On December 13th at 9:44 p.m., the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an ATV through the ice on Lake Francis – out from the lake access on 330th Street. The driver, 20-year-old Nicholas Eckhoff of Dassel, said as they were coming back to shore, they hit a slushy area when the ATV broke through. Both the driver and passenger, 20-year-old Gabrial Laplante of Litchfield, ended up in waist-deep water. Both made it safely back to shore. Both declined medical services. Sheriff Brian Cruze reminds everyone that ice is never safe and that caution should be used during early ice. As a general rule, ice should be about 4 inches to walk on, 5-to-8 inches to support an ATV, 9-to-12 inches to support a car and 13-to-17 inches to support a pickup truck. He says everyone venturing out on the ice should check ice thickness and stay safe.
Ecumen of Litchfield is welcoming the public to a Christmas carol event this Thursday. It will be held in the Ecumen Chapel on December 18th from 4:30-to-5 p.m.
Nicole Larson says it will be a great way to spend some time with the residents at Ecumen of Litchfield and to get into the holiday spirit. She says she’d like to thank everyone who made donations to the Meeker Area Food Shelf during Ecumen’s pop-up shop which helped them collect $93 and over 50-pounds of food for the Food Shelf.
Larson says socks for seniors can still be dropped off at 200 North Holcombe Avenue. She says they are also still collecting gifts for grandpas and grandmas.
Larson says she has just one apartment available right now at Emmaus Place, but if anyone would like a tour or would like to get on her waiting list, they may call her at 320-373-6370.
Jillian Miller says Ecumen of Litchfield Hospice recently held tree-lighting ceremonies in Darwin and in Grove City. She says she was amazed by the number of people who attended and the amount of donations they received.
Miller says people have sponsored lights on the trees in memory of loved ones, and donations are welcome to Ecumen of Litchfield Hospice at any time. Checks may be sent to 218 North Holcombe Avenue. She says if anyone would like more information about Hospice, they may call 693-7367 or 877-300-1672.
Two Meeker County Deputies have been given Life Saving Awards at the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association Winter Conference. Deputies Sgt Ryan Schutz and Roger Muffley were honored at the conference on December 7th.
Their nomination letter said at 4:50 p.m. this past July 29th, they got a call about a person in distress on the North Fork of the Crow River in the Forest City area. The caller reported her mother fell off an inner tube as they were floating down the river and she was now hanging onto a tree in the river and unable to get out. With the high waters, trees and debris in the river, all responding units knew it would be difficult to get to the victim’s location.
Deputy Roger Muffley responded to the call and saw a woman clinging and pinned against a fallen tree that had fallen across the river. Her face was barely out of the water and the force of the current had her against the tree. In full deputy gear, Deputy Muffley quickly climbed out onto the fallen tree to the victim. The victim said she couldn’t hold on much longer. Muffley sat on the tree and grabbed the victim and tried multiple times to pull her out of the water, but the current was too strong. He then held onto her arms to keep her from being pulled under for approximately 30 minutes until additional help arrived.
Sgt Ryan Schutz arrived, put on a buoyancy suit and made his way out to the victim. Sgt Schutz and Deputy Muffley were then able to pull the female victim up onto the tree. A rescue boat arrived on scene and was able to safely transport the victim and deputies. The victim was checked at the scene and cleared. Deputy Muffley was treated for exhaustion. The water where this took place was approximately 8 to 10 feet deep.
The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office will be utilizing a new emergency alert system in the near future. Residents can sign up free-of-charge to get notifications about emergency situations, and instructions about how to sign up for the new RAVE system will be coming out in the next few weeks through social media and on the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office website.
Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze says they had been using Code Red, but that system had a data breach in November which is why they are making the switch at this time. He says if you had a password with Code Red that you use for other applications, you should switch it.
Sheriff Cruze says he attended the annual Minnesota Sheriff’s Conference this week in the Brainerd area and he was honored to be able to hand out a couple of life-saving awards to two Meeker County Deputies. He says they were involved in saving someone last July 29th who had fallen off of a tube in the Crow River and got tangled in fallen tree debris.
Sheriff Cruze says the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association will be announcing scholarship winners early in the new year and as the application deadline ended November 28th, they had over 70 applications. He says that is way up from last year when there were only 18 applicants for 20 scholarships, so it shows that an interest is returning for young people to choose law enforcement as a career.