Community celebration coming to Sunburg next week

Sunburg will be hosting its version of National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4. The Sunburg Fire Department and Rescue squad invites the public to come to town and help them celebrate National Night Out along with the great fundraising support they've received for their need to purchase a new fire truck.

This community appreciation gathering will be held Tuesday, August 4th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sunburg Fire Hall for donors and community members to check out the truck and visit with First Responders - both Fire fighters and EMS.

Switching to sports...

Here's action from the 10th inning on Sunday against New Munich:


The game was played at Greenwald, where the Saints won 6-5 in 10 innings.

I heard that Lake Henry has qualified for the play-in round of the Region 8C tournament. They will face the No. 3 team out of the County Line League.

In other news...
TWO local county fairs kicked off today: the Pope County Fair in Glenwood and the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre.

Elrosa Saints win playoff title (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team won the Stearns County League North playoff title with a 6-5, 10-inning win over New Munich this afternoon in Greenwald. A base hit by Derek Wiener in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Luke Dingmann from second base for the walk-off win.

A three-run home run by Blaine Fischer in the bottom of the 8th inning tied the game at 5-5. In the first inning, New Munich took a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jackson Peter hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Here's a video featuring action in the bottom of the 8th inning:


The game continued past the 9th inning thanks to some great plays made by Elrosa's defense in the top of the 9th inning.

Here's a video from the top of the 9th inning:


Next: the Saints open the Region 8C tournament on Saturday, August 8 at 3:30 p.m. in Regal, host of the 2026 region tournament. They will face the No. 2 seed from the County Line League.

In the second SCL-North game played today in Greenwald, Spring Hill defeated Greenwald 8-2 to keep their season alive. They earned a spot in the region tournament.

More to come. I haven't gotten a full grasp on who's still alive in the County Line League playoffs. The last I checked, teams still alive in the CLL playoffs are Atwater, Regal and Paynesville.

Plenty of baseball to catch up on

I'll start in the Stearns County League South with amateur baseball news...in the division playoffs on Saturday, Farming defeated Lake Henry 11-5 to earn a spot at the Region 8C tournament.

In the SCL-North, New Munich won a high-scoring contest 18-12 against Spring Hill in their division opener. New Munich earns the right to face Elrosa in a region seeding game for the SCL-North playoff banner. New Munich and Elrosa have a first pitch set for 12 p.m. in Greenwald today.

Later today in Greenwald, Spring Hill will face the Cubs in an elimination game.

In youth baseball news...
At the state tournament in Barnesville on Saturday, the B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team took a very, very tough loss by a 7-6 score in regulation innings against neighboring Paynesville. The Jaguars scored 2 runs in the top of the seventh, but they ran out of outs before at least extending it to the bottom of the frame. They had a spectacular finish to their season with a fourth-place finish at state. How incredible is that!

In Greenwald...New Munich has a 5-2 lead through 7 innings over Elrosa.

*Update: the Saints tied the game 5-5 in the 8th inning.

Final: Elrosa 6, New Munich 5 in 10 innings.

Playing for 3rd place

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team is playing in the third-place game today at the state tournament. In the semifinals yesterday, they lost 6-0 to Prairie Rivers. Today's opponent will be Paynesville. 

At Elrosa today, the Saints beat Greenwald 17-1 to earn a spot at the region tournament. Next: Elrosa plays at Greenwald tomorrow (Sunday) at noon. I don't know who they play yet.

16-U baseball wins state opener

For the second straight year, the B-B-E Jaguars 16-U baseball team won their first game of the Babe Ruth state tournament. Playing in Barnesville on Thursday afternoon, the Jaguars defeated Menahga 6-0. The state quarterfinal win moves them to a 3 p.m. game back in Barnesville on Friday afternoon. Their opponent in the state semifinals will be Prairie Rivers Baseball Association. The PRBA team is made up of players from West Central Area, Ashby and Brandon-Evansville high schools.

It's a busy week (Updates*)

Bonanza Valley Days may be behind us, but the schedule does not lighten up whatsoever.

The Belgrade city council meeting agenda for tonight's meeting can be found here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/Pg9rC.

