March 2022

Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…” and Medicare has adopted this “weighty” idea. Medicare covers preventative services at 100% to prevent and/or detect diseases early when they are most easily treated. Diabetes is one such disease.

The First Congregational United Church of Christ of Montevideo, Minnesota will turn 150 years old this year. It is a church at the crossroads. It is not the first time the church has been at a crossroads. This has occurred many times in the history of the church. An interesting statistic is that the lifespan of most churches is between 70 and 100 years. We have surpassed that expectation by at least 50 years. The church has been an important part of the Montevideo community going all the way back to the founding of Windom College. The church has a mission minded social justice ministry and many programs benefiting the community were begun by members of this church. Many boards both private and public have been personed by members of the First Congregational UCC. We have a proud history and like so many other mainline churches we have declining membership and resources. This became even more apparent and critical during the pandemic. In the United States the number of churchgoers has steadily dropped over the past few decades. The pandemic accelerated that fall. In-person church attendance has dropped by 30 to 50% since the beginning of the pandemic and while some of those churchgoers are gradually coming back it is not expected that all will. Most churches will permanently keep their online services. Some churches, as our church has, have gone to a service that includes discussion by the congregants who attend. Other churches are looking at worship that moves outside of the church building, possibly in people’s homes to attract people who feel more comfortable in a more informal setting and smaller groups. These are just some of the ways churches are attempting to reach their congregations and to attract more members.

