donnelly news

Next edition Jan 3^rd-10th

Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news.

Weather news: well after fairly nice Christmas weekend it is back to the deep freeze this week with –0 temps and cold wind chills

St John’s/Kongsvinger news: there will be no Sunday school on Jan 3^rd. the annual meetings will be Jan 18th @ St. John’s and Jan 25th @ Kongsvinger both at noon. Service times will switch on the 18^th.

Good shepherd news: be sure to look at our beautiful new church sign when driving past the church. This boulder sign was made possible in part by memorial donations.

John Craig Beem of Alexandria passed away Dec 26^th. He was one of the pastors who led services when we had services at the Prairie Inn

Community news: the city council and Rendsville 4-h club will meet on Jan 5^th at 7 p.m. at the city hall and St John’s church in Donnelly. The bookmobile will be in town at 3:30 p.m. on main St. on Jan 12^th.

Celebrations: Morris- Benson area storm hockey peewees recently took first place at Dakota premier classic in Brookings SD, Brady Loge was a member of that team his dad Ryan was a coach

Morris Area H.S. knowledge bowl team “Morris mahogany” finished 4^th in the Concordia college meet Adam Uphoff was a member of that team

Death notices: Ruth Vipond of Herman passed away on Dec 27^th survivors include her nephew Doug Gulbrandson and his family.

Calvin Mattheis of Morris passed away Dec 24^th survivors include his daughter Barb (Wayne) Stoneburg of Willmar.  Wayne is a former Donnelly resident.

Neil Sperr, 82, of Donnelly, died Tuesday, December 30^th a memorial gathering for him will be held today (Sat) 1-3 pm at the Erickson smith funeral home in Elbow Lake.

On Christmas Eve I attended the living nativity at Faith Lutheran, candlelight services at Good shepherd-Morris and St John’s Lutheran church in Donnelly. Christmas day I attended services at Good Shepherd , the community Dinner at First Lutheran, visited some residents at the West Wing Village, to wish them a Merry Christmas and also Ruth Strand at the west central homes where she was enjoying a family Christmas dinner. I also visited Lou Eystad in the hospital on Sun afternoon; she was able to return home on Dec. 30th. She informs me that a 100^th birthday is planned for her aunt Marlys Alm in Feb.

Thank you to “Santa” for the fruit basket he left at my house last week

christmas pictures

#1 me #2 t bee royalty in Morris parade # 3 mark koepke with family and friends at Pizza ranch in July his sister pd him a brief visit #4 my new cart #5 friend Inga Mae Urke with grand prize at glenwood fair #6 t bee royalty at dance #7 kids at Santa day in donnelly #8 t bee royalty and santa #9 deaconess deb and t. bee royalty and and santa # 9 St j-donnelly #10 & 12 new signs at gslc-Morris and me at cc mall

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Morris Minn. Christmas 2014

“Silent night, holy night, all is calm all is bright” With the words of this familiar hymn I greet you once again with my annual Christmas letter.

Weather news:It was a very cold winter ,with a lot of -0 temps, and snow, a late spring again, it was late May, before major fieldwork got going, but once they got going ,farmers were able to get crops in w/out too much trouble, some local heavy rains during the early summer led to some crops getting drowned out, and major damage to the local library and St. Mary’s school here in Morris ,by mid- summer things dried out, but some timely rains gave crops a good boost. Harvest proceed without too many delays, yields were good although not as good as previous yrs. Most farmers were done by early Nov. and just in time, as winter returned early this yr. with about a ft. of snow and some cold weather on Nov 11th. Mid Dec brought some unseasonably mild weather that melted a lot of the snow, but it did not last long.

Church news Rev. Mary Dodgson who had been our interim pastor at St. John’s/ Kongsvinger since early Oct ‘13, resigned her position in Oct., she and her sister moved back to the cities. A farewell dinner for her was held on Oct 12^th, her final day here was Oct 15^th. Rev Rochelle Anderson from Morris, filled in for several weeks, until Deaconess Deb Robinson from St Joseph MN accepted our call to be the new interim pastor, her first Sun here was Nov 30^th; we had a welcoming dinner for her on Dec 7th at Kong.  Discussion is still ongoing as to the future of our parish. We had two young people confirmed in our parish this year. Other events included ss program at Kong. , Klcw advent brunch, 4th of July celebration, community block party featuring the music of the Orpheum family from Grand Rapids MN, a number of joint services and the usual assortment of pot luck meals.   GSLC news: this summer PR. Mike and Martha Hanson sold their house in Glenwood and bought the First Lutheran pastors house in Morris, moving into it on Aug 1st, his wife accepted a job teaching in Brainerd ,he stayed in Morris for a few months ,until accepting a call in that area. It is a very nice house, close to the school, and a nice big green lot next to it. PR. Martha resigned as pastor of St John’s-Starbuck in July to become a full time mother, and pastor’s wife, she helps out with ss at GS now, we shared VBS with Zion this summer, Sun a.m. adult Ed was discontinued in favor of weekly bible studies,. We had a special service to remember the victims of abortion; advent and Lenten services, the new addition has made things much nicer esp. during coffee hr. a new “boulder” sign was recently installed in front of the church funded in part by memorial gifts.  Future projects include paving the parking lot, and putting a steeple on the church. Other church events were living nativity at faith, a concert by the Hainey family in Elbow Lake, “new wine” homecoming concert at First-Morris, feed my starving children had another successful packing event in Morris again this summer, paraphrase theatre, and All state Lutheran choir concert at the LCMC church in Alex, captive free- great plains concert at the Kensington LCMC church, and Dakota road in concert at Trinity-Cyrus

Community news our annual Donnelly threshing bee featured some nice ford TRs this year with the horse pull and parade popular attractions again this year. Next yr. we will celebrate our 50^th with a double feature anything made in 1965 and farmal tractors and machinery feature. We had good attendance at ice cream social and Halloween party this year; our royalty were busy representing Donnelly again this yr. at about 2 dozen parades and other events

