Local News

The Grove City Area CARE program held its annual Volunteer & Friends Appreciation event on Tuesday evening in the South Grove dining room. Two volunteers of the year were recognized.

Ann Peterka and Rosie Chastek were recognized with the special award for their volunteer work in 2024. Program Director Andrea Dallmann and Volunteer Coordinator Rosemary Dilley spoke about all of the volunteer efforts that took place this past year.

The meals-on-wheels and congregate dining resulted in 3,423 meals being served as of the end of November. Fifty-five clients have participated in the foot clinic each month. Several volunteer drivers have helped elderly residents in the community get to medical appointments and to pick up groceries, prescriptions and other items. Dilley reported that, after expenses, the CARE fundraising events in 2024 helped to raise over $6,000 for the program. For more information about Grove City Area CARE, call 857-2274.

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“A Christmas Carol” will be presented on December 13th and 14th at 7 p.m. and December 15th at 2 p.m. at the Litchfield Opera House. The classic Charles Dickens play is being directed by Val Chellin.

Chellin says there are 25 people in the cast and they are an unbelievably talented group from Litchfield, Hutchinson, Grove City, Dassel and the surrounding area. She says several familiar Christmas carols will be intertwined with the dialog and there is some humor in the play.

Chellin says there will be refreshments served during intermission, and it’s not a very long play – only about an hour and 15 minutes. She says the Litchfield Opera House is great venue and plays like “A Christmas Carol” are what would have been performed in the Litchfield Opera House back when it was originally open in the early 1900s.

Casey Riebe is in the role of Bob Cratchit, and says tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults. He says it’s a great family event to attend this holiday season.

Rick Beecroft is in the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge. He says Scrooge is very miserly and does not appreciate Christmas.

Beecroft says Val Chellin is great to work with as the director and there is a great cast and crew for “A Christmas Carol.”

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The Litchfield Area Mentorship Program has had 12 children matched with adults this past year. Six of the children are now graduating from the program as they’ve reached the age of 18, and there are 25 children on a waiting list, so more mentors are needed.

Judy Hulterstrum says the program is for children ages 5-to-17 throughout Meeker County. She says she’s been doing both the fundraising and matching functions for LAMP the past few months, and they are working with Meeker County Extension Educator Cassidy Martin to start a 4H club in 2025 which will help to include more children in a type of group mentoring match.

Hulterstrum says Mimi Davis, Julie Rick, Deb Anderson and Sue Carlson will be helping to coordinate the new 4H Club for LAMP and they’ve received funds from PACT for Families and Walmart to get it started. She says they will still be doing one-to-one matches, but it’s getting harder to find mentors so the 4H Club will be a good solution to include more children in the program.

LAMP Board Chair JoAnn Kotila says the Lunch Buddies program is another way that they try to mentor more children and it’s not as big of a commitment for the adults. She says there are 25 matches in Lake Ripley and Dassel Elementary Schools.

Kotila says they are always looking for more people to be Lunch Buddies; and LAMP is looking at expanding that program into St. Philip’s School, ACGC, and EV-W. For more information about LAMP, call 320-699-1616.

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