Great words of wisdom!

May you have enough happiness to keep you happy.
Enough trials to keep you strong.
Enough sorrow to keep you human.
Enough hope to keep you thoughtful.
Enough failure to keep you humble.
Enough success to keep you eager.
Enough friends to give you comfort.
Enough faith and courage in yourself to banish depression.
Enough wealth to meet your daily needs.
Enough determination to make each day better than yesterday

Snowplows have been pulled from the roads in Stevens, Traverse, Grant, Pope Counties as well as others in western Minnesota

Snow plows have been pulled from all area state highways and interstates in Wilkin, Otter Tail, Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Big Stone, Stevens, Pope and Swift counties.

Also, I-94 from Moorhead to Alexandria was closed as of 7pm on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation advises the public not to travel until conditions improve and Mn/DOT and the Minnesota State Patrol open the roads.

Motorists should plan accordingly. When a road is closed it is illegal to travel in that area. Motorists can be fined up to $1,000 and/or sentenced to 90 days in jail. If travelers need to be rescued from a closed road, other expenses and penalties will also be added.

**Update at 11:20am...at 10:30 on Friday morning, I-94 was re-opened between Alexandria and Moorhead. I bet it'll close again later tonight as the second wave bears down on the region.

Thankful for this snowplow, which blazed a path for me on the way home on Highway 55

...and yes, for the record, I have a "dash cam" rigged up in my car so I can drive and shoot video at the same time. (A mount for my tripod and digital camera)

Lost dog in Delware Township

LOST dog: Cream/apricot standard poodle neutered male lost on Sunday 12/26 while hunting in Delaware Twp, Sec 2. Reward for return.

Call owners at 218.770.6356.

This was fun - Christmas in Glenwood - parade on December 9

This was one of many different celebrations in Glenwood in honor of the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas from the Herman-Hoffman Tribune

On the eve of the celebration of Christ's birth let us truly remember what is important, respect and love for one another no matter the differences, kindness when we don't want to be kind, making an effort to find good in everything and to thank God for lessons learned.

Merry Christmas to you all.

More snow coming the eve of Christmas Eve

Driving around Hoffman, before heading home for the Christmas weekend!

What an awesome appointment for the Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner, a good friend of mine, Dave Frederickson

I am quite honored to personally know our next Ag Commissioner in Minnesota! Here's Dave Frederickson at work, during a Farm Bill Forum in Morris on August 16, 2010. Dave is the brother-in-law of Rich Kennedy of Herman.











After serving in the Minnesota Senate until 1993, Dave Frederickson was elected President of the Minnesota Farmers Union, who he served from 1993 to 2002. In March of 2002, Frederickson won a tough battle for the President of the National Farmers Union, beating out a very well-funded “commodity-group” backed President of the Oklahoma Farmers Union in what was an incredibly close race. I was actually a part of that process in March 2002, down in Texas, with a group of upper-midwestern farmers self-dubbed "the freedom fighters." It was an experience I'll never forget!

Frederickson served NFU from 2002 until 2007, when he went to work for Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Below, a Herman-Hoffman Tribune exclusive interview with Dave Frederickson on August 16 in Morris.


I'm very excited for rural Minnesota and our agriculture community. Commissioner Frederickson will do an outstanding job representing us and promoting policies that benefit small towns and the farm families who support Greater Minnesota.

This is an awesome idea - a Long Prairie business gives out "Long Prairie Bucks" as a Christmas bonus totaling $13,000

Here's the link to follow to the story, in the Long Prairie Leader:
http://lpleader.com/articles/2010/12/14/news/doc4d0832305b0f1943167467.txt

Tom Emmer and company, sticking it to small rural counties

From the article in today's St.Cloud Times:
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20101215/NEWS01/112150025/Emmer-campaign-stiffs-counties-for-recount-bills

Sam Modderman doesn’t know exactly how many hours he and his staff spent preparing a cache of documents requested by Tom Emmer during the governor’s recount. But he knows the county hasn’t been paid for the work.

“We completed all the requests, but no, we haven’t gotten paid for them all,” the Kandiyohi County Auditor (Willmar) said.

It’s a common story that’s been reported in other counties who rushed to prepare documents requested by the Emmer campaign but then didn’t get paid for the work.

Modderman said he spent more time at the office than with his family over Thanksgiving in order the meet the request for documents.

“They were a little demanding,” he said.

My comments: Swift County (Benson, western MN) used a different tactic with Emmer and his cronies. They said to Emmer, "Go ahead, sue us for the material if you want. We will not get stiffed!" Great job.

Herman-Norcross Choir and Band Christmas Concert - 12/9/2010

Photo by Jennifer Pederson.

Hoffman Santa Day is a go - weather isn't horrible but it is cold and snowy!

The Hoffman Santa Day and Customer Appreciation event is from 2-4pm today at the Community Center. It's still a go, according to HEDA director Muriel Krusemark.

Dress warm and drive safely out there!

In a sports-related note, the WCA boys basketball game at Grove City against Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa has been postponed to Saturday, December 18.

A note on the 2010 election in Minnesota

Just the facts, folks, on the 2010 election:

MN Voter Registration rate 83.68%….MN Voter Participation rate 69.8%. (More voters than there were votes cast, despite what Republicans say.)

Hoffman council holds 2011 Truth in Taxation hearing

Below is the proposed 2011 Hoffman city budget, which was under discussion tonight at the regular meeting of the city council. Click to enlarge.

Hoffman Pre-K through 6th grade dance is canceled

A note from Muriel Krusemark:

The Pre-K - 6th Grade dance in Hoffman has been postponed until a later date due to inclement weather.

We will notify you of the new date later.

**Weather changes athletic schedules for area season openers in boys/girls basketball

Sports-related weather notes:

The boys basketball Tip-Off Classic first round games will be Saturday night (tomorrow) for the West Central Area Knights, with the championship on Dec. 11. The Knights are already in Belgrade at an 8-team wrestling tournament, and they will stay as long as conditions allow, hopefully until it's over later this evening. Stay tuned!

The WCA girls basketball game at Frazee has been canceled as well.

What a rough start to the winter sports season!

West Central Minnesota Youth Chorale Concert will be Tuesday, December 7

The West Central Minnesota Youth Chorale Concert originally scheduled for Nov 29th has been postponed until Tuesday December 7th at 7PM at the secondary school in Barrett.

The concert will also feature the WCA school Choralaires and other surprises.

Red Kettle Campaign is underway in Grant County - Bell ringers sought!!

Hello everyone! It is that time of year again where the Grant County Salvation Army has the red kettles out and are looking for folks to ring the bells or sing at our various sites all around the county. It is a fact that the kettles receive more donations if there is someone manning the kettle. All donations stay in Grant County and are used for emergency and disaster services.

Last year we served 196 people with housing, utilities, or transportation needs while assisting 62 children with back-to-school needs. Therefore, as the Treasurer, I am putting out a challenge . . . I would like to see various organizations and businesses in the county pick up the challenge and see which organization can raise the most funds!

We have 3 weeks to raise all the funds we use next year and I would like to see us raise enough to double the above stats (we know there is need because we had to turn folks away last year). So if you would like to take part as an organization or on your own, please contact Stephanie at 218-685-6192 to get on the schedule.

If you would like to challenge another organization, please do so and let’s get these kettles full.

Thanks to everyone for their support!

Robbie Stier, Family Self-Sufficiency Counselor
West Central Minnesota Communities Action, Inc.
Elbow Lake, MN