Family news: As I am out and about the three most common questions I get are: “how do you like living in town”, “How you are doing”? And “How is Mark doing?” While I am happy in town, and glad to have a nice home, in a nice location, I do miss the country esp. in the summer time “You can take a boy of the county but not the country out of the boy” I get my “fix” by making trips to Donnelly, usually at least once a week, often times going across country to see what the farmers are doing, how the crops look etc. I bought a good used electric golf cart this summer, after giving up on my old gas one, after it kept burning out the coil and also invested in a used snow blower (easier on my back). My health is fair, blood sugars are better, still working on getting them more consistent ,as I tell people as long as I can get up in the morning and put two feet in front of ea. other I am doing ok. Mark is also doing well too; the follow-ups to his eye surgery last fall have all been good. He is scheduled to go to Mayo in Rochester early next yr. for some tests in his skin. His sister Linda, and her sister in law Sue, surprised him with a brief visit here this summer, she is hoping that she and her brothers Jimmy and Bobby will be able to come back this summer for the Herman all school reunion. We do not see ea. other as much as we used to, as he has his interests and I have mine, and usually are not the same. I am still writing my weekly column Donnelly news for the Morris paper I continue to receive a lot of compliments for it .esp. from former residents as I have found out “you can take a kid out of Donnelly but you cannot take Donnelly out of the kid” When not doing that I spend a lot of time on-line esp. on Facebook.  I was on the road again a lot this summer traveling to many community celebrations, fairs, parades and other events in the area. The rest of my family is “status quo” my aunt Pearl lives in apt here in Morris, I go visit her on occasion, my cousin Jan and her husband Dennis still live and work in Alex, my other cousins Carl (Billy) his wife Pat and sister Elnora are still in SC, I am still a member of the donnelly community club, Stevens co genealogical society, and the Stevens co rep party.  My contact info is e-mail aeanders@fedtel.net  ph. 585-6435( h) 288-8692 (c) ad is 11 e 9^th st morris MN 56267 my website is donnellyminn.blogspot.com

One of the signs that you are getting older is the increasing # of visitations and/or funerals you wind up going to during the yr. and decreasing # of celebrations birthday parties, anniversaries etc. you go to. I did attend two significant ones this yr. a 60^th wedding celebration for some friends, and a 99^th birthday party for a former Donnelly resident at the nursing home in Morris.

Wishing you a very blessed and happy Christmas The Anderson‘s:   Allen and “Pr Buttons”

Dear Deaconess Deb this letter is a family tradition, 50+ yrs. ago my mom got the idea to start writing it after reading about it in a farm mag and started doing it.  She wrote it out long hand, and then usually found somebody to type it up for her, and had it mimeographed at the Donnelly school. As I grew up I began to help her esp. after I took typing in h.s. By then we could have it copied it at the bank. After I graduated from h.s I started doing more of it, then after she became ill I have continued on with the help from family and friends and now modern technology (i.e. computer & printer) make it a much easier job. My mom had a stroke in ’88 and spent the next 6 years in the Morris nursing home, my dad passed away in ’05 he was 97 years old. I have no brothers or sisters they were married late in life and she lost her first child was told she could no longer have other children but God knew better and a few yrs. later I came along. Mark is a former neighbor of mine who moved back up here after spending 30+ years in FL. He stayed with me for several months until he found an apt of his own, he is the one who named my cat Pr. Buttons.

donnelly news

Next edition Dec. 20^th-26^th

Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news Merry Christmas to all my loyal readers out there. Quick reminder early deadlines for the next two weeks

Weather news: After an unseasonably mild weekend in which much of the snow melted, winter retuned on Monday with freezing drizzle in the early aft, which turned into snow later in the day making for very difficult driving conditions late Mon afternoon and eve.   It continued to snow most of Tue.

St John’s/Kongsvinger news: The Sunday school program will be presented during joint services at St John’s on Dec 21^st at 11 a.m. followed by a potluck dinner

Services on Christmas Eve will be at 9 P.M. at ST. John’s; on Christmas day they will be at 10 A.M. at Kongsvinger

There will be joint services at Kongsvinger on Dec. 28 at 10 A.M. no Sunday school

Good shepherd news: there will be services on Christmas Eve at 4:30 P.M.; and at 10 A.M. on Christmas day

The bible study that was cancelled on Dec 16^th due to the weather will be held on at 10 am on Dec 23^rd instead.

Other church news: The “Living Nativity” program will be presented at Faith Lutheran-Morris on Dec 24^th at 3 P.M. and 5:15 P.M.

Community Christmas dinner at First Lutheran-Morris at noon on Christmas day

Community news: the bookmobile will be in town on Dec. 22^nd at 3 pm

HD & CO 15^th anniversary open house today (Saturday) 8 a.m. –noon at the store in Donnelly

Death notices: none

Celebrations: tiger wrestling: Grant county invitational: Tigers 7^th; Jacob Speer 4^th 220 lbs.

Tiger gymnastics Milbank meet: Kourtney Giese 4th Place on Beam, 3rd Place in All-Around Savannah Aanerud 5th Place on Beam, 5th Place on Floor, 4th Place in All-Around; junior varsity Katie Giese placed fourth in all-around competition.

Jerry and Joan Kopacek were among the many who braved the dense fog to attended the VFW 5th District meeting in Starbuck Dec 14th.

Past week I attended the Sunday school programs at Good shepherd-Morris and Faith-Morris; open house retirement party at the soil water conversation office for George Libbon the open house at the new Thrivent office in Morris in the theater arcade building visitation and the funeral for James Peterson, his wife was the librarian when I went to school in Morris

A good crowd was on hand in Donnelly on Dec 13^th for the community club dinner and Santa’s visit. Thanks to the community club members and spouses for making and serving the delicious  meal, the threshing  bee royalty for helping with Santa’s visit ,to Santa for taking time out of his busy schedule at the North Pole to come to Donnelly to visit with the kids.  It was too mild for his reindeer, so several members of the Donnelly fire department picked him up and brought him to Donnelly.

donnelly news

Next edition Dec. 13^th-19th

  Weather news: it has been a nice week with mild temperatures and no snow although we did have some freezing drizzle one a.m.

