Great turnout tonight for the 2013-14 All-Activities meeting

A glimpse of tonight's meeting at the high school.

That was great to see! Mr. Gossen gave an outstanding pre-year speech to parents, students and coaches in attendance.

Take it easy out there

Five young adults from the Sauk Centre area were involved in a one-car accident at 9:12 p.m. on Tuesday night near Sauk Centre.

Read more at http://www.saukherald.com

We are learning more details about the crash and the names of those involved, but none of that can be released until law enforcement has released official word on it.

Photos from the opening night of "Law and Order: C-rhyme and PUNishment"

Here's the link to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/EVENTS2013/Law-and-Order-C-rhyme-and/30822397_ckxWcL

A second reminder: all-sports/activity meeting is Wednesday night

All 7th-12th grade high school students, including the Class of 2019, are required to attend the All-Activities/Sports meeting on Wednesday at 8:15pm at the high school.

It includes students involved in any MSHSL-sponsored activity offered at B-B-E, such as speech, football, volleyball, One-Act Play or any other junior high, JV-level or varsity-level sport.

More scenes from Terrace last Wednesday

Carma Hauge as "Mrs. Spratt", who during the show was considered a suspect in the murder of "Humpty Dumpty" 

Riley Schumann as "Jack Be Nimble"

Once again the mighty talents of Julie Lloyd and Lucy Lloyd were on display as they directed "Law and Order: C-rhyme and PUNishment" at the Terrace Mill Children's Theater last week on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The show included theater talent from not only B-B-E but also a number of area schools as well as communities close in the Twin Cities area.

Here's the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery link:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/EVENTS2013/Law-and-Order-C-rhyme-and/30822397_ckxWcL

The show continued the tradition of truly excellent, family-friendly entertainment that is typical of what you can see in Terrace during the summer months. This area is truly blessed to have such a fine outdoor theater venue to enjoy!

Holy Spring Hill Batman!

The Elrosa Saints were roughed up by 4th-seeded Spring Hill today in the division playoff championship by a final score of 13-2 in eight innings.

Elrosa (10-5) opens the Region 15C tournament on Friday night at 8:15 in St. Martin against the #1 seeded team of the County Line League. A win that night gets them an 11am game on Sunday August 4 in Farming.

Spring Hill (9-10) begins region action on Saturday at 1:30pm against St. Martin.

All evening games for the region tournament are in St. Martin, with the daytime games being played in Farming.

SCL playoff scores on July 28:
St. Martin 10, Farming 0 (Flames eliminated)
Richmond 14, Lake Henry 6 (Royals win #1 seed out of the SCL-South)
New Munich 4, Meire Grove 0 (Grovers eliminated)

Out of the County Line League...
Regal edged New London-Spicer 2-1 in 11 innings to win the CLL playoff title on Sunday. NL-S, the defending Region 15C champions, outhit the Eagles 14-8 in the loss.

Regal beat Atwater 8-1 on Saturday after scrubbing Starbuck to advance to the championship. They last went to Region 15C in 2009.

And now back to vacation...

Reminder: All-sports meeting is Wednesday

An all-sports meeting for all incoming 7th-12th grade athletes at B-B-E is next Wednesday, July 31 at 8:15pm at the high school. It is a required meeting for all junior high and varsity-level athletes who plan on being involved in at least one sport during the 2013-14 year.

Another lengthy "Realtors" clip

Never-released footage from July 14 at Classic Co. Bar and Grill:


Shown is the last part of the performance on Sunday of Bonanza Valley Days. I mentioned their performance and comments by Brad Erickson, one of the group's members, in my column printed in the July 25 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

Remember Carma?

Theater gurus in the mid to late-2000s at B-B-E will remember Carma Hauge...shown in this video clip from last night's show at Terrace:

http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=204

Quite a show tonight!

The kids and their directors did a fabulous job tonight in Terrace during the production of "Law and Order: C-rhyme and Punishment". A handful of B-B-E theater students were part of the cast and crew.

Photos and video will follow. The second show is tomorrow night at 6:30pm at the Terrace Mill Theater.

The final scene is shown of tonight's production in Terrace.

How wonderful it is to have such a rich tradition of theater in central Minnesota, including right in our own backyard at B-B-E.

