Saturday, October 31, 2009

More information coming later today (Saturday) on the WCA Levy Vote

So much more to add, beyond what was published in the October 29th Hoffman Tribune!

West Central Area Knights volleyball team falls to #1-seeded Parkers Prairie in sub-section quarterfinals

The Knights fell in a 3-0 loss to the top-ranked team in Sub-Section 6A-South, the Parkers Prairie Panthers.

WCA finishes the regular season with a mark of 7-16-1 overall. This is an improvement on 2008's record of 3-19-1. The Knights went 4-5 in the Heart O' Lakes Conference, good for 6th place in the 10-team league.

Friday, October 30, 2009

"Stuck for a buck" cancer fundraiser held at WCA South on Friday - video clips posted

More video clips will be posted over the weekend.






Winter forces Commerce and Ag in Hoffman to postpone Halloween party

The party will be held next Friday (Nov 6) at 3:30pm at Hoffman Square.

The Food Truck is in Hoffman! (2 video clips added)

Food distribution will take place at the Hoffman Community Center today beginning at 1:00pm and ending when the food is gone!



Thursday, October 29, 2009

West Central Area Knights volleyball team wins playoff opener! - Cross Country teams run well at Section 6A - Kyle Toms advances to state











Photos from 2009 regular season action above by Kris Beuckens, sports reporter, and the Tribune Editor - click to enlarge.


The Knights Volleyball team traveled to #8-seeded Battle Lake and took out the Battlers in a five-game marathon tonight.

With the win, they now face #1-seed Parkers Prairie in the Sub-Section 6A-South quarterfinals. That match will be held Friday night in Parkers Prairie at 7pm.

It is WCA's first playoff win in volleyball since the 2007 season, when they finished as Sub-Section Runners-up, losing to Wheaton Area, the eventual 5th-place winner at the Class A state tournament.

Good luck Friday night to the Knights Volleyball team!

In the Section 6A Cross Country meet... the Knights Cross Country teams did an outstanding job in their playoff run at Long Prairie today.

• Team scoring for the boys: (1) Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 56 (2) Albany 83 (3) Sauk Centre 114 (4) New London-Spicer 117 (5) Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta/Hancock 132 (6) Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 176 (7) Litchfield 178 (8) Ottertail Central 210 (9) West Central Area 214 (10) Benson/KMS 294 (11) Minnewaska Area 296 (12) Ortonville 312 (13) St. John’s Prep 347 (14) Paynesville 366

• Team scoring for the girls: (1) Albany 74 (2) New London-Spicer 77 (3) Sauk Centre 95 (4) Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 110 (5) Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 121 (6) Paynesville 149 (7) West Central Area 212 (8) Benson/KMS 216 (9) Litchfield 221 (10) Minnewaska 240 (11) Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah 271 (12) Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta/Hancock 274 (13) Ortonville 354 (14) Ottertail Central 358


Photo of Kyle Toms in action during a race this fall.


Read more about the Knights' football, volleyball, and cross country playoff performances in the November 5th issue of the Hoffman Tribune.

Video clips from the WCA levy meeting at the Barrett Community Center





About a dozen concerned citizens of WCA attended the meeting tonight in Barrett. The WCA school board and administration were in attendance as well.

Remember to vote next Tuesday! And in case you haven't read this week's Tribune issue, the Editor is urging residents of the WCA district to vote "Yes"!

WCA Levy meeting tonight (Thursday) at the Barrett Community Center

The meeting will begin at 7pm.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

West Central Area Knights football falls in Section 6AA quarterfinals

The Knights traveled to Pierz on Tuesday night for the playoff opener. The state-ranked hosts were not kind to WCA, as they rattled off 48 unanswered points before halftime. The final score was 48-12.

The #7-seeded Knights finish the season 4-5, an improvement on their 2-7 mark put in each of the last two seasons. Pierz, who was the number two seed, improves to 8-1 and will host #3-seeded Osakis on Saturday night at 7pm.

Undefeated Crosby-Ironton is the number one seed.

12-page Hoffman Tribune completed this week

It includes a 12,006 word story on WCA school budget issues dating back to 2001.

Yes, that's right - the story is twelve-thousand and six words long!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A random thought by the Editor

Some people ask, "How much is enough?" when school districts ask for more money. That is a valid and reasonable question for any taxpayer to ask.

In the case of West Central Area, I say "Enough equals the amount of money needed to operate the school district after 8% of the budget has been cut!" That figure has already been decided on, we know what we need to spend to keep WCA operating. The question is, are we willing to get the revenue side of the equation up to that point?