St John’s/Kongsvinger news: There will be a confirmation service at Kongsvinger on Dec 14th at 11 A.M.

The Sunday school program will be presented during joint services at St John’s on Dec 21^st at 11 a.m. followed by a potluck dinner

Services on Christmas Eve will be at 9 P.M. at ST. John’s; on Christmas day they will be at 10 A.M. at Kongsvinger

There will be joint services at Kongsvinger on Dec. 28 at 10 A.M. no Sunday school

The parish will have a hat/mitten/scarf/gift tree in the back of both churches until about mid Dec

Good shepherd news: The Sunday school program will be presented during services on Dec 14th at 9 a.m., also on that day the church is sponsoring a youth and family ski day at Andes towers hill by Alex.  Leave the church at noon and ski until 5 p.m., call the church at 585-6868 for info on price or to sign up. Community members are welcome to come along.

The final Advent service will be on Dec. 17^th at 7p.m.; services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:30 P.M.; and at 10 A.M. on Christmas day

Other church news: Cookie factory at Faith-Morris today (sat) from 9A.M.-noon

The “Living Nativity” program will be presented at Faith Lutheran-Morris on Dec 24^th at 3 P.M. and 5:15 P.M.

Community Christmas dinner at First Lutheran-Morris at noon on Christmas day

There will be a Holiday bake sale at the United Methodist church –Herman today (Sat.) from 9A.M.-11 a.m.

Community news: on Dec 15^th the firemen will meet at 7 p.m. at the fire hall the bookmobile will be in town on Dec. 22^nd at 3 pm

Santa will be in Donnelly today (Sat.) at the community hall at about 12:30 P.M.

Open house retirement party for George Libon on Dec 15^th at the swcd office –Morris 2-4 pm

Death notices: Adele Mattheis of Morris passed away on Nov 30^th survivors include her daughter Barb (Wayne) Stoneburg of Willmar, Wayne is a former Donnelly resident

Celebrations: the Jim and Andy Aanerud families of Donnelly were recently named Stevens County’s outstanding conservation families of the year.

Kourtney Geise is a Tiger gymnastic co-captain; the tigers hosted an invitational meet on Dec 6^th they finished 4^th as a team; Kourtney finished 4^th in the all-around; at the Fergus falls meet on Dec 9th Kourtney finished 4th on Vault; 3rd on Bars; 5th on Beam; 5th on Floor; and 4th in All-Around; junior varsity:  Katie Giese 2nd on Vault; 1st on Bars; tied for 1st on Beam; 2nd on Floor; 1st in All-Around

Baily Armstrong is on the B honor roll at West Central Area schools

Past week “supper with Santa” at the Eagles ;spaghetti fundraiser at the Morris area elementary school cafeteria; holiday open houses at the museum ,the prairie  Renaissance cultural alliance and senior center, the welcome dinner for Deaconess Deb at Kongsvinger; and “a time to remember” at the Pedersen funeral home

donnelly news

Next edition Dec. 6-12^th

Weather news: the early part of the week brought some -0 temps and cold winds we also had some light snow during the past week.

St John’s/Kongsvinger news:  Deaconess Deborah Robinson from the St Joseph MN area has accepted the parish’s call to be the new interim pastor so the KLCW is combining their annual Advent Brunch with a Welcome Potluck for her. Please join us for a potluck salad, breads, and Christmas sweets dinner (Scalloped potatoes/ham and beverage furnished) following the 11 a.m. worship service at Kongsvinger on December 7th (about noon) at the Kongsvinger Parish Hall. We will enjoy food and fellowship as well as celebrate the Advent season with a short program following the dinner. All members of the Parish are invited to attend.

The “where’s the beef” raffle drawing will be held following the 8:30 a.m. services at St. John’s on Dec 7th

The parish will have a hat/mitten/scarf/gift tree in the back of both churches until about mid Dec.

The Sunday school program will be presented during joint services at St John’s on Dec 21^st at 11 a.m.

There will be confirmation services at Kongsvinger on Dec 14^th at 11 am

Good shepherd news: The Sunday school program will be presented during services on Dec 14th at 9 a.m., also on that day the church is sponsoring a youth and family ski day at Andes towers hill by Alex.  Leave the church at noon and ski until 5 p.m., call the church at 585-6868 for info on price or to sign up. Everyone welcome!

Rylin Jo Evink was born on November 29, 2014 at Stevens Community Medical Center, Morris, to Jason and Julie Evink of Morris. They are members of our Good Shepherd family.

Advent services on Dec.10 & 17^th at 7p.m.

Community news: on Dec 8^th the bookmobile will be in town at 3:30 P.M. on Main Street and the firemen will meet at 7 p.m. at the fire hall

Santa will be in Donnelly on Dec 13^th at the community hall at about 1 pm

Stevens county habit for humanity chapter will have a holiday festival Dec. 7^th 1-3 p.m. at common cup coffee house Morris

Salvation Army theme table event at Faith Lutheran on Dec 6^th starting at 11:30 am tickets available at the door

Pedersen funeral home’s “A time to remember” Dec 7^th 4 p.m. at the funeral home

The VFW Christmas Party will be on Dec 7^th at 2 pm at Old #1 South Side

Death notices: Dale Schulte of Milbank passed away on Dec 2^nd survivors include his daughter Barb (Alan) Wilts of Morris, her mother in-law is Bev (Diehl) Wilts of the Donnelly area

Celebrations: Tiger cross country Awards: boys: Dalton Lupke most improved; girls: Savannah Aanerud most valuable runner, Becca Holland was named the captain for 2015 season

Tiger wrestling team took third at the Jaguar invitational   recently, Jacob Speer was the champion at 220lbs.

