Sparkle night at CHS Field in St. Paul (VIDEOS*)

I still haven't gotten my bearings straight from the past week. Tonight is the first night that I can sit down and actually collect my thoughts in at least a week. On Tuesday night, we traveled to CHS Field in St. Paul for Sparkle Night with the Miss Brooten royalty. All three Miss Brooten royalty are currently involved or were involved in multiple MSHSL-sponsored activities at B-B-E high school. Two of them, Jacey Tensen and Tiyana Schwinghammer, will be seniors this fall at B-B-E. Katelynn Uphus is a 2022 graduate and heading to UND in Grand Forks this fall.

Here's when we arrived at CHS Field!


Other video from that night is uploading and will be added at a future time. Today we were in Glenwood for a good portion of the day. The grand parade was held at 1 p.m., and the parade route was jam packed with people! Katelynn and Jacey are still there with the Little Miss Brooten royalty at the Waterama coronation ceremony along the shores of Lake Minnewaska by Lakeside Ballroom.

Tiyana had to miss the fun in Glenwood, as she had a big basketball tournament to participate in. Exciting: college scouts were on hand to watch her in action!!! Go Tiyana!!!

MONDAY updates:

*Here's a video where you can kind of see the Miss Brooten royalty walking around CHS Field last Tuesday:


It's a lower-quality video shot with a cell phone. My main videocamera died just moments after I entered the stadium. Bravo!

Here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice website, where you can watch live music that was played outside CHS Field in St. Paul as we arrived at the stadium: https://bit.ly/3zMG5wt.

New website articles (and County Fair!)

I've got fresh articles posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. It includes coverage of the Stearns County Fair and the Pope County Fair. The Stearns County Fair officially opened today. Read more in the newspaper and on our website!

Music on the South Dakota prairie (VIDEO)

In all the madness of the month of July, I managed to squeeze in a family vacation. It was short-lived, but it was a fun and worthy vacation. We took a trip on Saturday/Sunday to DeSmet, South Dakota. The 188-mile drive had a main destination of the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant that was performed nine times in the month of July at an outdoor amphitheater located a couple miles southeast of town.

Below is a video of music played before the pageant started:


Back in the saddle now at the office while trying to button up the July 28 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice.

Another 2-0 weekend

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated New Munich 5-2 today in the division playoff championship game. The Saints will take a No. 1 seed into regions. In today's win, Wyatt Steffensen and Ethan Vogt combined to hold the Silverstreaks to just three hits. Elrosa managed five runs off of New Munich starter Jim Thull, who pitched seven innings. Will Funk closed for the visitors.

Other information about the upcoming Region 15C baseball tournament is forthcoming later tonight.

*UPDATE: the Saints open the region tournament on Saturday, August 6 at 4 p.m. in Meire Grove. They will take on the No. 3 seeded team out of the Stearns County South division. Spread the word!!!

Elrosa baseball playoff opener: Saints win! (VIDEO)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team opened their playoff journey with a home game tonight against Meire Grove. First pitch is at 7:30 p.m.

 *Update: the Saints hold a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. Ashton Dingmann hit a two-run home run as part of Elrosa's score.

*Update: in the bottom of the eighth inning, Elrosa holds a 9-3 lead.

FINAL SCORE: Elrosa 9, Meire Grove 3. Payton VanBeck started and pitched eight innings to earn the win, with his brother, Will VanBeck, closing in the ninth inning. They combined to hold the Grovers to just three hits in the game. Elrosa tallied 14 hits in the game, led by Peyton Winter's 4-for-4 performance. NEXT: **The Saints play at noon tomorrow (Sunday) in Meire Grove in a division seeding game for the upcoming Region 15C tournament.


*Here's a lengthy video from the Elrosa vs. Richmond game last weekend:


The video begins with Jackson Peter finishing his trek around the bases due to his solo home run.

More to come.

Jake's Day is coming! (VIDEO)

It's that time of the year when we are gearing up for both the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre and also the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters Jake's Day in rural Belgrade. Both events were advertised in this week's July 21 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Jake's Day in rural Belgrade is on Saturday, July 30 at the Belgrade Sportsmen's Club shooting range; registration opens at 9 a.m.

Here's a video from July 25, 2015, featuring the bow-and-arrow station at the Jake's Day event that year:


Assisting in this booth is Boyd Fischer, who was a senior on the 1989-1990 West Central Conference South champion B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team. He is the father of Blaine Fischer (Class of 2022) and Brooklyn Fischer (Class of 2024).

If you click on the following link, you can see a web article that talks about the Jake's Day event; it also includes a video from 2015 with former B-B-E Jaguar wrestler Ben Feuerhake volunteering in the BB gun booth. Link: https://bit.ly/3ITRnC4.

