Down on the farm...

Filed under "how we do it on the farm."

Saints over Grovers

Elrosa shortstop Matt Schmitz caught a shallow pop fly for the final out in the bottom of the 2nd inning at Meire Grove. The Grovers had a bases-loaded threat going before this play.

Elrosa's amateur baseball team won 6-2 today at Meire Grove to move to 7-3 in the Stearns County League North division. The Saints led 1-0 in the first inning but were deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the 9th. They scored 4 times in the top of the 9th for a 5-1 lead. Up next: Lake Henry visits on Wednesday night for make-up game; the next night New Munich comes to town on Hall of Fame Night when Joe Duevel will be inducted prior to first pitch.

In the bottom of the 4th inning of the Little Dipper game at Lake Henry, pitcher Ryan Illies points to home base after first baseman Evan Wiener caught a put out throw. Wiener threw to home base for another put out attempt, but the Lakers player slid in ahead of the tag for Lake Henry's second run of the game.

At Lake Henry tonight, the Elrosa Little Dipper team has a 9-3 lead in the 6th inning. Final: Elrosa 11, Lake Henry 3. The Lakers fall to 5-1 in the SCL standings, while the Saints are 6-2. Elrosa's next Little Dipper game is at Meire Grove (2-4 SCL) on Wednesday, July 2.

Farming is in first place at 7-0 after beating Greenwald 9-0 tonight.

Saints notes

The Elrosa Saints host Lake Henry on Wednesday night this week at 7:30. The following night New Munich visits on the Eve of the 4th of July.

Food for thought!

How much are your kids reading this summer?

School fundraising

I found this interesting and worth sharing. Here's a webpage at the Morris Area school website that talks about a new fundraising program they're starting for the K-6 elementary school.

Click to read more details:
http://www.morris.k12.mn.us/page/3762

Band!

Wow, I need to slow down and smell the roses! Last week B-B-E advertised for a full-time band teacher. I previously wrote about the loss of Mr. Coppicus in his resignation and moving to another school (very close to where he and his family lives)...and in the hubbub I didn't notice the advertisement in area newspapers.

That's a pretty big mistake on my part.

It's great news that we can shift to a full-time band program. Very good news indeed! This is really, really exciting! Band parents and the rest of the B-B-E community still have an obligation to put in a lot of effort to helping our next band teacher build up the band. It's in great shape now, but why settle for "we're in great shape"?? Let's make it the best band out there!

(Photo gallery) Battle for the Keg II

Photos from June 13 in Elrosa as seen at the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery. I'm working through a big back log of photos and slowly getting caught up...
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/Elrosa-and-SCL-amateur-basebal/Elrosa-vs-Spring-Hill-Battle-f

Summer sports

Aspen Peterson pitched the last four innings of tonight's Babe Ruth game against Waite Park.

Ben Schumann, who was B-B-E's starting pitcher tonight, had his share of hits in the game.

Summer sports seasons are heating up in Jaguar Country. Last night I watched some 5th-6th grade baseball and some 3rd-4th grade slowpitch softball. Tonight it was 7th-8th grade Babe Ruth baseball, and on Thursday I'll watch some B-B-E Legion baseball at the high school JV diamond.

(Photo gallery) Elrosa vs. St. Martin

Here's the link to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/Elrosa-and-SCL-amateur-basebal/Elrosa-vs-St-Martin-620

...and here's 17-U fastpitch softball photos from June 12:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Sports/Elrosa-and-SCL-amateur-basebal/Elrosa-vs-St-Martin-620

Legion baseball at home this week

Tonight at Thursday night the B-B-E Legion baseball team has home games at the high school diamond. Both games start at 6:30pm.

Work is being done this week at Saints Field in Elrosa, which normally hosts the Legion games.

Zeros all over the scoreboard

That was quite a game on Friday night in St. Martin, when the Martins and Elrosa chewed through 11 innings in just over 2 hours flat.

Saints tagged with a tough loss

They had to start over on the scoreboard after 10 innings were completed; shown is the scoreboard after the game ended in favor of the Martins.

James Kuefler had one of Elrosa's four hits in tonight's game.

The Elrosa Saints and St. Martin Martins went the distance tonight to settle a Stearns County League battle. In the bottom of the 11th, the Martins got a two-out walk-off RBI-single to end the game in their favor. Elrosa had its share of chances to score in the game, twice getting runners to third base, but couldn't get the needed hit when it counted.

Final: St. Martin 1, Elrosa 0. The Martins are 6-2 in the SCL-South division (first place) while the Saints fall to 6-3 in the SCL-North (second place). New Munich trails Elrosa with a 5-4 league record and is idle until June 29 when they travel to Farming.

