News

The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has approved of the 5 megawatt Ice House solar project for Michael & Christine Buer. It will be located in Section 27 of Swede Grove Township near 300th Street and County-State-Aid-Highway 25 – about 2 miles north of Grove City.

The Board approved of 2025 Administrator goals presented by Andrew Letson; and heard a report from Mary Ellen Wells and Tyler Ulseth from Meeker Memorial Hospital. CEO Wells reported that there have been a lot of case of influenza-A this winter and it seems to be higher in Central Minnesota than in either the southern or northern portions of Minnesota. She says it’s not too late to get a flu shot.

Veterans Service Officer Tim Steinert gave an annual report to the Meeker County Board. He says there are 1,408 veterans in the county who use his services, but there are likely many more who could benefit from the Veterans Service Office. He says they have 2 vans and 8 volunteer drivers who mostly travel to the VA in St. Cloud and 344 veterans were transported in 2024 with 32,315 miles put on the vans.

Steinert says there are plans for a proposed Litchfield based community out-patient clinic and if it receives federal appropriations, the soonest it would be open would be in 2029 or 2030. He went over the many services provided to veterans by his office and the outreach that takes place throughout the county. For more information, call 693-5445.

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The Litchfield Area Community Foundation is continuing to provide small grants to local non-profit groups for various projects. There used to be a couple of grant cycles each year, but now groups can apply for funds whenever they have a specific project that needs funding.

Board member Joyce Kiehn says the Litchfield Area Community Foundation was formed in 2002 with a permanent endowment of over $100,000 and they use the interest to give out grants each year to local non-profit organizations. She says they have helped several groups with various projects over the years.

Kiehn says donations to the Litchfield Area Community Foundation are welcome any time and they may be dropped off at the Chamber office in downtown Litchfield or look for more details at LACFoundation.org.

Litchfield Area Community Foundation board member Tom Smith says there are 58 non-profit organization registered with the state in the Litchfield area. He says they’ve provided grants to many of them over the years, but there are more that could benefit and he encourages them to apply.

Smith says the Litchfield Area Community Foundation acquired a popcorn stand from the Granite Falls Kiwanis Club and they are gathering funds to refurbish it and hope to have it up and running by late May in Litchfield’s Central Park. He says they are hoping to have local service clubs run the stand to raise further funds for their organizations and if anyone is willing to donate toward the project, they may drop off donations at the Chamber office.

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The Songblast concert featuring the Dueling Guitar entertainment of Glen Everhart and Pat Balder is coming up on February 1st at the Litchfield Eagles Club. The event is a fundraiser for the School of St. Philip. It begins with social hour at 5, dinner at 6 and the show around 7:30.

Shepherd of Souls Area Faith Community Event Coordinator Monica Schreiber says the deadline for $50 tickets for the 2-meat buffet and concert was this past weekend, but you can still get $25 tickets for the concert and then order off of the menu at the Eagles Club. She says Glen and Pat travel all over the U.S. with their entertaining show.

Pat Balder says they love doing fundraising shows. He says they also like to get the audience involved in their show which involves comedy and rock ‘n’ roll music. He says he grew up in Foley and loves to return to Central Minnesota to perform. Glen Everhart, who just performed last summer at the St. Philip’s Church Bazaar, says it’s nice to be able to drive to an event instead of flying as they do shows all over the nation. He says they like to bring communities together with their shows. Everhart taught elementary school in Cold Spring in Cokato for 3 years in the 1980s.

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Fire departments from as far away as Litchfield and Delano provided mutual aid for a fire reported at Forsman Farms by Cokato Tuesday morning.  The fire at the egg-laying facility just off of Highway 12 was reported around 5:30 Tuesday morning.  The Litchfield Fire Dept. members left Litchfield right around 6 a.m. and – like numerous fire departments from around the area – drove tanker trucks to the scene.  It’s estimated that as many as 100,000 hens perished in the fire.  No injuries were reported.  Forsman Farms by Cokato was also the scene of a huge fire back in late May of 2022.

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