Ellendale mural choice: Fall Festival including 30 plus vendors to be Saturday
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BEAMING - Gwen Reiss, owner of Two Doves Boutique in Ellendale, displays two design choices in the town’s mural project. Reiss has spearheaded the project thus far, attempting to sway townspeople in favor of a sign displaying prominent members in Ellendale’s history. Star Eagle photo by Eli Lutgens
By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Beer, bingo, brats and more than 30 different food, clothing and craft vendors will all be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on main street during Ellendale’s Fall Festival, Saturday, October 2. Residents will have the opportunity to vote for one of two designs in the Ellendale Mural project, and/or donate towards the project which has raised nearly a fourth of the funds necessary to complete.
This is the third Festival and first since the Covid Pandemic intended to help raise funds for the Ellendale Mural Fund. The mural project started after Gwen Reiss, of Two Doves Boutique in Ellendale, got tired of looking across the street from her store front and seeing the old sign above the community garden. She said she wants a sign that reflects Ellendale’s history.
“I’m trying to tell a story with this,” Reiss said. “I’m trying to give it meaning. That’s what this sign means.”
The design favored by Gwen was illustrated by Albert Lea artist Chandler Anderson and displays three prominent persons from Ellendale’s history arriving via train car: Dr. E.Q. Ertel, Ellen Dale Ives, and Thomas H. Brown.
200 volunteers help clean rivers
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Faribault volunteers with their hauls of litter. (Clean River Partners photos)
By Kevin Strauss, Clean River Partners
Over 200 volunteers picked up litter at seven sites across the Cannon River Watershed on Saturday as part of Clean River Partners’ “Cannon River Watershed-Wide CleanUP.” Events took place in Northfield, Cannon Falls, Faribault, Owatonna, Waterville, and Shields Lake. Crews picked up discarded fishing poles, chairs, rakes, signposts, and lots of bottles and food wrappers as part of this annual river cleanup event.
"It was a great day," said Northfield CleanUP Site Leader Rich Lorang. "It was good to see so many of our friends and neighbors working together to help clean up the Cannon River.”
In addition to family volunteers, a group from St. Olaf College and from Carleton College helped out in Northfield. A workplace team from Henkel picked up litter at Riverside Park in Cannon Falls. The Faribault American Heritage Girls (AHG) helped with the CleanUP at Two Rivers Park in Faribault and at Morehouse Park in Owatonna.
Marching classic returns
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CLASSIC - The annual Waseca Marching Classic returned on Sept. 18 after a year’s absence in 2020. Unfortunately, the NRHEG Marching band was not able to perform. Additional photos are posted on the Star Eagle’s Facebook page.
Star Eagle photo by Jessica Lutgens
By JESSICA LUTGENS
Staff Writer
Large crowds lined the streets of downtown Waseca, and later filled the stands at Waseca High School to watch the 34th Annual Waseca Marching Classic parade and field show on Saturday, Sept. 18. Five marching bands competed in the parade this year, and 11 competed in the field show. Unfortunately, due to illness, the NRHEG Marching band was unable to attend this year's performance.
Along with the marching bands, numerous units were featured in this year’s parade, including the Classic Car Cruise, floats from local businesses and organizations, public safety vehicles from Waseca and neighboring towns, grand marshals, and more.
NRHEG greenhouse now open
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FFA advisor Dan Sorum supervises the sales at the greenhouse.
By JORDAN HOREJSI
Staff Writer
The NRHEG FFA Chapter sponsored the first fall plant sale in the new greenhouse at NRHEG Secondary School after it’s construction in the summer of 2020. The sale started on Friday, September 17 at 2:30 p.m. and went until 6 p.m. The following day, the sale continued from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., and on Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Dan Sorum, the advisor of the NRHEG FFA Chapter, supervised the sales with the help of its FFA members. The sale consists of mums in a variety of colors, ranging from orange to red to yellow.
All proceeds go to funding the maintenance, landscaping and future expansions of the greenhouse, so the greenhouse can continue to provide flowers for the community. The proceeds from this fall's sale are contributing to the pots and flowers for future sales in the upcoming years.
Outside of growing plants and holding plant sales, the greenhouse is used to help educate students about plants and greenhouse management.
Mom and pop shop: Old town bagels in Owatonna opened in 2005
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Old Town Bagels, pictured above, has been in business for 16 years.
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
Old Town Bagels has been at 211 N. Cedar Ave. in Owatonna for 16 years, and, in spite of diminished business during the pandemic, it remains a popular dining and snack destination.
The business was originally owned by the Satterlunds. Mark Wilson, husband of current owner Stacy Wilson, who purchased the business six years ago, says simply, “There wasn't a bagel shop in town, so they opened it as a bagel shop.”
Usually, the cafe is filled with inviting tables, where locals sit down to sip a latte, munch bagels and homemade cream cheese, and share the latest news or gossip with friends. During the Covid pandemic though, all the tables were removed, and customers could call in orders and stop by to pick them up, paying either over the phone, or when they arrived. When limited to curbside pickup and to-go bags for eight months, the customer base dropped drastically. Wilson concedes that business is still rather slow, “But it's doing okay,” he says. Happily, the empty look is a thing of the past, and customers once again enjoy their bagel sandwiches together amid the chatter at the longed-for tables.
“It's a great mom-and-pop sandwich and soup shop,” says Wilson.
In October, in addition to the ever-popular Chicken Pesto Melts and Perfect Pastrami sandwiches, ice cream will be on the menu – a hard-dip ice cream from Madison, Wis., called Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream.
The current hours at Old Town Bagels are 6:30 – 2:30 Mon. – Sat., with hours expanding to be open later come October.