Marjorie “Marge” Leak, age 85, of Ellendale passed away surrounded by her family on Aug. 31, 2018 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester.
A public visitation for Marge will be held from 5:30 – 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 at Bonnerup Funeral Home in Ellendale. Private family services and burial will follow on Saturday.

Raeburn J. Hanson, age 85 of rural Waltham, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018 at Our House Memory Care in Austin.
He was born Oct. 27, 1932 in Austin, the son of Corrie and Ruth (Bagley) Hanson. Raeburn graduated with the Austin High School Class of 1950 and made his living as a farmer.

Ruth Lydia Swezey, age 90, of Hector, passed peacefully from this life to her eternal home after a short illness on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at the Buffalo Lake Healthcare Center. 
Funeral Service was held Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hector, with Pastor Jackie Cook officiating. Music was provided by organist Gwen Degner, soloist Jeff Danielson, and cellist Lisa Tonder. 

Estelle Anna Anderson, age 99, passed away on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018, at the Fairview Care Center in Dodge Center. 
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, at Faith Lutheran Church in Dodge Center with a visitation from 9:30-11 a.m. at the church. The burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in Dodge Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Food Pantry program at Faith Lutheran Church.

Several months ago, I was pleased to see my hometown of Kiester join forces with five nearby towns to create a new community foundation called Our Town USA. At Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), we support communities in capturing and retaining philanthropic wealth through community foundations like this.

A pair of long-time supporters of the Mantorville Restoration Association is being recognized for their efforts by being named grand marshals of this weekend’s Marigold Days Parade.
John and Jane Olive will be dressed in their Victorian attire leading the parade Sunday afternoon through the streets of Mantorville. The Olives say they are looking forward to representing the community in the parade.

With a strong passion for 4-H at her side, Kyra Dewitz of Claremont made her first trip as a champion winner to the Minnesota State Fair.
Dewitz, 12, exhibited a cow painting, which previously had won a purple championship at the Dodge County Fair in July. She earned a blue ribbon at this year’s State Fair.

Just enough time in between heavy rain showers, members of the Kasson Legion avoided getting wet and dedicated Minnesota’s first Freedom Rock Monday afternoon to a gathering of several hundred people next to the iconic boulder along Main Street.

 In Minnesota, summer always seems to come too late, and never last nearly long enough.  Here we sit, once again, with Labor Day just around the corner. It would be easy to use this as an excuse to go looking for that box of sweaters in the back of the closet, or start shopping for pumpkin spice coffee creamers. But there will be plenty of time for that later.