Chris Hahn

Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, April 25, 2024.   Reprinted with permission and gratitude.

By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy

 

It’s happening @ and for your library.

Because the library is where it’s happening.

Anyone who may think that the public library is just a snore, a place where being quiet is the norm, where nothing ever happens may be completely surprised by the long list of noises and events that occur at that building down the street.

Take, for example, storytime. Oh, the excitement, the exuberance, the giggles. After everyone over 21 has had their coffee, but before 11:00 a.m. – kiddos rounding the story tree in the children’s section to hear a book being read to them, followed by an activity related to the characters of the book. Two more sessions left in May, on Friday, May 3 and 17 at 10:30 a.m. for the preschoolers in one’s life. And after that come preparations for the “Adventure at Your Library” children’s summer reading program from June 3 through July 26 – including Will Bjorndal appearing on June 5, Chad Lewis bringing Minnesota folklore on June 12, and the Eagle Bluff raptor naturalists presenting on June 26, with all programs scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

For the grownups, there’s local author Steve Harris visiting on April 30 at 6:00 p.m., children’s author Michael Hall stopping at SVPL on May 9 at 7:00 p.m. as part of the Minnesota Author Tour – the littles may certainly be interested as well, Nancy Vaillancourt presenting on the Hooded History of the Ku Klux Klan in southeast Minnesota in the 1920’s on May 21 at 6:00 p.m., and the library staff taking suggestions as to whom to host in the future through the Southeast Libraries Cooperating vetted presenter program.

What’s happening for the library? According to Friends of the Spring Valley Public Library President Sarah Hansen, there’s plenty. Like, plenty to do and learn. She and the Friends are going to offer classes for the public to enjoy as a fundraiser for the library, beginning with Beginning – she’ll be facilitating two enrichment classes, the first being Beginning Organic Gardening, which is set for the first two Saturdays in May from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Preserving the Harvest, slated for the first two Saturdays in June from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. — and she anticipates that the Friends will continue to bring educational experiences forward throughout the fall, including an introduction to crocheting class that will allow anyone who’d like to be in the loop about looping to do so.

Furthermore, there’s what’s happening @ and for the library one Wednesday a month as summer arrives and evolves into early fall, as the library or the Friends will be seen downtown at a booth during Wednesdays on Broadway, with the Friends sometimes selling ice cream and other items to help raise money for the library’s needs and raise awareness of its available services. Wednesdays on Broadway, a town celebration and farmers’ market with information hosted on the Spring Valley Economic Development Authority’s website at https://springvalleyeda.org/wednesdays-on-broadway-spring-valley-mn/ or the Wednesdays on Broadway Facebook page, will be the place to find Hansen and Friends on June 19, July 17, Aug. 21 and Sept. 18.

For more information on library events, log onto the library’s website at www.springvalley.lib.mn.us, stop in at the library on Jefferson Street, or call 507-346-2100.

 

Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325

Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, April 11, 2024.   Reprinted with permission and gratitude.

By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy

 

There’s no question that little Al Batt was for the birds.

But later in life, he’ll tell you that he’s not easily bugged and that he probably isn’t an owl.

“I love flowers, nature, and birds. I love box elder bugs!” declared obvious nature enthusiast Batt, quipping that most people find box elder bugs annoying and adding, “The neat thing about box elder bugs is that when they die on their backs, they cross their legs like they’re in a casket.”

Batt addressed the gathering at Good Earth Village’s (GEV) March Lunch and Learn event, sharing his tales of life, birdwatching and even bug-watching as he told about the time when he, as just a boy, was able to stand still enough to become a human birdfeeder and perch, and about the disconnect between the bird sounds used in the old westerns that he watched on television and the actual birds’ true calls, citing, “Turkey vultures have a rough and rocky flight, but eagles have a nice and smooth flight. I didn’t see an eagle until I was older. You know, you watch all those westerns on TV, and you hear what you think is an eagle — Matt Dillon got shot 21 times in the same shoulder during that series — but the bald eagles all started to sound like redtail hawks. Recently, there’s been a campaign to get the right birdsong dubbed into golf tournaments.”

His chat with the GEV Lunch and Learn attendees included perusals of the habits of various birds, such as a quick inventory of the birds returning to Minnesota after an extremely mild winter. “There’s pelicans here now. I do a Christmas bird count, and they can stay here on the open water and can get fish. They’re like Lutherans at a lutefisk feed. Then there’s the great horned owls on their eggs. They do not build their own nests. They are horrible renters – they take a nest someone else built and wreck it. They move almost as much as Pa Ingalls.”

Furthermore, he shared with the audience about the time that he, a youngster, got sprayed by a skunk and was immediately thrown into the bathtub, after which calls were put out on the party line for anyone who had tomato juice to bring it to de-stench a very small boy who hadn’t quite learned the difference between a skunk and a kitty or other critter. And raccoons…he told how “they have a mask like you wear the grease under your eyes when you’re playing football to stop the glare.” “Raccoons like to put their paws over their eyes…science studied us, and you know how when we’re little and we cover our eyes and think ‘You can’t see me?’ Little kids and raccoons are the same.”

Tales of how his grandparents immigrated to the United States and lost everything upon arrival also filtered in through the tree-filled stories with which he captivated his listeners, and at the end, he extended his thanks to them, saying, “If we’re lucky in life, we’re given a great gift. It has been an honor to be in your company. Enjoy the birds – no matter what the bird is, a beautiful bird gets us out of our heads. And I hope, as you slide down the banister of life, the slivers are all going the same direction.”

