From The Archives Of The Dodge County Independent

50 years ago
July 11, 1973
Folmer Carlsen, Publisher
Fire Causes Extensive Damage...
A fire of undetermined origin which started about 6 p.m. last Thursday damaged a dairy barn and destroyed a large amount of hay on the Robert Budick farm northeast of Mantorville. One cow died in the fire and 16 more were shipped for slaughter later that night. The Burdicks were preparing to milk when they discovered the fire and 59 cows were in the barn at the time. Fire departments from Kasson, Mantorville, and Byron were called to fight the blaze. The above picture was taken the following day and smoldering hay can still be seen in front of the picture. The lower part of the barn was of cement block and concrete construction and remained in-tact. The above barn was completed just a year ago, replacing building that was destroyed by high winds which struck in Milton and Mantorville Townships two years ago.
30 years ago
July 7, 1993
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
Carwash adds ‘automatic’ touch
The Kasson Carwash, owned by Gordon Benson of Mantorville, has added a new automatic carwash to compliment the three self-service wash bays. Benson has planned a grand opening at the carwash Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week to promote the new automatic system. He will be giving FREE automatic washes to all customers during regular hours the three days of the grand opening ($5 value). The new automatic system allows the customer to wash, rinse, wax and dry a vehicle without ever getting out of the car. The automatic wash is touchless and brushless, meaning there are no brushes slapping against the paint of the car. The completely automatic system relies on a high pressure pre-soak spray followed by a rinse, wax and dry. The under carriage of the vehicle is also sprayed. “And the vehicle will be spot-free with this system,” said Benson. With the automatic wash a customer has four different options, with the $5 wash being the most complete service. Benson said that carwashes today favor the brushless, touchless system because there is no concern of chipping paint on the car or doing other damage. The entire process of the automatic system takes approximately three minutes. The automatic system of the car wash opened Saturday, June 26. Benson pointed out the three self-service bays also have the new presoak, rinse and wax system of cleaning using the wand. The self-service wash is open 24 hours a day and the automatic wash is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. See related advertisement in the second section for more information on the grand opening this weekend.
20 years ago
July 9, 2003
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
DNR and Dodge County complete Roadside Prairie Project
Maybe you’ve seen the signs already. Nearly 200 signs have been installed in road ditches around Dodge County this June. The signs mark the location of native prairie grasses and flowers. The purpose of the signs is to help residents, contractors, township officials, and county employees protect road ditch prairies. Mark Gamm, Dodge County Environmental Director, says, “The road ditch may seem like an odd place to protect native prairie but the reality is that the road ditches are one of the few places left that contain native prairie grasses and forbs. In fact, Dodge County and the rest of Southeast Minnesota have less that one tenth of one percent of the original vegetation remaining.” The Dodge County Roadside Prairie Inventory was sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Late last summer, trained staff surveyed over 1300 mile of County and Township roads. The inventory identified 15 sites that ranked as Very Good, 9 Good, 54 fair, and 234 Poor quality stretches of prairie. Several Very Good quality prairie stretches support a total of 13 State-listed plant populations. Paul Bockenstedt, Plant Restoration Biologist, says, “Finding these rare plant population indicates that roadsides provide critically important habitat for native plants in this landscape dominated by row crop agriculture.” The State and the County are interested in protecting roadside prairies because native grasses, once established, crowd out noxious weeds and thus require less mowing and spraying than traditional “turf” grasses. Deep-rooted native grasses are better at controlling erosion and provide other water quality benefits. The prairies also provide important habitat for ground-nesting birds. The signs posted in the road ditch mark only the prairies that are rated “very good”, “good”, or “fair”. Cynthia Osmundson, DNR Community Assistance Coordinator, says, “We are requesting that road crews and landowners avoid mowing and spraying these prairies. We realize there maybe occasional problems with weeds or visibility that require intervention. We ask that they County Highway Department or DNR be consulted in these circumstance, Because prairie plants produce seeds late in the summer, the worst time to mow prairie is July 15 — September 1.” Countywide maps of the prairie sites are currently being developed. For more information contact Cynthia Osmundson at 444-2424, or Mark Gamm at 635-6273.
10 years ago
July 10, 2013
Randy Carlsen, Publisher
Bleachers come down and will be relocated
K-M School District operations and maintenance director J.J. Williams found out it was not feasible to physically move the home side bleachers in one piece. For one, the bleachers would structurally not be able to handle the move. So the bleachers are coming down bench by bench before they can go back up. Two weeks ago a donation of $50,000 was made to make it possible to proceed with the seating phase for KMTelecom Stadium improvements. The money was raised from a sale of pavers and corporate donations, the largest of which was $10,000 from Kasson State Bank. The current bleachers have a capacity of 500. That is also deceptive because fans do not sit in the first two or three rows because the view of the playing field is blocked by the players standing along the sideline. The old base had a rise of 30” and the new one with a seating capacity of 630 starts at 60” so all rows have a clear view of the playing field. The new bleachers will also have what JJ Williams called a more “fan friendly” rise of 11” per seat as compared to the older seating of 8”. The current home bleachers will be moved to the west end zone and the flags will be relocated. New fencing will also be installed. Total cost of the project is expected to be around $98,000. There was still money in the stadium fund before the $50,000 donation was made and that will be used to make up the difference.