Seven WEM senior basketball players have received State honors following their 2020-21 season.
Brielle Bartelt, Lindsay Condon, Kylie Pittmann, Ellie Ready, Toryn Richards, Allison Rients, and Autumn Taylor were each honored by the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association.
Bartelt and Richards were named to the Class A All-State Honorable Mention Team for the second straight season.

Two local college students will serve as Rice County Dairy Princesses for 2021.
Kelsey Kuball, a WEM graduate who attends the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, and Madelyn Wehe, who attends the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, were named 2021 Dairy Princesses for Rice County.
The Rice County American Dairy Association (ADA) held a candidate dinner Saturday, March 27 at the Morristown American Legion. This event was held in place of the traditional banquet, which was not held due to COVID.
WEM student Ava Quast.....

Knights edge Lady Bucs in Section 2A Championship
The Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s girls basketball team was one of the highest scoring teams in Class A this season. They averaged nearly 80 points per game.
WEM held the Knights to 21 first half points in the Section 2A Championship game Friday, March 26 at Arlington, but were unable to score enough themselves in a 64-59 loss.

The students at Trinity Lutheran School in North Morristown reenacted Jesus Palm Sunday Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem with palm branches and clothing. They gathered on the church steps with the church doors wide open to praise our heavenly king, Jesus. The week would conclude with Jesus celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus being arrested, crucified, and burried. Fortunately, we know the happy ending when Jesus rises from the dead on Easter, announcing victory over sin, death, and the devil. Because of Jesus great love for us, we, too, will live forever with Him in heaven.

“Spring has sprung. The grass has riz, I wonder where the birdies is?”…so goes the old saying. Apparently, there are several versions of this as well as a longer poem. Everyone of a certain age seems to know this saying one way or the other, and it is recited as soon as it feels like spring.
It sure has felt like spring here and there over the last few weeks, with the usual snowstorm thrown in, just in case we forget we live in Minnesota. “It must snow on the robin’s tail three times before spring can begin” is another often-quoted tale.

Lorna Marvel Sexton, passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester on the morning of Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021, at the age of 98. She was a long time Waseca resident, spending her last years under the excellent care and friendships at Colony Court in Waseca.

The season has ended for the WEM girls basketball team after a 64-59 loss to Sleepy Eye-St. Mary's in the Section 2A Championship played Thursday, March 25 at Sibley East High School in Arlington. The Bucs finished the season with a 20-4 record, with two of those losses being to the Knights. For more on this game and WEM's win over Martin County West in the South Sub-Section Championship, check out the April 1 edition of the LifeEnterprise. SESM is currently undefeated and will find out Saturday, March 27 when they play in the Class A State Tournament.

The 2020-2021 WEM Teachers of the Year were announced last week after a vote of their colleagues.
Winners are Sandy Mielke (Elementary), Ashley Landru (Middle School), and Janet Jones (High School).
Also nominated were...
To read more on this story, pick up the March 25, 2021 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.

I wanted a unicycle.
I was 10 years old and wanted nothing else—just a unicycle.
I begged for one for my birthday. Begged.
I cut a picture of one out of a magazine and dreamed of riding the darn thing around my driveway.
I would have been so cool.
But, instead, I got a pogo stick.
My parents were “concerned” I’d severely injure myself learning how to ride a unicycle, but for some reason… a pogo stick was “just fine” in their minds.
I was not pleased when I unwrapped the pogo stick.

I wanted a unicycle.
I was 10 years old and wanted nothing else—just a unicycle.
I begged for one for my birthday. Begged.
I cut a picture of one out of a magazine and dreamed of riding the darn thing around my driveway.
I would have been so cool.
But, instead, I got a pogo stick.
My parents were “concerned” I’d severely injure myself learning how to ride a unicycle, but for some reason… a pogo stick was “just fine” in their minds.
I was not pleased when I unwrapped the pogo stick.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will conduct aerial mapping of several locations in south central Minnesota this spring.
The mapping will create a record of existing infrastructure and landscape along, and adjacent to, MnDOT right of way for transportation planning and operations. This work must be conducted after the snow has melted and before the trees leaf out.
Work will begin in late March, weather permitting, in the following locations:
- Highway 21, from Highway 13 south of Montgomery to the intersection of Highway 21 and Highway 99

The WEM girls basketball team defeated Martin County West, 61-26, Tuesday, March 23 in the Section 2A South Sub-Section Championship. This was the second straight Sub-Section title for WEM. They will play Class A No. 3 rated Sleepy Eye-St. Mary's Thursday, March 25 at 7 p.m. in Arlington for the Section 2A Championship. SESM defeated WEM, 62-58, March 5. The Lady Bucs defeated SESM, 79-68, in the Section 2A Championship game last year. Check out the April 1 edition of the LifeEnterprise for more on the Section 2A Tourney.

Stuart James Preston, age 79 of Faribault died on Thursday, March 18, 2021 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

There will be fireworks, everything else is tentative
Elysian will celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks this year. Beyond that, things are tentative.
“There’s not much to report. It’s just too early to know how to proceed—what the CDC guidelines will be in July,” explained Elysian Chamber of Commerce member Pat Nusbaum.
The Elysian City Council held a special meeting March 3 to discuss the Chamber’s plans for the Fourth of July and the city’s new event, Elysian Days.

Rodney James Wehr, the son of Merle and Arlene (Drinken) Wehr, was born on December 29, 1974 in Waseca, Minnesota. He died Saturday, March 6, 2021 at his home in Swea City at the age of 46 years.
A Celebration of Rod’s Life will be held on March 20, 2021 at the Swea City Fire Hall from 3-6pm.
Rod worked for Brand FX in Swea City for 9 years, and recently for Aluma Trailers in Bancroft as a welder.

This program is for children living in the Waterville-Elysian area who are 1-18 years of age.
Program is sponsored on the third Saturday of each month between the hour of 10 and 11:30 a.m. Next distribution is Saturday, March 20.
Pickup occurs in front of the food shelf, volunteers will be there to ask how many children in the family, bags of kid friendly food will be given to each car.
There is no income eligibility for anyone. All families with children will be accommodated, until supplies for that day are exhausted.