Girls' basketball state tournament - and a busy weekend locally!

At the Class 1A state girls' basketball tournament today, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart defeated Underwood 66-49 in the third-place game. In the consolation championship, Mayer Lutheran leveled Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 70-38 to take fifth place.

In the state title game, top-seeded Goodhue is holding a 39-29 halftime lead over defending state champion Mountain Iron-Buhl. Goodhue Wildcats senior Elisabeth Gadient, who surpassed 2,000 points in her career yesterday in the semifinals, leads the way out of all players with 20 points. The Wildcats (27-5) shot an insane 7-of-15 from the three-point line. Gadient's final made three-pointer of the half was launched at least 5 feet beyond the arc at the top of the key.

Final: Goodhue 70, Mountain Iron-Buhl 65. This was MI-B's second straight appearance in the state title game and fourth straight trip to the state tournament.

Last night in the Section 6A finals, West Central Area's boys' basketball team defeated Ada-Borup West 60-56 to advance to the Class 1A state tournament for the first time in school history. The Knights are 27-3 overall.

In 2022, the Knights finished as runners-up in Sub-Section 3AA-North to Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta in a 22-5 season. A year earlier in the pandemic season, the Knights went 15-5 and were runners-up in Sub-Section 6A-South behind Hancock; they lost in the finals in overtime, and the Owls went on to take second at the state tournament. Both teams shared the Pheasant Conference title in the regular season.

On March 12, 2020, the WCA Knights played in the Section 6A finals against Henning and lost 57-45. The next day, the world lost its collective mind as governments across the globe took the bait from China and started implementing China-like COVID measures that in some cases lasted two years or more. Here in Jaguar Country, we ditched nearly all COVID measures on May 14, 2021 while holding a mask-free Class of 2021 graduation in the high school gymnasium with a packed house!

On the home front...
Tonight, I encourage everyone to attend the Belgrade Lions chili cook-off! It runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Belgrade V.F.W., and chili will be offered until it runs out. I would arrive between 5:30 and 6:30 to make sure you get enough chances to try each chili. It is a do-not-miss event! Tomorrow we've got the Brooten Ambulance pancake breakfast (8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Brooten American Legion) plus the St. Patrick's Day parade in Padua at 1 p.m. Also! This entire weekend, the Padua Pub will be offering two days of St. Patrick's Day fun! Read more about that on page 12 of this week's Voice or by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/ltzDQ.

Tiyana Schwinghammer's team will tip-off at about 2:25 p.m. in the NJCAA national tournament third-place game. After tip-off...Schwinghammer has 6 early points while her squad holds a 9-6 lead in the first quarter. Through 6 minutes in the first quarter...the game is tied 13-13, and Schwinghammer has 8 points. An incredible, tough baseline shot by Schwinghammer tied the game at 15-15 with 1:40 left in the first quarter; she now has 10 points.

In the final seconds of the first quarter, Schwinghammer attempted an off-balance paint shot as time was about to expire and was fouled. She proceeded to knock down both free throws, getting her to 12 points and making the first quarter score as follows: Cedar Valley of Dallas 19, Northland 17.

In the second quarter...Cedar Valley holds a 25-19 lead.

Bang! Bang! Back-to-back three-pointers by Northland's Emma Osborne has lifted the Pioneers on top 27-25 with 4:41 to go in the second quarter.

After trailing 25-19 early in the second quarter, Northland has gone on a tear with a 19-6 run that's put them ahead 38-31 at halftime. Schwinghammer is leading the way with 17 points. The Pioneers took 7 fewer shots than the Suns, but the Pioneers are shooting 50 percent from the floor. The Suns have 13 points off of turnovers compared to just 5 for Northland.

After three quarters of play...Northland now holds a 60-38 lead. Final: Northland Community and Technical College 79, Cedar Valley Dallas 64. Schwinghammer led her team with 21 points. The Pioneers finish the season 24-6 overall in an incredible year after they missed out on nationals a year ago. This was Northland's 13th overall appearance in the NJCAA national tournament.

