The Cokato Town & Country Club is offering a $2,000 reward for information that will help solve the mystery of who cut down a century-old tree at the golf course over the weekend. Authorities believe the tree was cut down in the overnight hours sometime between May 8th and 9th. No one witnessed the act of vandalism. One resident reported possibly hearing a chainsaw in the middle of the night.
On this day in music, May 14, 1998, it was the end of an era when 82-year-old Frank Sinatra died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, following a heart attack. Known as the “Chairman of the Board” and later “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” the singer and actor was among the most popular entertainers in the 1940s–1960s. Today, he remains one of the world’s best-selling recording artists. Sinatra first rose to fame in 1940 with “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and signed to Columbia Records in 1943. During his lengthy career, he placed over 25 Top 40 singles, including 1966’s chart-topper, “Strangers In the Night.” Among his many honors, Sinatra won 11 Grammys and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985.
In 2015, legendary blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist B.B. King died in Las Vegas at age 89. One of the most influential bluesmen and guitarists in history, the Mississippi-born artist (often called “The King of the Blues”) was revered for his innovative style on the electric guitar. Even towards the end of his long and prolific career, the hard-working artist was known to perform more than 200 concerts per year, while in his younger day, he could be seen at shows nearly every day of the year. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and won more than a dozen Grammy Awards.
In 1988, Led Zeppelin reunited for Atlantic Records’ 40th-anniversary party at Madison Square Garden, appearing with drummer Jason Bonham, who stood in for his late father, John Bonham. Their second reunion since splitting, the band’s performance was disorganized and tense, as Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had argued about playing “Stairway to Heaven” prior to performing. Page described the appearance as “one big disappointment” and Plant agreed, noting that “the gig was foul.” Foreigner, Genesis, Ben E. King, and Wilson Pickett were among the other acts taking the stage.
In 2000, 60-year-old Tom Jones’ 34th album, Reload, topped the UK album chart, making him the oldest singer to earn a No.1 album with new material in Britain. The highest-selling album of his career, Reload featured his dancefloor smash with Mousse T, “Sex Bomb,” a No.3 hit in the UK.
In 1983, Spandau Ballet scored their first and only UK No.1 album with True. Released on March 4, 1983, the new wave group’s third studio album peaked at No.19 on the US Billboard 200, while its title track hit No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2002, musical We Will Rock You opened at London’s Dominion Theatre. A collaboration between playwright Ben Elton and Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, the musical is based around the band’s songs. It would soon become the longest-running musical at the Dominion.
BORN ON MAY 14
1936: Bobby Darin
1943: Jack Bruce (Cream)
1952: David Byrne (Talking Heads)
1971: Danny Wood (New Kids On the Block)
1973: Natalie Appleton (All Saints)
1979: Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys)
1996: Martin Garrix
The Litchfield Area Mentorship Program will be involved in several community events over the summer months. The organization is always looking for more people to become mentors.
Judy Hulterstrum says they are also looking for a new board member right now, and they are seeking people who can also be lunch buddies as that program will start up again in the fall in the Litchfield, Dassel-Cokato, ACGC and Eden Valley-Watkins school districts. She says one of the first summer events that LAMP will be involved in is the Parade of Bands on June 16th where they will have a popcorn and dirty soda booth.
Hulterstrum says LAMP will have a drive-through pork chop supper on July 7th at the Fieldgate pavilion parking lot near the Sibley Avenue/Depot Street intersection. She says they will also have a young artists exhibit at Art-in-the-Park during the Litchfield Watercade celebratioin; they will again have the Great LAMP Adventure at the Meeker County Fair on August 1st and they will have a booth at the Songs of Summer Festival on August 14th.
Pastor Bill Kerr has been involved in LAMP since 2010 as a board member, mentor and a lunch buddy. He says he would encourage anyone to get involved as it’s a great way to get involved in the lives of young people in the community.
Pastor Kerr says LAMP board members help with the fundraising activities of the organization which is another way to connect with the community. He says mentors are just required to commit 4 hours a month to their mentees and he would often take his mentees to baseball games and took one of them along on a church trip to the BWCA. For more details, call 320-699-1616 or email info@lampkinship.org.
The Meeker County Horticulture Society will have its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 16th from 9-to-11 a.m. in the 4H Building at the Meeker County Fairgrounds in Litchfield. There will be all kinds of plants and other garden items at reasonable prices.
Connie Johnson says there will be annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, bushes, grasses and much more. She says they put them in pots and there are tags with information about the plants like you would find at a nursery.
Johnson says the plant sale on May 16th will also include items like planters, tools, bird feeders, books and more; and there will be a couple of Master Gardener interns there to answer questions. She says the proceeds from the plant sale help with expenses that come up with the Garden Gala and Garden Tour, for library books, to pay for speakers at their meetings and other items.
Johnson says if anyone has plants that they would like to donate to the sale, they may call her at 693-3556. She says you should bring boxes to the plant sale in which to place your purchases. A couple of other plant sales will also be held in the area on Saturday – at Trinity Lutheran Church in Grove City from 9-to-1 where freewill donations will be accepted; and a plant and bake sale from 9 a.m. to noon at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Eden Valley.
The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a fatal one-vehicle crash that occurred on Highway 22 in Greenleaf Township Wednesday night at 9:51 at 180th Street in Greenleaf Township. It involved an unbelted/unrestrained occupant.
The crash involved a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu which was traveling north on Highway 22 when it left the roadway and rolled coming to rest in the ditch. The driver was a 39-year-old Litchfield woman and the passenger was a 40-year-old Hutchinson woman. More details are expected to be released at 10 p.m. Friday. Also responding to the scene were the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office, Litchfield Fire Dept., Litchfield Police, Mayo Ambulance, Cosmos Ambulance, Allina Ambulance, and Life Link.