*Also, a third showing is at 2:30pm this Saturday in Glenwood at the city park bandshell (by Lakeside Ballroom) during the annual Waterama celebration.

Action from Sinclair Lewis Days in Sauk Centre

Here's from the Saturday night baseball game between Elrosa's Pee Wee team and the Belgrade/Brooten 5th-6th grade traveling baseball team:




Here's the last huddle for the Class of 2018 Jaguar girls' basketball team, who won the Sinclair Lewis Days tournament for their division last Tuesday...they were coached by Christy Gronli and Mr. Gossen.

They held four opponents to a total of 29 points! Great job!

Don't forget about the children's play in Terrace!

Come out to Terrace tonight or tomorrow!

A message from B-B-E high school theater director Julie Lloyd:

Terrace Mill Children's Theatre presents "Law & Order: C-rhyme and PUNishment" tonight and tomorrow night, 6:30pm, at the Terrace Mill! A very funny show, with great characters and good music! Come on out! Bring a lawn chair. Freewill donation.

B-B-E Babe Ruth baseball season winds down

Here's action from tonight's Babe Ruth baseball game against Atwater...the Jaguars were attempting to rally from a 9-3 deficit and plated two runs in the sixth inning...



The Jaguars finish their 2013 summer season this Thursday at home against Hancock. First pitch is at 6:00pm.

By the way, the Elrosa Saints host Spring Hill on Sunday with an 11:00am start time during the last round of the Stearns County League North division playoffs.

Scenes of summer

Hitting during the summer rec game at Quisberg Park last Monday.

From one of the elementary softball camp sessions last week at the elementary field.

Elrosa wins!

Soaking up the playoff-opening win, a feat they've earned for the 5th straight year.

Final score of the playoff opener: Elrosa 2, Meire Grove 0.

At New Munich, 4th-seeded Spring Hill beat #1 seed New Munich 2-1 to qualify for regionals for the 7th year in a row.

In a tournament at Sauk Centre this weekend,  the Elrosa Pee Wee team took first place with an intense 2-1 win over rival KMS today. They won the Sinclair Lewis Days tournament for the second year in a row. Last year they blanked K-M-S 7-0 to take first.

Playing catch up

As I'm now buried in the midst of Sinclair Lewis Days activities in Sauk Centre, including a Little League tournament that has Elrosa and Belgrade/Brooten teams included, I'm finally getting caught up on uploading Bonanza Valley Days photos from last weekend.

Here's the link to day two activities:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/EVENTS2013/Bonanza-Valley-Days-071313/30606883_JGLfvc

And here's a photo gallery featuring the grand parade on Sunday:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/EVENTS2013/Bonanza-Valley-Days-071413/30613936_MRx46F


By the way, great job to the Belgrade/Brooten 5th-6th grade baseball team as they defeated Opole 6-1 in their first game of the Sinclair Lewis Days baseball tournament in Sauk Centre this afternoon. In round two, they played a great game but lost 10-3 to Elrosa.

Elrosa plays in the championship on Sunday at 1:30pm against either Osakis or Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Playoffs set to begin Sunday for Elrosa

Game time is 1:30pm in Elrosa on Sunday, when the Saints host Meire Grove in a Region 15C-qualifying game.

Action from the New Munich vs. Elrosa game on July 3...

The Saints finished 9-4 in the Stearns County League North division to clinch the number two seed for the playoffs.

Can't get enough of my 'Realtors' footage

Pay close attention 57 seconds into this clip! They're loving life. Gotta love it.

I had a monstrously difficult time keeping my video camera pointed straight while also taking digital photos. That's what I get for forgetting my tripods. At least that didn't affect the audio.

P.S.- the "heckler" in the crowd is featured at around the 8-minute mark of this clip.



Thanks for the memories guys. Can't wait to see more in the future.

Jaguar boys' basketball gets 3 wins at Fergus Falls, Girls' basketball wins title

In a Breakdown tournament in Fergus Falls, the Jaguars boys' basketball team has been tearing it up and has three wins in three tries today.

They beat Fergus Falls 56-27 in game one, drubbed Rockford Area by about 20 in game two and then lit up a good Hawley team in the third game. They led 41-17 at halftime over the Nuggets.