Elrosa's next game is on Sunday, June 29 at Meire Grove. I haven't heard when the makeup date is for the Lake Henry game.

On Saturday Meire Grove hosts Roscoe. On Sunday the following SCL games take place: Meire Grove at Greenwald, St. Martin at Richmond and Lake Henry at Roscoe. All four of these games mentioned start at 1:30pm.

Band

I'm currently compiling a list of schools in central Minnesota who have K-12 enrollment equal to or less than BBE who have full-time band teachers.

For now what parents in Jaguar Country need to do is to become better ambassadors for the band program. Talk to other families about how important it is for kids to be involved with our music programs (band and choir).

If you have a band son or daughter, hound them the rest of the summer to regularly play their instrument!!! I'm doing just that, and it's work.

To have a great small school we need a thriving band and choir.

**Update: Mr. Coppicus was hired by a school that's just 10 minutes from where his family lives. It's terrific news for him. We should be very happy for his family. In his letter to his band students, he pointed out that the band is moving in the right direction. When he was hired four years ago, the senior high band had eight returning members. Today, the senior high band should have 54 returning members if everyone stays out for band that was in band this year in the 8th-11th grades.

Sad day

Mr. Coppicus leading the B-B-E Pep Band on March 7 at Jefferson High School in Alexandria prior to the Section 5A boys' basketball championship game.

I just read in the Pope County Tribune that BBE is searching for a new band director.

I can only assume that Mr. Coppicus found a full-time position, which of course is great news for him and his family of four. He was a terrific, hard-working teacher and beyond that a great person. It's a big loss for Jaguar Country.

The one sore spot I have is that our band has a part-time (80%) teacher. That's all I have to say about that. (this position is moving to full-time)

If you took a survey of all our varsity sports teams at B-B-E, you'd find that every program has truly top-notch, extremely hard-working and very dedicated head coaches (not to mention the great assistant and junior high coaches we have). Take a moment and look around at all the men and women we have in charge of our varsity teams. We are truly blessed to have all of them on staff. It's not by accident: it took a lot of hard work by our administration, former and existing coaches to make it all fall together.

Now it's time to get our instrumental music program up to tip-top shape as well. Let's work together to make it happen!

Free breakfasts and lunches

Free meals for anyone 18 and under are offered on weekdays this summer at the B-B-E elementary school. For breakfast, I'd say to arrive between 7:45 and 8:15. For lunch, try to arrive between 11:00 and 11:15.

They also offer a light snack at 2:00. Cool!!

Chargers hang onto keg

It was a picture-perfect night for baseball in Elrosa tonight. Can't beat it!

Brady Weller threw over 120 pitches tonight in a truly noteworthy performance as Elrosa's starter. He lasted into the 10th inning before being relieved by James Kuefler.

Final in 10 innings: Spring Hill 7, Elrosa 2. The Chargers and Saints played to a 1-1 score after 9 innings were in the book in a battle for first place in the Stearns County League North.

Elrosa falls to 6-2 in the SCL-North, while Spring Hill is now 6-1 in the league standings.

The Saints get back to it on Sunday at Lake Henry for a Father's Day game at 1:30pm. The Lakers are 3-3 in the SCL-South standings. It's an extremely busy weekend in the SCL. Roscoe played at St. Martin tonight, while Meire Grove travels to New Munich on Saturday for a 3:00pm game. On Sunday the following games take place: Greenwald at Spring Hill; New Munich at Meire Grove; Elrosa at Lake Henry; and Richmond at Farming.

Game time in Elrosa!

Holy cow! Another thriller is in store tonight for area amateur baseball fans, when Spring Hill invades Elrosa for a Stearns County North League battle for first place. Topping it off is the eight-year old rivalry known as the Battle for the Keg, making the stakes even higher. The Chargers are 5-1 in the league, while the Saints are 6-1. Sitting in third place and still in the hunt is New Munich at 4-3.

The winner tonight gets a leg up on the race for the top playoff seed plus the regular season division title.

First pitch at Saints Field is 7:30pm. Bring a car or truck full from your neighborhood to Elrosa and take in what will be another classic town team baseball game!

(Photo album) Class of 2014 graduation ceremony

Here's the link at the Sauk Centre Herald website:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Events/2014-BelgradeBrootenElrosa-are/25th-annual-BBE-graduation-Cla

Federal lunch food program: hogwash

I just read that Wayzata schools are opting out of the federal school lunch food program because "students weren't getting enough calories" according to officials. That was printed in a Star Tribune article dated June 11, 2014 with the headline: "Food fight: school lunches get political."

