those who participated.

In February 2020, prior to the first wave of the CO- VID-19 pandemic, a City Artist-in-Residence (CAIR) Advisory Group (made up of City staff, business owners, community champions, and local artists) in partnership with the Department of Public Transformation (DoPT), launched a Call for Artists inviting applicants from across the country to apply to be the inaugural City Artist-in-Residence in Granite Falls. While CAIR programs are becoming increasingly popular in urban areas, Granite Falls was to become the first town of its size to host a City Artist. Members of the CAIR Advisory Group, who had been meeting since Summer of 2019 to design and implement the program, selected Dani Prados to become the first Granite Falls City Artist-in-Residence.

At last week’s annual Granite Falls Area Community Foundation Banquet, plans were announced for a new project to help promote tourism in Granite Falls, while also improving the lives of those in the community. The project stems from a 2017 grant awarded to the Foundation by the Bush Family in honor of its son Archibald “Archie” Bush. The funds awarded that year were to be used for a project or significant issue within the Granite Falls Community, and so the Foundation hosted events, and meetings, conducting surveys to gather input from the community on how the funds should be used.

MRA Breakaway roping champion Katie Bell returned to Lee-Mar Ranch to offer a roping clinic over the weekend. Bell hosted clinics last year at the Ranch and assisted Tony Gable with roping clinics the year prior. Bell has two more clinics scheduled at Lee-Mar in the coming weeks. “We’ll have one on the 26th and another on the 27th and then after that, she’ll be on the rodeo trail so we get to follow her and see what she’s doing,” says Lee-Mar Ranch Manager Vicki Patterson.

On February 3rd, a new art exhibit opens in the K.K. Berge building titled “Verdant One”, featuring the work of artist Anya Kalk. Kalk, from Sweden, has been visiting Granite Falls on a tourist visa for the past three months, staying with her boyfriend and meeting local artists. The idea was offered for her to create an exhibit with her art early on in her stay, and she agreed. For the three months, Kalk says she worked to learn a new medium. “I’m mainly a woodcarver, normally,” she says. “I started wood carving in Sweden - green woodworking and traditional woodworking. I’ve also studied traditional costuming for a while. That’s how I got started with traditional crafts, basically. I’ve also studied design and arts a little bit.”