A Honor Roll Grade Student 4 Anderson, Jonas 4 Anderson, Riley 4 Bahl, Daisie 4 Baukol, Thea 4 Blommel, Ranger 4 Bollman, Thatcher 4 Bossert, Reagan 4 Canning, Idabel 4 Dahl, Sawyer 4 Dirksen, Kayla 4 Ellingson, Warrick 4 Gardner, Lucy 4 Gilbertson, Greta 4 Goslee, Drew 4 Groothuis, Jackson 4 Guzman Bueso, Josue 4 Harrington, MaKena 4 Haugen, Brylee 4 Herfendal, Ashley 4 Holien, Lucille 4 Honzay, Haeden 4 Jerve, Alaney 4 Johnson, Madelyn 4 Johnson, Tori 4 Jorges, Annika 4 Koenen, Kolton 4 Koenen, Liam 4 Koosmann, Emily 4 Magnuson, Russell 4 Martinez, Yazmin 4 Page, Cara 4 Sachariason, Sophia 4 Sonstegard, Esten 4 Soto, Guillermo 4 Spray, Ava 4 Stone, Lola 4 Strand, London 4 Templer, Treyton 4 Tostenson, Noah 4 Weiss, Blake 5 Akiuo, Kendee 5 Andrews, Callie 5 Anspach, Joya 5 Bauler, Ava 5 Burdorf, Thomas 5 Christ, Shelby 5 Dack, Elliot 5 Danielson, Austin 5 Eisenlohr, Hayden 5 Godfrey, Aiden 5 Golden, Elle 5 Gonzalez, Benjamin 5 Heidecker, Bailey 5 Huber, Asher 5 Huseby, Nya 5 Johnson, Joseph 5 Johnson, Roderick 5 Joyce, Creed 5 Kistler, Abilene 5 Koenen, Caleb 5 Lanphear, Addyson 5 Loehr, Jack 5 Longhenry, Lillianna 5 Maher, Reese 5 Martinez, Emmanuel 5 Meisner, Alex 5 Mejia Sosa, Josue 5 Merlo Torres, Marcos 5 Miller, Jonnathan 5 Nguyen, Kairon 5 Ohmacht, Ayden 5 Olson, Julia 5 Remund, Kingsley 5 Reszel, Addison 5 Richardson, Adrian 5 Ricke, Tate 5 Rickert, Autumn 5 Rodriguez, Cindy 5 Roelike, Ashleigh 5 Sachariason, Daisy 5 Santjer, Lincoln 5 Schuler, Landon 5 Sharp, Magdelyn 5 Shourds, Brooklyn 5 Soto Castillo, Justin 5 Staton, Kason 5 Wellnitz, Bentley 5 Wellnitz, Bentley 6 Albrecht, Isaac 6 Backer, Brady 6 Bavier, Noah 6 Beatty, Gracelyn 6 Best, Taylor 6 Birdsall, Nolan 6 Bjerkeset, Kamryn 6 Brincefield, Jocelyn 6 Brock, Kaelyn 6 Dahl, Grayson 6 Enevoldsen, Trey 6 Field, Ivy 6 Fromm, Link 6 Harker, Shiann 6 Howell, Payton 6 Huntley, Lucas 6 Klaassen, Caleb 6 Knoop, Bode 6 Koosmann, Megan 6 Kranz, Joshua 6 Lens, Matisyn 6 Lindeman, Greyson 6 Ludwig, Bergen 6 Magnuson, Jillian 6 Martinez, Carlie 6 McFadden, Ethan 6 Rodeberg, Addison 6 Sachariason, Chloe 6 Soto, Annayeli 6 Steinbach, Ellianna 6 Strand, Arianna 6 Tostenson, Nolan 6 Westby, Cody 6 Zeidler, Lily 6 Zimmer, Mayson 7 Arends, Anika 7 Axford, Kaden 7 Baukol, Patrick 7 Brown, Anika 7 Day, Collin 7 Diaz, Christopher 7 Dove, Lauren 7 Epema, Griffin 7 Fultz, Alexander 7 Hanson, Ashton 7 Huntley, Elijah 7 Janke, Cali 7 Johnson, Emma 7 Joyce, Alexandra 7 Krueger, Lara 7 Maus, Aydon 7 Nipple, Lathen 7 Osbon, Alexandra 7 Quintanilla, Brittney 7 Reyes Barrientos, Kelin 7 Ricke, Ty 7 Ripley, Hope 7 Sachs, Olivia 7 Schiller, Lucy 7 Sonstegard, Sophie 7 Stamps, Josiah 7 Stenson, Taryn 7 Turcios, Valeria 7 VanBinsbergen, Adam B Honor Roll Grade Student 4 Almendarez Rodriguez, Allison 4 Aritos, Aston 4 Borgerson, Braxton 4 Brown, Nina 4 Byer, Elayna 4 Carcamo Sosa, Keydi 4 Contreras Mata, Joseph 4 Dahlvang, Jase 4 Delgado Ochoa, Victor 4 Dresbach, Kolton 4 German, Avery 4 Glady, Bentley 4 Guzman Anariba, Tania 4 Guzman Menjivar, Debora 4 Hale, Uriah 4 Hanson, Triston 4 Holien, Virginia 4 Holverson, Adeline 4 Ingle, Hunter 4 Janke, Evan 4 Kibler, Quinton 4 Kinman, Koyer 4 Lange, Shaylene 4 Maldonado Cruz, Omar 4 Medina Cornejo, Nathaly 4 Mendez, Sophia 4 Murillo, Angelique 4 Quigley, Karmen 4 Sabillon, Yosmery 4 Sannerud, Josephine 4 Spitzenberger, Kayden 4 Sweno, Brooke 4 Tazelaar, M’Kayla 4 Ulloa, Nayelli 4 Vandelanotte, Jakob 4 Vonderharr, James 4 Wimmer, Brayden 5 Anderson, Asher 5 Bakken, Eva 5 Beatty, Jackson 5 Castillo, Eliut 5 Coudron, Alonzo 5 Coulter, Evan 5 Cram, Kauna 5 Dietz, Elliot 5 Dresser, Veralee 5 Erickson, Wyatt 5 Haugerud, Kylee 5 Haugland, Nevaeh 5 Heinrich, Iver 5 Hogrefe, Kayleah 5 Jepma, Carter 5 Lam, Baylee 5 Lynner, Zoey 5 Maki, Jax 5 May, Elijah 5 Rios, Adriana 5 Running, Avery 5 Salinas, Javier 5 Stamps, Svea 5 Stewart, Kaiden 5 Sundlee, Leyla 5 Terning Sather, Reagan 5 Visness, Kaylyne 5 Wagener, William 5 Weckwerth, Skylar 5 Williamson, Nora 5 Zamora, Catarino 6 Bender, Brandyn 6 Birhanzl, Kory 6 Castillo, Ester 6 Dahl, Roxy 6 Erickson, Keith 6 Fitzkappes, Ava 6 Flores, Melanie 6 Foley, Keenan 6 Gilb, Vanessa 6 Glady, Raegyn 6 Godfrey, Henry 6 Golden, Becca 6 Homan, Bailey 6 Howe, Alice 6 Jepma, Saul 6 Kwilinski, Alissa 6 Lange, Andrew 6 Lintner, Raelyn 6 Lopez Villatoro, Axel 6 Mendez, Mia 6 Newstrand, Sydney 6 Olson Blake, Jaelyn 6 Poppe, Quinn 6 Raveling, Kinsley 6 Schultz, Jenna 6 Seeman, Brody 6 Soto Castillo, Estavan 6 Spray, Parker 6 Stanley, Ross 6 Stewart, Leon 6 Villalta Miranda, Kimberly 6 Wold, Ryder 7 Banken, Kamry 7 Brady, Madisyn 7 Burmeister, Anya 7 Erickson, Cadynce 7 Haas, Carson 7 Holzheimer, Andrew 7 Johnson, Brianna 7 Kinman, Jayla 7 Koopmeiners, Natalie 7 Koopmeiners, Nichole 7 Kuno, Aiden 7 Lizardo, Juan 7 Lopez Gutierrez, Yoselin 7 Maki, Ryan 7 McFadden, Levi 7 Miller, Janie 7 Moe, McKeon 7 Moravetz, Kyla 7 Norman, Miles 7 Ohmacht, Bria 7 Perez Erazo, Daniel 7 Reiffenberger, Gracyn 7 Schultz, Madilyn 7 Stolen-Jacobson, Olivia 7 Straw, Alikka 7 Vaala, Eli 7 Vandelanotte, Reese .

Earlier this month, Montevideo-based CURE (Clean Up the River Environment) hosted a webinar to spread the word about a new cooperative solar garden that’s currently in development in an area West of Clara City, to benefit Xcel Energy customers in both Yellow Medicine and Chippewa Counties among others. The cooperative solar garden is being developed by a company called Cooperative Energy Futures that only produces cooperatively owned community solar installations. “Rather than other models of community solar projects, they develop community solar projects as member-owned cooperatives,” explains CURE Energy Democracy Program Director Erik Hatlestad. Several years ago, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission required that Xcel Energy accept community solar projects such as this. “So you’ve seen a lot of different projects that have different kinds of ownership structures and different kinds of actual owners of the projects,” explains Hatlestad. “You’ll see a lot of those large companies, but we really believe as an organization that normal people, rural residents should be making more decisions about what the future of electricity looks like. So community solar is a really great opportunity for residents and renters, and normal folks to participate in clean energy when they might not have otherwise and be a part of a system that is democratically owned by people who are actually being served by it rather than a company from far, far away.”