Eli Daniel Greeley was born November 25 at Stevens Community Medical Center, Morris, to Cody and Christa Greeley of Morris. Grandparents are Scott and Kathy Bahr of Morris, Dan Greeley of Morris, and Nancy Greeley of Alexandria. Great grandparents are Jerry and Sharon Bahr of Morris, Gloria Stein of Morris, and Bill Greeley of Clarissa.

On Nov 29^th I attended the funeral for Chuck Walwick in Elbow Lake. While there I was informed that his aunt Avis Opheim of Sioux City Iowa had also passed away on Nov.21^st, the Walwick’s are distant relatives of mine. En-route home I stopped at the Morris hospital to visit with Lou Eystad, she is now home. Past week I attended the open house at Unger’s, the craft show at the nation guard Armory in Morris , open house at meadowland market, funeral for Shirley Henrichs at Kongsvinger, and the Kongsvinger Krusaders tip night at the Pizza ranch in Morris

Dec 3^rd I stopped into McCollar Jewelry to wish Wally a happy 77^th birthday

Donnelly news

Next edition Nov 29^th –Dec 5th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news.

Weather news: the weekend was fairly nice, Monday brought some light snow and blowing and drifting

St John’s/Kongsvinger news:  Services on Nov 30^rd will be at 8:30 a.m.at St John’s and at 11 a.m.at Kongsvinger; no Sunday school

Deaconess Deborah Robinson from the St Joseph area has accepted the parish’s call to be the new interim pastor; her first Sunday will be on Nov 30^th.I had an opportunity to meet her after the funeral very nice lady.

KLCW is combining their annual Advent Brunch with a Welcome Potluck for Deaconess Deb. Please join us for a potluck salad, breads, and Christmas sweets dinner (Scalloped potatoes/ham and beverage furnished) following the 11 a.m. worship service on December 7th (about noon) at the Kongsvinger Parish Hall. We will enjoy food and fellowship as well as celebrate the Advent season with a short program following the dinner. All members of the Parish are invited to attend. Due to this there will no KLCW meeting on Dec 4th

The parish is collecting food for the food shelf during Nov. and will also have a hat/mitten/scarf/gift tree in the back of both churches until about mid Dec.

The Kongsvinger Relay for Life team will be busing tables for tips at the Pizza Ranch in Morris on Monday, December 1 from 5-8 p.m.

Good shepherd news: the church is sponsoring a youth and family ski day at Andes towers hill by Alex on Dec. 14^th.  Leave the church at noon and ski until 5 p.m. call the church at 585-6868 for info on price or to sign up. Everyone welcome!

Community news: the city council and rendsville 4-h will meet at 7 p.m. at the fire and community halls in Donnelly on Dec. 1st

The bookmobile will be in town on Dec 8^th at 3:30 P.M. on main St.  

Stevens county habit for humanity chapter will have a holiday festival Dec. 7^th 1-3 pm at common cup coffee house Morris

Pedersen funeral home’s “A time to remember” Dec 7^th 4 p.m. at the funeral home

The VFW Christmas Party will be 2 P.M. Dec 7 at Old #1 South Side

unger furniture open house  11/30 11 am -4 pm

Death notices: former Donnelly area resident Shirley Henrichs passed away on Nov 21^st.  I was among those who attended her visitation at the funeral home on Tue eve and her funeral on wed a.m. at Kongsvinger

Celebrations: Tiger volley ball awards: west central conference -all conference Brooke Gillespie and Kourtney Geise (honorable mention). Brooke was also named honorable mention on the  west central tribune-all tournament team and Kourtney was named to the academic all -state  team

Jen Kopel and Scott Rudnicki were married Sept. 6th at West Pomme Lodge rural Donnelly.  Jen is the daughter of Rob and Kathy Kopel of Donnelly her grandmother is Evelyn Kopel.  Scott is the son of Ernie and Ann Rudnicki of Avon, and Patty and Steve Brees of Fargo, N.D.

The Tiger B volleyball team finished the season on a 18 game winning streak;  Morgan Biesterfeld, was a member of that team ;the C team finished 21-4 taking 2^nd in the Alex tourney,  Islande Sperr was a member of that squad

Morris area schools staff awards: support staff nominees included Cork Loge, Betty Kill, and Shirley Kill; Deb Erickson, Sue Erdahl-Nelson, and Donna Gades were recognized for 5, 20 and 25 years of service to school district respectively

Jackson Loge finished 2^nd in the Morris area elementary school Geography Bee recently

A good crowd was on hand for the annual Donnelly fire department bingo at the community hall in Donnelly on Nov 21^st. It was announced that bar bingo will once again be  held at “a place to be” in Donnelly starting in Jan.

Several of us from the Donnelly area were among some 70 “Backer backers” that attended the Backer victory party at the pizza ranch on Nov 20^th.

John Huebner had the lead in play “Grease” that many of us from the area attended on Nov 22^nd at the Morris Area High School.

Kongsvinger had another good turnout for their annual fall festival on Nov 23^rd thanks to Corrine Larson for the “fall table runner” I won there.

donnelly news

Next edition Nov 22^nd-29th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news. This being thanksgiving week I want to a huge thank you to all my loyal readers who made my column the success it is. Manga Takk!!

Weather news: cold and snowy are the operable words for the past week, no major snow but enough to blow and drift and keep snow removable equipment busy.

St John’s/Kongsvinger news:  Services on Nov 23^rd will be at 8:30 a.m.at Kongsvinger and at 11 a.m.at St John’s with Sunday School at St. John’s

The Kongsvinger fall festival will be held on Nov 23^rd starting at 11 a.m.at the parish hall. On the menu will be a variety of salads(NO HOTDISHES) along with pork chops plus there will be lots of baked good available for sale including the usual assortment of Scandinavian goodies as well as many raffle items ,tickets available at the door. The confirmation kids will also be selling honey for the Dakota boy’s ranch during it, and during thanksgiving eve services.

The parish is collecting food for the food shelf during Nov. and will also have a hat/mitten/scarf/gift tree in the back of both churches for the next month or so.

