With New Year’s Eve being celebrated this evening, Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze wants to remind everyone to celebrate safely. He says it’s important to plan ahead if you’re going to be drinking – make sure you have a sober driver, or spend the night at your party location.
Sheriff Cruze says so far this year in Minnesota, there have been 368 traffic-related deaths and 96 of those have involved people driving under the influence. He says if you get a DUI, it’s not only costly to the driver, but to several other people who are involved at no choice of their own.
Sheriff Cruze says people using marijuana can also be under the influence and that now accounts for about 25% of the DUI-related offenses. He says motorists were good about staying off of the roads on Sunday when no travel was advised, and there are still some icy roads, so be careful when you’re driving.
The Litchfield Area Recreation Center now has about 370 memberships. With many of those being family memberships, the total number of people represented is about 960.
LARC Director Owen Boerma says they recently became a part of the Silver Sneakers network so many seniors have been able to get involved at the LARC through their Medicare plan. He says the City Council approved a program in which people may use the walking track through the end of March for a one-time $50 fee which gives them an opportunity to try it out, and then hopefully, they’ll eventually purchase a membership. The walking track is nearly one-eighth of a mile, so 8 laps equals nearly one mile.
Boerma say the LARC also has a fitness center with weights and various machines like treadmills and they offer fitness classes. He says they also have two meeting rooms which can be rented for $30 per hour and they offer a party package in which you can use the rooms along with access to the field house.
Boerma says the field house includes four basketball courts and they are also being used for pickle ball. He says they’ve already hosted basketball and pickle ball tournaments at the LARC. He says they have gift certificates available if you want to give someone a one-day pass or perhaps a one-month membership so they can try out the facility, and they love giving people tours. For more information, call 320-221-8226 or go to litchfieldrecreationcenter.com.
