Neighbors,
I’d like to recognize Amanda Hoheisel and Kathy Popp for developing the March Book Madness project at Royalton Elementary School. The project is a global activity where a list of 16 books “compete” in rounds until they get to the final winning book. Students at Royalton Elementary are participating in the picture book division. It’s great to see kids getting excited about reading – thanks for your hard work bringing March Book Madness to Royalton!
The Upsala Knowledge Bowl team has been doing an incredible job this year. They earned first place at the Prairie Conference competition and second place at the Region 5 regional meet. The team has worked incredibly hard and that hard work is paying off! Good luck at the state meet in April!
I’d also like to give a shout out to the Kinship of Morrison County annual chili and soup cook-off this week. Almost 500 people attended, and participants from across the county brought their cooking skills to the competition. The cook-off is a fundraiser for the Kinship youth mentoring program. The table theme People’s Choice Award went to Jordie’s Cafe in Bowlus, the soup award went to Kari Berggren of Lake Beauty Bible Camp, and the winner of the chili category was Naomi Grob of Perkins in Little Falls. Way to go, winners, and thank you to everyone who participated!
This week I continued my efforts to pass a bill for the Minnesota Training Academy for social workers. This important bill prepares social workers who will be working with children and families reported to the child protection system. Our child protection system continues to see an increase of reports. It is no secret that dysfunction in families, poverty and substance abuse affect children. When the caregiver is not functioning, the children suffer.
I applaud the social workers and I know we need more well-trained professionals to interact with families and children in need.
I also presented my bill to help the Minnesota Fishing Museum and the Minnesota Military Museum continue towards preservation of our valuable artifacts and assets. Expansion of these two entities is important to our state’s legacy, and I’m proud to support these efforts.
It’s Fish Fry Friday! I encourage everyone to find a fish fry in our area today. A few to check out are the Royalton American Legion from 5pm-8pm, and the Little Falls VFW from 4pm-7pm. Also, Browerville and Pierz have exceptional fish fry events.
Until next time,
Ron