Thirteen of the top teams in Class AA participated in the Class AA Minnesota High School Volleyball Showcase Friday and Saturday in Burnsville.
The WEM squad was seeded 14th out of the 16 teams and they finished the event in 9th place, winning three of their five matches.
The Bucs won the Bronze Championship by defeating Mounds Park Academy (26-24, 22-25, 15-10) and Zumbrota-Mazeppa (25- 20, 25-17) on Saturday.

Renee Marie Hagedorn, age 58, was called by our Heavenly Father from her home in Tracy, Minnesota, on Saturday, September 23, 2023.  

Jeanette Emma (Kokoschke) Stiller, age 81, of Waseca, died, Saturday, September 23, 2023, at her home.
Born, December 1, 1941, in Morristown, a daughter of the late Gerhardt and Mildred (Poehler) Kokoschke. She graduated from Morristown High School and was united in marriage to Gary Stiller on August 27, 1960, in Waterville. He preceded her in death on February 11, 2019.

Public health workers in Scott and Le Sueur counties are encouraging people who haven’t recently been vaccinated to consider receiving the latest vaccines aimed at minimizing the impacts of COVID and fighting its spread.

It was quite a weekend for Travis Kimbro.
Travis and his wife Jillian and their two children recently moved to Delano from Waterville. Last week their home located just west of Waterville was sold.
Kimbro and his fishing partner Jared LaFrance won the fishing derby Saturday, Sept. 16 on Lake Washington and the duo claimed $2,000 for their efforts.
The following day the inaugural Winner Takes All Bass Brawl was held in Waterville on Lake Tetonka and Lake Sakatah, with the winner claiming the lone prize of $10,000.

Minnesota’s regular waterfowl season opens a half-hour before sunrise on Saturday, Sept. 23, with the same regulations as last year. Minnesota has three waterfowl hunting zones — north, central and south — that share the Sept. 23 season opener but have varying end dates. The central and south zones also have a mid-season closure Oct. 2-6.

The WEM volleyball team pulled off a huge upset Friday, Sept. 15 when they traveled to Cannon Falls and defeated the Class A 3rd Rated Bombers in four sets.
The win ended a solid week for the Bucs. They picked up a sweep of NRHEG Thursday, Sept. 14 and were defeated by undefeated Kenyon-Wanamingo Tuesday, Sept. 12.

Ronald “Ron” Morris of Waterville and formerly of Faribault died Saturday, Sept.16, 2023 after an extended struggle with a degenerative neurological disorder.
Funeral services will be held at First English Lutheran Church, Faribault Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Mark Johnson, officiating.
Visitation will be held at the church for one and a half hours prior to the service Saturday.
Arrangements are being completed by Boldt Funeral Home, Faribault.

Ronald “Ron” Morris of Waterville and formerly of Faribault died Saturday, Sept.16, 2023 after an extended struggle with a degenerative neurological disorder.
Funeral services will be held at First English Lutheran Church, Faribault Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Mark Johnson, officiating.
Visitation will be held at the church for one and a half hours prior to the service Saturday.
Arrangements are being completed by Boldt Funeral Home, Faribault.

At the ripe old age of 10, Medford student Ella Bettner founded a company which supports local school district’s kids and families who may have negative lunch balances or cannot afford lunch.
Bettner, who lives in Faribault and is a 7th grade student at Medford, established No Tummies Left Behind two years ago after she learned about food insecurity in schools and decided she wanted to help. She started this non-profit organization in October of 2021 after a 1 1/2 year delay due to the pandemic.

The WEM football team scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to defeat Cleveland, 16-6, Thursday, Sept. 7 at Cleveland in a Mid Southeast West District game.
The Bucs trailed 6-0 early after Cleveland scored on their second drive of the game on a 6-yard pass from Blake Lyons to Carson Lyons.
Turnovers and penalties stopped a pair of Buccaneer drives in the first half, including one at the one-yard line.

The WEM volleyball team won their opening Gopher Conference match of the season and placed third in their home invitational this past week.
The Bucs swept JWP 25-11, 25-20, 25-15 Thursday, Sept. 7 in Waterville. Two days later they hosted the 45th annual WEM Invitational and split four matches.
WEM defeated Minnesota Valley Lutheran (MVL) 25-20, 25-15 and TriCity United 25-14, 15-13, and were defeated by Cleveland 17-25, 25-19, 15- 12 in pool play.

The DFL Rural Caucus is hosting a legislative meeting Thursday, Sept. 21, 5 -7 p.m., at the New Prague Public Library, 400 Main St E, New Prague. Featured speakers are Rep. Kristi Pursell (D - Northfield) and Rep. Luke Frederick (D-Mankato).

The annual Halfway to St. Patty’s Day celebration this past weekend was a family-fun event.
Kids enjoyed barrel-train rides, playing in a bounce house, and games complete with prizes. The kids-at-heart and of any age could partake in the daily offerings of music through most of the festivities, fireworks at dusk on Saturday, the vehicles on display at the car show Sunday, or any number of food and beverage options available.

JoAnne Lynne Haslip, age 73, of Waterville died on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

The opening game for the WEM football team ended in a loss, with Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop picking up a 22-6 victory Thursday, Aug. 31 in Waterville.
A pair of early touchdowns by the Thunderbirds gave the visitors a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
The two teams played a very evenly matched game for much of the final three quarters. Penalties hurt the Bucs in the second half. They started a pair of drives with successive penalties, forcing the team into some longer possessions.