Sleepy Eye Public and St. Mary's School celebrated Dig Pink night on Oct. 4. St. Mary's held their Dig Pink in Wabasso and Sleepy Eye Public held theirs at home. T-shirts, tatoos, baked goods and more were sold before the game to raise money for breast cancer research.

Brown County open burning restrictions have been lifted for rural areas in Brown County effective at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14. This order is per Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann and Zoning Administrator Laine Sletta.

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) results have been released by the Department of Education and John Cselovszki, Superintendent of Sleepy Eye Public Schools, is pleased with the results.
“We have been making nice gains compared to other years,” he said.
 

IN CONJUNCTION WITH Fire Prevention Week, the Sleepy Eye Fire Department held its annual fire prevention poster contest for area fifth graders. Pictured are the winners of the contest along with two Sleepy Eye firemen.

Sleepy Eye Family Service Center opens doors]

A group collaboration that began in 2001, finally saw the fruits of their labor Monday as the Sleepy Eye Family Service Center held a ribbon cutting and open house. The center is now enrolling children and will run through November.
The collaboration began with the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., the Minnesota Department of Education and School District #84 to find a way for seasonal and migrant families to stay abreast of their children’s education.

A Sleepy Eye native and centenarian

Centenarian Willard Romberg has seen a lot in the 100 years he’s been alive. When asked what he believes is the secret to longevity he chuckles before responding, “hard work.”
     When asked what advice he had for others he said it quite simply, “I think the best thing is to be good neighbors, work hard and go to church every Sunday.” 

FFA CDE Competitions kick started at the U of M Invitational Contest Tuesday, Oct. 4 in St. Paul. With many new members competing on the teams this year, it was exciting to see what Sleepy Eye FFA could do. The Poultry Team dominated as they received first place out of 29 teams.

Independent School District 84 will be offering early childhood screening services to district residents on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Trinity Lutheran Church basement. Early childhood screening is not used to determine readiness for kindergarten, but is designed to detect delays in specific areas early in a child’s development. The sooner the problems can be recognized and referred for further assistance, the better service the child will receive to correct the delay.
 

Area native, Pvt. Avery L. Moldan, 19, earned the title “U.S. Marine” upon graduating from Marine Corps recruit training in San Diego on Aug. 19, 2011.
 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced Friday that the Hwy. 14 project in North Mankato will be completed as scheduled (2012-2013), but will be divided into two phases with the intention of better managing scope and risk.
 

As schools struggle to find funding, local communities are turning to corporate programs such as Box Tops for Education to fill budget gaps.
For the next two months, Ford Motor Company and Chuck Spaeth Ford will support local schools through a partnership with General Mills popular Box Tops for Education program.
 

This was my wife’s first Mother’s Day with two children. Last year, around Mother’s Day, we were booking flights to Ethiopia in preparation of picking up Dawit –– our almost 5-year-old, after a two-year adoption process.

My daughter cried in my arms when I told her that her best friend was moving to California this summer. As her quiet tears dropped onto my shoulders, I realized I didn’t have the words that would comfort her. I only had words an adult might understand. New job. New opportunities. New adventure. Change. But those words fall flat to a girl who just turned 8; a girl who’s shared many of her childhood adventures with her best friend of five years.

Since I have extremely short hair, it never made much sense to me to go to the salon to get my hair colored. I knew my roots would show almost immediately and I’d have to shell out a bucket of money to re-do it less than three weeks later. I thought using one of those “washes out in 28 shampoos” colors at home was a better plan because a) it was a lot cheaper b) the returning gray would be more subtle because it would show up gradually and c) if I screwed up the color, I only had to live with it for a month.

Occasionally, it absolutely makes sense to splurge. For me, that splurge usually comes in the form of flowers or plants and this time of year, my gardening gloves are itching to hit the dirt. As long as our budget warrants it, the budget will include garden spending in the spring.

Not only do costs vary from company to company, they also vary wildly within the same company, depending on where and when you pick up the car. Renting a car at an airport can double or even triple the price you’d pay at “off-airport” or “neighborhood” rental locations.

Lori Reardon’s great-grandmother used to make an angel-food cake for each of her 12 grandchildren on their birthdays. Each cake was topped with a rich, “secret” frosting. Now Reardon’s mother makes the angel-food cakes for her extended family -- 24 cakes a year.

There’s nothing like traveling to Europe and discovering just how stupid you really are. For instance, it’s vitally important to understand the delicate connection between interior lights... and the toilet.

Weekly financial Q&A, with advice on impulse spending and finding a part-time job after retirement.

“Ugh! What stinks?” asked my son pinching his nose. “It smells like something died in here!” I glared at him. I had spent the past 20 minutes looking in every nook and cranny in the kitchen to find the source of the stink.