Richard Flanders, 81, of Calvin, ND, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
Visitation will be held at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake, ND on Friday, June 13, 2025, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. with a Prayer Service and Time of Remembrance at 6 p.m. Funeral Services for Richard will be on Saturday, June 14, 2025, at 1 p.m. at Langdon Presbyterian Church with fellowship to follow. Burial will be in the Corinthian Cemetery  rural Calvin at 3:30 p.m. 

Three candidates vied for the title of Miss Czech-Slovak Minnesota at the 36th annual pageant held Saturday evening at the Montgomery American Legion.
Winning the title of Miss Czech-Slovak Minnesota was Gianna Olsen. She was crowned by her parents, James and Martha Olsen. They are from Stillwater.
Alexia Timmerman was named first princess. She served as second princess this past year, and first princess the year before. She is the daughter of Ryan and Tasha Timmerman of St. Peter.

Ralph Earl Dyer, age 95, of Waterville, formerly Elysian, died surrounded by his family on the afternoon of Monday, March 31, 2025, at Mayo Clinic Health System in St. James.

The WEM Board of Education offered a contract to Mark Winter to become the new WEM Superintendent during a special meeting Thursday, April 3.
Winter and current WEM High School Principal Dr. Jennifer Wilson were the finalists for the position and both interviewed Thursday, a week after being named the top two candidates for the district’s top position.
Following the interviews, the board held approximately 25 minutes of discussion before voting to offer the position to Winter. The roll call vote was 6-1, with board member Jeff Stangler voting against.

Third grader Jacee Knish, daughter of Andrew and Cara Knish, won a State Wrestling Championship Saturday, April 5 in Rochester.
Knish competed in the 3rd and 4th grade division of the Northland Youth Wrestling Association State Tournament. She won four straight matches to claim her second straight State Title.
She pinned Sophia Lares from Albert Lea in 11 seconds and pinned Raelynn Schmidt from Big Lake in 21 seconds.

Senior Ashlyn Pelant and junior Addison Condon each won events during the Blue Earth Area Indoor Quadrangular held Friday, April 4 at MSU, Mankato.
Condon won two individual events, placing first in the 60-meter dash in 8.4 and the long jump with a distance of 15-feet 10 1/2-inches. Pelant won the shot put with a season-best distance of 37-feet, 7-inches.
The Buccaneers placed third in the meet with 40.5 points. JWP was the winning team with 77 points, followed by St. James/Madelia with 45 points and Blue Earth Area with 37.5 points.
Placing second were...

Every two years the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) places teams in competitive Sections for all extra curricular activities.
For the most part, there aren’t many changes. Most teams stay in the same class and the same Section.
According to the MSHSL, the competitive section placement process includes:
• Determining league enrollments by using enrollment and free/reduced lunch information provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.
• Creating classification cut-offs for each activity to determine the class of competition for each team.

Nearly eight decades ago Marian Bemis Johnson graduated from Waterville High School.
When she attended school there were no girls sports in any high schools in Minnesota.
Johnson recently wrote a letter to the WEM girls basketball players explaining the some of her findings when it came to girls basketball in Minnesota.
“That was the life of most Minnesota girls and women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and why was it that way?” Johnson said in her letter. “Why did anyone think that girls should not be athletes and play on teams and reach their personal goals?”

Phyllis Jean (Bidwell) Arndt, age 78, entered into eternal peace on Monday, March 31, 2025 at the Owatonna Hospital.

Norma M. Byron, age 99, formerly of Faribault, died on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Central Health Care, Le Center.
Funeral services will be held at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Faribault, on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. with the Reverend Kira Anderson officiating. Interment will be at Sakatah Cemetery, Waterville.
Visitation will be at Boldt Funeral Home, Faribault, on Sunday, April 6, 2025, from 2 to 4 p.m. and at church for one hour prior to the service on Monday.

Shannon Marie Cook passed away Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at her home in Hill City at the age of 51. She was born March 19, 1973, in Austin, the daughter of Kenneth and Shirley (Pritzkau) Cook. She grew up in Austin and graduated High School in Waterville. She attended Mankato State University and earned a B.A. Degree.  She moved to Sioux Falls, S.D. where she worked at a bank for many years.  She later moved to Hill City and worked in Grand Rapids. 

Candidates for the WEM Superintendent position were selected by the WEM Board of Education during their Monday, March 24 regular meeting.
Five candidates were selected from a total of 11 applicants. 12 individuals initially applied, with one rescinding their application. Two others started applications but did not complete them. Two others called with interest but did not submit an application.

For way more than a decade, the Elysian Area Community Foundation (EACF) has been working to provide grants to support programs and projects that improve the quality of life and build stronger communities in the greater Elysian area.
EACF is dedicated to serving the Elysian area by providing opportunities, addressing community needs, and working toward a progressive future.

The annual Waterville Bowler of the Year Tournament was held Friday, March 21 at Hoot Lanes in Waterville.
Any bowler who rolled a 220 game or a 600 series during the season had the opportunity to compete in this tournament.
Gio Lozane captured the title by defeating Joey Schnoor in the final game, winning 201 to 184.

Up and coming local youth wrestlers continue to excel.
Nearly 20 Grizzly youth wrestlers have advanced to the NYWA State Tournament, which will be held March 27 through March 30 at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
The Grizzly Junior High team will compete in the State Tourney after winning one of three matches at the Regional Tournament last weekend in Worthington.
They lost to St. Peter (32-16), defeated Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (33-16), and lost to Springfield (36-15).

Everett Allen Brown, age 68, of Faribault, died on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Emeralds in Faribault.