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Empty buildings now just ghosts

For 90 years, summers in Sleepy Eye followed the rhythms of the Del Monte factory on the west end of town. Sights, sounds, and smells that everyone knew ebbed and flowed through the pea and sweet corn canning seasons. Now the lot that saw trucks and employees busily crisscrossing sits empty. Weeds grow from the cracks. The conveyors that carried ears of corn into the plant sit quiet, rusting. It’s still weird to drive by, even though it’s been six years since there were piles of sweet corn. Depending which way you go through town, Del Monte is the first or last of three prominent ...

Exhibiting at the fair: it offers plenty of rewards

Last week I proved to myself that there can truly be a first time for anything. I decided on the spur of the moment to enter two of my raised bed garden items in the Lyon County Fair. I participated in the salad tomatoes category and in large marigolds. While I was at it I thought I’d enter a cross stitch project, one that features seven small projects arranged in a photo frame with seven compartments. The raised bed and the stitching both required effort. I wanted people who attend the fair to see my results, to know what I accomplished. It was a bonus when I found out last ...

Welcome back to Marshall Public Schools

As summer begins to wind down and excitement for a new school year starts to build, I want to take a few minutes to welcome everyone back and share some of the great things happening across Marshall Public Schools. First, I want to extend a tremendous thank you to our buildings and grounds, custodial, maintenance, and technology teams. While many of us were enjoying summer activities, these dedicated staff were hard at work preparing our buildings, grounds, technology systems, and learning spaces for the return of students and staff. Their efforts often happen behind the scenes, but ...

A special business mission at Fuzzy’s

There are two displays inside Fuzzy’s Bar that tell everything you need to know about Dan Fosvick and his business mission. A large display cabinet prominently showcases football jerseys worn by Marshall football heroes Trey Lance, Blaise Andries and Reece Winkelman. Lance played for North ...

A tough job

My wife and I recently provided day care for our 6-year-old grandson for a week. It will probably take me a month to recover. We had taken care of little boys before, obviously, although that was more than thirty years ago. We aren’t as young as we were back then, but little boys are still as energetic as tornadoes. My grandfathers were stoic, stately men who sat on the couch and drank black coffee and talked about crops and world events. They did not get on the floor with their grandkids and played with toys with them. But in their defense, they each had a score of ...

Northern Minn. fires indicate reality of climate change

The North Woods are something that makes Minnesota stand out on both an economic scale and in terms of recreational resources. The far north provides lumber, paper, iron ore, fishing, boating, canoe routes, and many excellent resorts, The recent fires near Ely show that it’s not something to be taken for granted. Forest fires occurred near the start of the region’s summer tourism season. Smoke and haze covered a wide area. It kept away many tourists, turning what would have been busy weeks into a much quieter and less profitable time period. It made headlines in statewide ...