Plenty of things to Cheer and Jeer from all around Faribault County
While it was only a month ago that this column was full of Cheers and Jeers, there has been so much happening in the last four weeks or so, that there is a bunch more Cheering and Jeering that needs to be done.
A big Cheer goes out to all the folks who help put on all of the town celebrations in Faribault County. It never ceases to amaze me how each town puts on a pretty nice event. Blue Earth put on a dandy one that was three days long this year and full of bands, games, fun and more.
Minnesota Lake might be the most amazing one. For being a pretty small town, they put on a huge celebration that never ceases to surprise me. From their big parade that includes multiple bands, to the rides, to the free Johnny Holm Band concert, they put on quite the party.
A similar Cheer needs to go out to everyone involved with the annual Gathering Under the Oaks, the Faribault County Fair. Talk about a ton of work that goes into an event, this one tops the charts. Luckily there are folks willing to volunteer a whole lot of time and effort to help put on this event.
And, as long as I am Cheering those who put on big events in the county, a Cheer goes out to the folks at the Golden Spike Speedway and Brett Osborn, who were able to bring a big, nationally known race to Blue Earth last weekend.
The MaxxDaddy Go kart Race brought in racers and their families and friends from 17 different states. That had to have had an impact on the local businesses.
And, speaking of the Golden Spike, a great, big Cheer goes out to the folks at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).
When they were planning the I-90 project near Blue Earth and the rest stops here, they did not hesitate to plan an update to the Golden Stripe concrete panels that had been installed in 1978.
While some local folks wondered if MnDOT would replace the concrete panels that had disappeared over the years, due to repairs and overlays to the pavement, or not, MnDOT was already planning to put in all new panels.
And, not only that, but they planned a ribbon cutting event which was last week and even tried to replicate as much of the event in 1978 as they could. Obviously such an action deserves a Giant Cheer.
It is a little bit of a Cheer and a Jeer when it comes to the coming demise of the Three Sisters buildings in downtown Blue Earth.
The Cheers and Jeers of last month included a Jeer that it had come to the end for the Sisters. I personally wish it were not so. I wish Bob Johnson and the Hot Springs Citizens for Progress could have restored the three buildings to their original glory. I wish that a local Blue Earth man who had a detailed business plan on how to remodel the buildings and rent out business and apartment spaces for a total investment of $500,000 could have gone forward with his plan. And, I wish that Rural Renaissance (and its other entities) could have done their total modernization of the Sisters.
But, alas, none of that happened.
There is a Cheer to give out, albeit a sad one, however. The Cheer goes to the city officials, who are going to demolish the buildings as they are now in such disrepair, and not let them just slowly rot away over the next few years.
While saving and restoring them was the dream, letting them slowly become an eyesore was not.
A Cheer to the city of Winnebago and its EDA for finally having the long abandoned J-M property sold. They, and we, hope that something good will now be done with the property, and that it will once again become an asset to the city of Winnebago.
That leads us to another Cheer, this time to the city of Blue Earth and to Blue Earth Light and Water for landing a very large new business for the city – a large computer data center. While it may not be a large employer of people, it will be a nice taxable property addition as well as a very large consumer of electricity from BELW.
A Cheer goes out to United Hospital District (UHD), headquartered in Blue Earth, for the completion of their new clinic site in Fairmont.
It is good to see that UHD is expanding, and it is also very good to keep seeing how they are adding to their medical staff. It truly is a wonderful thing to have a great hospital and clinic in Blue Earth and see its growth into area cities.
We Jeered Mother Nature and the weather last month in this space and all it seemed to do was make things worse and all kinds of flooding was the result.
Still, even though the flood waters have abated, this constant rainy weather deserves another Jeer.
One last Cheer, and it goes out to Lori Nauman on her upcoming retirement, and a big thank you for her many years of dedicated service to the Faribault County Register and the entire Blue Earth and Faribault County community.