The sweet aroma of ribs, hamburgers, steaks and barbeque sauce drifted throughout northern Blooming Prairie on Saturday, June 27, as children and adults competed in the annual cook-off. 

A recent math workshop is energizing Ellendale elementary school teachers as they prepare for a new school year that is still a couple of months away.

The 4th of July in Blooming Prairie is a time for families to get together and enjoy a multitude of activities while sipping on an ice cold water or a soda.
This year, the Blooming Prairie Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the Blooming Prairie Outback Bowl Dance Team to sell water and soda from vendor carts that were first introduced over 30 years ago by A.J. Lysne Co.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The second part of a three-part series on Beaver Lake takes an expanded look at more history of this Steele County fresh water lake.)
Beaver Lake, located, 2 1/2 miles northwest of Ellendale, has a history of being a good fishing lake, a fun boating lake and an enjoyable swimming lake.

Representatives from various organizations, clinics and schools gathered on Tuesday, June 23, not only to celebrate the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) BookStart program, but also to pick up their awarded books at the Business Incubator in Owatonna. 

It isn’t often you come across two women spending the summer riding their bicycles through all the states in the lower 48. Oh yes, and they are traveling with a pet rat riding in a carrier on the back of a bicycle.
Lizzy Trickey and Haley Winkelman are the two women and they stopped in West Concord last week on their way to their next stop in Rochester.

Monday morning brought rain and thunderstorms into Steele County and the surrounding counties. Although the majority of Steele County did not see any flooding the southern portion of the county had some problem areas arise. 
Owatonna Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Mike Johnson said the heaviest rainfall was in the New Richland area, however there were also some isolated flood spots in Ellendale. 

For the most part, with the exception of some heavy showers at mid-week, the weather has cooperated with the beginning of work on the reconstruction of Main Street in Blooming Prairie.
Major construction officially began on Monday, June 15, with some street pavement removal being done on the east side of Main Street to 5th Avenue. Directional drilling also began under Highway 218 and the railroad.

Dairy cows eat about 102 pounds of wet feed every day. 
That’s one of the more interesting facts people walked away with after touring a Steele County dairy operation as part of last Saturday’s Breakfast on the Farm event. More than 900 people attended the dairy month promotion at Clover Glen Farms located near Claremont.