Also at Fergus Falls today, the Jaguars girls' basketball (varsity) team emerged as champions after picking up wins over Sebeka, Deer River and (Class AAA) Zimmermann. Later in the day in Alexandria at the summer league playoffs, the Jaguars defeated defending Section 5A champion Upsala before falling to top-seeded Alexandria in the second round.

Undefeated Paynesville knocks B-B-E from Sub-District Legion playoffs

The undefeated Paynesville Area Bulldogs defeated the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team 4-2 on Tuesday night in the American Legion Melrose Sub-District playoffs. The Bulldogs are 10-0 and host fourth-seeded Albany (13-9) in the second round tonight.

Jaguar 6-8 grade football camp NOT cancelled for today

An announcement from the school:

ATTENTION: Football camp is cancelled for July 17th. The camp will run from 5:45-8:00 pm on July 24 and from 4:45-8:00 pm on July 31. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility.

 *Update:  the 6th-8th grade camp is still on for tonight.

To clarify: the VARSITY football camp is cancelled for today. Grades 6-8 is still on.

B-B-E 8th grade girls' basketball succeeds in Sauk Centre

They're 3-0 now and playing their final game of the day against the host Mainstreeters. In their third game, they beat Minnewaska Area 24-1.

Here's some video from the Minnewaska game...

In the final game, the Jaguars beat Sauk Centre 23-11 to go 4-0 and take first place. Through four games, the Jaguars gave up a total of 29 points to four teams. Along the way they defeated Annandale, Eden Valley-Watkins, Minnewaska Area and Sauk Centre.

Great job!

More photos will be posted later tonight.

Another Bonanza Valley Days is in the books

John Bohmer driving one of his antique cars through the parade on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday at the Brooten Pavilion, Stearns County Dairy Princesses, including Princess Kay of the Milky Way Christine Reitsma, served free millk and cookies for a one-hour period. Reitsma grew up on a dairy farm a few miles north of Padua and is a student at the University of Minnesota.

I've got roughly 550 pictures from Bonanza Valley Days-related events over the past three days. That about says it all. It will be a few days before I can get them all uploaded to my Sauk Centre Herald photo galleries. Stay tuned for the internet links.

Great job, Brooten!

Elrosa Saints clinch number two seed for playoffs

The Elrosa Saints defeated Greenwald 9-1 on Sunday in a Stearns County League North game to cap the the regular season. They take a 9-4 record into the SCL-North division playoffs, which starts next Sunday (July 21) at Elrosa against #3 seed Meire Grove.

Lake Henry (12-1) is the top seed in the SCL-South division.

The Realtors brought the house down!!

At Classic Co. Dinner Theater tonight in front of a packed house...



That was one of the finest choral performances I've ever seen!

Most people in the B-B-E area who were familiar with this group of singers in the early 1990s remember their use of the name "The Realtors" along with their unique dress code that included old Brooten High School polyester jackets. Along the way, they've used a number of other names, but "The Realtors" is the one that stuck as it adheres to the spirit of their original outfits.

Fun facts: the youngest member of the group, Matt Jensen, graduated from B-B-E in 1991. He was 16 years old when the group was formed. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Lisa Westaby ('91), they now have three children, and their son, Bailey, is 16 years old. The other three members of the group are 1990 graduates of B-B-E. (The first graduating class of the paired school district.)

It was quite a weekend in Brooten, capped off by their terrific performance at Classic Company. I have a bittersweet feeling for two reasons: (1) "BVD" is over until 2014, and (2) I am not sure when "The Realtors" will perform on stage again...we'll see!

B-B-E Dazzlers dance team sponsors dunk tank at Bonanza Valley Days

Shown is Brooten native Jeff Wosmek, father of four Jaguar athletes, spending time in the dunk tank on Saturday afternoon on main street...

All kinds of entertainment at Bonanza Valley Days

Entertainment at Classic Co. Dinner Theater along Highway 55 tonight during Bonanza Valley Days...featuring the band from the Willmar/Atwater/New London area, "The Fringe"

Storms making their way towards Bonanza Valley Days

They appear "scattered" for now, but not far to the north along the I-94 corridor is a huge storm cell that looks pretty strong on the radar.

I just looked and saw that it hit 90 degrees today in Brooten, according to Weather.com.

She's up there, smiling down on us

Not a dry eye in the parking lot for this balloon release.

Members of the B-B-E Class of 2024 released balloons at the high school following funeral services this morning for their fallen classmate, Jocelyn Dickhoff.