DON'T FORGET! THis Saturday...
On Saturday, July 25, the Bonanza Valley Royal Strutters will host Jakes Day, a youth firearm and hunting/outdoors safety day, at the Belgrade Sportsmen's Club from 9:30 a.m. to noon (roughly) when lunch will be served and prizes given away. "Jakes" stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship. How cool is that! This is for all area children ages 3 to 17. Registration opens at 9 a.m. The event is also held thanks to support by the National Wild Turkey Federation.

And a note from Sunburg Free Lutheran church: Sunday, July 26, 10:30 a.m. regular worship service followed by the following: (1) Missionary Andrew Olson from “They Need The Bible” will be sharing; (2) there will be a brief congregational meeting at the end of the service; and (3) Fellowship Dinner following the July 26 service. All are welcome!

Here's more Babe Ruth state tournament information:
For the state tournament this week, the B-B-E Babe Ruth 16-U baseball team travels to Reed Field in Barnesville for games played Thursday through Saturday, July 23-25. For the opener on Thursday, B-B-E, runner-up out of District 1, plays District 5 champion Menahga at 12:30 p.m.

In girls' fastpitch news...
The B-B-E 17-U fastpitch team, sponsored by the Brooten American Legion Post 288, heads west to the West Central Division playoffs on Wednesday, July 22 at Minnewaska Area high school. They play at 4:30 p.m. in a semifinal game. If they win, they play in the state-qualifying championship game that night at 6 p.m. I hope to attend...but first, I have to get this week's newspaper successfully off to press.

Elrosa Saints clinch Stearns County League North title (VIDEOS)

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team clinched the regular season Stearns County League North division title this weekend with an 11-1 mercy rule win over Meire Grove on Friday night. On a sunny Saturday afternoon today, the Saints defeated Greenwald 11-3 to finish the SCL-North schedule with a 10-3 record.

Aiden Mueller started and got the win (IP-5 H-2 BB-0 K-6), and Riley Meyer pitched the sixth inning. Luke Dingmann was closer (H-1 BB-2 K-4).

Here's a video from the bottom of the 7th inning:


In that video, Jackson Peter hit a two-run home run over the left field fence. That hit gave the Saints an 11-3 lead. The Cubs scored all 3 of their runs in the top of the 6th inning.

Here's a video from the end of the game:


Next: the Saints host the division playoff opener on Saturday, July 25 at 1:30 p.m. Their opponent has not yet been determined. New Munich and Greenwald play tomorrow afternoon in a key SCL-North game. They are both jockeying for third place in the division.

And in other news...
Almost a week after Bonanza Valley Days concluded...and I've still got a mountain of photos and video to work through. It was a grand four-day event in Brooten!

Here's a video from the BVD sand volleyball tournament:


Team Anderson, which included head coach Kristina Anderson and Activities Director Chris Anderson, emerged as champions of this 10-team tournament, which was organized by Grant Anderson. A team picture of the champions was published in this week's issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Mark your schedule for this coming week: the Padua Pub Dave's Famous Pork Chop and Sweet Corn Feed will be on Wednesday, July 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. Come early! Be ready to stand in line. It is always worth the wait!

B-B-E Babe Ruth 16-U is state-bound, AGAIN!

The B-B-E Jaguars 16-U Babe Ruth team will play in the state tournament for the second straight year. I'm gathering more information tonight. I was at the Brooten Farmers Market when word was passed on to me. Exciting news! During the Farmers Market, I normally wouldn't care all that much about news...but that was something I wanted to share right away!

Brackets were sent to me, but I haven't had a chance to look over them yet.

If the state tournament takes place as it did in 2025, games will be played between Thursday and Sunday next week.

Here's a video from Saturday Bonanza Valley Days on July 11:


Extensive BVD coverage was published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Fascinating priest

I haven't blogged here since Sunday after spending considerable time reading about Father Wade Menezes of the Catholic Church. He provided the Homily at the Bonanza Valley Days Catholic Mass on Sunday. A biography of this priest can be found here: https://fathersofmercy.com/team-members/fr-wade-menezes.

Yes, I have video of the full Catholic Mass worship from St. Donatus on Sunday. It's uploaded, but I haven't broken out smaller video clips just yet.

