In 2014, United Way-funded programs provided services to 816 Blooming Prairie residents. As they work to offer those same services in the coming year, Untied Way also took time to host a community event in Blooming Prairie last Tuesday. 

Growing pains are to be expected throughout the first year of CHOICE Technical Academy located on Pillsbury campus. 
Despite loose ends regarding bus drop off, lunches and extracurricular activities, the academy is set to start school on September 8, along with the Owatonna Public School District. 50 or so students (seventh – 12th grade) are already enrolled, and faculty expect that number to continue to grow throughout the year. 

As summer winds down, it is not only athletes who busily prepare for another school year.  Teens, especially girls, get themselves into a state of confusion over whether they have succeeded in recognizing and being a part of the current styles in hair, clothing and fashion. 

Fair-goers who thought they were seeing more green than normal most likely veered off into the 4-H Building where members of the 4-H Green Team greeted them.

Bonnie Strong, 69 years old of Trapper Creek, Alaska, passed away on July 30, 2015, with family at her bedside.
Bonnie Lou Ann was born in Waseca on July 24, 1946, to Anton “Tony” Brase and Lillian (Ewest) Brase. Bonnie was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Meriden, Minnesota. Bonnie married Steve Strong on March 12, 1977, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Meriden.

Eric Daniel Nelson, 77, passed away at his home in Pearl City, Hawaii, on Jan. 9, 2015, after a brief battle with cancer. He was born Oct. 4, 1937, to Sanford and Edna Mae (Lerum) Nelson in Blooming Prairie.

A private family service for Roger Lynn Saathoff of Blooming Prairie, formerly of Okabena, took place Aug. 24 in the chapel of Macken Funeral Home in Rochester. Roger passed away on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, with his children by his side.

As I walked around the Steele County Fair last week, I couldn’t help but think how the fair is built on tradition.
Some of those traditions keep growing stronger year after year. Such is the case with the 4-H livestock auction, which was held Saturday morning. It’s referred to as the 4-H Sale of Champions and this year marked its 70th year. 

The numbers don’t lie. And, although Fair Manager Jim Gleason said that attendance was down about nine and a half percent, the days with more pleasant weather saw excellent crowds. 
An estimated 307,403 people attended the 2015 Steele County Free Fair, as opposed to an estimated 339,671 fair-goers in 2014. The record was established in 2013, when approximately 350,899 people attended the fair.