March 2022
Beyond Reason
March 8 is International Women’s Day. Don’t ask me how I know this. I just do. So let us speak of Woman, specifically the International Woman. I like her. Very much. In my opinion She deserves much more than a day. But time waits for no man. Or woman, it seems. So… let’s get to it.
From the Editor’s Desk
Last week, I wrote about how this week was going to have a whole new look. If you read that, and saw the front page this week, you're probably thinking "what the heck?" (I said heck, yes, because we're probably mostly Minnesotan here). Well, shortly after last week's paper went to print, it was announced that we would be working with the former company's systems for just one more week. Thus, no new look just yet.
Two from Montevideo High School travel to State for band
Last week, Montevideo band students Lau ren and Logan traveled to Minneapolis to perform in the Orchestra Hall with the Minnesota All-State Concert Band and Symphonic Band. The audition process is challenging and the competition for each chair in the ensembles is competitive. "Being selected to participate in All-State Band is a huge accomplishment. It is a challenging and competitive process," says Director of Bands Oliver Leafblad. Each student prepares many technical playing exercises and excerpts that show off the student's musical ability. The students then send in a recording of their playing in the spring and, if chosen, are placed in either of the two All-State Bands. In August, the selected students meet for an All-State camp in which they practice and rehearse the music to perform at the end of the camp. Through the experience, all students get opportunities to work with world-class directors in their ensemble and in sectionals with college professors and other master teachers. The following February all the students get one last chance to play together for the Minnesota Music Educators Conference in Minneapolis.
ADMIRALS RESUME FIRST-DOLLAR VISITS
The Montevideo Admirals have returned to doing first dollar visits with new businesses after a COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. In February, the admirals visited Neil Freeman, with Freeman Plumbing. PHOTO SUBMITTED
Letters & Art night held at Ramsey Elementary
"Celebrity Readers" at the event included teachers, Superintendent McKittrick and high school students that are a part of the Homecoming royal court. Students were able to show their families artwork they have been creating this school year.
Watson’s Wedding and Event Center to host first-ever Wedding Fair
Watson’s Wedding and Event Center is full of activity as the venue prepares for its first-ever Wedding Fair to be held Saturday, March 19th. Owner Melea Ellingson and manager Greta Lankow began brainstorming the idea due to the high cost of participating in bridal and wedding shows in larger towns around the state. The pair decided that the best idea for showcasing local small businesses, as well as their own venue would be to host a Wedding Fair at the Watson’s Wedding and Event Center, and so they reached out to vendors who have worked weddings hosted at the site, as well as to area small businesses who offer wedding services. “It just kind of snowballed. We sat here one afternoon and brainstormed, and called vendors and anybody we knew - any brides that had vendors from out of the area. We collected numbers and we were calling and emailing. We really were so excited,” says Lankow.
Legacy project provides opportunity to preserve photographs and more
The Montevideo Community Center recently opened up an opportunity for those in the community to utilize equipment, and help from staff to create what they are calling a “legacy project”. The idea behind the project is that community members can bring in old photographs, drawings, postcards, and more, and utilize equipment the Community Center has on hand to scan those into a digital format, with the ability to enhance images through the computer’s basic photo editing program. Those images can then be turned into a slideshow, and participants can even record voiceover the slideshow to narrate their memories of the photographs. Additionally, Tracy Wellendorf, manager of the Community Center, says that she hopes that others in the community will volunteer to assist less tech-savvy community members with the work as a service project.