Local News

The Minnesota State Patrol responded to a one-vehicle crash at 8:33 Tuesday morning on Highway 24, near County-State-Aid-Highway 27, in Forest City Township.  A 2023 Chevrolet Malibu was northbound on highway 24 when it left the roadway and crashed.  The vehicle was driven by 81-year-old Mary Louise Mendoza of Litchfield.  She received non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Meeker Memorial Hospital.  Also responding to the scene were Litchfield Fire Dept., Meeker County Sheriff’s Office and Mayo Ambulance.

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Nine 4th graders are in the Junior Royalty competition this year for the 70th annual Litchfield Watercade celebration. The Junior Royalty pageant will be held at 12:30 on July 12th in the Bernie Aaker Auditorium.

Candidate #1 is Aliyah and she’s sponsored by IRD Glass. She says math is her favorite subject – especially division, and she also likes art. Aliyah says she likes to play outside, if it’s not too hot, and she might have some sleepovers and play dates this summer. She says running for junior royalty sounded like something fun to do.

Aliyah says her favorite Watercade event is the parade. Gabbi is another one of the nine junior royalty candidates and her sponsor is Herradura Food Truck. She says math is also her favorite subject and she enjoys going to daycare. Gabbi says she thought she’d try running for junior royalty and then might consider running for Miss Litchfield some day.

Gabbi says her favorite Litchfield Watercade activity is also the parade – and it’s coming up on July 11th at 6 p.m. For more Watercade information, go to watercade.com.

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The 70th annual Litchfield Watercade celebration is coming up July 9th through the 12th, with some of the events already beginning on Monday, July 6th. The final event of the celebration will be the coronation and there are 7 candidates this year for Miss Litchfield.

The candidates are being interviewed this week on KLFD’s “Newsmaker” program and the first three were on the show yesterday. Kierra Lease, daughter of Daniel & Heather Lease is being sponsored by Bluestem Wealth Partners. She says her activities at Litchfield High School included volleyball, basketball, track & field, choir, band, marching band, FCA and National Honor Society. Lease says she will attend Ridgewater College in Willmar this fall to study elementary education. She says she’s always wanted to run for Miss Litchfield.

Lease says the Medallion Hunt has been one of her favorite Watercade Activities and she was one of the people who found it back in 2021. Abbigail Thoma, daughter of Jon & Heidi Thoma is being sponsored by Kim Dolan & Dennis Gartner of Edina Realty. She says her high school activities have included FCCLA, FCA, National Honor Society, yearbook, band, choir, marching band, cross country, track and serving as the girls basketball manager. Thoma plans to attend Minnesota State – Moorhead to study mathematics and eventually pursue a career in finance or insurance. She says she ran for Miss Litchfield last year and wanted to run again this year.

Thoma says her favorite Watercade activity is the coronation and she encourages people to attend that event on July 12th at 3 p.m. in the Bernie Aaker Auditorium. Ellivia Woods, daughter of Taryn & James Woods, is sponsored by Farm Bureau Financial Services. She says her high school activities have included dance team, National Honor Society, yearbook and golf. Woods says she plans to attend the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and study kinesiology with plans to eventually become an occupational therapist. She says she loves the community and has always wanted to run for Miss Litchfield.

Woods says she especially enjoys the Litchfield Watercade parade which will be on July 11th at 6 p.m. and she’s maybe a little biased as she’s been a member of the Litchfield High School marching band. For more Watercade information, go to watercade.com.

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