Season opener, 2026-27 sports are in play!

The tennis team is opening the new season at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle this morning. The tennis team has 14 players on the roster. They face LP-GE/Upsala-Swanville Area and Staples-Motley at the triangular. 

B-B-E Community Calendar is updated (online) + Elrosa Saints clothing store is open!

In case you were wondering about what's coming up, a few events are always available to look at by clicking on the following link at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/page/bonanza-valley-area-community-calendar-updated-frequently/102.html.

In the print edition of The Voice, one version of the community calendar is found each week on page two. This is thanks in large part to the sponsorship of the Bonanza Valley State Bank.

In Elrosa Saints news...
The Rambow, Inc. online clothing store for Elrosa state tournament merch will be open soon. An announcement will be posted hopefully today. Stay tuned! It will be a short turnaround to get the orders fulfilled by this weekend.

Here it is...click on the following link: https://programs.rambowinc.com/login.php?UserID=elrosa&ReturnURL=https://www.rambow.com. This online store closes tonight at midnight.

The Elrosa Saints take a 23-8 record into the Class C state tournament.

The passing of a centenarian...
Leona Schwinghammer, who has countless descendants who include past, current and future B-B-E students, passed away on Monday this week. You can read about her funeral announcement by clicking here: LeonaSchwinghammerFuneral.

Elrosa Saints earn No. 3 seed from regions for state tournament

The Elrosa Saints will open the Class C amateur state tournament next weekend. The Saints had a 3-2 record in the Region 8C tournament in Regal. After going 1-1 last weekend to fall into the elimination bracket, the Saints won back-to-back games in the tournament this weekend. This put them in the final seeding game of regions, which was played this afternoon. The Atwater Chuckers took an early 6-1 lead and came away with a 9-8 win.

The statistic of the game: Elrosa had 8 earned runs, while Atwater had 4 earned runs.

Region 8C state qualifiers plus state draftees:
1. Richmond (No. 1 seed; Ty Reller of New Munich and Cam Miller of Farming)
2. Atwater (Josiah Utsch of Roscoe and Ben Welle of Spring Hill)
3. Elrosa (Jared Cortez of Norway Lake-Sunburg and Caden Sand of New Munich)
4. Starbuck (Sam Etterman of New London-Spicer and Trent Wendlandt of Lake Henry)

On Saturday night, Richmond defeated Atwater 3-2 in the region championship game.

SPREAD THE WORD! Here's the state information you're looking for: the Elrosa Saints open the state tournament on Sunday, August 23 in New Prague. They play the Pierz Brewers at 4 p.m. Pierz is a state entrant from the Victory League.

Their game follows the 1:30 p.m. game in New Prague, which features Atwater taking on the Nimrod Gnats. Nimrod was the No. 2 seed from Region 4C.

Here's a video from the Saturday morning events at August Fest:


More to come.

Here's a video from the Pope County Fair...which was awhile ago now!


The Belgrade city council held their regular August meeting tonight. The agenda was posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: http://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com.

Game day once again in Regal (UPDATES)

Thanks to a thrilling, nerve-wracking 4-3 win over Farming on Saturday, the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team has extended their season to not only the final day of the Region 8C tournament but also the Class C state tournament.

Today, at 10:30 a.m., the Saints take on Starbuck in a state seeding game. The loser heads to state with the No. 4 seed from Region 8C, and the winner gets to play today at 1 p.m. in the final seeding game of regions.

In the Farming game on Saturday, each team had 8 hits. The winning pitcher was Elrosa's second relief pitcher, Wyatt Steffensen, who pitched the third, fourth and fifth innings. Payton VanBeck earned the save in the last 1 1/3 innings.

Today involves 2 church services, baseball in Regal and the celebration of history at the Norway Lake Lutheran Historical Association's log church in Arctander Township.

**Update: with 7 innings in the book, Elrosa holds a 3-1 lead over Starbuck.

Final score: Elrosa 3, Starbuck 1. The Stars enter the state tournament as the No. 4 seed. Elrosa now faces Atwater today in the final seeding contest of Region 8C. The Atwater Chuckers lost last night to Richmond in the Region 8C championship game.

