Center National Bank in Litchfield has its Burgers for a Cause event today from 11-to-1 and from 4:30-to-5:30. For $7, you will get a hamburger or cheeseburger, chips, cookie and beverage, and for $10, you can get a second burger with your meal.
Banker Loree Schultz says they are raising money this year for Ecumen of Litchfield to help them purchase wheelchair-friendly equipment for their exercise room. She says the Minnesota Bankers Association encourages banks to do some kind of philanthropic activity each September.
Schultz says Center Bank has been doing this since 2018 and in that time has raised $33,400 for various causes including a youth baseball scoreboard, Litchfield Area Mentorship Program, youth winter clothing drive, Litchfield Rescue Squad, Sheriff’s Office drone program, and Meeker Area Food Shelf. She says she’d like to thank the community for all of their support and for attending Burgers for a Cause to support these worthy projects.
The Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee is getting ready to send a group of delegates to Alabama for the annual sister-city exchange trip. The trip is coming up November 2-to-9.
This year’s group from Meeker County will include FFA students Claire Gabrielson, Riley Joyer, Lydia Schultz and Tanner Sonsalla, and chaperones Jim & Holly Cottington. A couple more chaperones may be selected, and Meeker County Dairy Princess Paige Frenchick will be joining the delegation.
Peanut Butter & Milk Festival President Terri Anderson was given permission to purchase airline tickets before the Committee’s next meeting. The Committee also chose the dates for its winter festival on Tuesday night – it will be held February 1st through the 8th. The next Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 15th at 7 p.m. in the Litchfield High School Ag Room. Everyone’s welcome to get involved.
Meeker County Parks Superintendent Braden Piram gave the Meeker County Commissioners an annual report on Tuesday morning. He spoke about the ten county parks and the recreational opportunities that are available.
Piram says some of the parks contain playground and play equipment, swimming beaches, volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, disc golf, trails and fishing piers – depending on the location. He says they maintain 18 picnic shelters and have some rustic cabins at Koronis Park.
Piram says over $78,000 in camping fees and over $6,000 in firewood sales were collected at the Koronis Park in 2023 and the numbers are looking similar for 2024. That park’s revenues and expenses are shared with Stearns County. He says a new boat landing is needed at the Koronis Park and they will be working on possible plans for that with the DNR which has offered to provide over half-a-million-dollars for that project.
Piram says the Forest City Stockade is part of the Meeker County Parks system. He says there are 21-miles of trails in the county’s parks – 6 of which are paved – for hiking, biking and horseback riding. He says Thompson Park near Cosmos has 23 acres and is a popular site for disc golf, and pollinator plots are being planted in some locations to cut down on mowing and to help the bees. To reserve park shelters or for more information, look for the park link on the Meeker County website.
The Litchfield City Council closed Monday night’s meeting as the final item of business – the performance evaluation of the city administrator – was discussed. The summary of the evaluation will be revealed at the October 7th meeting.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says the annual evaluation will be done in August of each year, but this year, it was done in September. He says Monday night’s meeting began with a moment of silence to remember long-time city attorney Mark Wood who passed away earlier this month.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council needs to put an ordinance together by the end of the year regarding cannabis sales. He says a work session will be held after the October 7th meeting to discuss this matter.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council is leaning in the direction of creating its own ordinance rather than being under the umbrella of a county ordinance. He says the Council also received a report Monday night on the progress of the remodeling project on the Library exterior. The stucco work is nearly done, and work will be take place soon on the rubber roof and metal flashing.