The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office responded to a motorcycle crash on Sunday evening at 7:08 in the 13000 block of 175th Street Northeast in Irving Township. 24-year-old Samuel Arthur Hoffenkamp of rural Hawick was driving a 2011 Harley-Davidson Street Glide northbound and failed to navigate the curve, left the roadway and entered the northeaster ditch where he laid down the motorcycle. Hoffenkamp was transported to CentraCare Hospital in Willmar. The crash remains under investigation. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Minnesota State Patrol, Atwater Ambulance and the Atwater Fire Department.
Meeker County Dairy Princess Claudia Frenchick is one of the ten finalists for Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The pageant will be held tomorrow night at the Minnesota State Fair’s Leinie Lodge Bandshell.
Claudia is the daughter of Amanda Frenchick and is from St. Martin which is in Stearns County, but her cows live near Manannah in Meeker County which is why she is a Meeker County dairy princess. She says she was a junior princess 3 years ago, and has been a dairy princess the past two years, and she wasn’t sure if she would compete for Princess Kay this year, but then decided to go for it during the May leadership event in the Twin Cities.
Frenchick says her first cousin, Paige, was one of the Princess Kay finalists last year, so she’s had conversations with her about what to expect. She says there was an orientation event in July so that the finalists could get to know each other better, and a videographer from Midwest Dairy came out to her farm earlier this summer to take some footage that will be shown during the Princess Kay pageant.
Frenchick says no matter what happens at the pageant, she will have a likeness of her head carved out of a 90-pound block of butter by Litchfield sculptor Gerry Kulzer during the Minnesota State Fair and she will have it on display next year at the Meeker County ADA Princess Banquet. She says she is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and is studying animal science in hopes of becoming a large animal veterinarian someday.
The Litchfield School District’s referendum website was launched yesterday with extensive information about the District’s challenges, plan, impact, voting and more. It can be found at RaisingDragonsBuildingFutures.org.
Superintendent Susan Burris says a referendum open house is scheduled for September 21st from 4-to-6 p.m. at the Wagner Education Building. Burris also presented a draft list of her goals for 2026-27 which include three C’s – connections, collaboration and coherence. She also told the Board that the hiring process for a Middle School Activities Director has been reinitiated.
Business Manager Jesse Johnson presented information about the on-going tennis court surface adhesion issues. He says the contractor has been working to correct the affected areas and it appears to have addressed the concerns.
School Board Chair Alex Carlson went over the history of the Litchfield Public School Foundation. He says 150 projects have been funded over the past 14-years, totaling more than $197,000. Carlson says the endowment fund is now at more than $291,000, and in April of this year, they received an anonymous donation of $100,000.
The Litchfield School Board has approved of a resolution accepting donations including: $500 from the Litchfield Lions Club for Litchfield Middle School for classroom books; $500 from Litchfield Girls Summer Fastpitch Softball for High School Girls Softball for the cost of a pitching coach clinic: $275 from the Litchfield Kiwanis Club for Lake Ripley Elementary Jumpstart program; $250 from the Litchfield Kiwanis Club for Litchfield Middle School for classroom books; and $3,000 from the VFW for Litchfield High School for football goal posts.
