The 54th annual Peanut Butter & Milk Festival is winding down as the ten visitors to Meeker County from Hartford, Alabama have a few more activities today. They will fly back to Alabama tomorrow.
This year’s student delegates from Hartford have included Connor Childs, Hunter Brooks, Trenton Thompson, Vince Gervasoni, Ruthie Dawsey, and Addi Mae Habbard – who are all seniors at Geneva County High School and Callie Cotton, who is a junior. The adult delegates are Deni & Robby Cotton (Callie’s parents) and Leslie Habbard (Addi Mae’s mother).
Addi Mae Habbard has been hosted by Desirae Polzin. She’s been involved in the FFA since the 9th grade and is involved in basketball and softball, and she’ll be playing softball when she goes to college. One of the things she’s noticed in Minnesota is the yield signs.
Callie Cotton is staying with Bianca Forsberg this week. She’s the FFA treasurer and is involved in volleyball, basketball, and National Honor Society and enjoys fishing, hunting and singing. Callie hopes to become a physical therapy assistant. She enjoyed Karaoke Wednesday evening at the Wheeler home, and she’s been surprised by the size of the houses in Minnesota.
Connor Childs has been hosted this week by Cade Cervin. He farms with his dad and they raise corn, peanuts and cotton, and he’s hoping to eventually take over the family farm. He’s involved in FFA, has 4 dogs and plans to attend Troy University to major in agronomy. Connor says he was impressed with their tour of the Bushmills Ethanol plant.
Hunter Brooks is staying with Emmett VanDerBill this week. He’s an FFA officer, is the manager for both the basketball and football teams in Hartford and is on the track & field team. Hunter also plans to attend Troy University to major in psychology. Hunter says during their dairy day tour, they got to witness a cow having surgery.
Ruthie Dawsey is being hosted by Taylor Sanden. She’s involved in FFA, FCCLA, and her youth group and plans to attend Auburn University and major in education. Ruthie says the cow surgery on dairy day was definitely memorable and she’s so thankful that there is a sister city program between Hartford and Litchfield.
Trenton Thompson is staying with Wyatt Ratike this week. He lives on a farm with his grandma and works in a metal scrap yard. He’s involved in FFA, the FBLA chapter, the football team, the track team and enjoys hunting and fishing. Trenton says he enjoyed dairy day and snowmobiling.
Vincent Gervasoni is being hosted by Desirae Polzin. He lived in New Jersey for 12 years, but moved to Hartford, Alabama 5 years ago and lives on a farm. He’s involved in FFA, FBLA, basketball, football, swimming and track and enjoys video games and cooking. Vince wants to enlist in the military after high school and go to Ranger school. Vincent says he’s enjoyed the outdoor activities that they’ve gotten to experience in Minnesota and he also liked dairy day.
Leslie Habbard is the Principal at Geneva County High School. She and her husband, Adam, have 4 children. Leslie says their tour of Bushmills Ethanol was very interesting, and she enjoyed their time at Steffes Auctioneers. She says it’s been fun to see all of the pheasants in Minnesota, how friendly everyone is, and she enjoyed touring Litchfield High School.
Robby and Deni Cotton have 3 children. Robby does maintenance and painting at the school in Hartford, and Deni is the secretary at Sardis Church. She’s also the president of the Sister City Committee and vice president of the Geneva County Bulldog Athletic Club. Robby says he raises chickens as a hobby and also enjoys fishing and hunting. He says he’s noticed how people in Minnesota seem to drink lots of milk and water, whereas they tend to drink soda and sweet tea in Alabama. He says he was very impressed with their dairy day tours.
Deni says she was part of the group that visited Litchfield back in 2017 and she noticed a lot of changes at IRD Glass since then as they had a tour there on Wednesday. She says she also enjoyed the Bushmills Ethanol tour and going ice fishing.
Leslie, Robby and Deni have been hosted this week by Todd & Deana Wheeler. Following another busy day of tours in the Litchfield area today, the Southern guests will return to Alabama tomorrow.
The Pioneerland libraries in Meeker County have several events coming up this month. Winter Reads, the self-paced winter reading program, continues in all 4 libraries – Litchfield, Dassel, Grove City and Cosmos – through March 14th. Sign up any time. It’s open to adults and teens.
The Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Monday, February 16, for Presidents’ Day. For more information on any events, call 693-2483. Here’s what’s happening this month in each library:
Litchfield
Wednesdays, 10:15-10:45 am: Baby/Toddler Storytime
Fridays, 10:15-11:15 am: Kids’ Storytime
Thursday 2/5, 1 pm, through Saturday 2/7, 5 pm: Puzzle Exchange. Donate, take, or trade puzzles. All ages.
Mon 2/9, 4 pm: Friends of the Litchfield Library winter meeting
Tues 2/10, 12 pm: Adult Book Club: Happy Place
Tues 2/10, 6:30-7:30 pm: LEGO Night. Age 14 and younger.
Wed 2/11, 2-2:45 pm: Homeschool Connections. Sign-up required.
Sat 2/14, 1:30-3:30 pm: Teen Program: Collaborative video gaming. Ages 11-18
Tues 2/17, 6:30-7:30 pm: Board Game Night. All ages.
Wed 2/18, 7 pm: Mystery Book Club
Thurs 2/19, 12:30-1:30 pm: Knitting Club. All ages.
Tues 2/24, 2 pm and 6:30 pm: Seed Starting Workshop. Taught by Meeker County Master Gardeners.
Dassel
Fridays, 10 am: Story Hour
Thurs 2/5, 6 pm: Origami Star Jars. Sign-up required. Age 12 to adult.
Thurs 2/12, 4-5:30 pm: Crafternoon. Bring-your-own craft program for adults and older teens.
Tues 2/24, 1 pm: Adult Book Club: Frozen River
Grove City
Thursdays, 3-5 pm: Crafternoon. Bring-your-own craft program for adults.
Thurs 2/5, 3 pm: Valentine Diamond Art. Sign-up required. Adults and teens.
Tues 2/10, 2 pm: Storytime
Tues 2/17, 7 pm: ATGC Book Club: Project Hail Mary
Wed 2/18, 4-5 pm: Board Games. All ages.
Thurs 2/26, 4-5 pm: Knitting Club. All ages.
Cosmos
Sat 2/28, 10:30 am-12:30 pm: Craft Circle. Bring-your-own craft program for adults and older teens.
The G.A.R. Hall and Meeker County Museum will be one of the stops for Friday’s tour schedule of the Hartford, Alabama visitors who are in town this week for the 54th annual Peanut Butter & Milk Festival. They will be at the G.A.R. Hall in Litchfield on Friday from 1:15-to-2:30 p.m. and will then head out to the Forest City Stockade for a tour at 2:45 p.m.
Meeker County Museum Executive Director Danelle Erickson says it’s always fun to host the guests from Alabama and share our local history. She says they usually spend some time looking through the old newspapers to find stories about the people from Hartford who have visited Meeker County in the past.
Erickson says the monthly Civil War Roundtable is coming up next Thursday, February 12th at 1:30 p.m. at the G.A.R. Hall. She says Gary Blessman will be speaking on the topic “Blood, Bandages and Beds: Hospital Ships of the Civil War.”
Erickson says President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is also on February 12th and he was a highly revered individual as his portrait can be seen above the front entrance of the G.A.R. Hall building at 308 North Marshall Avenue. She says the museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10-to-4 and Saturdays from noon-to-4 and you can find more information on Facebook and at meekercomuseum.org.