(Please remember, that over $630,000 was cut from the WCA budget last spring - a huge amount to bear at one time!)

This was a letter to the editor published in the Hoffman Tribune on February 2, 2006

February 2, 2006 - Letter to the Editor

It’s not an overstatement to say that the very quality of our students’ education is at stake. A “no” vote means that we, as a community, are not willing to provide the funding necessary to maintain a quality educational experience for our students.

A “no” vote will greatly diminish the educational opportunities that we provide to non-college bound students. The elective courses in shop, home economics, and agriculture would be greatly reduced if not eliminated entirely. The business courses, such as accounting, statistics, and business math would be eliminated.

A “no” vote would also hinder any attempts at increasing our quality of course offerings for our college-bound students.

A “no” vote will result in dramatically increased class sizes in the elementary, decreased services to the most vulnerable students, and teachers being returned to the classroom that have been out of the classroom for several years.

In addition to the already announced cuts that will result from a “no” vote, the school board will have to cut an additional $200,000 from the budget. These additional cuts could easily result in activity fees of $500 to $1500 per student per sport and/or further reductions in teaching/ counseling staff. These changes would likely result in significant numbers of students open-enrolling out of our district. Since the money follows the students, we could be caught in a vicious cycle as we make cuts to offset the lost revenue, causing even more students to leave the district.

With a “no” vote, the best we could hope for is a mediocre education.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. A “yes” vote will go a long way toward allowing us to maintain our educational quality. The future of our school district is in your hands.

Vote “yes.”

Sven Swanson - Kensington

Monday, October 26, 2009

Lengthy, lengthy, lengthy story coming for the Hoffman Tribune's Oct. 29 issue regarding WCA school funding issues, levy vote information

It's gonna be a good one! Look for it at newsstands around Hoffman-Kensington late on Wednesday morning.

Early indications suggest that the story will be at least 5,000 words in length, covering a majority of pages one and two of this week's Tribune.

**Make plans that include Bullfrogs Bar and Grill in Hoffman this weekend!


Click to enlarge.

Also note that Bullfrogs is open seven days a week for breakfast at 8am!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Coming ... the editor will begin ranting about the WCA school levy vote - just a hint, he's pretty disgusted by ignorance

The word I use is "disgusting" to describe the apathy and ignorance that members of the public have towards school issues - until the school is in a bad financial situation and needs to ask to raise taxes.

West Central Area Knights football team will travel to Pierz for Section 6AA opener - Volleyball opens in 6A-South next Thursday

The West Central Area Knights fell in a crushing upset 12-6 loss at Wadena-Deer Creek on Tuesday night, finishing the regular season 4-4 overall and being tagged with a #7-seed in Section 6AA.

The Knights will travel to Pierz (7-1 overall, 6-1 Central Minnesota Conference) next Tuesday night, October 27, for the section quarterfinals.

The Knights volleyball team was seeded number nine in Sub-Section 6A-South and will travel to Battle Lake for the opener on Thursday night, October 29.


More information on Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs, rankings, and pairings will appear in the October 29 issue of the Hoffman Tribune.

Below is a story from the Morrison County Record (Little Falls) on the Pierz Pioneers.

Pioneers will put on red for playoffs
Pierz is 32-1 at home over the last six seasons
Matt Perkins
Staff Writer

The Pierz football team has lost only one game at home over the last six seasons.

That bodes well for the Pioneers, who, with a 42-26 win over Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (HLWW) Tuesday night, made sure the road to the Section 6AA title game will go through Pierz.

"Our guys live for putting on those red jerseys and performing in front of the home crowd," Pioneers coach Leo Pohlkamp said.

Pierz will host either Ottertail Central or West Central Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Section 6AA playoffs. It's unclear who will be in the Pioneers' half of the bracket, as section assignments had not been finalized when this issue went to print, but with a 7-1 record this season, the Pioneers have secured the section's second seed.

That means potentially two home games before traveling to the section championship game at the Fargodome.

"Right now, we just have to get healthy and can't get ahead of ourselves," Pohlkamp said. "We know we got the No. 2 seed, and we'll scout potential opponents, but we just want to focus on getting healthy right now."

But even with star running back John Omann banged up and questionable for Tuesday's game, the Pioneers proved that its rushing attack can be formidable in his absence with a 290-yard performance against HLWW.

Mitch Woitalla, who suffered a mild hamstring pull in the game, rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, while Cody Stangl added two more scores and 81 yards on 16 carries.

While the game was never really in doubt, the Pioneers did surrender 368 yards of total offense to HLWW, including 156 yards through the air.

