The Litchfield School District is bustling with activities. Superintendent Susan Burris says there are numerous activities coming up in each building in February, and she reviewed many of the activities that she’s been involved in over the past month.
Burris says she toured the Litchfield Area Recreation Center last week with construction trade students as ICS is working with the students to provide some hands-on learning opportunities. She says the staff had a professional development day on January 20th with motivational speaker Cindra Kamphoff of Mankato who spoke to staff last August and will return this coming August.
Burris says she will be meeting with staff in each building for lunch over the next month or so in an event she calls “Soup with the Super.” She says the School Resource Officer Aaron Nelson has been involved in the Administration team meetings as they continue to review the crisis management plan.
Burris says Lake Ripley Elementary students will be involved in I Love to Read and Read Across America in February; Middle School students just wrapped up a great Knowledge Bowl season and are enjoying a Harry Potter event today; and High School students will have a visit from the Alabama guests next Tuesday during the Peanut Butter & Milk Festival and will have Snow Week in February. She says the Litchfield High School Choir will perform on Feb. 14th at the Minnesota Music Teachers convention.
Minnesota families who have owned their farms for 100-years or more are welcome to apply for the 2025 Century Farm Program. It’s sponsored by the Minnesota State Fair and Minnesota Farm Bureau.
More than 11,000 Minnesota farms have been honored since the program began in 1976. Family farms are recognized as a century farm by meeting three requirements: the farm must be at least 100-years-old according to authentic land records; must be in continuous family ownership for at least 100-years; and must be at least 50-acres and currently involved in agricultural production.
A commemorative certificate signed by Governor Tim Walz, the State Fair Board of Managers President Wally Wichmann and Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Dan Glessing will be awarded to qualifying families, along with an outdoor sign signifying Century Farm status.
Applications are available online at mnstatefair.org, at fbmn.org, by calling 651-288-4417 or at county extension offices. The submission deadline is March 3rd. Recipients will be announced later this spring. Previously recognized families should not reapply. Century Farm program information will be available at the MN Farm Bureau exhibit during the 2025 MN State Fair.
January is National Mentor Month and the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program has used the observance to get the word out to the community about what it does, and also to put out a plea for the need for mentors. More information is available at lampkinship.org.
Judy Hulterstrum says there are 8 full-time matches right now, but there are several children on a waiting list who are waiting to be matched with mentors. She says they recently started a 4H club to provide some group mentoring, but they need more one-to-one matches, and it’s not a big commitment for the adults who get involved.
Hulterstrum says being a mentor just requires 4 hours of your time each month, and there is an application to fill out, along with a background check, home interview and checking your driving record. She says the mentees also fill out an application and have a home interview.
Hulterstrum says you could also get involved in the Lunch Buddies program which isn’t quite as extensive as being a regular mentor. She says she’d like to thank all of the volunteers in LAMP and you can get more information by emailing info@lampkinship.org or by calling her at 320-699-1616.
The 53rd annual Peanut Butter & Milk Festival begins this Saturday with the arrival of six residents of Hartford, Alabama – Litchfield’s sister city. The Southern guests will spend their week in Minnesota learning about Meeker County’s dairy industry and enjoying some winter activities.
This year’s visitors from Hartford, Alabama will include Geneva County High School students Ava Waldo, Kaitlyn Harris and Kyleigh Saunders. They will be hosted by Allie Kargas, Brooke Caron and Riley Joyer, respectively. Their chaperones will be Charlie & Brenda Skinner who will be staying with Russ & Lori Ratike, and ag teacher Nathan Parker who will be hosted by Mak & Anna Lokken.
The schedule for the week of February 1st through the 8th will include a snowmobiling event on February 2nd at the Roger & Janet Huhn Farm on Lake Manuella at 2 p.m.; Dairy Day on February 3rd, with a soup & chili supper capping that evening at 7 p.m. at the Forest City Threshers Building; a visit to Litchfield High School and various Litchfield businesses and attending a hockey game on February 4th; KLFD interviews at McDonald’s and a trip to the State Capitol and Mall of America on February 5th; visits to more area businesses on February 6th with a potluck banquet that evening at 6:30 at the St. Philip’s Church Social Hall in Litchfield; and skiing and tubing at Powder Ridge on February 7th.
The public is welcome to the snowmobiling event, the soup and chili supper and the potluck banquet which also includes a silent auction.