Back to state tournament news...the Albany Huskies girls' basketball team played a magnificent game against No. 1-ranked Providence Academy in the Class 2A state title game today. The Lions, however, won 81-78 to claim their third straight state championship. The Huskies, who finish 30-2 overall, had defeated two other powerhouse private school programs to get to the state finals (Rochester Lourdes and Minnehaha Academy)...this was a rematch of last year's Class 2A state title game, which Providence Academy won 70-64. In the 2022 state tournament, Providence Academy beat Albany 55-48 in the state semifinals before edging out Fergus Falls 55-53 for the state title. In the 2021 COVID state tournament, Providence Academy lost to Albany 57-43 in the state title game. Back in 2020, Albany lost 54-38 to Sauk Centre in the Section 6AA championship. Sauk Centre then lost twice at the COVID-shortened state tournament before everything was shut down the following day - Friday, March 13, 2020. Do you remember that day? I do.

B-B-E's Prom day (VIDEOS)

Today has been what I'll just call "Prom day" all day long in Jaguar Country. The grand march was an outstanding event! They had 53 couples/vehicle units pass through at the high school and Olson Auditorium.

And! They had at least 93 kids attend the prom dance. This has been a really, really great day. Video will be posted later.

Here's the crowning of the Prom King and Queen, Wyatt Lewis and Summer Lundberg, at 10 p.m. tonight.


Officially, this is the 35th prom held for B-B-E schools. The first B-B-E prom was held in the spring of 1989.

Here's a brief view of the post-grand march atmosphere at the high school cafeteria. The sun was shining strong outside, and it turned into a terrific day


We had random shots of light rain throughout the afternoon, but overall the day had very little rain and just a light breeze throughout the afternoon.

,

Christmas spirit at B-B-E high school (VIDEOS)

So much fun! So so SO much fun at B-B-E high school last week!

The students of Jaguar Country just lived through a wild two-week ride of crazy weather as they counted down the days until the Christmas vacation started. Then an oncoming blizzard-like storm ultimately chopped a full day off of that count. The vacation started at 1 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, December 21 instead of Thursday night last week.

Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website to watch a video we shot last Wednesday at lunch time featuring The Grinch making his rounds through the cafeteria (short link) and how that all ended! https://bit.ly/3Vra2dl.

And here's when The Grinch arrived at the cafeteria!


**Here's a video featuring the full rage of the storm that bored own on the area last Friday:


That video was recorded on the north end of main street in Belgrade. More to come on Monday night.

SPECIAL announcement from RJ's Mini Mart in Brooten...this is exciting! Starting January 1 in the new year, RJ’s Mini-Mart in Brooten will begin their Jaguar Pride Pump on two of their pumps; RJ’s will be donating 2 cents of every gallon sold on those pumps to the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa school district at the end of each month for the entire year of 2023! This will be advertised in this week's Voice and in future issues.

That was a fun day and night! (VIDEO)

As I type this, I am exactly 168 hours past the opening serve of the Class 1A state tournament for our B-B-E Jaguars volleyball team. The Jaguars squared off with Badger/Greenbush-Middle River at 5 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center last Thursday.

Here's video recorded a few minutes before the match started:


More to come. I have to get supper transported to the high school now for the musical students! They are holding their final dress rehearsal tonight. Tomorrow is opening night of Anastasia! Do you have your tickets ordered yet?

In college volleyball news...
B-B-E Class of 2019 graduate Emily Knight's college volleyball team opened the national playoffs tonight in Denver, Colorado. She plays with the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, who were seeded No. 6 in the South Central Region tournament of NCAA's Division II. They won a thrilling 3-2 match over No. 3-seeded Regis. Game three was won by Knight's team by a 32-30 score, and they won game five by a 15-12 score. Next: Colorado Mines now plays the No. 9-ranked D-II team and the No. 2-seeded team in their region, West Texas A and M, at 5 p.m. tomorrow in Denver. The winner advances to the NCAA Sweet 16 and the region championship.

B-B-E Class of 2022 graduate Emily Kern's college volleyball team, St. Cloud State University, opens their journey in the NCAA Division II tournament with their region quarterfinal match tomorrow night in Wayne, Nebraska.

Sights and sounds of B-B-E's Color FUND Run (VIDEO)

Today we are supposed to reach a high of 80 degrees. Wow! Crazy. We have a very warm, nice day ahead of us.

Speaking of warm weather, we had outstanding nice weather last Wednesday for the seventh annual B-B-E Color FUND Run.

Below is a video recorded while the kids were gathering for the large group photo in the stadium bleachers:


More to come in this week's Voice, where we hope to include at least some information on the totals of funds raised by this event.

