Local News Headlines – Friday, September 17

The Annual “Heroes Behind the Badges” blood drive is being held in Windom.  The Blood drive will take place at Windom Area Health on Monday.  Donations will be accepted from 11:00am to 1:30pm and from 3:00 to 6:00pm.  You will need to make an appointment to donate blood.  A link for sign-ups is posted on the Windom Area Health website and Facebook page, or call 831-2400 for information.  This is a friendly competition involving the Windom Fire Department, Windom Police Department and Ambulance squad to see which group can recruit the most blood donors.

Here’s an update on Covid-19 vaccinations.  As of last Sunday, State-wide totals showed that 67.5% of Minnesota residents aged 12-and-older are fully vaccinated.  In Southwest Minnesota, Cottonwood County reports that 58.2% of County residents 12-and-older are fully vaccinated.  Among other area counties, the vaccination rate for people 12-and-older includes:  Nobles County 60.7%; Watonwan County 58.2%; Murray County 57.1%; Martin County 55.8%; Jackson County 54%; and Redwood County 53% of residents 12-and-older are now fully vaccinated.

The Windom School Board met earlier this week.  The Board heard an enrollment report.  The Windom School District – as of September 8th – had 660 students from Pre-Kindergarten through the 5th grade and 596 students from the 6th through the 12th grades, for a total of 1,256 students.  The Kindergarten and ‘Be-gindergarten’ classes have close to 120 students.  In other business, donations to the school district were accepted.  The Board accepted resignations from 5 para-professionals.  They approved the hiring of 11 new para-professionals.  Two family and medical leaves were approved.

The “King Turkey Day” celebration is being held this week in Worthington.  Today, the Beer Garden will be open from 4:00 until 11:00pm, with musical entertainment at the Beer Garden from 8:00 until 11:00.  There will be Inflatables for children on 9th Street at 4:00pm.  Food Vendors will open at 5:00pm.  A family movie will be shown at 8:00 tonight on the lawn of the Nobles County Government Center.  More events will follow on Saturday.  There will be a guest speaker at 1:00 Saturday afternoon, followed by the “Great Gobbler Gallop” at 1:30 on 10th Street.  The Grand Parade will begin at 2:00 Saturday afternoon.  An ecumenical worship service will be held on Sunday.

The Cottonwood County Historical Society will be opening a new art exhibit this weekend.  The new show in the Remick Gallery will be “Stitched By Hand – Cottonwood County Quilts.”  The exhibit will present over 15 hand-made quilts from the collection of the Historical Society.  The quilts are all stitched by hand with a variety of patterns and colors.  The oldest quilt in the exhibit dates back to the year 1897.  The majority of the quilts in the show were made in the first half of the 20th Century.  An opening reception will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 Sunday afternoon at the Cottonwood County Museum in 4th Avenue in Windom.  Admission is free.  Light Refreshments will be served.