I wish we could afford to do the same in Jaguar Country. I find it truly offensive to suggest that childhood obesity is anything even remotely close to being a problem at B-B-E schools. That's gotta be one of the most absurd suggestions I've ever heard!!! Walk our hallways and then come back and tell me we have a problem. Way to go, federal government, with a senseless one-size-fits-all solution to what you think is a problem in our small towns in central Minnesota.

As the son of dairy farmers, the push towards skim milk is also about as offensive as it gets.

Whole grain pasta...again, absurd! The list goes on and on...about the only thing I appreciate is having extra fruits/vegetables available.

Why on earth couldn't the federal government have mandated extra fruits/vegetables and then backed off? Talk about overkill. They raised the subsidy to each lunch by 6 pennies to supposedly pay for the increased costs of the new mandates. Here's the problem, though: the typical cost to each meal for extra fruits/vegetables is 25 cents a meal!

I have a lot more to say about it, but I don't need federal employees breathing down my neck.

I just saw that AFSCME, who has what I feel is corrupt leadership while they try to weasel their way into private, family-based child care businesses, said this on one of their websites:
"The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 made school children healthier by providing them with nutritious meals. But Republicans in Congress, under pressure from the fast-food industry, are trying to roll back those guidelines."

Hey, AFSCME, how does not getting enough food to fill your stomach at lunch time somehow equal "nutritious"??? Going away from lunch hungry...I call that HUNGRY!

40

Peyton Miller shot an outstanding 40 in her last 9 holes today at day two of the Class A girls' state golf meet in Becker. On the front 9 she had a very good 48 for a two-day mark of 98 and 88.

In the final overall standings, Miller finished in a three-way tie for 27th place out of 87 golfers in the state field. She ended the first day in a tie for 44th place with a score of 98.

A very touching story

From the New Ulm Journal...it has a local connection, with a family mentioned in here related to one of our sixth grade teachers, Mr. Hadley.

http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/550094/Run-Walk-celebration-impresses-Kill.html?nav=5009

Shop local!

Found this fun: I bought a push mower at the Belgrade Hardware Hank store for the same price as the model cost in Alexandria at Menards. Don't overlook our local businesses this summer!

All-State athletes!

Coach Vos, Kinlee Swanson, Taylor Gregory and Coach Lagergren.

It's a terrific achievement for two Jaguars to earn All-State honors at the Class A track and field state meet. That hasn't happened in Jaguar Country since 2007.

Bravo!

And thank you to my "pinch hitters" at state who helped me out with coverage while I was unable to make the trip to St. Paul on Friday.

Saints hammer Farming

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team improved to 6-1 in the Stearns County League North division with a 14-2 seven-inning win over Farming tonight on the home diamond.

Elrosa travels to Willie Riegstad field in Sunburg for a Saturday afternoon game against Norway Lake-Sunburg at 3:00pm. (June 8) Then it's all eyes set on neighboring Spring Hill!

**Here's the game to circle on the calendar: one week from tonight Elrosa hosts Spring Hill in the 2014 Battle for the Keg Part II! It's gonna be a fantastic game that has not only the Keg on the line but also first place in the SCL-North standings. Currently the Chargers sit atop the league with a 5-0 record.

Here's what's left this weekend in the SCL, all games on Sunday at 1:30pm: Greenwald at Roscoe, Meire Grove at Farming, Spring Hill at Richmond.

Swanson earns bronze medal!

Kinlee Swanson and Taylor Gregory standing together at St. John's University during the Section 5A meet on May 28 right after they both punched tickets to the Class A state track and field meet.

Kinlee Swanson took 3rd place at the Class A state track and field long jump championships in St. Paul today. It's the best finish at state for a BBE Jaguar athlete since then-junior Lane Belling took 2nd place in 1993 at state in the triple jump (46-6 1/4).


**Update: Taylor Gregory also earned a medal! She jumped a 5-02 in the high jump and placed 6th. Great job!!!! What a terrific day to be a Jaguar!!!

Both Swanson and Gregory earn All-State track and field honors. How awesome is that!!!?!

Royalton

The Royalton Royals baseball team is state-tournament bound after sweeping through Section 5A with an unblemished 6-0 record. In the Section 5A championship, they beat PACT Charter 13-6 to punch their ticket. Their last trip to state was in 2007, when they won Section 5A and took 2nd after a 7-4 loss to Sleepy Eye St. Mary's in the Class A championship game.

