At 4:14 this morning, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a call reporting a building fire at the address of 50 Cherry Street South in Kimball.
The caller reported the neighbor’s garage was on fire and it was spreading to nearby trees.
Another nearby garage also started on fire. Deputies were called to investigate and learned the fire was accidentally caused by an occupant of the home. A minor child was attempting to dispose of a mattress by burning it in the garage. He believed he extinguished the fire by using water and returned to the house. A short time later the homeowner’s dog was barking, and he looked back outside to see the entire garage was fully engulfed with flames.
All occupants in the house were able to find safety across the street. The garage is considered a total loss, including a vehicle inside and all the contents of the garage. The Kimball Fire Dept. was on the scene with assistance from Watkins Fire Dept. for mutual aid to extinguish the fire. Mayo Ambulance was also on standby for mutual aid for Watkins Ambulance.
The Litchfield School District staff returned to work earlier this week, and students will begin returning to school next week. Fall sports are also underway with various home openers scheduled over the next couple of weeks.
Superintendent Susan Burris says 10th and 12th graders will return to Litchfield High School on September 1st and the 9th and 11th graders will return on September 2nd and during those two days, there will be welcome conferences for parents at the Middle School and at Lake Ripley Elementary School and then all students will be back in their buildings on September 3rd, will then enjoy a 4-day Labor Day weekend and return to school on September 8th. She says there will be information about the upcoming levy and referendum questions during the welcome conferences, and there’s also a referendum open house on September 21st from 4-to-6 p.m. at the Wagner Education Building.
Burris says voters in the Litchfield School District will see two questions on the November 3rd ballot and there is a website which was launched Monday – RaisingDragonsBuildingFutures.org – where people can get information about things like the plan, the tax impact and how to vote. She says she spoke to the Litchfield School Board on Monday evening about the new website, and also about the goals she’s putting together for her 3rd year which include connections, collaboration and coherence.
Burris says Board Chair Alex Carlson spoke on Monday evening about the Litchfield Public School Foundation which awards grants each year to teachers for various projects to enhance their programs – and over $22,000 was awarded last year alone! She says people, businesses and service clubs routinely make donations to the school district for various items and they so appreciate receiving those donations. If there’s a program that you would like to help support, checks may be dropped off at the school district offices at any time.
An enthusiastic group of supporters attended the Princess Kay pageant at the Minnesota State Fair last night, cheering for Meeker County Dairy Princess Claudia Frenchick of St. Martin who was one of the 10 finalists for the title. As the evening concluded, Jena Hanson of Owatonna, representing Steele County was crowned as the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
Hanson, daughter of Steve & Suzie Hanson, will be a junior at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls studying dairy science management. Jaden Smith of Melrose in Stearns County was named as Miss Congeniality. $1,000 scholarships went to 3 of the contestants – Isabella Schiffler of Albany, representing Stearns County, Jena Hanson, and to Claudia Frenchick.
Frenchick’s video was the first to be presented last night during the coronation and in it, she spoke about her cows at Manannah Valley. During an interview on stage with emcee Rod Johnson, he mentioned that Claudia asked for her first Jersey heifer when she was 4-years-old. He asked her about the judging process during the Princess Kay competition and Claudia said it was nerve-wracking, but it enabled her to meet a great group of girls. She is the daughter of Amanda Frenchick and will be sophomore at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities studying animal science with a goal of becoming a large animal veterinarian.
Along with Jena Hanson, the other two finalists at the end of the pageant were Jaden Smith and Isabella Schiffler. Hanson will be having a likeness of her head carved out of a 90-pound block of butter today and tomorrow by Litchfield sculptor Gerry Kulzer at the Minnesota State Fair. Claudia Frenchick will sit for her butter sculpture on Tuesday, September 1st.