Thanksgiving eve worship service will be held on November 26, at 7:00 p.m. at St. John’s Church. A time of coffee and fellowship will follow the service. Everyone is welcome.

The Kongsvinger Relay for Life team will be busing tables for tips at the Pizza Ranch in Morris on Monday, December 1 from 5-8 p.m.

No KLCW meeting on Dec 4^th.

Good shepherd news Thanksgiving eve services on Nov 26^th at 7 p.m.

There will be a thanksgiving community meal at the United Methodist church in Herman on Nov 27^th from noon to 1 pm

Community news: The Donnelly fire department’s annual turkey bingo will be held on Nov 21st at the community hall starting at 7 p.m. and the bookmobile will be in town on Nov 24^th at 3:30 P.M. on main St.

Death notices: Wilber Gades of Starbuck passed away on Nov. 12^th. I was among those who attended his funeral on Nov. 17th at Zion in Morris. Survivors include his son Barry (Donna) Gades of Cyrus and a niece Joan (Randy) Fults of Donnelly and their families. Barry is the president of our Donnelly community club;

Celebrations: the Tiger Junior varsity football team had an undefeated season players included Dakota Lupke and Levin Strand

McKenzie Smith was named one of the Minnesota State University Moorhead/Courtyard by Marriott Athletes of the Week of Nov. 3rd-9th.

Riley Biesterfeld was named honorable mention on the West Central Conference-all conference team in football

The Morris Area Elementary school’s 5^th-6^th grade orange tackle football team won the Willmar youth football championship ;members of that team included Maddox Erickson and Brady Loge, his dad Ryan Loge was a coach, the black team finished 4^th team members included, Jackson Loge, Jordan Moser, Austin and Tristan Raths and Brandon Jergenson, his dad Rob Jergenson was a coach

The threshing bee royalty were part of the parade of lights in Morris, before the parade I enjoyed some music by UMM choral department. I also attended some holiday open houses at McCollar Jewelry and other places that eve.

                                                                                                                            

 Mark and I attended the visitation for Joyce Huebner at the funeral home. I also attended her funeral at First Lutheran which afforded me an opportunity to visit with Dan Sevig the son of Rev Alfred Sevig a former pastor at Kongsvinger and a former neighbor (Mrs. Strand) that I had not seen in about 50 years.

Past week I also attended the open house at Someplace Safe, the presentation by Rev Tim Swanson from the Institute for Lutheran theology at Good Shepherd, the movie “God is Not Dead” at Zion Lutheran, and had lunch with Pr Mike Hanson at the common cup coffee house.

DONNELLY NEWS

Next edition Nov 15^th-21st

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news.

Weather news: winter has officially arrived with about a foot of snow on Mon. so the order of the day on Tuesday was to dig out. Special thanks to the Good Samaritan who blew out my sidewalk this week.  I think most farmers had most of their crops harvested and fall fieldwork done b/4 the snow came although I saw a un-harvested corn field by Starbuck on Sun

St John’s/Kongsvinger news: There will be joint services at St John’s on Nov 16^th at 11 A.M with Sunday school also at St John’s at 9:45 a.m.  Services on Nov 23^rd will be at 8:30 a.m.at Kongsvinger and at 11 a.m.at St John’s with ss at St. John’s

There will be a lefse baking day is today (Sat) at 9 a.m. for the Kong fall festival on Nov 23^rd 

The Kongsvinger fall festival will be held on Nov 23^rd starting at 11 a.m.at the parish hall. On the menu will be a variety of  salads along with pork chops plus there will be lots of baked good available for sale including the usual assortment of Scandinavian goodies. Tickets available at the door

Thanksgiving eve worship service will be held on November 26, at 7:00 p.m. at St. John’s Church. A time of coffee and fellowship will follow the service. Everyone is welcome.

Churches united servant event will be held on Nov 30^th   in Moorhead. Items can dropped off at the parish office contact the parish office or read the parish newsletter for more details.

Good shepherd news Pr. Tim Swenson from the Institute of Lutheran Theology will be the guest preacher during the 9 a.m. services on Nov 16^th and also during Adult Ed after coffee hour.

Other church news: “Burgers and a Blessing” sponsored by Faith and First Lutheran churches of Morris will be on hiatus until after the holidays.

Community news: No community club meetings until next year. Firemen will meet on Nov 17^th at the fire hall at 7 P.M. Their annual turkey bingo will held on Nov 21st at the hall starting at 7 p.m. and the bookmobile will be in town on Nov 24^th at 3:30 P.M. on main St.

Death notices: former Donnelly area resident Joyce Huebner of Morris passed away on Nov 11^th her funeral is today (Saturday) at 2 p.m. at First Lutheran- Morris

Celebrations: Fallon Chantal Meixel and Wade Michael Backman were united in marriage on June 28 at the Alexandria Covenant Church. Parents of the couple are Chuck Meixel and Deb Powell and Steve and Cathy Backman. Grandparents of the bride are Chuck and Sherry Meixel and George and Shirley Libbon. Grandparents of the groom are Elizabeth Ascheman, the late John Backman Jr., and the late Leonard and Violet Wulf. The couple is currently residing near Morris.

Further evidence that every vote counts: after a recount in Stevens county commissioner district 5 there was a tie between Phil Gausman and Laurie Vara, Phil won the tie breaker and will continue to serve as county commissioner.

                                                                                                                            

Past week I attended the meatball supper at Faith Lutheran-Morris and visitation for Cora Stone at the Starbuck funeral home (I sold my wind charger on the farm to her son Arne)

A reminder that if you are going to be flying south for the winter,: “Going to Grandma’s House” for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas or otherwise going to be out of town for a while you can always read my column on-line at the Sun-Tribune website, my blog Donnellyminn.blogspot.com, and keep up on news via the Donnelly news page on Facebook.

donnelly news

Next edition Nov 8^th-14th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news; this edition is dedicated to the memory of my aunt Mabel Van Olst who passed away on Nov 10^th 2002.

