The Windom city council met Tuesday evening for their regular meeting. The 2022 City budget was accepted with a 2.98% increase. According to Mayor Dominic Jones, when compared to other communities of similar size, Windom’s number is in the middle . In other action, budget adjustments were made on the 2021 budget, the planning commission made a recommendation on a minor subdivision at 2420 Highway 60, a hiring recommendation was made for a street park maintenance worker and final payment was approved on the now finished Arena re-roof project.
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The Heron Lake Okabena school board met Tuesday night following the truth in taxation meeting. According to Superintendent Paul Bang, the major items including the resolution to certify the levy and approving teacher contracts for the upcoming year.
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The Cottonwood County Commissioners passed a resolution at the Board Meeting Tuesday, December 21st, to support Cottonwood County Attorney Nick Anderson and his staff to work on child support work for Jackson County through DVHHS. Anderson agreed to additional duties but requested his secretarial staff to increase to 2.5 Full Time Employees. The Board agreed to his request. This will go into effect the first of January.
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If you were at the Windom Area Elementary Schools yesterday, you might have captured the LIFE SIZE ELF ON THE SHELF!!! Assistant Principal Dane Nielsen welcomed parents and children in the morning posing as an ELF ON THE SHELF hanging around at the Entry. It was definitely a fun and entertaining way to start the day!
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Two days left!!! Are your Tidings tidy? Is your goose good and plump? Are the presents all purchased and wrapped in pretty glittering paper with red, green and white ribbons and bows? IF you answered No, you are NORMAL!!!!
As I was chatting with Stepping Stones Counseling- Master of Social Worker and License and Dependent Clinical Social Worker (MSWLIISCW)- Kerstin Cooley from Windom, I learned that the perception of a perfect family gathering and holiday is a farce. Life done as a Hallmark Movie just isn’t in the cards for most of us. Life is more like a Griswold’s Christmas. That bonus may turn into the jelly of the month club, or that squirrel just might be sleeping in your tree, or cousin eddy just might show up and blow up your front yard. BUT the most important thing to remember is IT IS OKAY!!! According to Cooley, if we go into the Holidays and the New Year with a neutral attitude (realistic expectations) we will be able to handle every little curve ball thrown at us. Cooley said, “If you are neutral, you know you can do anything and you know that you have coping skills to deal with anything that comes your way. If you set your expectations too high you are setting yourself up for failure because the “PERFECT” lifestyle is not real. If you set your expectations too low, you are already going into a situation with your walls up and battle gear on. By being neutral you are in control. YOU have choices.
Cooley went onto say that it is important to unplug. She went on to explain that families NEED face to face time. It is important for parents and their children to put the smart phones and computers and I-Pads AWAY in a basket and have a conversation. In this electronic world we are living in we are missing out on that important connection of communication. Our children need that one on one attention that only speaking without distractions gives. Take time this year to reconnect on a personal level with your family. Cooley said that if there are members of your family that cause severe stress, it is OKAY to choose a different venue for celebrations. Cooley stressed it truly is OKAY to take care of yourself, most of us are not very good at this and Cooley said it is hard, But truly worth the effort.
YES, there is only two days left till the kids are out of school and the extended family is going to gather. Remember to Breathe, Step Back, and LIVE in the Reality of the situation.
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Petroglyphs and Petroforms of Southwest Minnesota is the topic for Historical Society’s January Lunchbox Lecture
The Murray County Historical Society invites the public to attend its January Dinehart Lunchbox Lecture on Thursday, January 13th in the 4-H building on the Murray County Fairgrounds in Slayton starting at noon. The cost of the talk is $3.00 per person or Historical Society members get in free. Attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch and beverages and light snacks are provided.
This month’s lecture will be presented by retired Minnesota Historical Society Archaeologist Thomas Sanders and his twenty-three years of research on the Jeffers Petroglyphs and Southwest Minnesota’s Red Rock Ridge.
If you can’t attend in-person, the presentation will be live streamed on the Murray County Historical Museum’s Facebook page. If you can’t watch it live, the live streamed video will also be recorded and available on our Facebook page to watch at your leisure. Visit the Facebook at: facebook.com/murraycountymuseum
For more information about this and other museum events, call 507-836-6533 or email museum@co.murray.mn.us.
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Only two days left till Christmas!!!