Upcoming GEV Lunch and Learn events feature Tuesday luncheon hour speakers who have messages of hope and interest – the April 16 event welcomes Mark Swanson, regional director and interim chief executive officer of Growing Hope Globally, which “provides an opportunity for Christians to make a lasting impact on global hunger, linking the grassroots energy and commitment of rural communities in the U.S. with the capability and desire of smallholder farmers in developing countries,” and the May 16 event is an opportunity to hear Teresa Waldof share about her book, “Wilhelm’s Way: The Inspiring Story of the Iowa Chemist Who Saved the Manhattan Project,” recounting “the contributions to the war effort of Dr. Harley Wilhelm and the Ames Project division of the Manhattan Project during World War II.”

GEV’s Lunch and Learns begin at 11:00 a.m. at Log Lodge as attendees check in, followed by lunch being served at 11:30 a.m. The day’s presentation starts at 12:15 p.m. and lasts until approximately 1:30 p.m., with time for questions and answers included. Registration before each event is appreciated to assist GEV staff in planning lunch. For more information, log onto the GEV website at www.goodearthvillage.org.

Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325

Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, March 21, 2024.   Reprinted with permission and gratitude.

By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy

 

One community.

Thirty-three tons of help.

“We distributed almost 33 tons of food in 2023 to people in need,” related Spring Valley Area Food Shelf volunteer Carol Gross, sharing that the local food pantry has done exactly what it was meant to do – meet the needs of people whose incomes do not have meeting ends.

The food shelf, founded in 2008, is a work of the Spring Valley Area Ministerial Association and is currently housed in a building just off East Jefferson Street in downtown Spring Valley. Current Spring Valley Area Food Shelf board members are Carol Gross, Rita Hartert, Steve Heusinkveld, Sharon Jahn, Maureen Johnson, Gail Rollie and Pastors Mark and Deanna Woodward, and Geraldine Williams serves as bookkeeper. Board members and others who assist do so on an entirely volunteer basis, but they spend hour upon hour serving their neighbors through the functions of the food shelf – shopping with food shelf clients, working during shopping hours, sanitizing the food shelf’s busier corners, attending informational meetings, unloading delivery trucks, holding monthly meetings, and more.

The pantry’s 2023 annual report elaborated, “The Spring Valley Area Food Shelf serves the needs of residents within primarily a 15-mile radius of Spring Valley and is located at 102 E. Jefferson Street.” Statistics listed for last year’s visits were included in the report, and it cited, “An average of 84 households, or 201 people, used the food shelf each month in 2023, a 58 percent increase over 2022. Shoppers are allowed one visit per month to supplement their food supplies but are never turned away if more food is needed in a certain month. Forty-two percent of households served are composed of one person. Of our total shoppers per month, 14 percent are seniors, 32 percent are children, and the rest are adults 19-64. It should be noted that some households do not use the food shelf every month. The number of shoppers and the amount of food per month increased significantly in the last six months of the year. An average of 65 pounds of food per household was distributed.”

Last year, the Spring Valley Area Food Shelf’s expenses totaled $51,983.62, including rent, local food purchases at Kwik Trip, Sunshine Foods and Dollar General, as well as shelf stable milk not available for local purchase bought from Channel One. Kwik Trip gave weekly food donations picked up by volunteers, Sunshine Foods and Dollar General have ongoing food collection boxes picked up by volunteers, Sunshine Foods gives a discount on all purchases, and meat selections were made at Sunshine Foods, Valley Butchery and Ody’s Country Meats. In addition to donations from churches, monetary, food and other donations were received from the Kingsland district students, a donor gave hams to spur a challenge to the community to donate hams given through a drawing, cattlemen donated ground beef, and one community member generously delivered $2,000 worth of meat to the food shelf so that others may have enough protein on their tables. Furthermore, community members who used Thrivent Action Team projects, along with the July Open Your Heart campaign that garnered $10,850, have made a significant difference for the food shelf.

And the report relayed that “while our expenses exceeded income for the year, our checkbook balance at the beginning of the year and generous donations during and at the end of the year continue to give us a working balance.” That money recirculates through local grocery outlets — Gross noted that shopping locally helps keep the economy strong and builds relationships with business owners and managers. “We spent more than twice as much buying food in Spring Valley than we did buying food from Channel One.” T

he food shelf’s ongoing wish list likely includes laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, dish soap, canned goods, boxed dinners such as Hamburger Helper or macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, jelly, canned soup, canned fruit, juice, rice, tuna, baking supplies – flour, sugar, cake mixes and beyond, and bumper crop garden produce. As Gross pointed out, cash is especially useful as volunteers go shopping to fill carts with even more food than can be bought using the same amount of money spent by someone shopping at the grocery store and giving purchased foods to the food shelf. She stated, “We are also participating in Minnesota FoodShare Month during March, meaning that the amount of food and money donated during the month is partially matched by Minnesota Food Share.”

The Spring Valley Area Food Shelf is located at 102 E. Jefferson St. and is open Wednesdays from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., as well as from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. For more information, log onto the Spring Valley city website or stop in during operating hours to register for assistance or to volunteer. The 2023 report concluded, “The food shelf continues because of the monetary and food generosity of so many – and countless – volunteer hours.”

 

Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325