2020 Year In Review...

April 1: Due to Covid-19, many businesses were required to shut down and/or have employees work from home if it was possible.

Jenna Pahlen was named Class A Honorable Mention All-State by a coaches vote. Jenna was also selected to play in the Minnesota Girls Basketball All-Star Game on April 4th. Unfortunately, all All-Star activities were canceled. 

All branches of Northwest Regional Library, including the Red Lake Falls Public Library, are closed effective March 19 until further notice. All currently checked-out materials have had their loan period automatically extended to May 2.

Temperatures are going up and snow is melting rapidly.

April 8: News from Snowbirds - On March 14, 2020 Dave Olson and Bobbie Olson entered pickleball tournaments in Apache Junction, AZ. The tournament play was a round robin format. Dave competed in the advanced players tournament and Bobbie competed in the intermediate players tournament. 

Oklee is quiet. There are a few cars passing by, but everyone is staying home. The past week has everyone doing what must be done.

We have had a mixture of weather this week. It was nice one day and that night we had snow and the ground was white again. 

April 15: Elmer Hanson, Brooks, received an Honor Quilt made by the Thief River Falls Quilt Guild. Vincent and Shirley Dessellier went out to Elmer's place on February 29 to present it to him. He was in the Army from 1952 - 1954, working in Austria in the Motor Pool. He went into the Army 4 days before his 21st birthday.

There was still ice on the Lost River, but melted water was filling the river. The Lost River was pretty full on April 1st. Fields are still draining into the waterways and warmer weather is on the way.

Beginning Monday, April 13, patients and visitors at all Essentia Health facilities will be encouraged to bring and wear their own cloth masks if they have them to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

The southeastern part of Minnesota has reported that they had up to 10 inches of snow yesterday. We had a cold but nice day for Easter Sunday.

April 22: Inter-County Nursing Service has received notification from the Minnesota Department of Health last week of a confirmed COVID-19 case of an individual from Red Lake County, but is not currently residing in the county. The case was exposed outside of the county and at this time there is no known exposures to Red Lake County residents. 

This Easter will be one most people won't forget as most families around did not get together for a special dinner. Also most weren't able to attend a Easter Church service. However, with the today's technology, many were able to get it on their TV's or computers screens.

April 29: You've seen the video's on TV of people having drive-by birthday greetings, and recognition of other important dates. Well, it just happened north of Oklee on Saturday. It was kept a secret from the boys as their parents planned this parade for them. Facebook and texts were sent to the neighbors and they gathered at Salem Lutheran Church, They were instructed that is was a tractor parade in honor of two boys who couldn't celebrate normally with the Stay at Home order due coronavirus pandemic.

Wednesday afternoon it got up to 54°. Two motorcycles came into Plummer from the south with a guy and gal on each one. It was really beautiful out.

On Tuesday, April 21st RLCC High School planed a Virtual School day. So what was this Virtual School Day? This was set up for the High Schoolers to meet as a class for about 10 minutes to chat about how everything is going and for the teachers to touch base with their students. 

May 6: After a wet spring with slow melting snow and some rain, the farmers are hitting the fields all over the area. Some are burning off corn residue, some are fertilizing and some farmers are seeding.

The Cenex C-Store in Oklee is getting a face lift. New flooring is being installed last week and this week. New shelving is being installed and all the walls will be painted.

Governor Walz extended the Stay at Home order until May 18, allows curbside pickup for retail stores and strongly encourages all Minnesotans to wear masks when outside the home.

Spring has sprung and the weather can be changeable. Some days warm and others cool. But it is still a wonderful time of year because everything is bursting forth with green leaves, spring flowers, and all the snow is gone. Spring it here and summer is right behind.

It was reported that there is a shortage of diapers. A gal showed how to make a diaper from a T-shirt. You'd use the sleeves for tabs. Also it sounds like we'll be short of meat in the stores. All kinds; pork, chicken and beef. So in addition to the toilet paper and sanitizer shortages, there was a shortage of jigsaw puzzles....Even Amazon couldn't keep up with the demand.

Continued Next week...