Spring returns

Spring has returned after taking a three-day break in the Bonanza Valley area.

On Friday, the weather turned cold, and the cold stuck around across Saturday and Sunday. Things warmed up considerably today, and highs reached into the mid-60s for part of the afternoon.

The Belgrade city council met in regular session tonight. A meeting agenda summary can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper editor's blog: https://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com/2026/04/belgrade-city-council-agenda-for-april.html.

Back to sports news...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team and the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team open the Central Minnesota Conference schedule with a joint meet at Atwater tomorrow. They begin at 4:15 p.m. at Island Pine Golf Club.

The B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams host an 8-team invitational at 4 p.m. Teams invited are Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball, Holdingford, Paynesville Area, St. John`s Prep and West Central Area.

I am getting caught up on the A-C-GC track and field results, and I noticed that the Jaguar boys had a strong showing with a 7th-place finish out of 10 teams. They defeated the host A-C-GC Falcons, Paynesville and Willmar Community Christian. They were led by a first-place finish by senior Kameron Hiltner, who won the 100 open with a time of 12.39 seconds. Hiltner also earned a stack of points by placing third in the long jump (18'9"). Taylor Pieper, another B-B-E senior, placed fourth in the long jump (18'1.5").

Mason Douvier, a sophomore, took fourth place in the 1600 run (5:16.19).

The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team resumes CMC action with a game at Kingery Field in Atwater at 5 p.m. against the A-C-GC Falcons.

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team resumes CMC action with a home game at 5 p.m. against Eden Valley-Watkins.

Belgrade city council meeting is tonight

The Belgrade city council meets in regular session tonight. The meeting agenda can be found here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com/2025/10/belgrade-city-council-agenda.html.

Beyond that, there's lots of other catching-up to do!

Tuesday morning update:
In the first round of the Section 6A volleyball tournament, Pelican Rapids defeated Rothsay last night in a 3-0 sweep. The Vikings are 8-17 overall heading into Wednesday's second-round match against our team. The playoff opener for the Jaguars is Wednesday, October 22 at 7 p.m. in Brooten. Please pass the word!

If the Jaguars (20-6) defeat Pelican Rapids, they will host a Section 6A quarterfinal match on Friday, October 24 at 7 p.m. That match would feature the Jaguars playing either Wheaton/Herman-Norcross or Park Christian. Those two teams play eachother on Wednesday at Wheaton Area high school. On September 4 in a non-conference match, W/H-N traveled to Fargo to Park Christian and won 3-2.

Diving into another week of crazy in the Bonanza Valley area with more STATE news!

From the top! As best as I can summarize.

The Belgrade city council meets tonight with a robust agenda ahead of their annual August Fest celebration (which is August 7,8,9 and 10). The council meeting agenda can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/fxgOE.

The B-B-E 14-U fastpitch playoffs will be held at the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle softball complex on Tuesday this week beginning at 5 p.m.

The B-B-E American Legion 17-U fastpitch playoffs will be held on Thursday, July 24 this week at Minnewaska Area. This is the Sub-Region tournament, and the champion of the 5 teams will advance to the state tournament. The Jaguars are the No. 2 seed behind Melrose Area. B-B-E's first game is at 5 p.m. in the semifinals against No. 3-seeded Albany.

BIG news!
The B-B-E Babe Ruth 16-U baseball team has earned a spot in their state tournament. They open on Thursday this week at New York Mills. I'm guessing it's a similar format to the 14-U state tournament that was held last week. (Update! I've got the full brackets now, and the Jaguars 16-U team opens state on Thursday this week, July 24, at 5 p.m. against Detroit Lakes Red. The entire 8-team tournament is held in New York Mills.

Also! The Pope County Fair begins next week. It will be featured in a full page advertisement in this week's (July 24) issue and the July 31 issue. You can see other information on the fair at their website: https://www.popecountyfair.org.

This is crazy...on Sunday, July 13, I took over 400 pictures across the waffle feed, Mass at St. Donatus Church and the grand parade for Bonanza Valley Days.

On the horizon

The Catholic United Financial-St. James chapter in Elrosa will host a matching grant breakfast on Sunday, April 6. Everyone invited! They serve from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church basement with an all-you-can eat menu that includes ham, scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns, cinnamon bread, fritter bread, fruit sauce, cheese, milk and coffee. Prices: $10 for adults, children ages 6 to 11 are just $5 and children ages 5 and under eat free. This event is eligible for a matching grant from Catholic United Financial of up to $1,000.

The Belgrade city council meets tonight at 6 p.m. The meeting agenda can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/xd2th.

Also, there's additional activities and events coming up at the Smilin' D Arena in Colfax Township. Click over to their website to read more. They've got bike races on Thursday and Friday nights this week. A Wild Henke Kids show is on Saturday, and team penning is on Sunday.

And for Tuesday...
The B-B-E speech team travels to Kimball Area high school for the Central Minnesota Conference championships. I am not sure if I can make the drive. Grr!! I am just far too backed up from the weekend. We'll see how the day goes.

Better late than never...! I added just a photo gallery to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's web article featuring elementary students singing the National Anthem back on February 27. You can find the video and web article by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/qRxjZ.