From Friday's exciting day of baseball in Brooten...and Bonanza Valley Days news (VIDEOS)

The Grand Parade of Bonanza Valley Days starts at 1:30 p.m. in downtown Brooten!

A special night went down in Brooten on Saturday night with the street dance that featured an incredible turnout. To see the last song performed, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: BVDSaturdayNight-Brady.

Brady Baker is a 2022 graduate of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa high school. And for a little sports coverage...

Here's a post-game video of the Jaguars after winning the BVD title on Friday:


And a second video...

Here's the end of the game in the 5th inning:


A total of 13 B-B-E Jaguars baseball 10-U players competed on the team. They defeated Litchfield 4-2 in the championship game. Their coaches are Josh Beier and Jake Rooney.

Saints win 10-inning thriller

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team won a thriller on Friday night by a 5-4 score in 10 innings against visiting New Munich. The Stearns County League North win all but locks up at least a No. 2 seed for the upcoming division playoffs. Riley Meyer was the winning pitcher while throwing in the final inning. He gave up no hits with one walk and one strikeout.

In the top of the 10th, the Silverstreaks started off on the right foot with Brandon Holm earning a walk. He was left stranded, however, on a ground ball, a fly out and a strikeout. In the bottom of the 10th, Luke Illies drew a walk on one outs. He advanced on a walk earned by Aiden Mueller and later scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.

Each team committed one defensive error, and the Saints were out-hit by an 8-to-5 margin. Aiden Mueller started and pitched 5 1/3 innings (4 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts). Ashton Dingmann relieved Mueller and went 3 2/3 innings (4 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts).

More to come.

On Wednesday night, the Saints lost 5-2 to Avon in Elrosa.

10-U baseball Jaguars are champions!

The B-B-E Jaguars 10-U baseball team earned the Bonanza Valley Days tournament title today with a 4-2 win in the championship against Litchfield. The Jaguars defeated New London-Spicer 9-U and then a team from Alexandria to earn a chance at first place.

Here's a video recorded tonight at the Brooten Firemen's Chicken BBQ:


Hundreds were served a wonderful chicken dinner at the Brooten city park tonight!

Much more Bonanza Valley Days coverage was published in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. You can also see coverage at Http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

17-U fastpitch Legion squad sweeps Glenwood-Lowry

The B-B-E Jaguars 17-U fastpitch team, sponsored by the Brooten American Legion, defeated Glenwood-Lowry at Minnewaska Area high school tonight by scores of 4-1 and 7-2. In game one, Lydia Primus had 2 hits and scored every time she got on base for a total of 3 runs. Lillian Thompson had 3 hits and earned 3 RBI. In game two, Claire Bromenshenkel put down two terrific bunts that turned into extra bases and RBIs, according to head coach Logan Funk. Lilly Radermacher hit an RBI-single plus a bunt single with an RBI.

Mya Worms and Brielle Worms split pitching duties in tonight's games, and they allowed only 4 total hits all night. The team plays at Upsala on Thursday, July 16 to conclude the regular season. The division playoffs will be held on July 22 at Minnewaska Area. Overall, the 17-U Jaguars are 6-3-1.

Here's a video featuring the Bonanza Valley Days Worship in the Park:


The BVD Worship in the Park serves as the official kick-off event to the big four-day celebration in Brooten.

Time to get some rest!

Cleaning up

Here's a section of the newspaper that got "botched" at the printing press this week.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

For some Brooten PO box holders, this page was severely damaged at the printing press. However, not all newspapers (over 2,800 were printed) had a damaged page 11.

Let's gear up for Bonanza Valley Days

Before I get to Bonanza Valley Days, let's enjoy a stunning performance of the National Anthem last Thursday in Willmar. Unfortunately, I did not have the presence of mind to start recording right away for the song. First, watch the video...

On Thursday, July 2 in Willmar:


The West Central Singers is the group who performed the song.

The Willmar Stingers baseball organization is a fantastic asset for this region. They do a fabulous job of creating a family-friendly atmosphere.