We have reached an official high of 81 degrees today in the Bonanza Valley area! Wow! That's just fabulous! We have full sunshine without a cloud in the sky as of 4 p.m., and I'm working in my "backyard office" which amounts to a lawn chair and my laptop. Life is good.

GAME NIGHT! Friday Night Lights V! Updates

It's game day! This time, for the second straight week, game night is not in Jaguar Country. Instead, tonight the B-B-E Jaguars football team travels north as they did last week. This week they face Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in Todd County after heading into Morrison County last week to Swanville. *Tonight's game will be played at the LP-GE football stadium, which is adjacent to their elementary school in the heart of town. It's roughly due south by a couple blocks from main street Long Prairie. This will be my first visit to their football stadium since either the fall of 1993 or 1994. That was quite awhile ago!

The Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Thunder are 0-4 on the season but pose a threatening passing attack. It will be a fun game, and I hope you can take it in by being there!

*Here's a pretty rough video featuring the final 50 seconds or so of the game. I was having major problems with a wet viewfinder on my videocamera, and then I was completely (100%) off the mark for U/SA's final play of the game. Anyway, here it is:


Game updates to follow below.

 
UPDATE: the Jaguars are ahead 6-0 late in the first quarter. B-B-E scored with 1:54 left in the first quarter on a 27-yard run by quarterback Luke Dingmann, who was trying to convert 4th down and four to go.

Halftime: B-B-E 24, LP-GE 0.

UPDATE: look Dingman scored on a 7-yard quarterback carry with 63 seconds left in the third quarter. A failed two-point conversion left the score at 30 to 0. Final score and more in a new blog post!!!

Happy New Year (VIDEO)

To everyone in Jaguar Country, and to those near and far who support those of us living here, Happy New Year!

According to our governor, we live in the land of Rocks and Cows, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Announcement: worship services for Trinity Lutheran and West Lake Johanna Lutheran churches of Brooten have been cancelled for January 2 (tomorrow) due to the bitterly cold weather we are currently experiencing. Remember to add extra to the offering plate when you attend worship on January 9!

Heres's a video with the Christmas weekend worship at West Lake Johanna Lutheran church on Sunday, December 26:


The reading of the lessons by Sam Sanders begins at about the 4:00 mark. Just past the 7:00 mark, Interim Pastor Gary Mills begins reading the Holy Gospel. Right around the 9:00 mark, Pastor Mills begins his sermon.

My very first day of 2022 has been a super busy one. I have added more information on my latest Bonanza Valley Voice COVID-19 article that includes local zip code information. You can find that by clicking on this short link: https://bit.ly/3qz6A2Q. Unfortunately, just as I see calm on the horizon, when I see a chance for me to find peace and time to relax, I learn more troubling information on Governor Walz and his minions. It continues to be deeply disturbing. I can give one positive comment about him: he has the sense to realize if he re-enacted his emergency powers and tried forcing masks on school children across the state, it would not go well for him. We can all be grateful that he sees the huge risks involved with such a move.

Back in the saddle - are you ready, Jaguar Country? (VIDEOS)

I just spent the 6 to 9 o'clock window of the evening not working. It was a nice stretch where I had supper and rested and didn't do one thing that even remotely resembled work. That time is over.

Are you ready for the next 2 to 3 days, Jaguar Country? It will be crazy! A good kind of crazy. But the kind of crazy you must plan ahead for. 

Remember that school will be in session at B-B-E next Monday! A couple teachers mentioned tonight that we will have school for the next three Mondays leading into Thanksgiving!

Another note: I have not heard of any option where people can watch upcoming section playoff events via the Internet. Your options from a distance are either to hope I can post updates on this blog or listen to Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. You can stream Smooth Magic from anywhere with a "Smart" phone or a computer and Internet connection. Their website (save this!) is https://www.kmgk1071.com.

Football-related notes:
Here's a number I'll throw out (year) of 2014. That was the last year Upsala/Swanville Area advanced to the state football tournament. They want that seven-year drought to end. They will be heavily motivated to defeat our B-B-E Jaguars football team on Friday at the FargoDome.

