Jaguar volleyball starts 1-0 (VIDEOS)

The Jaguars huddle up prior to taking the court for the season opener at Osakis on August 31. 

The B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team started the season 1-0 after a 3-1 win at Osakis tonight. The Jaguars won game four by a convincing score of 25-8. Junior Ava Mueller led the Jaguars with 12 kills. Next was sophomore Brooklyn Fischer with six kills, and juniors Paige Rupp and Abby Berge each had five kills. 

Next: the Jaguars travel to MACCRAY in Clara City on Thursday this week. They will face a tough task against a very solid Wolverines team. MACCRAY defeated visiting Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart last Thursday in the season opener by scores of 25-17, 25-17, 25-21.

Here's a video featuring the playing of the National Anthem plus the starter and player introductions of the Jaguars at Osakis:


Here's video featuring the first few points scored in game one tonight at Osakis:


More to come in the morning. I've got quite the newspaper to get to the printing press tonight!

Volleyball updates from Osakis

Updates to follow here from Osakis High School. I expect to be able to post scores following each set in the varsity match. *The varsity match should get started at approximately 19:25 tonight. I made it, and the pre-match drills are halfway done as I type this. I don't see video streaming equipment set up here, and there's no radio coverage. 

I'll do my best to post! Updates to follow on this blog post after 19:30.

Match updates...
The Jaguars and Silverstreaks are tied at 6-6 early in game one. *Final score of set one: B-B-E 25, Osakis 15! The first set was over at 19:47.

In game two, the Silverstreaks shot out to a 6-0 lead and maintained that advantage through most of the set. After falling behind 9-1 and then 15-6, the Jaguars rallied to cut it down to 16-12. Final: Osakis 25, B-B-E 16.

GAME 3 FINAL: B-B-E 25, Osakis 13.

Final scores in a new blog post, with video...coming.

THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for sponsoring this Jaguar Sports update!

(VIDEO) Fifth annual Jaguar Open golf tournament

Here's video recorded last Friday night at the start of the fifth annual Jaguar Golf Open:


It was a terrific golf tournament with 20 teams. They golfed two nine-hole rounds at Prairie View Community Golf Course in Brooten. I've got more coverage of the event coming in this week's September 2 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

In other news...I'm having no luck finding out on streaming information for tomorrow night's volleyball match at Osakis. I'll keep working on it.

This week in Jaguar Sports

We have a big week ahead of us in Jaguar Country!! It is exciting.

On Tuesday this week, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team begins the 2021 season with a road non-conference match at Osakis. The varsity match should begin at about 7:15 p.m., while the C-squad and JV matches are set to begin at 5:45 p.m. I haven't had a chance to catch up with radio or streaming coverage, but I'll look for that on Monday. To read more on the volleyball team, catch the season preview article in the August 29 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

For home action, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team and the B-B-E Jaguars football team are both hosting action on Friday (September 3). More to come on Monday on that.

#RocksAndCows

Football scrimmage

The scrimmage at Kimball Area high school took place this morning without weather-related issues. Also, the scrimmage itself went well for the B-B-E Jaguars football team as they gear up for the season opener coming on September 3 at the high school.

Here's a video clip from the scrimmage with Sleepy Eye:


We dodged some very bad weather this morning!

Football scrimmage tomorrow (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars football team travels to Kimball tomorrow morning for a five-team scrimmage. Both the varsity and JV squads will be in action. They are gearing up for the 2021 season opener on Friday, September 3, when they host Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg for a highly-anticipated border battle (7 p.m. kickoff).

Below is video from the end of practice one week ago, Friday, August 20, at the high school athletic complex:


Here's a video from defensive linemen drills at Monday's practice earlier this week:


Assistant varsity coach Alex Schumann is featured in that video. He is a Class of 2014 graduate who was the starting center on the 2013 Section 5A runner-up squad that went 6-1 in the Central Minnesota Conference. The Jaguars went 9-2 to set a school record for the most wins in a season that fall.

On Saturday, the Jaguars compete in their first scrimmage at 9 a.m. at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.

Fascinating topic: immunity debt. This is a topic I've been heavily researching in the past two weeks. It's worth learning about. Here's one summary of what immunity debt is (link) https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/immunity-debt-1626440012-1.

Sports updates

This morning's varsity tennis match at Benson was rained out after getting only two match points in the book.

