2023 Year in Review: March

MARCH

Mike Schultz added a  pair of silver medals from the Paralympics World Cup in Passo San Pellegrino, Italy. He earned silver in the men’s LL1 Snowboardcross on March 1, and another silver in the men’s LL1 Dual Banked Slalom (finishing a mere 0.08 seconds behind Team U.S.A. teammate Noah Elliott). The frosting on the cake, so to speak, is that he left Europe as the Banked Slalom World Cup Champion for the 2022-23 season, bringing the coveted globe back to the United States.

Wrestlers from both Eden Valley-Watkins and Kimball Area High School took part in the Section 4A Individuals tournament Saturday, Feb. 25, at -Norwood-Young America. EV-W will send two individuals to the State Tournament: Isaac Ortiz and Sonnie DeHeer. Kimball will send six individuals to the State Tournament: Connor Carlson, Mark Schiefelbein, Blake Brutger, Logan Kuseske, Caden Guggisberg, and Hank Meyer. The State Individuals Tournament took place Friday-Saturday, March 3-4, at Xcel Center in St. Paul.

Kimball Area Public Schools sent all six of their squads (four middle school teams and two high school teams) to the 2023 Minnesota State Vex Robotics -Championships on March 2-3 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud. The invitations to the State Championships are based upon awards that the teams earned during the regular season. There are nearly 500 active robotics teams across the state of Minnesota, which includes teams in grades 4-12 in the IQ, Middle School and High School divisions. Only the top 120 teams in the state are invited to compete at the state competition, which included all six of Kimball’s MS and HS teams. “The level of competition at this year’s State Tournament was off the charts,” said Kimball’s head robotics coach Kevin Kieke. “This is the best talent that I’ve seen in my 10 years of coaching and attending State Tournaments.”

Neither the EV-W nor the -Kimball team advanced to the State Tournament as a team. Both were eliminated from the competition at Norwood-Young America. EV-W lost the first team round to NYA. Kimball was the Section runner-up, but second place isn’t enough to go to State for the Teams competition. Eight individuals from the two schools went to the State Tournament: 106# -Connor Carlson (K), 132# Mark Schiefelbein (K), 145# Blake Brutger (K), 160# Isaac Ortiz (EV-W), 160# Logan Kuseske (K), 170# Caden Guggisberg (K), 182# Hank Meyer (K), and 195# Sonnie DeHeer (EV-W).

On March 4, the Meeker County 4-H Poultry Senior team received first place at the regional contest and competed at state on April 15 in Foley. The team was coached by Tracy Huhn and Alison Radunz. Horse Junior team received first place at the regional contest and competed at state Saturday, April 15, in Foley. Dairy Senior 1 team received first-place at the regional contest and competed at state Saturday, April 15, in Foley. The team was coached by Jim Salfer and Heather Thyen. Dairy Senior 2 received fourth place at the regional contest. The team was coached by Jim Salfer and Heather Thyen. Dairy Junior received fourth place at the regional contest. The team was coached by Jim Salfer and Heather Thyen.

Keith Markwardt has shifted from president to the role of CEO of Harvest Bank, and Barry Belknap has shifted from VP to president. Their titles may have changed, and roles shifted slightly, but their goals and focus remain the same.

The 2022-2023 Eden Valley-Watkins boys’ basketball team won the Section 3AA Championship at SMSU-Marshall on Wednesday, March 15.

The #2-ranked Eden Valley-Watkins boys’ basketball team faced #5-ranked New London-Spicer March 11 in the Section 3AA North final. Thanks to a last-second pass by Landon Neiman to Wyatt Moehrle who made the buzzer-beater winning shot, the Eagles won, 56-54.

Mike Schultz finished with a bronze in  Boardercross in La Molina, Spain, just behind fellow Team U.S.A. snowboarder Noah Elliott, and Canadian competitor Ty Turner who claimed the gold.

4-H Project Bowl challenges teams of three to six youth to test their knowledge on a variety of topics including dairy, dog, general livestock, horse, llama/alpaca, poultry, and rabbit. Meeker County 4-H had five teams that competed at the Sauk Rapids Regional Project Bowl contest.

Members of the St. Augusta American Legion Club led the St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday, March 18, in Marty.

Citizens4Progress hosted a special school and community event, a contest, art show, and fundraiser in Eden Valley, March 16-18. Eden Valley mayor Brent Bengtson posed with winners of the 2023 writing contest after they were announced Saturday morning, March 18, at the Eden Valley Community Center. The awards culminated three days of exhibits by EV-W students of their artwork and writing, all on display in the Community Center. Following the awards ceremony, a soup and chili lunch was served to raise funds for long-time EV-W art teacher Carolyn Becher. $2,596 was raised by selling bowls (made by Jerry Kulzer and his students), soup and chili, and from the sale of donated artwork by Bonnie Smith; funds went into a scholarship fund in Becher’s name.

Eight area artists from a four-county area received Individual Artist Awards through the Central Minnesota Arts Board. Recipients included Jean Matua of Kimball for visual art, Pysanky, batik-style wax-resist.

The 2022-23 Eden Valley-Watkins boys’ basketball team was the first in school history to make it to the MSHSL State Tournament. They faced No. 1-ranked Holy Family Catholic, playing at Target Center on Tuesday, March 21; Holy Family won, 80-52, and EV-W moved on to the consolation bracket. EV-W played No. 4-ranked Maple River on Thursday, March 23, at Concordia University; Maple River won, 59-32, and the EV-W season ended.

On Wednesday afternoon, March 22, students at Kimball Elementary School gathered in assembly to watch principal Joel Timmerman get taped to the wall by selected students. Teacher Erin Durga emceed the exciting event as students watched and cheered them on. This “reward” was for students reaching their reading goals with the 1 Book 1 School (“Charlotte’s Web”) program, sponsored by P.I.E. (Parents in Education).

In a fabulous show, the Northern Lights danced above our area early morning, March 24. This strong solar storm made the Lights visible to much of the United States. We were treated to a repeat performance on April 23.

The Eden Valley Community Center was filled with teams of four competing in a jigsaw contest Sunday afternoon, March 26. This was the first-ever puzzle tournament, hosted by the Eden Valley Citizens for Progress, but it won’t be the last.

The Kimball Senior Dining Site – run by Catholic Charities – permanently closed at the end of March, just one year short of its 50th anniversary.

Departures

Marvin Anderson, 94, of Eden Valley; March 1, 2023

Carol (Werner) Steiner, 72, of Grand Forks, N.D.; March 2, 2023

Dr. Richard Swenson, 95, of Eden Valley; March 8, 2023

Mark Verhey, 69, of Kimball; March 8, 2023

Wilfred Hentges, 98, formerly of Kimball; March 10, 2023

Darlene (Scherr) Steve, 78, of Fair Haven; March 10, 2023

Ronald Smith, 66, of South Haven; March 11, 2023

Gary Caauwe, 74, formerly of Kimball; March 22, 2023

David “Dave” Strohmeier, 75, of Watkins; March 23, 2023

Celebrations

Gladys Grossinger 100th birthday celebration, March 25