Video of the balloon release, which happens after the 2:00 mark in the clip:

God bless her memory. We will never forget you, Jocelyn!

Our hearts are broken

A steady stream of friends and family attended the visitation for Jocelyn last night.

A tough morning ahead...the funeral for Jocelyn Dickhoff starts at 10:30. The set up at Grace Lutheran Church was touching and beautiful last night for her visitation.

'Renaissance Days' in Brooten for Bonanza Valley Days

Printed in the July 11 Sauk Centre Herald, page 7A

    The annual three-day Bonanza Valley Days celebration is this weekend in Brooten with the theme 'Renaissance Days'. It all begins on Friday with city-wide garage sales starting at 7 a.m. along with an elementary baseball tournament for third through sixth grade players at the town's three ball diamonds.
    A community favorite, the Brooten Fireman's chicken BBQ, starts at 5 p.m. and lasts until 8 p.m. in the city park. The Brooten Community Band will perform at the same time.
    A couple's golf tournament starts at 6 p.m. on Friday at Prairie View Community Golf Course. Musical entertainment is also on deck at the newly-remodeled Brooten Pavilion with the Steffl Sisters from the Sunburg area performing live music from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
     The musical group The Realtors, a group made up of some of the first Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa graduates in the early 1990s, performs at Classic Company Dinner Theater at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 320-346-2323.
     A 24-team men's softball tournament also starts on Friday at 7 p.m., and the evening concludes with a free street dance on main street with music by Dee Jay Sounds.
     A full slate of activities starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday with the second day of city-wide garage sales.
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday are the National Guard wall climb and jungle gym on main street, a car and tractor show (until 1 p.m.) south of the city park and the second day of the men's softball tournament.
     The annual Walk/Run is at 8:30 a.m., and sand volleyball and a three-on-three basketball tournament both start at 9 a.m. at the city park.
     Stearns County Dairy princesses serve free milk and cookies at the city park from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
     The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling club dunking booth runs from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on main street, and the Miss Brooten royalty car wash is at the Bonanza Valley State Bank parking lot from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
      Bingo at the Ka-De Shack starts at 1 p.m., and the second annual Gary Fauskee Memorial Scholarship fund softball tournament at Quisberg Park runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
     Pony Rides at the city park start at 1 p.m., and a petting zoo is also at the city park lasting from 1:30 p.m . to 3:30 p.m.
     The annual Firemen's Water Fight between area town fire departments is on south main street at 2 p.m. The kid's tractor pull on north main street starts at 4 p.m.
     The farewell appearance for the 2012 Miss Brooten Royalty is from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on main street, and following that is a second free street dance with music by Kentucky Thunder.
     Always a favorite of people across the area is the Precocious Pyrotechnics fireworks show at dusk fired off from the Prairie View Community Golf Course.
     Sunday activities start off with a Dad's Belgian Waffle Breakfast at the city park from 8 a.m. to noon, hosted by the B-B-E Area Boy Scout Troop 66.
The Grand Parade starts at 1:30 p.m. on the north end of main street, and parade-watchers are invited to an ice cream social at the city park.
     At 3:30 p.m., The Realtors will perform a 20th anniversary concert at Classic Company Dinner Theater, and the day wraps up with a church service at the city park hosted by Trinity Lutheran and West Lake Johanna Lutheran Churches Pastor Bryant Kaden.

Bonanza Valley Days is this weekend

It will be a fun-filled weekend in Brooten this weekend: three days of action!

While I won't be adding sports-related items here until after Jocelyn's funeral, I can't forget to mention that the annual Bonanza Valley Days celebration starts on Friday and runs through Sunday.

Some time later today I'll add a full list of activities.

Taken too soon

A photo of Jocelyn enjoying some ice cream, printed in the Oct. 9, 2007 Sauk Centre Herald. She was around 15 months old when this picture was taken.

The dark week at B-B-E continues as we prepare to lay rest to Jocelyn Dickhoff, who passed away on Saturday morning after a life-long battle with cancer (alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma). Funeral announcements are posted further below.

What is rhabdomyosarcoma?

Sarcomas are cancers that develop from connective tissues in the body, such as muscles, fat, membranes that line the joints, or blood vessels. Rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancer made up of cells that normally develop into skeletal muscles of the body, according to information from the American Cancer Society website.