Weather news: It has been a cold week saw some snow flurries in the air Wed. evening, most corn is harvested and fall fieldwork is also just about done too. Talked to a farmer friend who said the crop was dry, yields down some but still good.

In St. John’s/ Kongsvinger news: There will be joint services at Kongsvinger on Nov.9th (no Sunday school) and on the 16^th at St John’s both at 11 A.M with Sunday school at St John’s. The parish newsletter is now out copies are available in the back of both churches

There will be a lefse baking day is Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. for the Kong fall festival on Nov 23^rd

Churches united servant event will be held on Nov 30^th   in Moorhead. Items can dropped off at the parish office contact the parish office or read the parish newsletter for more details.

Other church news: There will be a Meatball dinner at Faith-Morris on Nov 12 starting at 4:30 P.M.

Community news: No community club meetings until next year. Firemen will meet on Nov 10^th and 17^th at the fire hall at 7 P.M. Their annual turkey bingo will held on Nov 21st at the hall and the bookmobile will be in town on Nov 10^th at 3:30 P.M. on main St.

Death notices: None

Celebrations Savannah Aanerud finished 35^th in the state cross country meet at St Olaf in Northfield on Nov 1^st

Doug Cardwell received an award for his life saving efforts at the Ducks Unlimited banquet in Morris

Theodore Kurtis Standfuss was born on October 28, 2014 at the St. Cloud Hospital to Kari and Nathan Standfuss of Big Lake. Grandparents are Lyle and Beverly Kruize of Hancock and Bruce and Barbara Standfuss of Sunburg. Great grandparents are Phyllis Harstad of Benson and Vernon Kruize of Donnelly.

Election results: Jeanne Ennen was reelected as a county commissioner Walt Biesterfeld as mayor and Rose Athey to city council; Dale Ennen was elected to the other council seat. Greg Fynboh was elected as soil and water commissioner dist. 2 and proving that every vote counts Laurie Vavra won her commissioner seat by two votes

A good group of kids was on hand at the Donnelly Hall on Oct 31^st for the annual Halloween party. Again I was glad I was not a judge lot of great costumes there. After the show, I attended the birthday celebration for Cindy Dahlen at the Herman bar and grill.

Many Donnelly area residents were among those of us who enjoyed a lutefisk supper at First Lutheran-Morris

Reminder you can always read my column on-line at Donnellyminn.blogspot.com and keep up on news via the Donnelly news page on Facebook.

donnelly news

Next edition Nov 1^st-7^th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news;

Weather news: after a nice weekend the weather has done a 180 degree turn and turned cold and rainy. I was told that the corn had really dried down a lot during the stretch of nice sunny weather we had and picking was going really good

In St. John’s/ Kongsvinger news: on Nov 2^nd there will be joint services at Kongsvinger @ 11 A.M. afterwards there will be an informational meeting to discuss the future of the parish.

There will be a Baking day for Scandinavian goodies for the fall festival on Nov. 5^th; lefse baking day is Nov. 15 at 9 a.m.

Other church news: Scandinavian heritage (lutefisk and/or ham) dinner at First Lutheran –Morris on Nov 5^th from 3-7 p.m. at the church 

There will be a Meatball dinner at Faith-Morris on Nov 12 starting at 4:30 P.M.

Community news the Stevens county genealogical society will meet on Nov 6^th at West Wind village room 108 @1:30 P.M.

Donnelly city council and Rendsville 4-h will meet on Nov 3^rd. at city hall and at the Andy Aanerud farm (note change of venue) both at 7 p.m.

No community club meetings until next year. Fireman will meet on Nov 10^th & 17^th at the fire hall @ 7 P.M. the bookmobile will be in town on Nov 10^th at 3:30 P.M. on main St.

Nov 4^th is Election Day most voters in the Donnelly area will vote at the community hall

Death notices: None

Celebrations: Tiger cross country section 6A girls (5th) Savannah Aanerud 5^th (state qualifier) Becca Holland (81^st); boys (17^th) Dalton Uphoff (148)

Peggy Jergenson on her new job as a Raymond James finical advisor at Bremer bank

Irelynn Jo Huebner was born on September 20, 2014 to Darick and Jessica Huebner of Morris. Grandparents are Ron and Becky Draper of Chokio, Mark and Mary Huebner of Morris, and Catherine Stine of Alexandria. The Huebner families are former Donnelly area residents

Jack Steven Backman was born on October 21, 2014 at Stevens Community Medical Center, Morris, to Eric and Bridget Backman of Morris. Grandparents are Steve and Cathy Backman of Morris, Duane Adams of LeSueur, and Becki and Ronnie Schmitz of Belle Plaine. Great grandparents are Liz Ascheman of Morris, Ruth Adams of LeSueur, Arnie and LaDonna Brummond of Lake Crystal. Steve and Liz are former Donnelly area residents

Oct 18th Jerry and Joan Kopacek helped with the annual Luther Crest Bible Camp Quilt Auction at Alexandria.

In the past week I attended the Dakota road concert at Trinity in Cyrus, the “teddy Roosevelt” performance at the museum in Morris, the fall into health event at MAES and the girls volley playoff game.

For those of you who get the on-line edition of the news there is a Halloween party at the Donnelly hall on Oct 31^st from 5:30-7 P.M. and also at the “the place to be” in the eve.

donnelly news

Next edition Oct 25^th-31st

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news; this week’s edition is dedicated to the memory of my Dad who passed away on Oct 31^st 2005

Weather news: weather has been fairly nice the past week with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures, I see a lot of corn is being picked; I was told that it has dried down considerably in recent weeks.

In St. John’s/ Kongsvinger news: There will be joint services at St John’s at 11 a.m. on Oct. 26^th; S.S. will also be at St John’s on Sunday. On Oct. 26th at St John’s and again on Nov 2nd at Kongsvinger there will be an informational meeting to discuss the future of the parish

There will be a Baking day for Scandinavian goodies for the fall festival on Nov. 5^th, lefse baking day is Nov. 15 at 9 a.m.

