50 years ago

January 24, 1973
Folmer Carlsen, Publisher
Peace Officers Tour Center
Community leaders and peace officers from Dodge, Goodhue, Rice and Steele counties met this week at Mineral Springs Chemical Dependency Center, Cannon Falls, to tour the facilities new detoxification center and help set up guide lines for admitting residents from the four-county area. The newly approved Detox Center was opened the middle of January and supplements other short and long term chemical dependency programs at Mineral Springs. Show with Sgt. Claude L. Jarvis, Community Relations Office for the University of Minnesota Police Department, a guest speaker at the luncheon meeting who outlined his experiences with alcohol and drug problems, are, left to right: Ted Featherly, Dodge Center Police Department; Harold Quesnel, Dodge Center Police Chief; Ernest Vanderhyde, Dodge County Sheriff’s Department; Wilford Meitzner, Dodge County Sheriff; Sgt. Jarvis; Ralph Winkle, Director, Dodge County Welfare Department; and Chester Trelstad, Dodge County Social Worker. Although not a Mineral Springs owner-county, Dodge County recently signed a contract with Mineral Springs for detoxification and short and long term chemical dependency treatment.
30 years ago
January 20, 1993
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
MRA elects new officers for ‘93
Last Monday evening the Mantorville Restoration Association elected new officers for 1993. The meeting was held at the senior citizens center in Mantorville. The 1992 president, Helen Ferry, started the meeting by recapping activities for the year. Four additional people were also appointed to fill the vacancies on the board of trusties. Terry Sell was elected as president for 1993, Dick Winchell is first vice-president, Helen Ferry second vice president, Kathryn Wilcox was selected as treasurer, Will Lambert secretary and Irene Felker gambling manager. The 12 board members for 1993 are Margo Balard, Willis Carlson, Reginald Ferrin, Helen Ferry, Irene Felker, Nancy Davis, Will Lambert, Tim Montour, Bruce Schleeter, Terry Sell, Kathryn Wilcox and Dick Winchell. All MRA meetings are open to the public and decisions regarding use of charitable gambling funds are made by a vote of the members at monthly meetings. The meetings are 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of the month at the Mantorville Senior Citizens Center. MRA has already earmarked $35,000 from the gambling fund for 1993 to go toward the city dredging project of the north channel of the river. Anyone interested is invited to join or attend a meeting and be a part of the decision making.
20 years ago
January 22, 2003
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
Three Farm Bureau Counties received top awards
The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation honored its top three county Farm Bureaus during the 84th Annual Meeting held in Bloomington. These “Best of the Best” counties are annually selected and awarded the most prestigious county Farm Bureau award: The President’s Award for Excellence. In the membership group of less than 250 members, the award went to Pipestone County and was accepted by County President Bob Fritz. For members 251-500 members, the award went to Dodge County and was accepted by County President Gerry Giese. In the group of more than 500 members, the award went to Blue Earth County and was accepted by County Vice-President Hank Roelofs. County selection is based on successful membership efforts by county volunteers, Farm Bureau Financial Services agents and county office staff. The award is also based on successful county programs. Dodge County won awards for: Board of Directors, Membership and Member Contact Program, Policy Development, Legislative Action, Promotion and Education, Farm Safety & First Care, Rural/Urban, Dodge Program, Service to Members, Total Gain, Voting Gain, and New Voting Goal. Additionally, Dodge County Farm Bureau President Gerald Giese was included in the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) President’s Club at a special presentation held during the Annual Meeting. Other county members attending the MFBF 84th Annual Meeting included: Jim Checkel, Warren & LaDonna Fay, Terry & Janice Lorch, Ruth Meirick, and Don & Barb Thompson. For information about joining Farm Bureau, call your county office. Farm Bureau is the largest general farm organization in Minnesota with more than 34,000 members. Nationwide, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has over 5 million members in approximately 2,800 county Farm Bureaus.
10 years ago
January 23, 2013
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
Preservation groups allowed to claim items before school demolition
Representatives from the Dodge County Historical Society, Mantorville Restoration Association and Chatfield Historic Society were contacted and invited to tour the former Kasson school on Saturday to see if there were any items they would want to salvage before the process of demolition begins. A handful of members of the Dodge County Historical Society did take a look around. There were no members of the MRA attending. Other than the obvious mess from the copper theft, they felt the building appeared to be structurally very sound. There was also talk of an individual who would be present at the Kasson City Council meeting Wednesday (evening) and make a presentation for saving the structure. Since Sherman Associates of Minneapolis received notice last November they were not included for Section 42 housing tax credits from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency that sealed the fate for renovation. Sherman Associates intended to renovate the facility and turn it into senior housing units. They requested $396,740 per year for 10 years for the Minnesota Housing Tax Credit. At the council meeting tonight (Wednesday) elected officials will be asked to approve a resolution for salvage of the building. Tom Roberts from Applied Environmental Sciences will do the environmental assessment work again. He will have to update all the paperwork and then provide project oversight and inspection during the asbestos abatement. There is not expected to be a large amount of asbestos abatement required. There will also have to be removal of PCB’s, lead and mercury before demolition can begin. A the previous council meeting members did talk about attaining an alternate bid for saving the front fa?ade. There is a possibility it could be incorporated into a new library. Once demolition does take place there has been very little discussion on what the space could be. A couple of the thoughts have been use for multi-family housing and site of a new library.