But Dylan Kummet led the Pierz defense with nine tackles and an interception, while Preston Weber and Zach Kummet came away with interceptions as well.

On the other side of the ball, the cooperative talents of Zach Pohlkamp and Brandon Weber were on display at the quarterback position for Pierz. Pohlkamp was 2-for-2 on his attempts for 44 yards, while Weber completed 5-of-9 for 85 yards and a touchdown.

"We were happy with our passing game tonight, throwing for over 100 yards for the first time this season," coach Pohlkamp said. "Defensively, we struggled. We need to improve on defense if we want to go somewhere in the playoffs."

A few pictures of the snow we picked up a couple weekends ago



Midwest Grain Systems, Inc. in Kensington has fall harvesting equipment ready to go to work on your farm!


Click to enlarge.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

October 15th Hoffman Commerce and Ag meeting minutes

Hoffman Commerce & Ag Meeting
Thursday, October 15, 2009
12:00 p.m. ~ Bullfrogs

Members Present:
Marcy Holl, Kris Sanstead, Jeff Swenson, Ed Persons, Gordon Bredy, Leigh Winter, Deb Krusemark, Dan Persons, Rachel Volker, Muriel Krusemark, Becky Reuter, Phil Corrigan, Randy Olson, Carolee Haack, Paul Hedstrom, Lori Reeder

Membership Report:
68 members to date

October 24th:
Make A Difference Day

Horizions:
October 30th we will be getting a ¼ semi-truck load of food to give to families in need. You must register to be able to qualify for this. Muriel is in need of some volunteers to help give out food and unload the truck. If you are interested, please give her a call.

Healthcare Mall:
Weight Watchers will come if we get 20 women and men to sign up. If you are interested, please contact Muriel.

October 27th:
We will be participating at UMM in the cities Farmers Market- If you would like to participate, please contact Muriel.

Grant Co. Wind:
This is a 41+ million dollar project. They plan on being finished putting up the turbines by December 31st. They are planning on putting up 10 turbines in the surrounding area.

New Business:
Halloween Party: October 30th from 3:30-5 at the Hoffman Square. Best decorated/carved pumpkin contest, Best Dressed contest.

Halloween Lighting Contest:
Need judges, if you are interested, please contact Randy at the Hoffman Tribune. 1st place- $50, 2nd Place- $30, 3rd Place- $20

Holiday Expo: December 14th-
Horizions will be providing lunch and coffee. Lori sent out 65 registration forms and got 10 back for early registration. She will be making calls to those that haven’t responded yet. Phil Corrigan and Leigh Winter will help out with advertising for this event.

Thanksgiving Drawing:
Drawing will be held on Monday, November 16th. 5 ham and 5 turkey

Playground in City Park:
They have raised $3400 towards new playground equipment at the City Park. The cost of the equipment is $9400- delivery and set-up. Everyone who has donated will be on a plaque. If you are interested in donating, please contact Muriel at the city office. Phil Corrigan made a motion to donate $1000 to this project, 2nd by Deb Krusemark. MCU We will talk about another donation this spring.

Ice Rink:
There will be one this year. T.J. Clavin is in charge of this project.

Legion Music Fest:
There will be a Legion Country Music Fest on November 28th at 7:30 p.m. at the Hoffman Community Center. Everyone is welcome!

Access Channel:
Keep in mind that when you want to advertise for non-profit events- call Carolee Haack at RTA. You can also advertise for other reasons, but there is a fee for ones that are not non-profit.

Good Samaritan Sun Porch:
Grand opening October 21st. Come and check it out!!

Degen Meyer Benefit:
Saturday, October 17th from 8am-1pm at the Hoffman Community Center. You can read more about little Degen at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/degenmeyer

Levy Vote:
November 3rd at the WCA High School in Barrett.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 19th at noon at the Dew Drop Inn

The meeting was adjourned by Ed Persons. MCU

Respectfully Submitted,

Leigh Winter
Secretary

Three photos to go with this week's Marv's column on his Africa trip (Page 2 of the Oct. 22 Hoffman Tribune)


Click to enlarge.

Three photos to go with this week's Marv's column on his Africa trip (Page 2 of the Oct. 22 Hoffman Tribune)

Retired CEO says lack of character to blame for the fading American Dream - not the recession

Retired CEO Says Lack of Character to Blame – NOT The Recession

By Tony Panaccio
News & Experts Syndicate

A broad survey of Americans has revealed the American Dream is starting to fade, with fewer people than ever buying homes, obtaining healthcare coverage and getting married. More people are out of work and those who aren’t are earning less.