Volleyball-related notes:
Here's two names I'll throw out: Brylie Schultz and Ellissa Rinke. For the latter, I've seen it spelled two different ways: Ellissa and Elissa. In the Grant County Herald newspaper, her name is spelled Elissa. At online sources, it's spelled Ellissa. So who knows! Regardless, Rinke is a phenomenal all-around player who recently surpassed 1,000 career digs. She had a team-leading 20 digs in last Friday's 3-2 semifinal win over Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley; plus 3 ace serves on 13-of-14 serving with 13 kills. Another Rinke on the team is Lesley Rinke, who had 15 set assists. Emily Berger had 23 set assists plus 2 ace serves. Brylie Schultz had 3 ace serves, 17-for-18 serving and a team-high 16 kills. Anna Bright had 9 kills. Kyah Thomas is also a strong attacker and had 7 kills against C-G-B while going 19-of-19 at the serving line with 3 ace serves.

Overall, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross totaled 14 ace serves against their neighboring rival C-G-B in a packed house at Wheaton. The Warriors boasted four players in double digits for digs, which is a big stat! Dig leaders were E. Rinke with 20, Avah Sykora with 19, Kyah Thomas with 17 and Lesley Rinke with 10.

A last figure I saw...W/H-N is 3-2 this fall in matches that went the full five games. They won the first two, then lost two, then they beat C-G-B last week in five to advance in the playoffs.

Here's video featuring the Pep Band performing at halftime of the football team's playoff opener on October 26:


**Here's a video from the Section 4A semifinals against Browerville on Saturday; it features the Jaguars stopping Browerville in the red zone on a fourth-and-three play before they marched down field and took a 14-0 lead:


Signing off now, it's bed time.

A most spectacular day in Jaguar Country (VIDEOS!)

The thesaurus will need some overtime to find the words that properly describe how wonderful today was in Jaguar Country. The entire student body of B-B-E, from preschool through 12th graders, participated in the sixth annual Color FUND Run at the high school campus (and southern side of Belgrade).

A video from the Color FUND Run finish line will be added here after 21:30 tonight.  

Here's video from the start of the senior high race, which formally kicked off the event...and it also features the start of the junior high race (about the 5:00 mark) It has been two years since we've pulled this off in Jaguar Country! I definitely had a lot to remember and catch up on from the first five that we've had:


**And here's a second video quality-checked and ready for posting...this was taken about 20 minutes after the senior high race began at 13:00. It features senior high and junior high students crossing the finish line:


There's a lull in kids crossing the finish line between the 43-second and 2:20 mark, and I had to pan the camera around the campus...then it picks up again with dozens and dozens coming across in different groups. I had to give the volleyball players a hard time (about 5:00 in the video) for walking towards the finish line. Of course, I was joking around, because they did indeed go five games last night and are definitely running in very little sleep this week! (Who's not?)

I want you to know that for the record, this was a day for the ages! It was such an awesome, awesome day to be a part of at the school campus. All six Color FUND Runs that we've had at B-B-E have been very special. I think this one ranks as the best, mostly because we continue to put everything back in place after a challenging and nerve-wracking 2020-2021 school year. The more we put that in our rear view mirror, the better! 

After today's Color Run, students in the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023 participated in a very well-played and exciting Powder Puff flag football game at the football stadium. The seniors won! I don't remember the exact score off the top of my head. It's on video, and I'll get to that eventually tonight.

The Class of 2022 won today's Powder Puff flag football game by a 45-42 score!

Be very proud of this student body! We have our share of bumps and bruises, but we love each other. We would go to the ends of the earth for one another. Today was a prime example of that. No school in central Minnesota can pull off a day like we had today in Jaguar Country. Let that sink in.  

More to come later. I still have to circle back to volleyball coverage from last night! Since the start of last night's volleyball match, I've shot between 600 and 700 photos on three different cameras plus video...and over night we got a 16-page Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issue to press!! No rest for the weary! I looked it over and see about 150 photos from the Powder Puff game. AND the grand total of pictures taken since the start of last night's volleyball game easily surpassed 700.

We are over half way through Homecoming week at B-B-E and there's a lot more fun to be had and memories to be made. Please continue praying for the safety of all of our children and their families as #BBEHoCo week continues!

THANK YOU to Coop's Corner, Bayer Gas and Grocery and Bonanza Valley State Bank for sponsoring this blog post! All three of those businesses are owned by graduates of Brooten, Belgrade and B-B-E high schools! That's neat! For the record: the Bohmer family are all Brooten and B-B-E graduates; Dani Davis is a 2008 B-B-E graduate; and Mark Bayer is a Belgrade graduate, and Connie Bayer is a Brooten graduate.