(Video) B-B-E graduation

Missing from this 17-minute clip is Brian Goodwin's valedictorian speech plus the address to the seniors by Superintendent Bullard.


Here's a great deal of music plus an address by Fr. Stang (link):
http://saukherald.com/content/b-b-e-class-2014-graduation

 

(Video) Worth 3 minutes of your time

Here's a fantastic micro-documentary on living in rural Minnesota...fantastic! Put together by Pioneer Public Television:

District football

I just heard from what I consider a reliable source that the sub-district pairings for football have been set up for the Midstate District.

For B-B-E, what it means is a return to what many think of as the Prairie Conference. The Jaguars would be grouped with Browerville, West Central Area, Upsala/Swanville Area, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Prairie Valley and Royalton. To round it out to an even 8 teams, Kimball Area is joining the group.

In a nutshell, Sauk Centre and Melrose Area traded places in the Central Minnesota Conference with B-B-E and Kimball Area.

I'll analyze this further later tonight.

(Video) B-B-E Speech Neil Meierhofer awards

This is great!! Check it out...two clips are meshed together below:


Have you talked to your son or daughter about joining the B-B-E speech program? If not, please do so!! Any student who hasn't tried speech is definitely missing out.

Here's the photo album from graduation on Sunday:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Events/2014-BelgradeBrootenElrosa-are/25th-annual-BBE-graduation-Cla

Big football announcement

While B-B-E will still be in the Central Minnesota Conference this coming fall, starting in the fall of 2015 they will play teams out of a group labeled a "district" by the MSHSL. The CMC will remain in existence for all other sports except football.

Here's the list of schools B-B-E will be included in for football. Note: this does not mean they will play all schools in here. It's likely they will generally face schools with K-12 enrollment under 1,000.

The Mid-State District:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, BOLD, B-B-E, Benson, Browerville, Eden Valley-Watkins, Holdingford, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Kimball Area, Maple Lake, Melrose Area, Minnewaska Area, Montevideo, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, Paynesville Area, Pierz Healy, Prairie Valley (Eagle Valley/Parkers Prairie coop), Rockford Area, Royalton, Sauk Centre, Upsala/Swanville Area, West Central Area, Yellow Medicine East.

Here's the map of the district, plus a listing of the schools with their respective enrollment figures for 9th-12th grade. B-B-E is one of the smallest schools in this list of 24 schools. In fact, only 2 of the 24 schools are smaller than B-B-E (Browerville and K-M-S). CLICK:
http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/DistrictFootball.asp?bydist=17

Ironically, B-B-E is in the dead center of the Mid-State District. It's almost a certainty that the Jaguars will no longer play teams such as Rockford, HL-W-W or Pierz during the regular season.

My bet is that the longest regular season trip for football will be to Parkers Prairie (63 miles) to face the Prairie Valley Nighthawks. A few other schools that the Jaguars could play include the other smaller schools: ACGC, Browerville, K-M-S, Kimball Area, Royalton, USA and WCA. I highly doubt that list of schools will end up being who B-B-E faces, as you would not group Kimball Area with Prairie Valley (100+ miles one way between the schools). It could be interesting to see how the new groupings shape up.

Here's teams I'd definitely like to see on the schedule if B-B-E is grouped with the smallest schools on the list: WCA, K-M-S, Browerville, A-C-GC, Kimball Area, USA and Royalton. Those schools don't make a neat football conference, though, because of the distances between them.

I'd love to see the Jaguars grouped with the northern-tier of schools and not necessarily worry about enrollment figures. How about facing Minnewaska Area in football? I'd be all over that. Throw in West Central Area, USA, Royalton, Paynesville Area, A-C-GC, EV-W and Kimball Area. Add them up with B-B-E and you have 9 schools. Pare away 1 or 2 of those (perhaps Kimball on the far southeast) and you'd have a nice-looking conference.

Yet to come: graduation photo album

I've got over 130 photos from the B-B-E graduation ceremony held on Sunday, just no time to upload them (yet).

Once they're uploaded, you can find the album at this link at the Sauk Centre Herald website:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-Events/2014-BelgradeBrootenElrosa-are

Graduation Day!

Here's the B-B-E senior choir peforming with Amber Parker and Nick Benton (both seniors) having solos:


Nice work!! What a terrific choir in a terrific school!

(Video) Good times during March Madness

Here's an unseen video clip from one of the games at Little Falls...some cheering for our state tournament-bound Jaguars boys' basketball team:

Today is graduation day! Some of the members (okay, 9 of them) will be honored today with the rest of the B-B-E Class of 2014. They are the 25th graduating class of B-B-E schools.