May 2022

Lois Phillips

Lois Phillips died Friday, May 13, 2022 at CentraCare - St. Cloud Hospital at the age of 96.

Beyond Reason

In the Hundred Acre Wood, during the season of spring, you will find Piglet spring cleaning, beating his rugs outside his tree house. Some say spring cleaning comes from Persian New Year (first day of Spring) or the Jewish anticipation of Passover. Others say it’s just the first time you can leave the windows open. Either way, it’s the time to streamline. But how? Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant and author of The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, says we should get rid of every article of clothing that doesn’t “spark joy”. I think she has a different relationship with wardrobe than I do. Do my pants “spark joy” in me? No. But my pants do keep me from getting arrested when I go out.

PRAIRIE NOTEBOOK

Did you know that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads? Minnesota has 14 species of “frogs”, some of which are “tree”- frogs and also the three most common “frogs”out here on the prairie we call “toads”. Some are concentrated in the SE corner, some more spread throughout the state and three (all classified as “toads”) reside in our western prairie environment.

DNR urges people to leave deer fawns alone

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources asks that people avoid disturbing or touching deer fawns, which are born around this time of year. Most fawns are born in mid-May to mid-June, and fawns do not attempt to evade predators during their first few weeks of life.

Just for Kix hosts “Feeling Groovy” spring show

On Saturday, the Just for Kix dance studio hosted their 2022 spring show wih the theme “Feeling Groovy”. The 1970s themed show took place in the Montevideo High School gymnasium, and featured performances from preschoolers to an Advanced Technique high school group. The programs Director, McKenzie Vandelanotte, was assisted by head instructors Erin Smiens and Tina LaVoie, along with volunteer assistants Jocelyn Bauman and Megan Macziewski. Photos by Jessica Stolen-Jacobson

Local students participate in Concordia Commencement

Local students participated in commencement exercises Sunday, May 1, at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Bachelor’s degrees were presented to 356 students. North Dakota Rep. Ruth Buffalo spoke at the ceremony.

Meeting scheduled to discuss proposed biogas facility

To introduce itself to the community and answer questions about its proposed biogas facility planned for the former Fibrominn site, representatives of Nature Energy will be conducting a public meeting Thursday, May 19. The informal event is scheduled for the Benson Golf Club from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Lincoln County collaboration supports project impacting Yellow Medicine River water quality

A conservation-minded landowner found a permanent fix for the perennial erosion that robbed his Lincoln County field of topsoil when local, state and federal partners collaborated on a project too extensive for any one of them to take on alone. Randy Janiszeski’s 120- acre Alta Vista Township field drained a 150-acre watershed in the hills above the North Branch Yellow Medicine River. After every hard rain, he’d repair the gullies and then keep farming the land until the next hard rain.