Two exciting items to share

I have a double dose of great news to share in Jaguar Country.

First, I'm thrilled that Cheryl Kampsen will be at tonight's home boys' basketball game! She is a beloved member of our B-B-E community who has devoted countless hours to promoting Jaguar sports over the better part of the last 15 years. Her four children were all B-B-E Jaguar student-athletes back in the 2000s.

The COVID-19 rules and other related matters have made it very difficult for reporters and photographers to do their thing. I talked to Cheryl this morning, and she's really excited to come and take in a basketball game! Tonight the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team hosts Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Cheryl has taken all the pressure off of me in terms of promoting the Jaguars via social media. (And we all know how good she is at what she does!)  And when asked, she is always gracious enough to share pictures with the school.

In other news, B-B-E is promoting the idea of more collaboration amongst the youngest students in the classroom, news that parents across the district are celebrating as we speak. This issue was given light reference in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in the school board story. I am absolutely thrilled to see the school pushing ahead on it.

At B-B-E, we don't settle for status quo or "the bare minimum" whether it's in academics or our activities!

More updates to follow in a new blog post.

Delay on posters, and more info!! Share, share, share!

Shoe-horning this in on Monday afternoon:
Pep Fest times for Wednesday, November 6: about 10:15 a.m. at the elementary and 1 p.m. at the high school.

Also, the B-B-E Veterans Day program at the elementary school is on Monday, November 11 at 10 a.m. with the Brooten American Legion. **Also there is school that day! Breakfast for the American Legionnaires is 9 a.m. that day at the elementary library.

Special Bonanza Valley Voice state volleyball tournament posters won't be available to post up around the towns until approximately 4 p.m. today. Ughh delays!!!

Had a full-blown crisis on my hands earlier today that distracted me. Related to what I'll call a "logistics" issue with the state volleyball tournament later this week. Logistics!! What a word!!! It can be a thorn for anyone! Just how many moving parts are there to get a small town newspaper's sports department to St. Paul? The answer could be dozens and dozens! Anyway - crisis averted!!! Whew. Now the newspaper will resume normal operations!

**Please remember to get your t-shirt orders in by NOON today. And sign up for the fan bus options for state!!

Remember deadlines! Modern-era life is all about deadlines - step up and get it done!

**Update: a link for a state tournament press release will be posted before noon. It includes options for live streaming matches from the Internet.

And here's that link...important information here! (short link) https://bit.ly/2NFgDzR.

**Update: here's B-B-E fan bus information, very important!! From the school's central office:

BUS INFORMATION FOR BOTH THURSDAY & FRIDAY
School bus prices: Students: $5 / Adults: $10
Charter bus price: Students & Adults: $20
▶️K-6 students may ride with a parent chaperone.
▶️Community members may ride also.
Contact Tessa to sign up for Thursday AND/OR Friday!
tschoenberg@bbejaguars.org or 320-346-2278 x1218.

DEPARTURE: 11:45 a.m. Elementary / 12 p.m. High School (THESE TIMES ARE FOR BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY!

• And hey, while I've got your attention, don't forget to put at least one of the upcoming B-B-E Fall Musical's performances on your schedule!! Performance dates are:

Friday, November 15 (7 p.m.)
Saturday, November 16 (7 p.m.)
Sunday, November 17 (2:30 p.m.)

Adult tickets: $7 and student/child: $4 

Additional musical information will be in this week's and next week's Bonanza Valley Voice.

Support the Fine Arts as well as our Sports!!!

Have a great day Jaguar Country!

(HD video) More from New York Mills and Homecoming

Coach Moscho with his team in the post-game huddle at Ralph Henry Smith athletic field, New York Mills.

Here's a video that will be up for tonight showing a part of the third quarter at New York Mills. The Jaguars scored on a short run by Isaiah Gilbert:


And here's an 11-plus minute video from Homecoming night, featuring the third quarter that started with the Jaguars trailing 23-22...great ending though!!!


We have another interesting week ahead of us in Jaguar Country!

Home wrestling, dance invitationals coming at B-B-E

Local sports fans are asked to mark their calendars and come out to show their support for the our wrestling and dance teams! Both Saturday, January 2 and also Monday, January 4...read all the details on what's happening those days in Jaguar Country on page eight of the Dec. 31 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

Big week!!!!!

We have a big week ahead of us in Jaguar Country!

