News

The COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized the need for skilled primary care in rural areas, like that of Sleepy Eye. Shortages of all kinds since the pandemic’s start—from hospital beds, masks and medical supplies to COVID-19 vaccines and monoclonal antibody therapies— made adaptability the name of the game for Sleepy Eye Medical Center and healthcare facilities, as a whole. At the forefront of every change and decision, however, remained SEMC’s commitment to patients and the community.

The Miss Sleepy Eye Ambassadors and candidates had a busy Saturday, March 5, as they visited local senior apartments and nursing homes for the annual Sparkle Saturday and then entertained 35 young girls at the 10th Annual Princess Party - with an Escape Room theme, where the little princesses completed different challenges to help find the missing princesses in Princessland. The Princess Party also included a Princess Tea Party. Pictured in back are Miss Sleepy Eye 2022 candidates Presley Bauer, Natalie Marti, and Katelyn Rutscher with Miss Sleepy Eye 2021 Ambassadors McKenna Strong, Leah Miller and McKenna Dockter. The 75th Anniversary Miss Sleepy Eye Coronation is Saturday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. Submitted

Owners: (Years with the company in parentheses) From left, Mark Beito (31), Sandra Beito (31), Julia Coulson (16), Casey Coulson (16). Shipping: Front: Operations Manager Joe Bruggeman (13), Idalia Martinez (1), Cheyenne Holmes (1).

Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s High School Class of 2015 held their class reunion on Feb. 19 at the Braun residence. Pictured front from left: Jared Rothmeier, Sleepy Eye; Cody Gilliland, Willmar; Jaden Wait, Eagan; Erika Ries, Minnetonka; Kacie Goblirsch, Minneapolis; Tayler Hoffman, Sarasota, Fla.; Laura Pelzel, Ames, Iowa, Rebecca (Schmitz) Scharmer, Waunakee, Wis.; Kameron Trebesch, St. Cloud; and Rebecca (Zinniel) Kern, Eagle Lake. Back row: Colton Borth, Sleepy Eye; Carter Krzmarzick, Sleepy Eye; Eric Goblirsch, Marshall; Lucas Heiderscheidt, Sleepy Eye; Brandon Helget, North Mankato; Elliot Braun, Farmington; Jay Helget, Burnsville; Sabrina Portner, St. Paul; and Anna (Miller) Gangelhoff, New Ulm. Present but not pictured: Seraphim Surprenant, Minneota; David Surprenant, Sleepy Eye; and Jennifer Sellner, Morgan.

Submitted Photos .

National FFA Week was celebrated by FFA members nationwide from February 18 to 26. The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter was very active throughout FFA Week.

Serving funeral homes with quality memorial products has been the goal of Mark Thomas Co. since Mark and Sandra Beito started the business in 1991. At the start, printed funeral products—memorial folders, thankyou cards, prayer cards, bookmarks and register books—were the only focus. In 2003 the business expanded to include cremation urns, flag cases, crosses and crucifixes, cremation jewelry and memorial candles. In 2020 Mark Thomas Co. acquired Northwest Specialty Sales, a distributor of funeral and mortuary products. Last year Lakeside Publishing was acquired, expanding the printed product line and customer base.

You may have heard about the effort to bring a Huey helicopter to Sleepy Eye for display in Veteran’s Park downtown. EDA Coordinator Kurk Kramer has written about it several times in his monthly column and fundraising flyers and letters have been circulated in the community. You may wonder how this all came about.