The data, provided by the Annual Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, showed a sweeping look at life from the viewpoint of more than 3 million American homes, with many of the maladies striking Americans being blamed on the recession.

However, one retired CEO believes that it is the changing values of executives, entrepreneurs and employees – not the recession – that is to blame for most of our woes.

G. Web Ross, author of Rescuing the American Dream: The Entrepreneur’s Way (www.rescuingthedream.com), said Americans today have a greater sense of entitlement and a lesser sense of values, and that combination is dragging the country, and the dream, downward. For him, it’s all about character.

“For more than 500 years, people have risked it all to come here for one simple reason: to make our most precious dream come true; a life that realizes its fullest potential, and the chance to carve out one’s own destiny,” Ross said. “Chance. Not a guarantee. This is the definition of freedom. It is not the stuff of Democrats or Republicans, or any party or movement. Freedom is the American character. Right, left, or center, the American Dream is our national treasure. But it is not in programs, or cash infusions, or sweeping political reforms. The ultimate answer to the current American economic crisis lies in one timeless value: Character.”

Ross believes that going back to our fundamental values, as a country and as a world economic power, is the key to gaining back the lost ground of the last decade.

“Our economy, our business and corporate cultures, and yes, even our government have all turned their backs on the fundamental truths and realities that every small business must live out in the marketplace every day,” Ross said. “The building blocks and fundamentals of success are no different for GM and Citibank than they are for a one-woman shop. And they’re as fundamental in the 21st century as they were in Solomon’s day. Follow them, you will succeed. Ignore them, you may prosper for a while, but your temple will eventually come crashing down.”

Having spent 40 years in the newsprint business – 30 of them as a company executive – provided Ross first-hand experience at running a business through two recessions and a wide variety of speed bumps along the way. He said what helped him navigate the rough spots was a strong sense of values and integrity.

“We keep reading about scandal after scandal in the business section,” he said. “If I had to point to one primary crisis in business today, it wouldn’t be the lack of stable economic footing – it would be the lack of honesty,” he added. “Whether it’s the middle managers who lie to their bosses to save their jobs, or the CEOs who lie to the board of directors and the press, it seems that we are discovering that the foundation of many large corporations has been built on lies. In all my years, I have never seen it this bad. But if we can find our character again, we can make it better.”

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Help wanted notice in Barrett

HELP WANTED: The Barrett Care Center is currently accepting applications for Certified Nursing Assistants for the AM shift. We currently have one FT position and an every other weekend position available. If interested, please contact Linda Williams at (320) 528-2527. EOE.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Wind turbines are going up a few miles southwest of Hoffman!


Read more in next week's Hoffman Tribune.

Help wanted notice in Barrett

Help Wanted: Care attendant. Sleep over position to assist alert, amiable elderly male 2-5 nights per week. Approximately 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. Very light housekeeping, very light personal care. Comfortable accommodations with considerable free time. Fair nightly rate. Dependability is critical. References required. Job location in Barrett. Please call 320-528-2382 to apply.

Hoffman Commerce and Ag meeting held at Bullfrog's Bar and Grill on Thursday - a couple video clips posted



Thursday, October 15, 2009

Minivan burns up on south side of Hoffman on Thursday afternoon

The Hoffman Fire Department was on scene in quick fashion to put out the fire.













This photo was taken at approximately 1:10pm by the editor. Oddly, it appeared that a large amount of garbage was inside the minivan at the time of the fire, along with three automobile tires. Thank heaven's no one was hurt!

Hoffman Commerce and Ag meeting set for today (Thurs. Oct 15) at Noon at Bullfrogs

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Important WCA Levy meeting tonight in Kensington at 7:00pm at the WCA South Media Center

Remember! The world belongs to those who show up.
It's your school, and your money.
Be involved.

Monday, October 12, 2009

University of Minnesota-Morris holds Homecoming over the weekend

The snow (shown at the bottom left) didn't stop Cougar fans from braving the elements and cheering for UMM during the Homecoming game against Crown College of St.Bonafacius, MN - the Cougars lost in a shootout, however, 46-32 in the Saturday afternoon game.. Oh well, the editor had fun anyway!

Click to enlarge.

Main Street Galleria has great turnout for 1-year anniversary Customer Appreciation day on Saturday

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

18-page Hoffman Tribune is hitting the Post Office boxes today, rural routes tomorrow

It was a grand experience, finishing up this week's Tribune - it includes a 1,228 word story on the Tuesday night WCA Levy meeting at the Hoffman Community Center.