Sweet corn feed!

Don't miss out on the only Dave's Famous Sweet Corn and Pork Chop feed coming tonight! It's in Padua, and I hope most of you know the way there...the feed runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Padua Pub. Come hungry! REMEMBER: this is the ONLY sweet corn feed of the summer in Padua. Don't miss out!

Here's a video clip from last year's sweet corn feed on July 21, 2021...exactly 52 weeks ago!


More to come. Lots of garden to water and hope to save what's growing...today's heat and wind is terrible for plants!

BVD Sand Volleyball (VIDEO)

The Bonanza Valley Days celebration included a sand volleyball tournament for the second straight year. This is traditionally part of BVD, and we are thankful this has continued into 2022!

Here's a clip from the sand volleyball action on Saturday, July 9 in Brooten:


More to come. The B-B-E school board just met in regular session tonight at the elementary school. Things are falling into place for the 2022-2023 academic year!

REMINDER: the Belgrade August Fest celebration is coming on August 11, 12 and 13! Details to follow in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Park church night canceled in Brooten

 The River of Life Church Bible Study/supper for tonight has been cancelled due to the high heat we are experiencing today. They meet on Monday nights this summer at the Brooten Pavilion, but today it will be just too hot to conduct any activities either inside the Pavilion or outside.

ALSO: the Chuckwagon in Brooten is closed for today due to the excessive heat.

Drink lots of water today!

Bonanza Valley Days update...the new total is 872 for the number of BVD photos that the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website photo gallery has uploaded. More progress! We are well over halfways complete.

Regular season closes with a win

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team defeated visiting Richmond today by a 4-1 score to close out the regular season. The divisional playoffs begin on Saturday, July 23; information to be announced.

I learned that on Tuesday this week, the No. 2-seeded Elrosa Saints Legion team plays No. 7-seeded Regal at Regal in the first round of the Stearns County League playoffs.

I finally got my Bonanza Valley Days 3-on-3 basketball tournament photos uploaded...and coverage will follow in the July 21 newspaper. You can find the photo gallery by clicking on this short link: https://bit.ly/3RJ35ni. We've finally made headway on uploading BVD pictures to the online gallery...the current tally is 226 pictures uploaded. Progress! *UPDATE: the new total of uploaded BVD photos is 450 at the end of Sunday night. I'm over one-third of the way towards the end zone with this project.

Working through a back log...and "Piano Man" (VIDEO)

I am still working through a huge back log of uploading videos and photos from the big, wild, crazy fun Bonanza Valley Days weekend in Brooten. With photos, we're in tough shape and hope to get closer to caught up late tonight. Currently just 76 out of about 1,400 photos are posted at the newspaper's Smugmug online gallery.

Below is a video of part of Cal Ecker's performance of Billy Joel's Piano Man at the Saturday night street dance:


More to come.

Saints win third straight

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team won their third straight game after they beat visiting Spring Hill tonight by an 11-1 score in seven innings. Payton VanBeck, a 2019 B-B-E graduate, pitched the first six innings to get the win, with Wyatt Steffensen pitching the seventh frame. The Saints piled up 16 hits, including three each by Will VanBeck, Derek Wiener and Peyton Winter.

The game was close with Elrosa leading just 4-1 through five innings, but they poured on seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to end the game by the mercy rule.

Next: the Saints (11-1 Stearns County League North) host Richmond on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to conclude the regular season. The division playoffs begin the following weekend.

I have some newspaper-related news for Glenwood-area subscribers that was just posted on the Bonanza Valley Voice website (short link): https://bit.ly/3PbUXKj.

BVD Sand Volleyball (VIDEO)

We want to give Coach Kristina Anderson as well as Belgrade-area farmer Grant Anderson a HUGE HUGE thank you for their efforts provided to organizing and running the Bonanza Valley Days sand volleyball tournament on Saturday! Both the day of and behind the scenes, they helped tremendously to pull this off. The Bonanza Valley Voice helps sponsor this event, but we could not pull it off without their volunteer efforts to the cause.

Here's a video clip from that morning:


Busy weekend ahead! It will consist mostly of a fair amount of traveling. My family is spending time in both New London and Sauk Centre for their town celebrations. The Sinclair Lewis Days (Sauk Centre) schedule of events was published in the July 7 and July 14 issues of The Voice.

More to come later tonight.

