The Litchfield City Council had a brief meeting on Tuesday evening, but prior to the regular meeting, a lengthier work session was held. The purpose of the work session was to discuss organizational needs.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says there are some vacancies in the city staff that need to be filled such as the building inspector which had been occupied by the late Jim Tews. He says there is a vacancy at the Pro Shop; they are considering a city planner position; and there are other vacancies such as assistant line foreman and a lineman, but those are proving to be difficult to fill as their pay scale has gone way up.
Mayor Dingmann says during the regular Council meeting Tuesday evening, they finally approved the grant agreement with the State of Minnesota for the historic building grant. He says several people helped the City in the process and the next step will be determining which buildings will receive grants for their façade improvement projects and for how much.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council last May approved of adding an additional 8 adjustable basketball hoops to the Litchfield Area Recreation Center and the boy’s and girl’s basketball programs had offered to contribute some money toward this project, but it appears that there is money left over in the LARC building project budget. He says they will look into the additional hoop request and some other LARC wish list items at a future council meeting.
The Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee has one more meeting before the start of the 54th annual event – scheduled for the week of January 31st through February 7th. Plans are taking shape as the big event approaches and 10 Hartford, Alabama residents visit Meeker County.
This year’s student delegates who will be arriving in Meeker County that week for the sister-city exchange trip between Litchfield and Hartford, Alabama will include Connor Childs, Hunter Brooks, Trenton Thompson, Vince Gervasoni, Ruthie Dawsey, and Addi Mae Habbard – who are all seniors, and junior Callie Cotton. The adult delegates are Deni & Robby Cotton (Callie’s parents) and Leslie Habbard (Geneva County High School Principal & Addi Mae’s mother).
Connor will be hosted by Cade Cervin; Hunter will stay with Emmett VanDerBill; Trenton will be hosted by Wyatt Ratike; Vince and Addi Mae will stay with Desirae Polzin and family; Ruthie will be hosted by Taylor Sanden; Callie will be hosted by Alexis Engelke and family; and the chaperones will all stay at the home of Todd & Deana Wheeler.
The group will go to church with their host families Sunday morning, then visit the Twine Ball in Darwin prior to going snowmobiling at the Roger & Janet Huhn farm by Lake Manuella on February 1st at 2 p.m. and then attend a chili & soup supper that evening at the Forest City Threshers building from 6-to-8 p.m. The public is welcome to both of those events. They’ll tour several Meeker County dairy facilities on February 2nd for “Dairy Day” which begins with breakfast at Swan’s Café – sponsored by Manannah Valley Dairy and Swan’s, followed by tours of Schiefelbein Farms, Ahlgren’s robotic dairy, First District Association and Ru-Be Dairy.
Plans for Tuesday, February 3rd include breakfast with the Litchfield Rotary Club, then a trip to the new Children’s Museum in Benson, followed by an afternoon of ice fishing on Lake Ripley. The FFA Alumni is paying for the fishing licenses for the Southern guests.
Following a breakfast at Steffes Auctioneers on Wednesday, February 4th, the Hartford group will tour Litchfield High School and the Litchfield Area Recreation Center and some Litchfield businesses – coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce. They will also have lunch with the Kiwanis Club. On Thursday, February 5th, they will have breakfast at McDonald’s while being interviewed on KLFD Radio, then travel to Powder Ridge for skiing and tubing – compliments of Meeker Energy & Vibrant Broadband.
They will attend a potluck banquet and silent auction that evening at St. Philip’s Church in Litchfield. Social time begins at 6:30 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7 p.m. The public is welcome to the potluck dinner – bring a dish to share. The week will wrap up on Friday, February 6th with tours of more Litchfield businesses, along with the G.A.R. Hall and the Forest City Stockade. The Hartford guests will return to Alabama on February 7th.
The Knights of Columbus will have a breakfast on Sunday (January 25) from 9-to-noon in the St. Philip’s Church Social Hall in Litchfield. The menu includes egg bake, sausage and monkey bread.
Eric Mathwig says the egg bake is his special recipe and their Hispanic members will also have a breakfast burrito. He says they have several breakfasts throughout the year with the proceeds for each going to a special project and this one will help to fund an ultrasound machine for the Hope Pregnancy Center.
Mathwig says the Knights of Columbus is sponsoring a charter bus to travel to the Minnesota State Capitol tomorrow (January 22) for the MCCL March for Life. He says the bus will leave St. Philip’s Church in Litchfield at 7:50, and you can call Tony if you want to get signed up at 320-248-6863.
There’s also a spaghetti dinner in the St. Philip’s Church Social Hall in Litchfield on Saturday from 4:30-to-6:30 p.m. to help kick off Catholic Schools Week The menu includes spaghetti, garlic bread, salad and a brownie for $12. Proceeds will benefit the School of St. Philip.