Tuesday: home girls' basketball game with first place at stake in the Central Minnesota Conference!

Thursday: home boys' basketball game to wrap up the regular season; it's Seniors Night as the Jaguars host Rockford Area. The girls' basketball team is in a border battle contest at Paynesville Area.

Friday: the girls' basketball team travels to Holdingford.

Saturday: the Junior High boys' basketball Jaguars travel to Maple Lake for the CMC tournament. The B-B-E Speech team travels to Forest Lake for an invitational. The varsity wrestling Jaguars battle for state tournament berths at the Section 5A individual tournament in Kimball.

Who else is excited for this upcoming Smelt Fry at Shell's on Main cafe in Belgrade????? I can't wait!

Jesus is the true reason for Christmas!!

Ponder that!

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

 

15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

https://www.bible.com/bible/59/luk.2.11-12.ESV

Almost here

AMEN!

Christmas is almost here! I hope you are having a wonderful and joyous day and evening with your family.

Belgrade's August Fest

Click to enlarge the poster graphic.

The two-day Belgrade August Fest community celebration is today and tomorrow. Click on the following link to read about it at the Sauk Centre Herald website:
http://saukherald.com/articles/2014/08/08/august-fest-2014

MDE: get a clue

So the Minnesota Department of Education is going on the airwaves telling the public that they're pushing four-day week schools back to five-day weeks because "student achievement is suffering."

I can't speak for all four-day week schools, but I can say with 100% certainty that test scores at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, MACCRAY and B-B-E have risen in the last few years. Student achievement is not suffering.

How can MDE get away with lying like that? As I said yesterday, they seriously need to use a new message about their blow back being levied on four-day week schools. Not telling the truth doesn't work.

Question: is the state of Minnesota setting themselves up for a lawsuit by lying about schools? Pretty sure it's against civil law to spread lies like MDE is doing.

Smooth Magic sports banquet: public is invited!

B-B-E Jaguar fans are invited to attend the annual KMGK Smooth Magic 107 sports banquet, scheduled for Wednesday, May 14 at Lakeside Ballroom in Glenwood. Student-athletes from B-B-E, Osakis, Minnewaska Area and Alexandria will be honored that night.

D-Mac sent me the following information:
"In the previous two years, we've had perfect attendance with the students that we have invited (24 each year....six each from B-B-E, Osakis, Alexandria, and Minnewaska). We get a good number of parents of the kids who also attend. I'd like to extend an invitation to members of the public to order tickets and attend with the crowd of student-athletes and their parents. We're excited that two of the Jaguars who will attend are members of the State Championship Boys' Basketball team."

Call the station at 320-634-5358 if you want to order tickets ($15 each, including the meal), or e-mail D-Mac at dmac@kmgk1071.com. In his e-mail, D-Mac mentioned that folks are welcome to pay when they arrive at Lakeside that evening. He requests an RSVP by this Friday, May 9, however, in order to give Lakeside staff an accurate number of who will be attending.

Great families, great parents = great teams!!

Senior award-winners are shown above.

The Jaguars boys' basketball team, basking in the well-deserved glory of winning their second state championship in three years, held the post-season awards banquet at the Padua Pub tonight.

While it'll take days to digest all that was said and review all the video that I got, one thing stood out in my mind as I drove home. During his lengthy speech, Coach Montbriand made more than one reference to the players' parents who had a large role in what happened at B-B-E this month.

Other awards and notes will be posted later tonight on the C, JV and varsity squads, plus some great quotes that I'll share later on. I spent a little over 2 hours away from my family so I'm gonna put my computer to sleep for awhile.

Before I forget to re-post...here's information on how you can order limited-edition state championship apparel!!! Exciting!
http://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2014/03/rambows-state-champion-store.html

If you've got some free time, feel free to take in part of tonight's banquet. Here's the beginning of Coach Montbriand's time talking to the crowd gathered.


And here's Coach Brower and Coach Goodwin talking:

It was a blast!! It's sad that such fun and excitement always has to come to an end somehow. We're so lucky and blessed the way things ended on that wonderful championship Saturday, March 15, 2014!

This is really exciting: this week Wednesday and Thursday, you can hear special interviews with members of this year's state championship team with D-Mac at Smooth Magic 107.1 FM. I missed out on announcing the lineup for Monday and Tuesday...sorry about that. These interviews begin airing around 4:15pm to coincide with the end of the school day.