Also, the home volleyball opener has been changed to a road match on Thursday, September 2. The Jaguars play at MACCRAY High School in Clara City.

Belgrade posts a 22, B-B-E zip codes post a total of 26

The Belgrade zip code has posted the number "22" for the latest weekly reporting period from the Department of Health COVID-19 case count increase. The new number of confirmed, new COVID-19 cases in the Belgrade zip code of about 2,600 rural and town-dwelling people is 340 dating back to January 2020.

New case count activity in the Brooten zip code of 56316 backed off from last week's figure. Last week's new case count figure was "7" compared to "4" this week. And another zero was posted for the Elrosa zip code (the city itself).

This brings a cumulative total of 26 for the latest week's reporting period. This is the highest one-week increase since the November 26 report was released by the MDH last fall. In that November 26 report, a total of 50 new cases were reported in the B-B-E zip codes. That still stands as the weekly record for our local zip code area.

Sunburg posted a "one" in this last report. Glenwood had the number 11, Spicer posted the number 7, New London had the number 8, while Pennock posted the number 2. Kerkhoven's new number was "one" while Murdock's new number was a 2.

Before this gets too far outdated, and it already is getting outdated...here's grand parade video from the Belgrade August Fest!


It's errand time.

Fall sports pre-season: Week II is underway

The second week of preseason drills are underway for B-B-E's football and volleyball programs. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team is already into their second week of competition. Turnout in grades 9-12 for the B-B-E Jaguars football team has climbed to 41 recruits. They are gearing up for a scrimmage this coming Saturday at St. John's University.

On Tuesday this week, the B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team competes in their second scrimmage of the preseason when they travel to Sauk Rapids-Rice high school. Busy, busy, busy! 

Here's a video of The White Keys performing the time-honored song Sweet Caroline at the Belgrade August Fest Saturday night street dance a couple weekends ago:


More to come.

Tennis team takes first loss (and more August Fest!)

In a very competitive home match against a tough paired team of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta-West Central Area yesterday, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team lost 5-2 to fall to 1-1 on the season. Next for the team is a road match at Benson next Thursday, August 26. On Friday this week, the Jaguars travel to Pierz for a triangular that also includes Melrose Area.

Tennis video and more to follow.

Here's footage from the No. 1 singles match with Annika Heieie:


Finally getting to more August Fest coverage! We will get more photos published in the August 26 issue. Below is video from the kids pedal pull on Saturday afternoon, one week ago:


Fun facts: the announcer for the kids pedal pull was Greg Evenson, a graduate of B-B-E in 2000. He was the starting quarterback for the first B-B-E football team to play in the Central Minnesota Conference, which was in the fall of 1999. His father is Julius Evenson, former teacher and coach at Belgrade-Elrosa and B-B-E high schools. "Evie" is a dearly beloved member of our community. He and his lovely wife, Lois, raised three children, all B-B-E graduates: Jill, Paul and Greg. Jill was a 1991 graduate, while Paul was a 1992 graduate. Paul was a member of the first B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team to play in a championship playoff game. The Jaguars lost in his senior year (1992) at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud in the Sub-Section 5A-3 finals to Rocori. Jill was also a student-athlete at B-B-E. They are all wonderful people. "The best people!"

Tennis wins season opener

Exciting news! The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team won their season opener at Long Prairie yesterday. The final score was 5-2.

Today on the home courts, the Jaguars hosted Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta-West Central Area in a non-conference dual match. The Jaguars and Tigers/Knights were tied 2-2 in the team score when I had to take off.

Heading to a town hall meeting in Sauk Centre right now. More to come later.

**Update: an item has been missing in Brooten for a local gentleman since Wednesday. Here's the description: a red oval ruby-colored stone, not an actual ruby, that fits in a men's ring. It has great sentimental value, and a reward is being offered for help finding it. Please call 320-346-2275 if you can help. It could have been lost at or near The Local Pantry, the Brooten Post Office or at the Bonanza Valley State Bank.

B-B-E zip codes post the number 12

The long wait for when the COVID-19 surge will arrive locally is over.

After posting just four new COVID-19 cases between the period of June 17 and August 11 this summer, the rural and city zip code areas of Brooten (56316), Belgrade (56312) and Elrosa (56325) have posted the number of 12 new cases between the seven-day period of August 12 (last Thursday) and yesterday, August 18. The number 12 in one week is the highest number since April of this year. These figures are from the Minnesota Department of Health.

