The Salvation Army began its Red Kettle campaign in Litchfield on Monday. The kettles will be set up at Family Fare, Walmart and Running’s through Christmas Eve, and bell ringers are needed.
Rochelle Brummond says if someone is not at the kettle ringing the bell, people are less likely to donate. She says you can sign up at registertoring.com or call Heather Jeseritz at 320-699-0461.
Brummond says there is a QR code on their posters for donations, and you’re also welcome to drop off a check for the red kettle campaign at her office at the Threads of Hope store at 120 North Sibley Avenue in Litchfield. She says if the money actually goes in the local kettles, it stays in Meeker County to help people here who are in need.
Brummond says the funds they receive in the red kettle campaign helps to bridge gaps as she helps people with food, clothing and shelter and maybe in some emergency situations such as paying for a car repair. She says you can just sign up to ring the bell for an hour or whatever works in your schedule and it can be a fun activity for individuals, couples, or groups such as church groups and service club members.
Brummond says they’ve received a gold coin in one of the Litchfield kettles for several years in a row and they are able to cash it in. She says the community has been so generous over the years with their giving in the red kettle campaign.
Meeker Area Ministries has its annual Christmas Carols and Holiday Cheer event on Sunday, December 1st at 2 p.m. at the Litchfield Opera House. Sara Dollerschell will lead the singing of carols, and treats will be served. Freewill donations will be accepted.
Rochelle Brummond says one of their clients will be giving a testimony about how Meeker Area Ministries has impacted their life. She says they are trying a new day and time for this year’s event.
Brummond says MAM is in the process of refurbishing some of their living units and they’re also in the process of getting a couple of transitional units ready by the first of the year. She says they provide shelter for people in Meeker County who are homeless and help them transition into permanent housing.
Brummond says if anyone is willing to make a donation to Meeker Area Ministries, checks can be mailed to Post Office Box 192 in Litchfield. She says if anyone has questions, they may call her at 693-7911 or stop in to her office at the back of the Threads of Hope store in downtown Litchfield.
Pastor Tom Evenson is on the MAM board. He says the Carols and Cheer event helps get the word out about what their organization does to help the homeless, and Rochelle is available to speak to groups about MAM.
Evenson says homelessness looks different in Meeker County than it does in the metro area. He says MAM helps to teach life skills to people who are homeless, and people are welcome to contact him for more information at First Lutheran Church in Litchfield.
The Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee met on Tuesday evening and heard from the people who traveled to Hartford, Alabama earlier this month for the annual sister-city exchange trip. The group was in Alabama from November 2nd through the 9th and raved about the experience.
Litchfield High School FFA students Riley Joyer, Claire Gabrielson, Lydia Schultz and Tanner Sonsalla, chaperones Jim & Holly Cottington, Meeker County Dairy Princess Paige Frenchick and her chaperone, Hannah Molitor were all on the trip. Molitor says this was all new for her and said it was an incredible experience. Frenchick says one of the highlights for her was seeing the Working Cow dairy, one of the few dairy farms in the whole state of Alabama where they milk 900 cows once a day.
Jim Cottington who was on the first trip in 1971 as a 12-year-old with his parents, Bruce & Florence Cottington, and also for the 40th anniversary trip in 2011, says it was a fabulous trip with the Southern hospitality. He says there are so many similarities between Litchfield and Hartford and the exchange programs that each coordinates. Holly Cottington says she enjoyed their day at the beach, but they were not able to go in the water due to riptides.
Claire Gabrielson says they got to fly helicopter simulators at Ft. Rucker, a part of the trip that had been off limits since 2001, and says learning about the peanut and cotton industries and meeting new people was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tanner Sonsalla described his experiences through a slide show and says he enjoyed visiting a bee farm, the National Peanut Festival, the Michelin tire plant and seeing how peanuts are harvested. He says it was raining so they did not get to witness the cotton harvesting, but did get to see the large combines.
Riley Joyer and Lydia Schultz were not able to attend Tuesday’s meeting, but Lydia put together a slide show with all of her highlights from the week. The Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee is getting ready for hosting visitors from Hartford the week of February 1st. The next Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee meeting which will be on December 17th at 7 p.m. in the Litchfield High School Ag Room. Everyone is welcome to attend, and to get involved in the program.
