A weekend snowstorm created hazardous weekend road conditions

A weekend winter storm that included several inches of snow and wind, was followed by freezing fog on Monday morning. Trees, buildings, fences and power lines throughout the community were coated with a thick layer of hoarfrost highlighted by a bright sun.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
In a weekend winter snowstorm, Lincoln County was covered in several inches of snow. Snow began falling late Saturday evening and continued into the early hours of Sunday morning. Shortly after the snowfall ended, winds picked up and caused drifting, which interrupted the Sunday morning commute for many churchgoers.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that “An intense band of heavy snow developed over parts of east central South Dakota into southwest Minnesota Saturday night into early Sunday morning. The highest reports within the band of heavy snow were 10 to 12 inches along Highway 14 while amounts closer to I-90 in South Dakota were a half an inch to 2 inches and 2 to 5 inches along I-90 in southwest Minnesota. A few locations reported as much as 2 inches per hour for a brief time.”

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

What once was lost has now been found

Before— Wyatt Osland, Rudebusch’s helper, poses with the memorial they dug out in 2018.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

As he walked through the graves at Memorial Hill Cemetery during the summer of 2018, Roger Rudebusch noticed a stone barely sticking out of the ground. Unsure of what it was, he and Wyatt Osland, who is currently a sixth grader at Lake Benton Elementary School, worked to dig the object out of the ground. What they discovered was a memorial stone that was more than 100 years old.
Rudebusch took the stone home and cleaned it using a power washer. The result was a nearly-new looking headstone that was on display during the Feb. 2 Lions Club breakfast, which benefited the area cemetery boards.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

After— The memorial stone was on display during the February Lions Club breakfast that benefited the area cemeteries.

Lincoln County Road and Bridge hearing set for March 3

Mark Dunn and Dave Enke of Lake Benton spoke to the county board about contracting for police coverage for the City of Lake Benton.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
The Lincoln County Board of Directors met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 4. All commissioners were present for the meeting.
Lincoln County Engineer Joe Wilson spoke to the board concerning the highway department. According to Wilson, the county has already used more sand than usual on the roadways. Typically, the county uses 1,600 tons in a year, but this year they have already used 2,100 tons. Wilson estimates that they still have 1,700 tons left. “That is why we are telling the cities and towns that we are using it sparingly,” Wilson said.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Buffalo Ridge Newspapers pick up awards at convention

Buffalo Ridge Newspapers picked up three Better Newspaper Contest awards in Brooklyn Park on Thursday evening. Pictured left to right are BRN Managing Editor Mark Wilmes, BRN Publisher Chuck Hunt, Minnesota Newspaper Association President Karin Ramige and BRN Advertising Manager Amber Knudson.

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

 
The annual Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) convention was held last week at the Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park. Ad Manager Amber Knudson was on hand to pick up an award for Advertising Excellence at Thursday evening’s Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet. Knudson creates advertising for the Tyler Tribute, Lake Benton Valley Journal and the Hendricks Pioneer. Judges praised Knudson’s work for her “exciting ads.” Entries in the contest were judged by the newspaper association in Indiana.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Corn and Soybean Growers held annual meeting last Saturday

The Lincoln County Corn and Soybean Growers Association annual meeting and banquet was held Saturday at the Tyler Golf Club.

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The Lincoln County Corn and Soybean Grow­ers Association held its 18th annual meeting on Saturday evening at the Tyler Golf Club. Attend­ees were served a meal of roast beef, chicken and fixings before the meeting came to order. Chairman Tim Jerzak recognized the board of directors, includ­ing vice-chair Pat Jerzak, treasurer Lyle Koopman and secretary Nancy Po­powski. Directors for the past year were Kelly Krog, Mark Dunn, Fran Fier, Andy Deutz, Dennis Jens­en, Jon Johnson, Matthew Schreurs, Ronald Nuese, Tony Dunn, Ron Bun­jer, Brian Fruechte, Joel Schreurs and Bob Worth.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Influenza is alive and active in Minnesota

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

According to the Flu­view report issued weekly by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for the week of Jan. 23 – Jan. 29, the influenza virus contin­ues to be alive and active across the United States. Although the indicators for weeks one and two of 2020 showed a decrease of the virus, “Key indicators that track flu activity re­main high and, after falling during the first two weeks of the year, increased over the last two weeks,” the website stated.
The CDC reported that the percentage of speci­mens testing positive for the virus at clinical laboratories increased last week to 27.7% compared to 25.7% the week be­fore…

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Eight Lincoln County youth attend leadership retreat

Kiera Larson (left) and Rachel Hexem (right) explore culinology at Southwest BLU at SMSU in Marshall.

Minnesota 4-H held the Southwest BLU leadership retreat on Feb. 1 at SMSU in Marshall for 86 youth from across our region.
BLU – Building Leader­ship and Understanding – is an annual leadership retreat offered regionally across Minnesota. This year’s theme, Unmask Your Inner Leader, en­couraged youth to discuss their strengths, leader­ship styles, and the char­acteristics of great lead­ers…

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

How does Lake Benton Elementary love reading? Let us count the ways

Shasta Bos was the first Mystery Reader in the preschool class. All the classes at Lake Benton Elementary School are celebrating I Love to Read Month with a variety of fun activities.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

February is I Love to Read Month and students at Lake Benton Elementa­ry School(LBE) are show­ing their love of reading in a variety of ways. Check out what they have going on at the school.
In the four-year-old preschool class, teacher Amanda Drake has ar­ranged for a new Mystery Reader to visit the class throughout the month. She explained, “I have parents, grandparents, community members and siblings come hide in my box and read a story of their choosing to the stu­dents. The class tries to guess who is in the box af­ter the story is done.” The students enjoy discover­ing someone they know hiding in the box.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Ice Fishing Tournament draws a huge crowd, catch abundance of fish

Ken Nielsen shows a nice perch he caught during the tournament. A total of 950 fish were registered and weighed on Saturday, Jan. 25.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
In every direction as far as the eye could see, structures appeared on Lake Benton Lake where none had been the week before. The fish were biting on Saturday, Jan. 25 for the sixth annual Lake Benton Sportsman’s Club Ice Fishing Tournament. This year’s tournament turned Lake Benton Lake into a small city of its own, with the largest number of registrations and registered fish in the history of the tournament.
According to Lisa Willert of Lake Benton Resort, more than 700 people were registered for the tournament. There were 533 adult registrations and 192 youth registrations. Several families from around the area and from far away brought children to enjoy a day on the ice.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.

Five E-LB students perform in the Quad State Honor Band Festival

Five Elkton-Lake Benton students performed in the Quad State Honor Band Festival in Vermillion, South Dakota on Monday, Jan. 27, 2019. Sharing their musical talents were Emma Kampmann, Brooklyn Nielsen and Emily Miller in front, and Noah Greer and David Cacho in back.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

Five Elkton-Lake Benton students were selected to perform in the 22nd annual Quad State Honor Band Festival, which was performed at the Aalfs Auditorium in Slagle Hall on the University of South Dakota (USD) Campus in Vermillion, South Dakota. The festival was a two-day event, with students congregating at USD on Sunday, Jan. 26 and performing the concert the evening of Monday, Jan. 27.

For the full story, read this week’s Lake Benton Valley Journal.