If you are in need of pastoral care contact the parish office at 246-3211

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Other church news: Trinity Lutheran Cyrus mission jubilee today (Sat) starting at 6 p.m. with appetizers, silent auction, etc., followed Dakota road in concert at 7 p.m. followed by dessert fantasy, and live auction. They will also be playing at services on Oct 26^th at 10:30 a.m. followed by dinner

Scandinavian heritage (lutefisk and/or ham) dinner at First Lutheran –Morris on Nov 5^th from 3-7 p.m. at the church 

 Bob Sorge “Passion for Jesus” will be at the Morris Area Elementary Concert Hall today (Sat) 7-9 p.m. and on Sunday Oct 26 9:30-11 a.m. sponsored by Hosanna Worship Center, Morris Area Community church, and Intervarsity fellowship of UMM ph.287-1789 for more info

St. Mary’s Chokio fall bazaar is today (Sat) from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

There will be a Heart’s Desire conference “Real Housewives of Stevens County” at the Hosanna worship center –Morris on Nov. 4th at 7 p.m.

Community news the Stevens county geological society will meet on Nov 6^th at West Wind village room 108

Donnelly city council and Rendsville 4-h will meet on Nov 3^rd. at city hall and at the Andy Aanerud farm (note change of venue) both at 7 p.m.

Nov 4^th is Election Day most voters in the Donnelly area will vote at the community hall

Death notices: former Donnelly area resident Elaine Carol Henrichs of Morris passed away on Oct 16^th, I was among those who attended her visitation on Oct 19^th at the Pedersen funeral home

Lee Ernst of Alberta passed away on Oct 18 survivors include his brother in law Fred Sperr and sister in law Elizabeth Aschman, both are former Donnelly area residents

Agnes Baukol of Starbuck, MN passed away on Oct 19^th survivors include her son David (Dianne Christofferson) Baukol of Glenwood. Dianne is a former Donnelly area resident.

Celebrations: Kourtney Geise was named to all-tournament team at the Brainerd invite

Fall athletes of the week include Dalton Uphoff, Brooke Gillespie, and Savannah Aanerud

At the VFW auxiliary membership meeting held recently Shirley Libbon and Carlyon Smith, were recognized for being members for 35 and 45 years.

Mary Elizabeth Lonergan and Matthew Ray Cullum were united in marriage on July 26, 2014 at the West Pomme Lodge in Morris, Minn.; Parents of the couple are Dave and Elsie Lonergan of Morris and Mike and Terri Cullum of Neenah, Wis.

At the Sons of Norway meeting Monday 20 October, Ricky Aanerud [grandson of former Donnelly area resident the late Victor Aanerud,] showed part of his collection of items made from birch bark and talked about the importance of using birch bark in the old Scandinavian culture.

Past week Wally McCollar and I attended the visitation and funeral for Bob Libbon, Steve Fults and I attended the candidates’ forum at the legion Paul Speer and I attended the school board meeting in Donnelly. I also attended the 50th anniversary celebration at the U.S. fish and wildlife office in Morris and the auction preview at the Richard Kruize farm by Donnelly

It has been a while since I have provided my contact info e-mail aeandersatfedtel.net ph. 585-6435-H 288-8692-(c) snail mail 11 E 9^th st Morris

Reminder that my deadline for submitting my column to the paper is mid aft Thurs. so keep that in mind if you have any news for me .

donnelly news

Next edition Oct 18^th-24th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news;

Weather news: weather has been fairly nice the past week with sunshine and mild temps, bean harvest is pretty much complete, a friend said it was about average, they were going to wait for the corn to dry some more before starting to pick it.

In St. John’s/ Kongsvinger news: There will be joint services at St John’s at 11 a.m. on Oct. 19^th and 26^th; ss will also be at St John’s at 9:45a.m. ,both Sundays. On Oct. 26th at St John’s and again on Nov 2nd at Kongsvinger there will be an informational meeting to discuss the future of the parish

On Oct 19th services will be broadcast on KMRS (1230) or on the web at 11 am sponsored by Lois Koehentop and family in memory of Stan

Good Shepherd Lutheran church news: a 5 week evening bible study “How to preach Christ” will continue thought Nov 12^th at the church there are boxes in the back for Operation Christmas Child. The tithe of the month is Bread to the Nations coffee money goes to the Salvation Army red kettle campaign

The Oct. newsletters for the parish and Good Shepherd are now out; extra copies are available in the back of all three churches.   

Other church news: Trinity Lutheran Cyrus mission jubilee Oct 25 starting at 6 pm with appetizers, silent auction, etc. followed Dakota road in concert at 7 pm followed by dessert fantasy, and live auction. They will also be play at services at Trinity on Oct 26^th at 10:30 am followed by dinner

Community news the Morris Area School board will meet on Oct 20^th at 6 p.m. at the town hall in Donnelly; this is a change from what is on the school calendar

Death notices: Bob Libbon of Morris passed away on Oct 14th survivors include his brother George (Shirley) Libbon of the Donnelly area

Former Donnelly area resident Eliane Henrichs of Morris passed away on Oct 16^th visitation is Oct 19^th 2-4 pm at the Pedersen funeral home in Morris

Celebrations: at the recent 4-h awards show Lori Moser was given the extra  mile  award; Lee & Judy Johnston received the friends of 4-h award  , for a complete list of winners (too numerous to list here )read the article about the show in the Oct 12^th Morris Sun Tribune or in the on-line edition

Chase Steven Neil Blume was born on September 8 at Douglas County Hospital, Alexandria, to Steve and Amanda Blume of Herman.  . Grandparents are Neil and Pat Blume of Herman and Doug and Peggy Kill of Morris.  Great-grandparents are Mavis Blume of Barrett, Larry and Vera Kill of Morris, and former Donnelly area resident Evelyn Kopel of Mankato

Tiger Cross Country: Sauck Centre ;girls(second )Savanah Aanenurd( 2nd );Becca Holland (30^th), JV Auddy Sperr (13^th) ;boys( tenth )Dalton Lupke( 61^st) JV Bo Gullickson (57^th) ;Benson girls second ,Savannah (7^th), Becca (29^th) ,JV Auddy (7th)boys (6th) ,Dalton 46th ;JV Bo (20th) West Central Conference; girls(first)Savannah( 1st )Becca (28^th );boys( 5^th )Dalton (26^th )JV Bo (29^th)

Tiger volley ball team won the Fergus tournament recently and took 2^nd in the Brainerd tournament Brooke Gillespie and Kourtney Geise are members of that team.