Fresh set of web articles/videos

Coverage of Bonanza Valley Days continues this week. In addition to what was published in the July 14 issue, the Bonanza Valley Voice website includes a fresh set of web articles/videos. You can find that by clicking here: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

Wisconsin Dells! And CONCERT night

In their trip to Wisconsin Dells this week, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team has picked up six wins in a row. Wow! Five of the six wins were against Minnesota schools: 

**Update! this is also terrific news! The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team went 4-2 in their games played at Wisconsin Dells this week. One of their four wins was won in sudden death overtime! How exciting is that! Also, the wins came even though the team was playing without Tiyana Schwinghammer, who is currently on a school Boundary Waters trip.

**Don't forget: tonight is concert in the park night in Belgrade! Sponsored by Belgrade Steel Tank, Magnifi Financial and the Belgrade Economic Development Authority. The fun begins at the city park on South Highway 71 at 6:30 p.m.! This was published prominently on page one of the July 7 newspaper issue, which you should have read! (Right?)

Bonanza Valley Days grand parade (VIDEO)

We had a marvelous grand parade on Sunday for Bonanza Valley Days that included over 60 floats! The parade is led by Shelley (Knutson) Leuze, a 1985 Brooten high school graduate and a dear friend of mine. We are truly thankful for the work she and her husband, Doug, and others provide to pull this off.

VIDEO:


The video lasts 49 minutes, although the trip through the parade for each unit lasted closer to about 25 minutes each.

Elrosa Saints win again...and more BVD (VIDEO)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team picked up their second win in a row after they defeated host Meire Grove today by a score of 4-2. Wyatt Steffensen earned the win in six innings of work, and Will VanBeck earned the save after pitching the final three innings. The Saints are now 10-1 in the Stearns County League North division. They clinched first place on Friday with their 7-6 extra-inning win against St. Martin.

Time to get uploading on some Bonanza Valley Days video!

Speaking of BVD, I want to give a huge thank you to the West Central Tribune for sending Macy Moore, one of their photographers, out to Brooten on Saturday morning. I've known Moore for awhile now, and I met her during the kids parade on Hatton Street. It was great to see a regional newspaper come to our town! You can find her work from her trip to Brooten yesterday by clicking here: https://www.wctrib.com/news/local/photos-bonanza-valley-days. Note: you may have to pay to see the photos.

**Here's a neat video featuring the Lifelink III helicopter just as it landed in the Brooten city park softball diamond on Friday night:


More to come later. I gotta get a little rest.

BVD Day IV!

Go get your waffles on!!! At the city park in Brooten, and the B-B-E Scouts BSA Troop No. 667 will be serving until noon!

Who out there reading this watched the performance of Billy Joel's Piano Man last night on the stage in Brooten? The singer, Cal Ecker, sang the song for over six minutes. It was a deeply moving experience for those who were there.

WELL DONE! They served over 500!!!

Sidebar: Bonanza Valley Days would not happen without the countless volunteers who devote countless hours to putting it on. It's important to note that. Their time is valuable, and it is honorable that they share some of that with our community!!

BVD Day III !!

Rise and shine Bonanza Valley Area!

Day III of Bonanza Valley Days 2022 is underway. I'm severely short on sleep but jacked up on adrenaline and a great attitude and ready to CONQUER THIS DAY.

Wonderful moment of my Friday night: at the park last night, an older gentleman gave me a stack of some cash and asked me to buy some to-go boxes for local families in Brooten from the firemen's chicken BBQ. I got choked up when he did that. I am choked up right now typing this. That's what it's all about.

Remember! tons of BVD coverage is posted at my newspaper's website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

The BVD 3-on-3 youth (elementary) tournament includes seven boys' teams and seven girls' teams. They just got started a few minutes after 9 a.m.

SATURDAY has gone just fantastic!!!!!!!!!!! Just the most awesome BVD we could imagine!!!!! Tonight is gonna be off the hook!!!!

**SATURDAY NIGHT update: a fresh web article has been posted regarding the Miss Brooten pageant results. That can be found by clicking over to the newspaper's website (short link): https://bit.ly/3IuFzX2.

Elrosa Saints win a wild 10-inning game

FIRST: another reminder about the BVD Walk/Run event! This was written about in great detail in a blog post on Thursday. It starts at 8:30 a.m. SHARP near the Catholic church in Brooten, with registration starting at 8 a.m.

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team improved to 9-1 in the Stearns County League North division with a 7-6, 10-inning win over visiting St. Martin on Hall of Fame night. It pained me that I was unable to make it to the Hall of Fame induction. That was just not possible tonight. I've been able to leave Brooten for Elrosa Hall of Fame inductions in the past, but this year has been especially and uniquely stressful and busy leading up to and now during our BVD weekend.

