Litchfield Community Education is getting ready for spring activities to begin. Sign up is underway for track & field for 4th through 6th graders, tennis and softball.
Litchfield Community Education Director Grant Solem says there’s plenty of time to get signed up, and the summer program guides are nearly ready so they will be sent home with students in K-through-6 soon. He says the pool project was completed last month so it’s already a busy place and lots of kids will be taking swimming lessons this summer.
Solem says donations are welcome any time to their scholarship fund which makes it possible for some students to take community education classes that otherwise might not be able to participate. He says the Wintercade organization gave Litchfield Community Education a $1,000 donation on Monday evening to help boost the scholarship fund which will make it possible for 18 children to get swim lessons.
Solem says they also have gift certificates available and they make great gifts for kids. He says the production of “Finding Nemo Jr.” is coming up April 16th through the 19th; Tim Nelson’s production of “Murder on the High Seas” is coming up in mid-May; and Litchfield Community Theatre will produce “Mary Poppins” in July.
Solem says there’s a trip to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see “Guys and Dolls” on April 22nd and the deadline to sign up is coming up soon. He says Litchfield Community Education also has trips on May 14th to see “Birthday Candles” at the Sidekick Theater in Bloomington and to the Day Trippers Theater on June 24th to see “Nobody’s Perfect.” For more information on any Litchfield Community Education activities, call 320-693-2354.
The Litchfield School Board has approved of a list of budget reduction items that were put together by the administration. The cuts for next year’s budget total $368,005.
On February 9th, the Board approved of a motion assigning the administrative team the task of finding $350,000 or more worth of cuts for the 2026-27 budget. The list includes one full-time equivalent literacy lead, one full-time equivalent focus teacher (student success coordinator), a point-4 Spanish teacher position, three full-time equivalent para professionals (2 Title-1 and 1 special ed.), one full-time equivalent clerical position, special projects support for district reduced days, a varsity assistant wrestling coach, and a middle school track coach. Marcia Provencher voted against the measure as she did not want cuts to be made to the paraprofessional positions.
The Board heard a report last night from Peter Leatherman of Morris & Leatherman regarding a telephone survey that was conducted with 400 random school district residents from late January to early February to help gauge the feasibility of going to voters in November with either an operating levy and/or a building referendum. Leatherman went over the results and determined that residents have positive feelings about the school district, but there is a solid 25% who would not support any property tax increases.
The Board also heard a report from Jennifer Ridgeway regarding the Crisis Management Policy and Comprehensive School Safety Guide which had a first reading approved as part of the consent agenda. Litchfield School Board member Greg Mathews also reported on a meeting that he and fellow board member Darrin Anderson had with a group of community members who are concerned about bullying and he proposed having a community forum to allow people to air their feeling on the topic, but the idea failed on a 3-to-3 tie vote with Stephanie Danielson joining Mathews and Anderson on the idea. The other members wanted to check first with the Minnesota School Board Association on some of the legal issues involved with holding a public forum and taking a different approach to addressing the issue.
The Litchfield Downtown Council, Litchfield Golf and Community Partners and Prospects presents “An Evening in Front of the Radio” – a dinner reader’s theater production about the golden age of radio. It’s coming up this Saturday, March 14th, at Prospects in Litchfield.
Betty Allen says doors will open at 5:30 p.m., with a 2-meat buffet at 6 p.m. and the show at 7. She says tickets are $35 and there were 70 seats available, so get your tickets soon. Carl Minton from the Litchfield Golf and Community Partners Board says they are providing the materials for a stage at Prospects along with the labor. He says this is a new venture at the golf club.
Darlene Kotelnicki says tickets are available at the Fieldgate Cheese Store, DeAnn’s Country Village Shoppe, Farm Bureau or by calling her at 320-535-0034; and it’s cash or check only. She says the cast includes Art Elson, Erika & Michael Buller, Paul White, Beckie Simenson, Karter Cunningham, Jeff Woods, Scott Nelson, Betty Allen and herself and they’ll be portraying news and other events that people would have heard on the radio back in the 30s, 40s and 50s.
Kotelnicki says there will be items like the crash of the Hindenburg, Charles Lindberg landing in Paris, the Kentucky Derby, a Joe Lewis fight, Abbott & Costello’s “Who’s on First” skit, Norma Berke doing the 10 a.m. news from her home in Litchfield, Betty Crocker, George Burns & Gracie Allen and more. She says they will also have sound effects and signs for the audience to follow such as “on air,” “laugh” and “applause.”
Kotelnicki says they are raising funds to help with this summer’s musical line-up in Central Park. She says it’s a family-friendly show and if it goes well, they’ll try it again.