More than 850 graduates and their families and friends joined together with Ridgewater faculty and staff to honor student achievements May 9 at the Mc-Leod County Fairgrounds in Hutchinson and Friday at the Willmar Civic Center.
Wow! That’s the best I can do to describe the whirlwind of the past three weeks. The closing of two newspapers and the start-up of two new papers hasn’t exactly taken my breath away — though at times it has seemed a bit overwhelming.
Litchfield High School teachers selected Jasmine Solorio and Kaley Idso as Students of the Week for May 6-10. Band teacher Bailey Benoit nominated Solorio, saying that, “Jasmine is always very willing to help out whenever there is a need.
1846: The founder and owner of Litchfield’s famous Ames Brickyard, Henry Ames, was born in Oswego, New York, on May 4, 1846. Builders chose his cream-colored bricks to build business blocks, schools, churches and residences throughout Meeker County and in at least three surrounding counties. Of course, Litchfield itself was Ames’ best customer. The Meeker County Courthouse (1885), G.A.R. Memorial Hall (1885), Litchfield Woolen Mill (1885), Masonic Temple building (1889) and Litchfield Opera House (1900) are a just few of the more prominent buildings constructed with Ames’ bricks. In the neighboring city of Willmar, Merchants Hotel and Kandiyohi County Bank used “Litchfield” brick, as did many home builders.
Newspapers are back in Hutchinson and Litchfield. With just a one-week gap after the last editions of storied Hutchinson Leader and Litchfield Independent Review, new newspapers appear this week in both cities with the launch of the Hutchinson Station and Litchfield Rail.
After years of discussion, Litchfield City Council took two steps toward making a north access to Walmart and the county/state highway building a reality. After hearing the news from City Engineer Chuck DeWolf during Monday’s meeting that the city’s application for $1.2 million in local road improvement grant funds from the state was successful, city officials contacted the property owner of right-of-way needed to construct an extension of Johnson Drive to 260th Street.
One Saturday a pastor was searching in his closet for a tie that matched the suit he planned to wear on Sunday morning. In the back of the closet, he found a small box containing three eggs and a big bundle of $1 bills. He brought the box to his wife and asked if she knew how it got in the back of his closet. Embarrassed, she admitted to having hidden the box there for their entire 25 years of marriage.