2019 Year in Review...

February 6, 2019: 

Chelsey Vettleson is a newly elected member who will serve on the Red Lake County Central School Board. She was motivated to run for the school board because education is very important to her.

The Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest was Sunday, January 20, 2019 at the Red Lake Falls Gym. The winners for the girls: Age 10: 1st - Shandi Nelson, 2nd - Maddie Waldal; Age 12: 1st - Jordan Wieland, 2nd - Zoey Knott; Age 13: 1st - Savannah Nelson, 2nd - Emma Knott, and 3rd - Nadia Delorme; Age 14: 1st - Brooklyn Cardinal. Winners for the boys: Age 9: 1st - Ben Gullingsrud; Age 10: 1st - Connor Duden, 2nd - Logan Vettleson, and 3rd - Cain Cardinal; Age 11: 1st - Ethan Majeres, 2nd - Kegan Schmitz, and 3rd - Alexander Renner; Age 13: 1st - Chase Nelson; Age 14: 1st - Gerald Melin, 2nd - Matt Renner.

Today is cloudy with the sun trying to peak out. They have predicted a storm tonight until the morning. Maybe we will be lucky and miss it. 

Red Lake County Central High School awarded Junior High Student of the Month to Paul Malwitz (nominated by Mrs. Kathryn Tran) and Senior High Student of the Month to Lacey Pendelton (nominated by Mrs. Roberta Aakhus).

February 13, 2019:

Donna Drangstveit on Wednesday, February 6th, was honored with an open house on her retirement from Security State Bank in Oklee. Donna is looking forward to her retirement. She will enjoy her time at home, do some traveling, spend more time with her grandchildren and attend more of their sports and other activities.

Winter has been a tough one for the past few weeks with the polar vortex and the substantial amounts of snow the area has been receiving. This was the morning of February 6th on my way into Oklee. More snow fell the following day adding another 4 inches on top of the 6.5 inches we already had since Monday.

Red Lake County Central Broadcasting is a program funded by Garden Valley Telephone Company. They broadcast Girls Basketball, Boys basketball, Volleyball, and Wrestling. The games are aired on channel 35 on Garden Valley Cable. The program is hooked up to both Oklee and Plummer schools.

The Red Lake County Speech team participated February 2 at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. Mariah Peterson received an Excellent Ribbon in Humor and Danny Guillemette got 5th place in Poetry.

More winter fell on us this past week, and the snow is piling up. Brooks seems to have been forgotten by the plow. Some people got stuck at church when they parked. Only one pass went through the street and the parking areas were heavy with snow. 

February 20, 2019:

Winter is the signature season of Minnesota. It's normally a long season of cold temperatures and snow and ice that can last from November through April. Winter doesn’t slow Minnesotans down. We are just as mobile, social and active during the winter as we are during the summer months.

The Garnes Go Getters 4-H Club of Oklee made “Valentine Door Hanger Wreaths” at their recent club meeting. They delivered them to Hillcrest Senior Living in Red Lake Falls to be put on the resident’s doors. The message on each wreath says, “Happy Valentine’s Day from the Garnes Go Getters 4-H Club!”

The Plummer Lions Invitational Speech Meet was held at the RLCC High School on Saturday, February 9th. The eight schools/teams that attended and participated were Crookston, Red Lake County, Roseau, Ada-Borup, Fosston/ Bagley, Warroad, Lancaster, and Warren-Alvarado-Oslo. There were 19 students who competed for the RLCC team, 12 of which placed in 13 events.

Last week, the RLCC High School choir and band invited Artist in Residence Mike Arturi to present Drum Circle. He was invited with the help of COMPAS.org, a nationally-recognized provider of Arts Education programs. Arturi is internationally recognized as a drummer and educator. He is a member of the band The Lovin’ Spoonful which was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It is a nice, sunny day. It seems we have not had too many sunny days lately. Since February will soon be over, we should be able to see a few more nice days. It has been many years since we had this much snow piled up in the yards and roads.

February 27, 2019:

The Oklee Volunteer Firemen were brought up to the stage to thank them for their service to the community and their wives were asked to join them because without their support and help this event would not be possible. Everyone had a great time and it was again a great successful fundraiser for the Oklee Volunteer Fire Department. Kurt Sundquist and Issac Magnell were  some of the helpers for Magician Nick who performed the many tricks during his performance at the Oklee Firemen's Blizzard Bonanza held on Saturday night.

Many changes at Security State Bank and Agency have occurred over the past year starting with new tellers, some tellers leaving or retiring, and this year already has brought more changes. Anthony Holthusen, who came to Security State Bank 10 years ago, has moved on to a new position which moved Wyatt Vettleson in to the position of Executive Vice President of Security State bank.

Other additions were Jenna Schommer, a  new insurance agent for the Agency. And Becky Olson as one of the new tellers. Both started in October.

Also, Security State Bank has added an addition which will be worked on over the winter months adding a new office, storage, handicapped bathroom, lunch room and remodeled teller stations.

The RLCC January Junior and Senior High Students of the Months were Kya Morinville and Marie Johnson. Nominating teachers were Ms. Jesse Hamrum and Mrs. Patty Mickelson.

Mother Nature was angry on Sunday. She wound up her winds and piled the snow we already had into different drifts and blocked roads and other entrances.