At Belgrade today, the BG/CR/G Lutheran parish and the River of Life church hosted an outdoor ecumenical worship at the city park. Attendance reached around 75, and a pulled pork meal was served afterwards.

**Atwater vs. Elrosa: the Chuckers are ahead 4-0 in the third inning. In the top of the 4th, Atwater used 2 doubles to extend the lead to 6-0. 

In the top of the 5th, Atwater leads 6-1.

 
In the seventh inning, Elrosa scored 5 runs that knotted the score at 7-7. Atwater scored once in the eighth and another time in the top of the ninth to gain a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the Saints got just one run back in a 9-8 loss. This hands Elrosa the No. 3 seed for the upcoming state tournament.

Saints vs. Flames: game updates

After 4 innings, Elrosa and Farming are tied 2-2 in Regal. The Saints scored both runs in the 1st inning. 

Final: Elrosa 4, Farming 3. Elrosa advances to the state tournament. 

The Saints play again on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in a seeding game. I'll get more updates posted late tonight after the Belgrade August Fest street dance. I have said it before, and it's worth repeating: it's important to take in the community events in the Bonanza Valley!

Here's a video featuring the scene early today in Belgrade:


At that point, the light mist and rain that was falling in the morning was winding down. The August Fest activities had a strong draw, and Belgrade has had a terrific day that they can be proud of.

Belgrade August Fest continues with Kentucky Thunder (VIDEO)

The Belgrade August Fest continued for its second day of activities with the Fire Department's chicken BBQ supper tonight at the VFW.

Here's Kentucky Thunder playing at the VFW:


Turnout for their chicken feed surpassed 650. I don't have exact numbers, but I am thinking they will have served about 675 tonight. That is terrific!

Don't forget the B-B-E Troop 667 Scouting America's waffle feed tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 a.m. to noon on main street. For ages 13 and older, tickets are $12. For ages 6 to 12, the price is $8. Children ages 5 and under eat free.

Belgrade's August Fest is underway (VIDEO)

The food and music was terrific tonight at the opening night of the Belgrade August Fest. The band Southern Crossroads played music at the Belgrade city park while a petting zoo was held and a meal and drinks were served out of the park shelter. Members of the Belgrade Fire Department and the Belgrade-Brooten Police Department hosted a Touch-a-Truck event at the same time.

The next big Belgrade August Fest event is on Friday with the Fire Department chicken BBQ supper plus the Kensington Bank ice cream social. These events take place from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Belgrade VFW. The band Kentucky Thunder will perform starting at 7 p.m. at the same location.

More coverage of the Belgrade August Fest and other events can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.

It is crazy, but I am still uploading Bonanza Valley Days videos. I found a few on a chip that have not been uploaded over one month after that weekend.

Here's a video from Bonanza Valley Days on Saturday morning that weekend:


The Belgrade August Fest classic car, truck and tractor show is from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday morning on main street.

First responders save life of B-B-E senior on Thursday (Go Fund Me added)

After a crash with a semi tractor/trailer, the first responders of the New London area helped save the life of Colton Schueler, 17, on Thursday, August 6 in Burbank Township. Schueler is part of the B-B-E Class of 2027. He was also a member of this past Jaguar baseball team this spring.

According to a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office news release, Schueler suffered serious injuries when his 2000 Oldsmobile Alero collided with a semi trailer as it was turning right into a driveway on 240th Avenue Northeast in rural Belgrade. The time was 12:30 p.m., and the semitractor and trailer was a 2020 Kenworth driven by 41-year old Cole Ashburn of Willmar.

Schueler was transported to CentraCare Hospital in Paynesville and then airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, according to the news release from Cpl. Karla Koplin. Assisting at the scene of the crash were CentraCare Ambulance, New London Ambulance, New London Fire Department, Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and the Minnesota State Patrol.

It was reported to the Bonanza Valley Voice that Schueler is in stable condition with numerous injuries that do not appear to threaten his life at this time.

Here's how you can support his family right away:
A friend of Colton's family has set up a GoFundMe. You can find that here: https://gofund.me/665b2964c.