Sarah Shelander

Second-graders from Sleepy Eye Elementary enjoyed a warm late-October visit to Berkner Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday, selecting pumpkins and decorative corn during their science field trip to the farm on the southwest edge of town.

The leaves are changing and so is our Adult Nonfiction section of the library.

Aims for drawing statewide and even national attention to Sleepy Eye found their target last weekend during the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener, with organizers’ efforts buoyed by fair weather, craft beer and volunteers who put town over party to help the city host the two-day affair.“I would say it blew my expectations out of the water, but again, I don’t even know what my expectations were,” said Chamber Director Christina Andres, who led the local planning effort and first glimpsed what the event could mean for the town while attending last year’s opener in Owatonna.The event is billed annually as a celebration of pheasant hunting, the outdoors and public lands, with an eye toward boosting tourism to the host city and building relationships.