5K goal: place three service dogs with veterans, first responders
A family-friendly 5K event will be held in Waterville next weekend in an effort to raise money to cover the training and placement of three service dogs with deserving veterans and first responders. The event, which is called Sakatah Challenge 5K Family Fun Walk and Run, will be held Saturday, October 16 in Waterville.

‘Because we need to know more’
She had her first heart attack at 35.
She remembers nothing. No pain. No aches.
Without warning, she collapsed.
It took 22 minutes of CPR, seven defibrillator shocks, and five days in the ICU to bring the young, healthy marathon runner back to life.

The purpose is the same, but the event that celebrates survivors, remembers those who lost their battles, and raises money to fight cancer, will look a little different this year.
Sara Slavik, one of the organizers for the Le Sueur County Annual Relay for Life, said they have adjusted the relay so it will be more of a family event. It will be held Saturday, Sept. 25 instead of the middle of July when it was held on a Friday.

After an abbreviated version of the 2020 WEM Homecoming festivities, the school’s yearly event will return to normalcy next week.
The week of Monday, Sept. 27 through Friday, Oct. 1 will be filled with many activities, special dress-up days, and sporting events celebrating Homecoming 2021.
A Meet the Candidates program will be held Friday, September 24 at 11:45 a.m.
Students will kick off the festivities with Class Color Day Monday, September 27. Each of the 13 grade levels will be asked to dress in a specific color.

The little Irish City of Kilkenny, Minnesota, did it again. The town, which boasts a population of 168, hosted hundreds of visitors for another grand ol’ Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration on Saturday, Sept. 11. The day’s events included a car show, an Irish-themed parade, live music, food, local vendors, fireworks, and the ever-popular annual Toilet Bowl Races, which features teams of three racing down a street atop a rolling toilet and chugging beer (or root beer).

Highway 13 running north to south through Waseca County, has been renamed the Corporal Caleb L. Erickson Memorial Highway.
Twenty-year-old Erickson, who was born and raised in Waseca, died on Friday, February 28, 2014, as the result of injuries received during an attack by a suicide bomber while serving in Afghanistan. He was the son of Karla and Barry Erickson.

Roger Howland was 25 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
He was fresh out of college, having just earned his Business Degree, when he was told to report for duty.

Proud Irishmen and women--and those who are Irish at heart--are shining up their shamrocks in anticipation for Kilkenny’s Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration this Saturday, September 11.
Dale and Kathleen Hamele, longtime Kilkenny residents and business owners, have been named this year’s grand marshals. The couple has owned and operated West Side Repair in Kilkenny for 30 years.

The September 1, 2021, issue of the Belle Plaine Herald, will be the last.
The newspaper’s owners, the Townsend Family, announced the news on its front page this week.
“The Townsend Family is sadly publishing the final edition of the Belle Plaine Herald, after nearly 140 years of covering the news in Belle Plaine and the surrounding area. This is the one article I hoped we would never have to print,” stated publisher and editor E. Daniel Townsend, who’s been employed at the newspaper and print company as long as he can remember.

A large crowd and good weather greeted The Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Show Friday Aug. 27, through Sunday, Aug. 29. The annual show features tractors of all years, sizes and models.
“We had extremely good attendance this year,” said Bill Thelemann of the Pioneer Power Tractor Show. “We dodged the main (predicted) rain storms.”

The annual Kilkenny Fire Department ATV Ride, which was held Saturday, August 14, had the biggest turnout in the history of the event.
This is the fifth year the Kilkenny Fire Department has been in charge of the event. The ATV Run was started by the Kilkenny Park Committee a decade ago.
A total of 449 machines and 781 people participated this year, eclipsing the previous high numbers of 329 machines and 525 people in 2019, the last time the event was held. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the ATV Run in 2020.

He was given only six months to live.
That was two years ago.
Now, the stage-4 advanced, metastatic prostate cancer survivor is ready to celebrate.
This Sunday, August 22, a victory party, which family and friends have turned into a benefit, will be held in honor of local businessman Harry “Chip” Beadell at the Waterville Event Center from noon until 7 p.m.

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics
will be held every Thursday at Rice County Public Health, 320 NW 3rd Street, Faribault 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. throughout August and September  
Rice County Public Health continues to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics every Thursday from 9:00 – 4:00 p.m.  These clinics are open to those 12 years and older, with all three vaccines available.

Long-time local teacher Jon Bakken has earned a spot in the WEM Board of Education following a special election held Tuesday, August 10. The WEM Board canvassed the votes Friday, August 13 in the WEM Elementary lobby.
Bakken received 113 votes, 10 more than runner-up David Schuster who received 103 votes. Matthew Klicker was third in the race with 74 votes.
Bakken received 61 votes in Waterville, 30 in Elysian, 16 in Morristown, and 6 votes through absentee ballots.

Due to a breakdown at the printing press in Princeton, MN, the August 12th issues of The New Prague Times, Montgomery Messenger and the LifeEnterprise, which are mailed, will be a day late.
Area newsstand papers will be available on Wednesday as usual.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, all Rice County employees and visitors are required to wear a face covering in Rice County government buildings. This requirement is going into effect to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Rice County is currently classified as “high” community transmission of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker. The CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health recommend face coverings be worn in indoor, public settings by all individuals -- vaccinated or not -- when in a community with high transmission.