Thrivent Financial is hosting a charitable planning workshop on January 18th at noon at Peter’s Ribs in Litchfield. Anyone interested may sign up or get more details by calling 593-2846.
Kyle Kalkbrenner says this workshop will be partnered with Youth For Christ, so anyone with a heart toward that organization would especially be interested in attending, but they will have to limit it to 20 attendees, so call soon. He says they also want to remind their clients that they have until March 31st to designate their Thrivent Choice dollars for 2024.
Kalkbrenner says lots of Thrivent Choice dollars go unused each year as people forget to designate them towards their favorite charities which is a shame. Jackie McGhee says with the start of the New Year, it’s a good time for people to get some financial planning done if they haven’t done so before.
McGhee says they work with clients of all ages and focus on financial planning, but for those getting ready to retire, they can help them determine when might be the best time to sign up for Social Security. Again, for more information, call the Thrivent office at 593-2846 or stop at 403 North Sibley Avenue in Litchfield.
The Litchfield City Council meeting began last night with the installation of the Council members who were reelected in November, and with a proclamation from Mayor Ron Dingmann declaring January 6th, 2025 as Dean Urdahl Day in Litchfield. Dingmann recognized many of Urdahl’s accomplishments during his 22-years in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Two public hearings were held during Monday’s Litchfield City Council meeting – one to consider property tax abatements related to the $10-million in bonds the Council authorized in December; and the other to consider the sale of public property on North Gorman Avenue to Gregg Schilling. The Council approved of resolutions related to both items.
The Litchfield City Council approved of a certificate of appropriateness application for Shelbie Cox at 134 North Sibley Avenue; approved of council committee appointments; approved of Marco providing IT services; approved of plans and authorized bidding for the Civic Arena floor project; and appointed Heather Guyan to the Library Board, Rick Beecroft and Holly Flemming to the Heritage Preservation Commission, Steve Nelson to the Housing & Redevelopment Authority, Brian Danielson to the Police Commission, and Mike Bredeson to the Library Board.
The Council had a lengthy discussion about the $2-million that the Legislature appropriated in the bonding bill to be used for preserving building facades in Litchfield’s historic downtown district, and the meetings that are being held by New History to help with the process of using those funds. A resolution was approved to hire New History for monthly meetings in 2025.
The ACGC Drama Department will present a one-act play – “The Frozen Standoff” – on Thursday, January 16th at 7 p.m. in the ACGC High School Theater. Admission is $5.
Director Thomas Dougherty Rosengren wrote the play which is based on the Willmar 8 – a group of ladies who stood up to their bosses at a bank in Willmar in the 1970s demanding workplace equality as they were training in men who would then get promoted. He says there are 16 students on stage for the production and he could see them standing up for themselves just like the characters they portray.
Rosengren says the students have 10-minutes to get their set prepared and 35-minutes to perform and they will compete against 8 other schools in the region during a competition on January 24th at Dassel-Cokato, and two of them will go on to the state competition. He says the students have been preparing for the past 6 weeks and he’s hoping they get a good crowd on January 16th.
ACGC senior Elizabeth Thyen has been doing musicals at ACGC for 6 years and “The Frozen Standoff” is her second one-act play. She says she’s in the role of Irene.
Thyen says she had not heard of the Willmar 8 until she got involved in this one-act production of “The Frozen Standoff.” She says it’s impressive how these women impacted their community and she’s eager to show the public how hard the students have been working on this production.
ACGC 9th grader Makaylen Carlson says she plays a meek character named Shirley who finds her voice during the course of the protest. She says the story of the Willmar 8 teaches important lessons.
Carlson says this is her second one-act play at ACGC and she’s also performed at the Barn Theater in Willmar. Rosengren has been directing musicals and one-act plays at ACGC for 9 years and has also directed at the Barn Theater in Willmar. He says 4 of the Willmar 8 will be speaking to students at ACGC on January 16th and will also attend the performance that evening. He says he had students watch the movie “A Matter of Sex” starring Jean Stapleton which was based on the story of the Willmar 8.
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