Meanwhile, in Brooten...crazy fun continued today and tonight for Day II of Bonanza Valley Days. I've got some details on Friday to post on the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. Let's just say that we had a crushing level of turnout for everything! I was honored to speak to a former school bus friend, Scott Rudningen, at the KaDe Shack as the street dance was winding down. Scott is a 1992 B-B-E graduate who played on Coach Montbriand's first two Jaguar teams after he assumed head coaching duties in 1990. When Scott was a senior, his Jaguar team played in the Sub-Section 5A-3 championship game against Bob Brink's Rocori Spartans at St. Cloud State University. That was 30 years ago! Where has the time gone?

Speaking of basketball...Coach Anderson's 3-on-3 BVD tournament had an outstanding first day for an event that was not held in 2020 (COVID) or 2021 (school construction)...the 8th-12th grade division took place earlier today, and the adult men's division ran tonight. I heard from Coach Anderson that the men's division included seven teams. I was happy to bring a couple groups of fans (students) of Coach Austin Rambow to the gym to give him his own personal cheering section. It's important to state very clearly that our students love Mr. Rambow! You had to be there to see the look on his face when the first group walked in and waved at him. It was priceless. He is an outstanding teacher and coach at B-B-E. (If you didn't know, he is an assistant coach in football and girls' basketball, and our school is blessed to have him.)

And speaking of Brooten...at the KaDe Shack while I was talking to Scott Rudningen, I also chatted briefly with B-B-E ag teacher and FFA advisor Gary Rodgers. The highlight of the conversation went like this:
Me: "Today's been a great day for Brooten and a great day to be in Brooten."
Gary: "Every day is a great day to be in Brooten."

Now HE sure has the right attitude. Thank you, Mr. Rodgers!

It's past 2 a.m. now and I have to make another run through the city park in a security check of what's there. We take care of our property in Brooten, and many, many eyeballs are on the lookout for shenanigans after the sun has set!

Bonanza Valley Days is in full force! And it's crazy already

Wow! What turnout! And I haven't even gotten to the 3-on-3 tournament yet at the elementary!

I am excited to announce that the B-B-E Jaguars 10-U baseball team won their first two games of the Bonanza Valley Days tournament! They play at 4 p.m. today for the championship! (I think they play at the elementary diamond)...

Here's a link to read about the BVD Kiddie Parade: https://bit.ly/3AvWJ4u.

That's all I've got now.

*Update: the Jaguars 10-U team lost to Sauk Centre in the championship game.  

Small world getting smaller (and BVD news)

What a small world getting smaller! One of the Bonanza Valley Days vendor show vendors is the dad of Taylor Thunstedt from New London-Spicer. Die-hard area basketball fans will remember her name, as she was one of the best girls' basketball players to ever play for New London-Spicer coach Mike Dreier. Thunstedt achieved 1,000 career points as a sophomore during the 2011-2012 season. By the time she graduated from NL-S in 2014, Thunstedt was the all-time leading scorer for Dreier's program. She went on to play Division I basketball at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Why do I bring this up? Here's why: today I put 2 and 2 together and learned that Thunstedt is a police officer who works part-time for the Belgrade-Brooten police department. She was hired back in 2021, but I still haven't gotten around to writing stories on the newer officers hired by Chief Jansky. I'm actually embarrassed that I haven't been able to do that going back to last summer, when Officer Sorenson (hometown Starbuck) was hired by Chief Jansky. That's basically one example of about 100 of the cracks in my organization that I'm still trying to resolve. Thunstedt and other officers will be helping provide security at BVD events this weekend, and we want to give them a HUGE thank you in advance for what they do for us. And don't get me started on the anti-cop movement in this country. I'm as sick of that as anyone!!!

REMINDER: the Bonanza Valley Days Walk/Run will be held on Saturday, July 8 starting at 8:30 a.m. sharp at the parking lot by St. Donatus Catholic Church (corner of Roe Street and Eastern Avenue)...registration opens at 8 a.m. The course is a two-mile route marked on city streets. Eligible are all amateur walkers, bikers and runners. This is in support of the B-B-E Wrestling Club! The cost is just $15 per participant. Come out and get some great exercise while supporting one of our school's varsity teams!

That's all I've got for tonight. I'm exhausted and need a proper night's rest if I'm going to survive the next three days.

Hall of Fame night in Elrosa and BVD 2022!

This week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper included a small story about the Elrosa Saints baseball team. In that story was mention of the upcoming Hall of Fame night, which will be held tomorrow (Friday) before the St. Martin game at Saints Field.

The ceremony will start at 7 p.m. sharp, and the game is schedule with an 8 p.m. first pitch against St. Martin. It will be a fun night in Elrosa!