A "B" section is included this week, an eight-page Homecoming section with photos from last week's activities at WCA.

Also on the Classy Canary section, the front page has three color ads of Hoffman-Kensington area businesses. Check it out!

The Hoffman Tribune editor's idea for a new athletic conference

• WCA in the Heart O' Lakes Conference (basketball conference)

WCA - Breckendridge, 47 miles
WCA - Pelican Rapids, 50 miles
WCA - Glyndon, 80 miles!
WCA - Perham, 59 miles
WCA - Frazee, 57 miles
WCA - Barnesville, 61 miles
WCA - Lake Park, 75 miles
WCA - Hawley, 76 miles
WCA - Ulen, 89 miles

Average trip = 594 miles / 9 = 66 miles

• WCA in Heart O' Lakes Conference (football in 2007/2008 conf.)

WCA - Roseau, 227 miles
WCA - Staples, 77 miles
WCA - Wadena, 65 miles
WCA - Warroad, 245 miles
WCA - Breckenridge, 47 miles
WCA - Glyndon, 80 miles
WCA - B/B/E, 55 miles
WCA - FargoDome, 85 miles
WCA - Pequot Lakes, 115 miles
WCA - Mahnomen, 110 miles

Average trip =  a whole lotta miles!

Staples, Roseau, Breckenridge, Glyndon, Fargo (2008 away sites)
Belgrade, Wadena, Pequot Lakes, Pelican Rapids, Fargo (2007 away sites)
Mahnomen, Barnesville, Breckenridge, Fargo (2006 away sites)
Roseau, Pelican Rapids, Frazee, Glyndon, Fargo (2005 away sites)

• WCA Football trips, last 4 seasons.

2005 - Roseau (227), Pelican Rapids (50 miles), Frazee (57 miles), Glyndon (80 miles),
Fargo (85 miles)
499 miles in 5 games =  100 miles per away game average

2006 - Mahnomen (110 miles), Barnesville (61 miles), Breckenridge (47 miles), Fargo (85 miles)
303 miles in 4 games = 75 miles per away game average

2007 - Belgrade (55 miles), Wadena (65 miles), Pequot Lakes (115 miles), Pelican Rapids (50 miles), Fargo (85 miles)
370 miles in 5 games = 74 miles per away game average

2008 - Staples (77 miles), Roseau (227), Breckenridge (47 miles), Glyndon (80 miles), Fargo (85 miles)
516 miles in 5 games = 103 miles per away game average


• WCA in the newly-named "Dairy Star Conference"

Payn - WCA, 70 miles
BBE - WCA/Barrett, 55 miles
LPGE - WCA/Barrett, 60 miles
Minn - WCA, 33 miles (via Lowry road)
Morris- West Central Area, 23 miles
Osakis - WCA, roughly 40 miles via I-94, to skip Alexandria
Sauk - WCA, 50 miles (27 on I-94)
Melrose-WCA, 59 miles

Average trip = 391 / 8 = 49 miles.

*Barrett - Holdingford = 75 miles

Including Holdingford for a 9-team conference makes average trip 52 miles (466 total miles)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Third WCA levy referendum public meeting held tonight in Hoffman

In the top two video clips from the meeting posted below, WCA Superintendent Pat Westby explains the "aid shift" that the state is putting on the state funding to public schools this year.
Photos and more video clips will be added on Thursday.






**Don't forget! Very important...WCA Levy Referendum public meeting on Tuesday night at 7pm in Hoffman

The WCA school district will host a Q & A forum at the Hoffman Community Center on Tuesday night (Oct 6) at 7pm.

All local taxpayers are invited to attend and get any question he/she may have about the levy or the school's budget answered by district officials.

More on this will follow later today.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Hoffman City Council regular meeting for October has a time change (due to the Vikings-Packers game!)

The Hoffman City Council will meet at 5:30pm at the Hoffman Community Center on Monday night, October 5th.

Hopefully, it'll be done by 8pm!

West Central Minnesota loses a pillar of the community

Ken is shown here at the September 12th pancake feed at the Kensington Community Center, sponsored by the Kensington Lions.














Kenneth A. Anderson age 71 of rural Farwell (owner of Country Lane Nursery) died on Friday, October 2, 2009. Funeral service will be held 10:00 AM on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at Living Waters Church in Alexandria. Visitation will be held 5-8 PM on Monday at the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria and for one hour prior to the service at the church on Tuesday.

Arrangements are with the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria.

Click here: www.andersonfuneral.net

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Friday, October 2, 2009