Zac Plein was a member of Kasson-Mantorville High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions group, not so long ago.
He was on the other side Dec. 19 at his place of employment, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office in Mantorville.

You could hear them from the parking lot, Kasson-Mantorville Elementary School students singing and laughing on Dec. 22, the last day of school before Christmas break.

Tradition reigns on Jim Checkel’s farm.
The Kasson man hosted the 10th-annual “Christmas Alive!” event on Dec. 2 – and a big crowd visited, guided by a “guardian angel” through seven dramatic scenes of the birth of Christ.
Live animals including llamas and horses enhanced the Christmas atmosphere on a nice night in the country southwest of Kasson.

Many people associate mass shootings with schools.
Actually, more faith-based organizations were targeted during 2016, when 246 violent acts were reported, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said Monday during a church safety training session at Kasson-Mantorville High School.

Don Hodgman was lead foreman for a drainage contractor in West Concord when he set out on his own in 1982.
Thirty-five years later, his business dream has expanded into a large, thriving venture in Dodge Center.

Adam Fredericksen was 18 and riding high during his senior year at Kasson-Mantorville High School.
Kaitlyn Hansen was a smiley 16-year-old “drama queen” at Fillmore Central High School in Harmony.
But an impaired driver slammed into Fredericksen’s vehicle in Kasson on Feb. 7, 2004, leaving him hospitalized for four months.