Don't forget: tonight is the Bonanza Valley Days kick-off event, which is Worship in the Park starting at 7 p.m. (city park by the Pavilion) with a nondenominational worship service led by Father Jeremy Theis. I strongly encourage you to come!

Speaking of BVD! Click on the following short link to view the grand parade line up for Bonanza Valley Days, set for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (link) https://bit.ly/3RigX7F.

Amanda Watkins and Cal Ecker to perform at BVD (VIDEO)

Amanda Watkins and Cal Ecker will be the keynote band singing on Saturday night at the street dance for Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten. They will get going by 9 p.m. that night.

*Here's a video of these two singers performing at the Brooten Pavilion on October 7, 2017. This was for a Brooten Fire Department fundraiser:


Four nights! Four days of fun! It's almost here.

Walk-off loss in bottom of the 10th (UPDATES, VIDEOS)

The impressive winning streak in the Stearns County League came to an end yesterday for the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team. The Saints duked it out with the host Silverstreaks in a classic SCL-North battle that had the score tied at 6-6 through nine regulation innings. New Munich scored in the bottom of the 10th for the walk-off 7-6 win. 

Elrosa is now 8-1 in the SCL-North standings and still in first place with four games remaining. Spring Hill sits in second place with a 6-5 record. Technically speaking, the Saints have sowed up first place for playoff seeding purposes. One more win out of the remaining four games would lock up first place for good.

Elrosa's next game is on Friday, July 8 for Hall of Fame night with St. Martin coming to town. The ceremony will begin at about 7 p.m. prior to the game. Being inducted are Gregg Haider, Ken Haider and Keith Haider.

Here's a glimpse of the Sonic band warming up in Elrosa last Wednesday night as the Catholic parish social was getting underway:


Look for more coverage of that church social in the upcoming July 7 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Here's a video featuring part of the live auction held at the Gary Breitbach Memorial golf tournament at Prairie View Community Golf Course in Brooten on July 25:


Gary Breitbach was a beloved member of the Elrosa and B-B-E community who passed away in 2006 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was a super dedicated Elrosa Saints baseball fan and will never be forgotten by those who knew him. As anyone who knew him would know, you were a better person with him in your life. Rest In Peace!

*Here's a video featuring some fireworks that were shot off during the Wasted Time street dance at Bonanza Valley Days 2021 almost one year ago:


Are you taking in any fireworks shows tonight? Please be safe if you are shooting off fireworks. I read that an 18-year old in the Metro Area was killed this weekend due to a fireworks-related injury.

Saints blank Silverstreaks (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team kept their undefeated streak going in the Stearns County League with a 6-0 win on Friday night against visiting New Munich in a north division clash.

Both teams have a short turnaround as they are set to square off again this afternoon. New Munich is the home team this time with first pitch at 1:30 p.m.

Today, Saturday, come over to Quisberg Park in Brooten to help celebrate the graduation of Class of 2022 member Brady Baker. My family is close friends with the Danny and Amanda Baker family and their children. We love them like family. Brady's graduation party is from 1 to 3 p.m. He is currently a dedicated worker at Bayer Built Woodworks, and we wish him all the best in his future plans!

Here's part of the starter introductions for Elrosa and then the playing of the National Anthem:


In last night's game, two of the better pitchers in the SCL went at it with New Munich's Ty Reller and Elrosa's Payton VanBeck and their defenses putting up zero after zero after zero through six innings. The Saints finally got to Reller in the sixth, ultimately scoring all six of their runs in the inning. Reller had limited the Saints to just three hits through six innings. In the bottom of the seventh, the Saints earned two runs off of Reller on back-to-back bunt singles by Blaine Fischer and Will VanBeck.

Elrosa's VanBeck went the distance and had a terrific night with 97 pitches with just six hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. Will Funk closed for New Munich with one and two thirds innings of work with three hits, one earned run, one walk and three strikeouts.

If you didn't get to Elrosa on Wednesday night, you missed an incredible night of fun, socializing and music at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic church. They hosted a lengthy church social that started at 3 p.m. and lasted until sunset. It was advertised repeatedly in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in June.

*Below is the Catholic band Sonic performing "Lean on Me" during the outdoor concert


The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has been updated with numerous news and opinion pieces. You can find that website by clicking here: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

More to come later this afternoon.

Elrosa Saints host New Munich

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team hosts New Munich tonight in a Stearns County League North division clash. First pitch is at 8 p.m., and updates will follow here on this blog post.

*Update: through three innings, the Saints and Silverstreaks are in a scoreless tie.

Update: through 6 innings, the game is still tied at 0-0.

**Update: the Saints have scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning!