The Cokato Historical Society welcomes everyone to its annual meeting on April 21st at 6:30 p.m. in the Centennial Room at 175 4th Street Southwest in Cokato. It’s a free event and guests will be able to see the Cokato Museum’s newest exhibit “Once Upon a Toy Box.”
The evening will begin with a brief business meeting, followed by a presentation by Museum Director Johanna Ellison, who will share details about the recent restoration work completed at the historic Gust Akerlund Photography Studio. Following the presentation, attendees will be able to tour the newly restored Akerlund Studio and see the results of the preservation efforts firsthand.
The Studio was last open to the public in the early spring of 2024. The restoration work at the Akerlund Studio was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, which has helped preserve one of Cokato’s most significant historic sites.
The museum’s new exhibit, “Once Upon a Toy Box,” is a playful journey through time – celebrating the toys, games, and dolls that shaped childhoods from generations past through the 2000s. To find out more about this event, go to www.cokatomuseum.org or call at 320-286-2427.
Next week is Severe Weather Awareness Week, and there will be tornado drills on Thursday, April 16th. The drills are scheduled for 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. so when you hear the sirens, you should think of where you would take shelter, no matter where you are.
Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze says if you’re outdoors when severe weather hits, you should get inside, or else lay down in a low area, and if you are in a vehicle get out of it and lay in a low area because a tornado will pick up your vehicle. He says the ideal place to go when you’re inside is a basement or an interior room with no windows.
Sheriff Cruze says besides tornadoes, severe weather includes lightning, hail, floods and extreme heat, and you need to have respect for all of those phenomena as they are capable of taking your life. He says you should not try to drive through a flooded road as the road may be missing underneath, and the current could easily wash away your vehicle; and during extreme heat – stay hydrated and take frequent breaks.
Sheriff Cruze says weather alerts are issued when conditions are favorable for severe weather and warnings are issued when severe weather is imminent; and Meeker County has the RAVE system which will send you emergency notices. You can find a link to get signed up for RAVE on the Meeker County Sheriff’s website or call Stephanie Johnson at the Sheriff’s Office at 693-5400. He says next week is also Telecommunications Week – a time to thank our 911 dispatchers for the work that they do.
Each day a business will be featured as “Business of the Day” and every time their commercial is aired be the 7th caller and win a chance to receive KLFD Bucks to be spent at our “Business of the Day” locations.
Monday thru Friday, at 4 pm we will draw out a winner to be put into our final drawing to be held sometime later in April. Once your name has been drawn out daily and put into the final drawing, you are no longer qualified to call in. Otherwise, you can keep calling in once a day to qualify.
Our sponsors include: Miller Automotive, Litchfield Liquors, DC Diesel Tek, El Chilero, Parts City Auto Parts, Scott’s Auto, Litchfield Chrysler, Litchfield Licensing, Davis Motors, Mid Country Bank, Queen Bee’s Bar & Grill, A.M. Maus & Son, Litchfield Eagles Club, SJP Designs, Central Counties Cooperative, Edina Realty, Quality Autowerx
The Litchfield Area Mentorship Program had a good turn-out for the Ham Bingo event on March 27th which is one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Mark your calendars for Turkey Bingo which will be coming up on the Friday before Thanksgiving in November at the Litchfield Eagles Club.
Judy Hulterstrum says a week is set aside in April to recognize volunteers so they will have a volunteer appreciation event on April 22nd to recognize the mentors, board members and other volunteers who help with the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program. She says if anyone is willing to become a mentor, applications are available at lampkinship.org and it’s a pretty simple process.
Hulterstrum says they will be starting their Lunch Buddies program at Eden Valley-Watkins Elementary School this fall. She says if anyone is willing to make a donation to the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program, checks may be sent to Post Office Box 82 in Litchfield. For more information about the program, call 320-699-1616.