Skeletal muscles first begin to form in embryos at about seven weeks. At that time, rhabdomyoblasts (cells that will eventually form muscles) begin to form. These are cells that can become malignant and develop into the cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.

Because this is a cancer of embryonic cells, it is more common in younger people. Over 85 percent of rhabdomyosarcomas occur in infants, children and teenagers.

Treatment includes surgery for removal of the tumor, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.

Pink and purple

A message from Jocelyn's family, posted at her CaringBridge site:

Her favorite colors are pink and purple. Please feel free to dress in those colors on Thursday night and Friday. Come prepared to share with us a memory, quote, or story you have about her. If you can't make her services, please email me your favorite memory at kdickhoff@yahoo.com. Since her passing and even before we have had lots of memories shared with us and they only make us smile and laugh because if you knew her, she told it like it was! She didn't hold back! And we loved that about her. Spunky and sassy!! That was our girl!

Jocelyn Irene Dickhoff, 2006-2013

Jocelyn fought courageously until the very end. She is an inspiration to everyone who knew her.

Jocelyn Irene Dickhoff
Belgrade
June 12, 2006 - July 6, 2013

Jocelyn Irene Dickhoff, age seven, of Belgrade, died July 6, 2013 at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 12, 2013 at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School gymnasium in Belgrade. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Grace Lutheran Church in Belgrade and for one hour prior to the service at the school. Burial will be in the Grace West Cemetery in Belgrade.

In Lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.

Tributes to Jocelyn

The Dickhoff family is asking all friends and anyone who knew Jocelyn to e-mail them special memories and tributes they have of Jocelyn. The e-mail is:
kayladickhoff@icloud.com

Within the first hour of posting the link "Heaven's newest Angel" from this Jaguar Blog to the Sauk Herald Facebook page, over a hundred visitors had clicked through. Five hours after it was posted, over 750 had viewed the post. (All this while folks are on vacation and trying to enjoy the 4th of July weekend.)

Jocelyn now has similar popularity as Coach Rich Vos did at the time of his tragic death last October. She has touched so many lives at B-B-E, only God knows how far her life's story's reach will go.

https://www.facebook.com/saukherald

I found the link to our online version of the Sauk Centre Herald, and below is the link to Jocelyn's story in the July 4 issue. Newspaper subscribers to the Herald can access the full story.
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=12&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=15289

Heaven's newest Angel

Jocelyn Irene Dickhoff, 2006-2013.

Heaven gained a spirited, friendly, courageous, outgoing and loving Angel this morning. Jocelyn Irene Dickhoff passed on to Heaven at 3:05 a.m. today at Rice Hospice Care in Willmar. Her life-long battle with cancer is now over. Jocelyn, who was born with a cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, would have been an incoming second grader at B-B-E elementary school this fall and recently celebrated her 7th birthday, which was on June 12. At the start of this summer, Jocelyn was at home with family managing quite well after she relapsed with another round of cancer last fall. That changed on the eve of her 7th birthday, June 11, when her mother brought her to the hospital due to a very high fever. She was hospitalized and in hospice care from that night until she passed away this morning.

If you get a chance, Google "rhabdomyosarcoma" and read about it. It is a very awful form of cancer.

Posted by her family at her CaringBridge website this morning:
"About 3:05 this morning our sweet Jocelyn went to be with Jesus. She is now at peace, free from cancer and everything that came with it. We actually see the faint hint of a smile on her face which makes me happy to know she's finally resting comfortably."

Words shared by her grandmother, Judy Dickhoff, who works at the B-B-E elementary:
"She is now cancer free and singing with the angels. We are broken hearted and words can not express how we feel. She will be forever missed but our memories will always make us smile. Thank you for your prayers."

Jocelyn, you are deeply loved and will always be remembered by everyone in the B-B-E community.

The Dickhoff family is asking all friends and anyone who knew Jocelyn to e-mail them special memories and tributes they have of Jocelyn. The e-mail is:

kayladickhoff@icloud.com

I was extremely fortunate and blessed to have the chance to visit Jocelyn, Joe, Kayla and Judy at her hospice care room in Willmar on Wednesday. I knew her time with us was limited and wanted to make a special delivery of numerous copies of the July 4 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald to her family. Jocelyn was resting peacefully during the time I was there, and it was nice to see the school nurse, Dennis Peterson, stop by and see her as well. Dennis and Judy shared a few stories about Jocelyn while they visited, and they all yielded many laughs and smiles during a tremendously dark, difficult time for everyone. I will never forget Jocelyn or her brave, courageous battle with cancer.