Bonanza Valley Days coverage is in both the newspaper and at the newspaper website: Http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. The BVD 2026 Medallion Hunt began yesterday, but the official kick-off of BVD takes place Thursday night at 7 p.m. with a non-denominational Worship in the Park service (by the Pavilion).

I hope you can make it to Brooten at least once this weekend!

How about some Lee Greenwood! (VIDEO)

Staff of the Belgrade Co-op put on a thoroughly impressive American Flag display on Highway 71 in Belgrade over the Fourth of July weekend. You can see this by clicking here: https://youtube.com/shorts/d7AqdgnOdLo?si=v6rqIHuzEAwHI2kS. Thank you to Todd Trustheim for sending this video over to me on Saturday! I am finally getting it posted.

On Monday night...
At about 10:45 p.m., a torrential rainfall moved across the Bonanza Valley area. Almost an hour later, my rain gauge showed almost 1.5 inches of rain. Goodness!

Saints shut down Rangers

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team made relatively quick work of the Roscoe Rangers on Thursday night, July 2, with a 10-0, seven-inning Stearns County League win on the home diamond. Elrosa banged out 13 hits in 30 official at bats against two Roscoe pitchers. All 10 runs were earned.

Elrosa scored 3 runs in the first inning and added 2 more in both the second and third frames.

Defensively, the Saints were in top form with Payton VanBeck starting and earning the win in 4 innings for his first win of the summer. The B-B-E Class of 2019 graduate gave up just one hit and no walks against 8 strikeouts. Riley Meyer was closer with no runs, no walks and 4 strikeouts.

NEXT: the Saints host Avon in an exhibition game on Wednesday, July 8 with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. On Friday, July 10, the Saints host New Munich under the lights in a huge SCL North contest. Currently, Elrosa, Spring Hill and New Munich are all gunning for the regular season title and top division playoff seed.

The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has been updated with a few important items: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Be sure to check out the web article on the Bonanza Valley Days Saturday night street dance! Also found here: https://surl.li/wzlsdn.

Saints find success at Hinckley...and Bonanza Valley Days is coming

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team recorded two wins at the Hinckley Tournament over the weekend. On Friday night, the Saints defeated the Anoka Bucs 2-1. On Saturday, they beat the host Hinckley Knights in another thriller by a 3-2 score.

Buffalo handed Elrosa a 4-1 loss on Sunday afternoon. This puts them at 6-2 for the month of June and 14-5 overall. NEXT: the Saints look to cook at home with four straight games in Elrosa to close out the regular season. This homestand begins with Roscoe visiting on Thursday, July 2 with an 8 p.m. first pitch. It's the lone game of the Fourth of July weekend.

Scores this weekend in SCL play:
Roscoe 21, Farming 9
St. Martin 8, Lake Henry 4
Richmond 18, Meire Grove 2
Spring Hill 9, New Munich 7.

Bonanza Valley Days is coming!
Here's a link to view promotion of the Classic Car and Truck show for Bonanza Valley Days in Brooten on Saturday, July 11 (click on this link): BVD-CarShow-2025.

BVD garage sales! We are currently sitting at 8 or 9 listings for this week's newspaper. Hopefully that number increases. Last year, the list topped out at 15 garage sales! Yikes. That's awesome though, of course.

The BVD Kiddie Parade is on July 11...read all the details here: BVDKiddieParade2026.

Success at the Dells

The varsity-level basketball teams from B-B-E found success at the Wisconsin Dells this past week. I have a report on the girls but not the boys.

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had an easy time for their Monday games in Wisconsin and swept through three opponents. On Tuesday, they had a stiff challenge in the first game but also got a win. They ended with two close losses to very strong teams to complete a 4-2 record in the Dells.

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team had a 3-3 record in the Dells.

Twice, I've gotten "July 12" wrong

For those keeping track...twice I've gotten "July 12" wrong in the Bonanza Valley Voice. In the June 18 issue, I had the date wrong for the Bonanza Valley Days Grand Parade! Yikes. It is on Sunday, July 12 at 1:30 p.m. It was corrected for the June 25 issue.

The Brooten Class of 1976 class reunion is on Sunday, July 12 starting at noon at the KaDe Shack in Brooten.

Now you've got the correct information.