The Litchfield City Council heard a request last night from a couple of Baseball Association members. Brandon Nagel and Travis Eichner would like to see lights installed for the Cal Ripkin Fields.
Nagel says new lights would be very expensive to purchase and install, but there are some used poles that will be sold in the near future by Steffes Auctioneers that would make the project more affordable. He says installing lights would make baseball more flexible for families and would create better opportunities for hosting tournaments.
The Council took no formal action on the matter, but encouraged the men to work with the city administration on the matter and to contact service clubs and the school board with their idea and to begin fundraising efforts as the city would likely share in half of the cost.
Council member Darlene Kotelnicki spoke to her fellow Council members about the Veterans Administration’s interest in possibly building a community-based out-patient clinic in Litchfield. Also last night, the Litchfield City Council approved of the purchase of a Bobcat track skidloader and a John Deere tractor/snowblower/rotary broom.
The Golden Fleece Lodge #89 Charitable Foundation is hoping to construct a log picnic shelter at South Park in Litchfield in the near future. The Masons want to construct the pavilion with lumber from local trees.
Greg Langmo says one of their members left them with a generous donation that is to be used for the betterment of the community and they decided that South Park could use a shelter. He says if anyone has a hardwood tree at their home that will need to be taken down, it could be used for the project and they are going to track where each donated log is placed in the shelter.
Langmo says monetary donations towards the project would also be appreciated which will help them enhance the facility with stonework, a fireplace and picnic tables and donations for the project can be sent to the City of Litchfield as the City is the fiscal agent. He says it’s going to be an attractive, unique facility.
Langmo says they are hoping to maybe begin construction on the shelter by next fall, but for sure by 2027. He says if anyone has a tree that they would like the Masons to look at or any other questions, they may call him at 320-894-5782 or Jim Ellingson at 320-699-0317.
On November 17, 1996, the Spice Girls topped the UK album chart with their debut, Spice. Within weeks of the album’s release, the British five-piece established global dominance, topping the charts in more than 17 countries and eventually selling more than 23 million copies of the record. Along the way, it spawned four hugely popular singles, including “Say You’ll Be There,” “2 Become 1” (both of which hit No.1 in 53 countries), and “Wannabe,” which became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Spice, meanwhile, also remains one of the best-selling albums ever.
In 1984, Wham! simultaneously topped the UK’s album and pop charts with Make It Big and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” respectively. The album, which marked George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s second and final LP together, spawned four Top 5 singles on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Careless Whisper” and “Everything She Wants.”
In 1957, Harry Belafonte broke sales records in the UK with “Mary’s Boy Child.” The Christmas song, which remained at the top of the pop charts for seven weeks, was the first single to move over a million copies. 21 years later, when Boney M. covered the song, it became the first Christmas track to hit No.1 in two different versions.
In 2003, Britney Spears became the youngest recording artist to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2019, singer-songwriter Patti Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids.
In 1962, The Four Seasons began a five-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
BORN ON NOVEMBER 17
1938: Gordon Lightfoot
1942: Bob Gaudio (The Four Seasons)
1960: RuPaul
1966: Jeff Buckley
1967: Ronald Devoe (New Edition, Bel Biv DeVoe)
1980: Isaac Hanson (Hanson)
1981: Sarah Harding (Girls Aloud)