One of those stories stands out in my mind that I'll share here.

Going back to the B-B-E elementary school open house last August 28, the Dickhoff family was busy touring the building and making stops at various rooms for their older children, including Jocelyn. They walked by the main office, and Jocelyn wanted to stop in to see if Mr. Gossen was there. He was indeed, and at that moment he was sitting at Jodi Carda's desk filling out some paperwork. Jocelyn peeked her head inside the door, looked at Mr. Gossen while pointing to him and stating, "Get to work!"

As Judy shared that story with Dennis, Dennis laughed out loud and said, "Boy, we sure could never get away with that!"

Page one of this week's Sauk Centre Herald, featuring Jocelyn's story.

Here's the link to the online version of Jocelyn's story in the July 4 issue, available to Sauk Herald subscribers:
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=12&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=15289

Funeral-related announcements will be posted as they are released by the Dickhoff/Messer families. Nothing sports-related will be posted here until after her funeral. It's going to be a long, tough week in the news room.

More scenes from the Elrosa vs. New Munich game

James Kuefler rounds second base in the bottom of the 4th inning, after older brother Kevin hit a hard shot to third base that ended as a 5-3 grounder to end the inning.

Matt Schmitz throws to first base for a double play attempt after earning the second out of the top of the 3rd on a fielder's choice by Adam Stangler that yielded a 3-6 put out.

Elrosa has one Stearns County League game left in the regular season, a trip to neighboring Greenwald on Sunday, June 14 at 1:30pm. If they win, they will lock up the number two seed for the upcoming division playoffs.

'National Anthem' starting the Elrosa wood bats tournament

Prior to the Belgrade/Brooten vs. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg game last Friday in Elrosa:


It was a beautiful night for baseball!

'Boys of summer' playing plenty of baseball

Local baseball teams are as numerous as they can be in a small community like B-B-E. We've got numerous teams for kids age third grade up through college age...and of course amateur ball for the young and young at heart.

Players on the B-B-E 5th/6th grade traveling team gather in the dug out after their game last Saturday morning in Elrosa during the 2nd annual Saints Wood Bats tournament.

I would be hard-pressed to think of a better place for kids to be in the summer than on a baseball or softball diamond.

If you are looking for some plans on Saturday, make tracks to Elrosa to watch the Saints play Raymond and St. Mathias in amateur baseball action. They play Raymond at noon, with the second game to follow at about 2:30pm.

Happy 4th of July weekend

I hope you and your family can enjoy some rest and relaxation before Monday rudely interrupts our time off.

Here's some Fourth of July fireworks we enjoyed last night...

In just another week we'll have Bonanza Valley Days upon us. By that point summer seems to fly by at rapid pace between county fairs, baseball playoffs and finally the start of Fall Varsity sports practices.

Star Spangled Banner at Saints Field

Prior to the Elrosa vs. New Munich game last night:

Saints play catch-up all night, lose to New Munich

Final score tonight: New Munich 6, Elrosa 4. It's the second time of the year that the Silverstreaks defeated Elrosa by two runs, as they held a 3-1 lead going into the second inning and were up 4-2 after seven innings were in the book.

Elrosa (8-4 Stearns County League North) tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the 8th inning before they saw their six-game winning streak end in the 9th.

Up next: the Saints host two teams on Saturday in Elrosa, with Raymond playing at noon and St. Mathias at about 2:30pm.

Happy Independence Day!

B-B-E JKC School-age students walking down Main Street this morning in Brooten.

B-B-E summer school students, shown with Kevin Kuefler, a 2011 B-B-E graduate working at the elementary school this summer.

Here's a video clip from the tail end of the parade:
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=200

I hope you and your family have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend!

Keep praying for Jocelyn

Jocelyn Dickoff and her family need all the prayers in the world right now as they endure the most difficult times of their lives. Jocelyn is resting comfortably at Rice Hospice Care in Willmar, with her noble battle with cancer coming to a close.

This is tough.