This breaks down as follows:
Belgrade 56312: five new cases
Brooten 56316: seven new cases
Elrosa 56325: NO new cases.

The population living in these zip code areas is approximately 4,300 people. The Belgrade zip code has over 2,600 people; the Brooten zip code has almost 1,500 people; and the Elrosa zip code includes about 230 men, women and children. I'm most tuned in with the Brooten zip code, and from May 20 through August 12, this area has had just two new COVID-19 cases. Now the cumulative total for COVID-19 cases from January 2020 through today is 168 (about 11 percent).

For a little more perspective, from January 14 of this year through March 25 of this year, the Brooten zip code area posted a total of nine new cases. In that same time span, the zip code area of Belgrade posted 33 new cases. The local spring surge started in the final week of March and then sputtered out in the third week of May.

The May 20, 2021 MDH report showed 11 new cases in our B-B-E zip codes. That number plummeted to zero a week later in the May 27 report just as essentially all COVID-19 restrictions were removed from the powers-that-be. The May 13 report showed four new cases, the May 6 report showed five new cases, and the April 29 report showed 15 new cases.

Other new COVID-19 weekly B-B-E zip code case figures from last spring:
April 22: 12 new cases
April 15: 25 new cases (this marked our spring peak)
April 8: 10 new cases
April 1: 10 new cases
March 25: 2 new cases
March 18: 5 new cases
March 11: NO new cases
March 4: 5 new cases
February 25: 6 new cases
February 18: 4 new cases
February 11: 3 new cases
February 4: 6 new cases
January 28: 5 new cases.

Time to dig into the area zip codes in central Minnesota. I noticed the Sunburg zip code posted a three this week after a zero last week and a three in the August 5 MDH report. I'll get more information added on a Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper web article that you can find by clicking on this short link: https://bit.ly/3j3djQa.

*UPDATE: late on Thursday afternoon, I've got the area board updated with new case count increases per zip code.

Girls' tennis begins competition

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team begins the 2021 season with a road match in Long Prairie today. They host Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta-West Central Area tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the home opener.

(VIDEO) Street dance with The White Keys

A terrific street dance was held on Saturday night on main street in Belgrade. Here's video of The White Keys performing that night:


More to come. We have a school board meeting tonight at 7 p.m., and the fall 2021 varsity sports preseason practices started today! 

Also, if you click on the following short link, you can watch the full coronation program held on Saturday night in Belgrade = https://bit.ly/3CVQC86.

We're going to try to pull off another 14-page newspaper issue at the Bonanza Valley Voice. It will be a very heavy lift.

(VIDEOS) Belgrade August Fest - Saturday morning

From downtown Belgrade yesterday morning:


Time to head to my "homeland" down at Norway Lake! (Read page 7 this week in The Voice to learn more about that!)

Added late Sunday night...here's more video from downtown Belgrade on Saturday for their annual August Fest celebration:


We have had a magnificent weekend in the land of Rocks and Cows!

(VIDEO) Belgrade August Fest 5K

Here's a video featuring part of the Belgrade August Fest 5K Run/Walk/Bike event held on Saturday morning:


More to come.

It has been a wonderful August Fest!

The Belgrade August Fest has been a truly outstanding event today. Everyone in the community should be proud!

Below is a promotional video featuring The White Keys band. They perform tonight in downtown Belgrade. Well worth it! Please come down!


Time to get back to Belgrade!

Belgrade August Fest kick-off celebration

Click on the following short link to read a web article at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. The article includes a video clip of Gig Noonan performing last night at the Belgrade city park = https://bit.ly/3jVO4y7.

It was a great night to be in Belgrade! The community should be very proud of what they've accomplished with the playground equipment upgrades.

Don't forget! Come to Belgrade tonight and show your support for the Belgrade Fire Department and Rescue Squad. The Firemen's Chicken BBQ supper starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 7:30 p.m. More information will be posted at the web article at the newspaper's website.

I had a great time this afternoon at the Kandiyohi County Fair in Willmar, but now it's time to get ready for a trip back to Belgrade. I hope to see many of you there! My time with county fairs has come to a conclusion after nine trips to county fairs in the last three weeks. Now I can focus on just Belgrade as well as Norway Lake this weekend.

