On January 13th, the Granite Falls Fire Department announced their Firefighter of the Year Award recipient. Each year, the previous five Firefighter of the Year award recipients find consensus on one person who has shown leadership, integrity, and hard work. The chosen recipient exhibits a personality of not having to be told what to do to get the job done while serving the community.
The 15th Annual Community Health Challenge is underway. Twenty-eight teams are signed up to participate. This year's team names are: BSer's, Farm 2 Fit, Frumpy to Fabulous, Gut-B-Gone, Holy Weight Rollers, Jiggle All the Way, 4 Hungrey's, Mission Slimpossible, Fat and Dangerous, Just Weight/There's Less; The Richter Scales, Thin it to Win it, We're not going to Bake it Anymore!, The Vikings, Sheeeeesh! Block Party, Operation Quadruple Phoenix Rising, Minnesota Thins, Wild Hogs, What've We Got To Lose, 20 Bulging Bandits, Mission Slimpossible's, Mother Fluffin Muffin Tops, Defatrillators, Weapons of Mass Reduction, Fat & Furious, Flab Four, Minnesota Thin's, No Excuse Ninjas, Fat No Mo.
“When will it stop? How am I going to keep up? My income is fixed/not increasing at the rate of inflation, what can I do?” We’ve all noticed prices rising and it’s stressful. I’d like to review some of the options and programs that Prairie Five offers in order to help free up more money in your budget.
Very few short stories I read in school hang in my memory. My retention wasn’t always good—squirrel—I guess there were always too many distractions. However, reading Psalm 71 immediately brought a story back to me. A poem written by Earle Birney titled “David.” I remember it clearly because I had to memorize it for my speech competition, which is why I retained the storyline so clearly.
Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, announced the students named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2021-22 academic year. The Dean's List recognizes full-time students who have a minimum of 12 credit hours with grade-point averages at 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale).
Yellow Medicine East hosted the "Happiness is Dancing" dance competition Saturday with competing schools from over 20 districts in attendance, despite the snowy weather. The Silhouettes dance team took home a number of titles from the day including 1st Place titles for JV B Jazz, JV A Jazz, JV High Kick, and Varsity Kick.
The Crop, Livestock, and Soil Innovation Conferences (CLASIC) provide a unique opportunity for those in the agriculture industry to network on the latest trends and innovations. CLASIC is made up of two tours, traveling along Interstate 90 and Highway 14, consisting of four stops each that bring both expert keynote speakers and local farmers to a city near you for a convenient way to learn how they are successfully implementing the latest crop, livestock, and soil innovations.
The Department of Public Transformation (DoPT) is launching the Say YES! Creative Capital Campaign to renovate and transform a formerly vacant, historic Main Street building in Granite Falls into a multi-use facility for regional residents of all ages and backgrounds to gather and connect with each other – The YES! House. The public launch of the fundraising campaign for The YES! House will begin with a Virtual Say YES! Capital Campaign Kick-Off Party on Friday, February 4, 2022 from 3-4 pm CST featuring local and national rural artists and partners. This free, online event will be followed up with a series of in-person events later this year, pending COVIDsafety protocols. Find out more and register for the event at www.theyeshouse-.org.
Turkey hunters have until Friday, Feb. 11 to apply for turkey hunting permits for the A-C spring hunting seasons in the Mille Lacs, Carlos Avery and Whitewater wildlife management areas. This application is required for turkey hunters hoping to bag a tom turkey with a firearm in these WMAs, and successful applicants are selected through a permit lottery.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, one of the nation’s oldest competitions, is 97 years old this year. The National Spelling Bee was started in 1925 by a group of nine newspapers who got together and hosted a spelling bee. Now, this literacy effort reaches 11 million students each year. Local spelling bees were completed at Yellow Medicine East schools last week. Jazmine Ornelas, winner of the 5th and 6th Grade Spelling Bee, and Alana Almich, winner of the 7th and 8th Grade Spelling Bee will be advancing to the Regional Spelling Bee in Redwood Falls on February 1, 2022 (snow date February 2). The top four spellers from the regional competition will advance to the Multi-Region State Spelling Bee on February 22, 2022 (snow date February 23) in Fergus Falls. The Scripps National Spelling Bee Week 2022 will take place the last week of May in Maryland. Congratulations and best of luck to Jazmine and Alana at the Regional Spelling Bee!