Past week, Mark and I attended the fall fest at St John’s  and vendor sale at the hall in Donnelly on Oct 11^th he also attended the spaghetti supper at the legion that eve. I also attended the meet the candidates forum at the Morris American legion, the Hancock fireman’s supper in Hancock visited Vedar and Opal Harstad in their apt in Morris, confirmation services for Samantha Greiner at st John’s and the farewell dinner for Pr Mary afterwards, visited Irene Strand and  Geesien Kill at the Heritage apartments ,stopped by Jack Fuchs to say goodbye ,as he and Hedi are  leaving for Texas for the winter and the visitation for Elanda Hanson at the Pedersen funeral home, her daughter and son in law are friends of mine

The final meeting of the Donnelly community club for the year was held on Oct 13th. It was announced that the annual Halloween party will be held later this month and Santa day will be Dec 13^th more info about both events later. After the meeting we sang happy birthday to Corrine Kruize and enjoyed some birthday cupcakes. Reminder that next year’s bee is our 50^th anniversary show Aug. 29^th and 30th the features will be ih and everything made in ‘65

donnelly news

Next edition Oct 11^th-17th

Welcome another edition of the Donnelly news;

Weather news: After a very cold weekend the weather has moderated some this week.  Bean harvest is wrapping up and I see some sugar beet trucks going through Morris.

In St. John’s/ Kongsvinger news: The St John’s fall fest is today (Saturday) from 10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. there will be a dinner served, rummage, bake and card sale and raffle

Rev. Mary Dodgson our interim pastor for the past year has announced that she will be leaving that position on   Oct 15^th, her last Sunday in the parish, will be Oct 12^th, which will also be confirmation Sunday. Services will be at St John’s at 11 a.m. followed by a pot luck farewell dinner for Pr Mary. There will also be joint services at St John’s at 11 a.m. on Oct. 19^th and 26th

Kongsvinger Lutheran church women guest night  will be Oct. 15^th beginning at 7 p.m. at the Kongsvinger parish hall “we’re a sister act so let’s act” will include hearing highlights from the 9^th triennial convention and gathering of the women of the ELCA by Algene Larson who attended it this past summer

Good Shepherd Lutheran church news: Sign up is underway for a 5 week evening bible study “How to preach Christ” which will start on Oct 15th @ 7 p.m. at the church

The Oct. newsletters for the parish and Good shepherd are now out; extra copies are available in the back of all three churches.

Other church news: Today (Saturday) -Zion Lutheran church –Morris will have their fall bazaar from 9-a.m. - 2 p.m. and Our Saviors Lutheran –Chokio will have their fall festival from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

The United Methodist Church in Herman is having a ham dinner on Oct 12th from 11a.m.-1 p.m.

Community news: there will be a vendor and craft show at the Donnelly hall today (Sat) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Oct 13^th the bookmobile will be in town at 3:30 p.m. the firemen and the community club will meet at 7 p.m. at the fire hall and city hall

School board will meet on Oct 20^th at 6 p.m. at the town hall in Donnelly; this is a change from what is on the school calendar

Death notices: Former Donnelly area resident Christine (Backman) Sperr of Chokio passed away on Oct 3^rd.

Celebrations: Joe Surerus of Donnelly was named poultry prince finalist at the MN state fair

Brooke Gillespie was elected Vice President of sophomore class at C-A H.S.

Tiger Cross Country: Sauck Centre ;girls( 2^nd )Savanah Aanenurd 2^nd Becca Holland 30^th JV Auddy Sperr 13^th boys 10^th Dalton Lupke 61^st JV Bo Gullickson 57^th ;Benson girls 2nd ,Savannah 7^th, Becca 29th ,jv auddy (7^th)boys (6^th) ,Dalton 46^th ;jv Bo (20^th)

Tiger volley ball team won the Fergus tournament recently Brooke Gillespie and Kourtney Geise are members of that team.

Brittany Cardwell is co-Captain of the Tiger tennis team

Ron Bourassa earned a 5 gallon pin at the bloodmobile visit in Morris recently

Lindsay Flogstad was recently elected as Vice President of the Stevens county 4-h Leaders council

The FFA Nursery Landscaping got 4^th place in regional completion and will be going on to the state in Apr. team members included Becca Holland (8th individual),

Brady Jergenson was named KMRS player of the game Oct. 3^rd

Jill Loge has been promoted to Financial Services Consultant (FSR) with Bank of the West Effective Oct 6th

Oct 2^nd I attended an informal meeting of the Stevens County Genealogical society at the West Wind Village; afterwards I visited Mary Dripps there, and was happy to learn that she and her old friend Dot Wolking had had an opportunity to get together and visit during her recent trip to Morris.  She said, she and Bill were very happy and excited about Dan’s plans for building a new dealership building and proud of what he has done with the dealership. In the past week I also attended a meet and greet with Torrey Westrom and former Morris area resident Rep. Arron Schock at the old# 1 Southside, open house at mobiz computers, pep fest at MAES, MCCL fall tour in Fergus, options for women pro-life banquet in Morris, Stevens County Republican party steering committee meeting at the Morris Library , helped with NAPS, visited my aunt Pearl and Ruth Strand at the sunrise apartments (Ruth moved there recently) and “Burgers and a Blessing” at the diamond supper club.