And by the way, click on the following link to see the official Kandiyohi County Fair website: http://www.kandifair.com/index.html.

**Friday night update: here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice website where you can watch a video recorded tonight in Belgrade (short link) = https://bit.ly/3iJbMhK.

Belgrade August Fest kicks off

And the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has a fresh set of web articles...finally!

Click on this short link to view a story talking about August Fest in Belgrade: https://bit.ly/3xJLjF0.

More to come. Lots of video get uploaded.

The new number is THREE

This week the Belgrade, Brooten and Elrosa zip codes posted the number three. Today's Department of Health report posted two new COVID-19 cases in the Belgrade zip code, which is their first new COVID cases since June 17, almost two months ago. In Brooten, the 56316 zip code posted a "one" for the second week in a row after going from May 20 to July 29 with zero new COVID-19 cases.

Nothing to report for Elrosa, which has had just one COVID-19 case since mid-December of 2020.

I'll compile other numbers and post to the Bonanza Valley Voice website later this afternoon.

In other news...Here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper photo gallery of pictures from Summer 2021 sporting events. This dates back into May, with summer technically starting after May 14 when school was released. Link: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/Summer-2021-Sports.

And have you caught up with everything happening this weekend? Catch it all in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice. The Kandiyohi County Fair is heating up with tons of exciting activities! We made it there last night and had a really, really good time between 7 and 10 p.m.

Kandiyohi County Fair Grandstand events (go to the fair!)

 Grandstand events at the Kandiyohi County Fair

Wednesday night (TONIGHT!) - Bull Riding 7:30 p.m. ($10 adult admission)

Thursday night - KRA races 6:30 p.m. ($5 adult admission)

Friday night - Semi, Pickup, Tractor Pull 6 p.m. ($8 adult admission)

Saturday - Demo Derby 6:30 p.m. ($8 adult admission)

$1,000 cash given away each night at the Kandiyohi County Fair: one name will be drawn each night at 11 p.m., and the winner must be present to win. Saturday night names will be drawn until they have a winner.

(VIDEO) Sights and sounds of the Pope County Fair

From the Pope County Fair this past weekend:


Very busy day today.

Fair, baseball and more

At the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament in Cold Spring yesterday, the New Munich Silverstreaks defeated Meire Grove 11-5 with Ty Reller earning a complete game win on the mound.

The Spring Hill Chargers lost 2-1 in a nailbiter to St. Martin in their region opener.

Working on uploading more fair videos now.

Here's video from the Pope County Fair, featuring the singing of the National Anthem at the grandstand prior to yesterday's truck and tractor pull.


More to come.

Day III at the Pope County Fair

Go to the Pope County Fair! 

Catch some videos from the fair at the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/section/regional.


THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for extended advertising support of the Bonanza Valley Voice coverage at the Pope County Fair.

Day II of the Pope County Fair (VIDEOS)

Time to get back to the fair in Glenwood...here's a link where you can see another video from the fair recorded on Thursday afternoon. It's hosted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/3jxkgYI.

Three articles are posted with information and digital content featuring the Pope County Fair; click here to see them all: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. (*A fourth video was added on Saturday afternoon from the horse barrel racing.)

**Here's a video clip from the main 4-H building, which features 4-H projects by area youth:


Day III of the Pope County Fair is Saturday. I hope you and your family can get up there and enjoy!

(VIDEO) Pope County Fair is underway

The Pope County Fair is underway in Glenwood this weekend. It started last night and runs through Saturday night.

Here's a video clip recorded this afternoon in one of the 4-H barns...three of the four kids in this bean bag game are B-B-E Jaguar student athletes:


Read more on what's happening at the Pope County Fair in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. If I remember correctly, the full schedule was published on page 8 this week. I finally got more photos added to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper SmugMug online gallery. You can see that gallery by clicking here (short link) = https://bit.ly/3fB8JpW.

I had the extreme good fortune to visit with B-B-E Class of 2009 graduates Heidi and Shane Weller at the fair. Both were star three-sport athletes at B-B-E throughout their varsity careers. Heidi (Lensing) went on to play Division II volleyball at MSU-Moorhead. They were at the fair tonight with their two children. Shane and their daughter made their way into that above-mentioned photo gallery. Baby Elizabeth just turned one year old in June. Ironically, I also visited with a woman who was a babysitter for the Roy and Sandy Lensing family back in the 1990s: Liz (Heinze) Weidauer. Today she and her family live and operate a livestock farm by Starbuck. Liz is a 1994 B-B-E graduate whose father, David Heinze of Elrosa, just celebrated his 80th birthday. Liz is a tried-and-true "fair mom" whose kids grew up at the fair. Their youngest child will be a senior at Minnewaska Area this next year.

