Members of Boy Scout Troop 58 of West Concord executed the opening and closing flag programs during a Game Haven Council annual Merit Badge Fair, held March 17 at Willow Creek Elementary School in Rochester.
The Scouts constructed a free-standing flag pole, utilizing their skills in knots and lashing.  

Dozens of bundled-up youngsters braved c-c-c-cold weather during the Mantorville Chamber of Commerce’ annual Easter Egg Hunt on March 31 in Riverside Park.
They were broken up into age groups including 3 and under, 4-5, and 6 and up. And they went at it, despite temperatures in the upper 20s.

It has been nearly 32 years since a steam explosion and fires released part of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia.
The area won’t be suitable for human life for at least 20,000 years, according to livescience.com.
But trees and wildlife have made a comeback. Wolves, deer, lynx, beaver, eagles, boars and bears are thriving.

Mister Rogers made quite an impression on his cousins back in rural Kasson.
The future children’s TV star visited Roger and Ruth Rogers in the mid-1940s, long before Fred Rogers became the genial creator of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the hugely popular kids’ TV show which aired from 1968-2001.

Approximately 74 percent of adults in Minnesota said they identified as Christians in 2014, according to a religious landscape study conducted by the Pew Research Center. 
Consequently, nearly three-fourths of us will be celebrating Easter this Sunday.

Easter bunnies, bright baskets, chocolates, eggs and a whole lot more. They’re just some of the memories I have as a child around Easter time. 
But perhaps one of my greatest memories surrounding Easter was getting to bed early the night before and rolling out of bed at 3:30 in the morning. Yep, that’s right, 3:30 a.m. 

The Triton school board made its decision on a new activities director during the school board meeting on March 19 as Shane Van Beek will take over the role effective July 1. Van Beek will succeed Don Henderson, who has been in the role for 28 years and announced his retirement last fall.

Kasson-Mantorville Elementary School students got plenty of exercise and helped raise money on March 22 during a Boosterthon ‘Glow Run’ at the school.
The event, sponsored by the K-M Parent Teacher Association, had the youngsters racing at top speed in a circle and through a large inflatable tunnel amidst flashing lights, spurred on by teachers, family and friends as music played.

You walk into Leashes and Leads, the “pet resort” and animal supplies store on Byron’s east edge, and you think, “Wow.”
That’s the typical reaction for first-time visitors, said Kevin McClure, operations director of the large facility, which opened in 2008.
It’s animal central, with boarding, grooming, training and play care areas and more under one tall, tall roof.