Fifty years ago, the Valhalla Apartments opened in Clarkfield, after a lot of effort from a board that was formed in order to secure the building for Clarkfield’s future. Richard Petersen, of Clarkfield, is one of the original Board members. “I got appointed to the board after one of the original board members left town and I was selected to be on the board for quite a long time during the construction phase of the facility,” Petersen recalls.

Art Commons, one of Canada’s largest art galleries, is currently featuring a curated collection titled Indigenous Motherhood and Matriarchy that houses an exhibit with the work of Wicanhpi Iyotan Win (Autumn Cavender-Wilson), a member of Pezutazizi K'api (Upper Sioux Community). The show opened in December 2021, and runs through the end of this week, with the ability to view the entire collection virtually. The collection involves multiple artists, working to highlight women’s resiliency and strength, and is curated by a Cree artist named Autumn Whiteway. Whiteway curated the collection first in 2021, and the current collection is the third installment of artists.

The area is digging out from two winter storms that hit much of the area starting late Sunday night into Tuesday. The first wave moved into Minnesota late Sunday and lasted into Monday.

Last year’s January column about The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning method of downsizing was one of the most popular in terms of people reaching out to request the author Margareta Magnusson’s summary of the concept. While the name of her book is what initially caught my attention, I realized that the idea of what we have and what we allow to surround us and how it ultimately affects the quality of life had been in the back of my mind for quite a while.

The Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging, Inc. (MNRAAA) is pleased to announce two new members to the Board of Directors. Sheila Westfield and Stacy Hammer have been appointed to serve on the MNRAAA Board of Directors effective January 1, 2022.