Thomas "Tom" Frederick Graham, age 61, of rural Elysian, died on Saturday, December 23, 2023 at his home.
Full obituary to follow. Arrangements are with Dennis-Steffel-Omtvedt Funeral and Cremation Service in Waterville. DSOFuneral.com

Lee Ann Baumgarten, age 83, of Morristown, died, Saturday, December 23, 2023, at Traditions of Waterville.
Full obituary to follow next week.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at a later date. Dennis-Steffel-Omtvedt Funeral and Cremation Service is handling the arrangements. dsofuneral.com

Diana Turek, age 65 of Montgomery, was found deceased in her vehicle in front of Edel’s Meat Market at 116 1st Street North in Montgomery Thursday, Dec. 21.
A female customer arriving at the meat market noticed Turek in the vehicle and knocked on the window but got no response. She made a call to 911 at about 3:22 p.m.
Montgomery Police Officer Sladek was dispatched, arrived on scene and advised dispatch to send Montgomery Area EMS. Officer Sladek found Turek in her vehicle. He checked for vital signs and advised dispatch to cancel EMS as she was deceased.

You can guarantee yourself a win if you never let your opponent lead.
The WEM girls played two games last week and led from tip off to the final second, defeating Waseca 53-43 Tuesday, Dec. 12 and Faribault BA, 64-35 Friday, Dec. 15.
In the win over the Bluejays, the Bucs jumped out to a 13-5 lead behind a pair of three-pointers by Kylie LaFrance. WEM led 23-20 at halftime.

The WEM Student Council sponsored a very successful clothes drive and giving tree for gift donation to Le Sueur County for the holiday season.
Tatum Richards, Student Council Vice President, and Trey Richards, 9th grade Vice President, donated a lighted Christmas Tree for the ornaments to be placed with various requested items needed for the holidays. Many games, toys, dolls, and warm winter gear were brought in from students, teachers, and community members who graciously took ornaments off the tree and bought those items.

I am so thankful I don’t have to drive more than a couple of blocks to work every day after a Thursday morning trip to Mankato.
I have come to the conclusion the older I get the more I don’t really like to drive.
Night driving is becoming increasingly difficult. This was part of what made my Thursday early morning trip that much more frustrating.
I left the house at 6:30ish, which is 30 minutes or more behind my wife, who makes a trip to Mankato every day.
I know there are others who travel much farther and I don’t envy you at all.

With more than 1,800 individuals buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Elysian, keeping memorial flowers watered has now become easier.
A yard hydrant has been added to the property, located near the center of the cemetery behind the newer section of grave markers.
“They did this street (SW Maple Ave), and they cut the water at the stop sign,” said Jerry Kapaun, president of the Elysian Cemetery Committee. He noted...
To see more on this story pick up the December 21, 2023 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.

Charges have been officially filed in Le Sueur County Juvenile Court against three juveniles stemming from an incident which occurred in rural Madison Lake/Le Sueur County on October 9.
According to Le Sueur County Juvenile Court, the charges range from felony harassment based upon bias, gross misdemeanor 3rd Degree damage to property based upon race, and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Security cameras at the Chad Alladin residence in rural Le Sueur County showed a number of young people with toilet paper and some writing on Alladin’s son’s car Monday, Oct. 9.

Le Sueur County passed a levy and budget for 2024 at the County Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec. 12.
After breezing through monthly business, the levy and budget section of the meeting was convened after an hour recess.
County Administrator Joe Martin first gave a presentation breaking down user fees, highlighting the increases for the next year. No commentary was given by the public once the floor was opened. On a motion by David Preisler, second by David Gliszinski the user fee changes were unanimously approved.

The Waterville Lions Club held their annual Lions WriteOff Essay Contest for high school students. The topic of this year’s essay was “Changing the World.” The students were recommended to write a 500 word essay, with 10 percent of the judging going towards originality, 30 percent to content, 30 percent to organization, and 30 percent to style and mechanics. The local winners will have their essay judged again at the District Level. Pictured above are Lions representatives Phil Langerud (left) and Joe Christenson (right) with the top four placewinners.

Volunteer firefighters from four different departments came together Saturday, Dec. 9 not to fight a fire but to help raise funds and toys for the local Toys For Tots programs.
More than three dozen firefighters from Elysian, Kilkenny, Morristown, and Waterville donned their helmets, safety coats and pants and battled for supremacy on the floor hockey court.

When you tell someone that you’ve never flown before, their first assumption is that you’re scared of flying. That has at least been my experience when I revealed this in my late 20s and persisted through my 30s.
Now, in my early 40s, I finally crossed that maiden flight off my bucket list.
Three years of living in Minnesota has kept us from visiting our families in West Virginia, but we had an opportunity to go for Thanksgiving and we decided to take it. Making the drive is a two-day excursion one way, making flying the only viable option in the short week.

It was a tale of two halves in three games played last week by the WEM girls basketball team.
The Buccaneers trailed at halftime of all three games and outscored all three in the second half, but not by as much as WEM lost three straight games.
WEM lost 53-48 to Blooming Prairie Tuesday, Dec. 5, were defeated 58-49 by Norwood Young America (NYA) Friday, Dec. 8 at Maple River, and were defeated 59- 56 by Belle Plaine Saturday, Dec. 9, also at Maple River High School.

Roger H. Becker, age 80 of Waterville died on Thursday, December 14, 2023, at Mayo Clinic Health Systems-Methodist Campus in Rochester.

A number of WEM youth bowlers competed in two post-season tournaments which are held for some of the state’s finest bowlers.
Competing in the Minnesota High School Bowling’s 2023 All-Conference Tournament were Nathaniel Boese and Jared Boese on the South Central Conference First Team and Mason Waugh and Nathan Eich on the South Central Second Team.

Edith Carol (Seha) Njus died on the morning of December 7, 2023, in Marietta, Georgia. She was born to Clarence and Elizabeth Seha on May 12, 1939. She grew up on the farm outside of Elysian and graduated from the Waterville High School class of 1957. Edith and Richard (Dick) Wetzel married in 1957 and together they raised two children, Ed and Sarah. They later divorced. Edith lived with rheumatoid arthritis since she was a young woman.