News

Eliana Fjerkenstad took home multiple blue ribbons at the 4-H Horse Show Tuesday morning. Photo by Jessica Stölen-Jacobson Caleb Johnson rode in the English shows at the 4-H Horse Show Tuesday morning.

The Clarkfield Area Charter School board knew that enrollment was going to be a challenge, as the Clarkfield community, as well as the county’s population, has become smaller, and so for a while, talks have been taking place about the possible need to close the school.

William Wamstad, now 20 years old, began participating in 4-H in 2014 at just 12 years old alongside his sister Susannah. The next year, Minnesota began offering the Challenged Rider program for people with disabilities, and William’s mother Carrie says her family’s 4-H leader, as well as friend and neighbor Kathy Johnson let them know that it may be a good fit for William.

Last week, the area saw a number of visitors with accents of every kind as the Cycle America group made stops in the local area, spending the night in the Montevideo Middle School building on their cross-country journey.

The Chippewa County Fair board received a grant this winter from the Montevideo Area Community Foundation to purchase three new mobility scooters for use at the Chippewa County Fair. The fair board has a link available on the Chippewa County Fair website for guests to reserve the scooters for time slots of four hour intervals, at no cost. There will be a requirement to sign a waiver. The board also received a grant from the Montevideo Area Community Foundation last year that allowed for the pouring of concrete sidewalks, and aprons to add accessibility to the livestock barns and more. Since news began to spread, board member Carmen Haugen says the board has heard from a number of people excited to find out more about using the scooters to visit the fair. “We’ve had a lot of calls from people that want to use them because they haven’t been to the fair for years because they have a tough time getting around and now with this and the buildings now all having accessibility, including the livestock barn they can get around,” Haugen says. For more information, check out the website at chippewacofairmn.com. Photo Submitted

Oh, what a beautiful morning. Almost makes me want to break out in song.