The number ONE...and the FAIR is underway!

And the incredible streak has finally ended. After I expected it to end last week, it instead ended this week as the B-B-E zip codes have their first COVID-19 case since June 17, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Read all about it at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website = https://bit.ly/3CjUaRC.

**Thursday night update:
This week's and last week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper included the full Pope County Fair schedule. I was there this afternoon for a couple hours and enjoyed getting a glimpse of everything offered. Here's a link to The Voice newspaper website to see an archive video from 2019 at the fair, and you can also see the start of a photo gallery from pictures I got today = https://bit.ly/3jpbNH2.

Padua! Get to Padua

Don't forget to get to Padua tonight! Dave's Famous Sweet Corn and Pork Chop feed lasts from 5 to 8 p.m.

Here's a video from their first sweet corn and pork chop feed back on July 21st:


Maybe I'll see you there. We hope to get there around 5 p.m.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website community calendar for the B-B-E area has been finally updated. It's not a complete list of area events, but it has some important items on there. You can view it by clicking here (short link) = https://bit.ly/3fA9LCG.

More to come in a new blog post on Thursday, including a link to view the latest area updates on COVID-19 numbers by zip code area.

Austin Young Memorial basketball tournament (VIDEO)

 The Austin Young Memorial Scholarship is supported by the annual basketball tournament held at the Belgrade August Fest. After taking last year off during the pandemic, this major event returns for 2021.

Austin Young was a member of the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Class of 2019 who died in a tragic truck accident on March 4, 2017.

The adult division of the Austin Young basketball tournament will be held on Friday night, August 13 at the B-B-E high school. Check-in begins at 5:30 p.m., and the tournament starts at 6 p.m. The adult division will include graduates of the Class of 2021 and anyone older.

The youth division of the tournament will be held on Saturday, August 14 at the B-B-E high school with registration starting at 7 a.m. and the tournament to follow at 8 a.m. The youth tournament will be held for children entering fifth grade up through 12th grade.

For both tournaments, high school basketball rules will apply. Registration is $45 for teams who pre-register by August 8 and $60 for teams who register on-site.

The top three team finishers in each division will win awards. Brackets will be created and posted the day of the tournament based on age and gender of competitors. All proceeds will be donated to the B-B-E schools athletic department.

Beverage concessions will be available (not food).

To register ahead of time, you can contact Dave Kaiser at 651-263-4291 or email him at dkaiserbmg@yahoo.com. 

Checks can be mailed to Dave Kaiser, 38765 County Road 19, Belgrade, MN 56312. 

Below is video from August 10, 2019 at the B-B-E high school during the youth division of the Austin Young 3-on-3 Memorial tournament.


That was a fun video clip to watch, as it featured members of the 2021 Class 1A state runners-up Jaguar girls' basketball team.

Good night, Jaguar Country!

Grinding away

We are grinding away on another 14-page newspaper issue at the Bonanza Valley Voice. It is a huge, HUGE lift with a TON of content. That is consuming every last bit of energy here, so no blogging again until tomorrow.

ICYMI: worship at Brooten Community Church (VIDEO)

Here's video featuring part of Pastor Rick Krasky's sermon at Brooten Community Church on July 25:


Go get your sunshine today! If you don't over-do it, the Vitamin D you get from sunshine will do wonders for you.

Here's a video clip from the top of the first inning last Sunday, July 25 at Roscoe:


The Saints and Rangers battled in the Stearns County League Little Dipper championship game.

(VIDEO) An exciting playoff semifinal win

Here's video from the last outs recorded in the Stearns County League Little Dipper playoff semifinals on July 18 in Spring Hill.

The Elrosa Saints came back from a 3-2 deficit to pick up the big win:


Coverage from that game and their playoff opener win over Regal was published in the July 22 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. This week's issue had very little baseball coverage in it, but next week's will have photos from the SCL championship game at Roscoe. The No. 2-seeded Roscoe Rangers defeated the No. 4-seeded Elrosa Saints 7-2 one week ago.