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SAXOPHONES - The Marching Jays’ saxophone section dressed all in blue as their color for the day. From left: Cyrus Guse, Tarun Ewest, Paige Dufault, Katie Olson, Ellery Waldron, Alyssa Kilmer, Madelyn Larabee, and Logan Reger. In front are Josie Perrizo and Kya Hoof.

Another week finished

The Marching Jays have just wrapped up week two of band camp. After ten days of working 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., they’ve learned a lot. Spat camp is a tradition going back to when the band first started more than 50 years ago. During the annual training event, band members spend the day on the field...

2021 audit report approved

Tom Olinger, accountant with Abdo Eick and Meyers, visited the Janesville council on Monday, August 8 to go over the city’s audit for 2021. Council member John Sprengeler was absent from the meeting. Olinger outlined how the city’s expenditures and funds looked compared to previous years. As a...

Gator Lake, THC dominate discussion

Two topics of conversation dominated the August 3 regular meeting of the Waseca City Council: the project underway in the Gator Lake area and a new state law regarding the use of THC in foods and beverages. Gator Lake/Public Comment Through 40 minutes of public comment and Gator Lake...

Arriving and departing - Andy Waugh, left, will be taking the reins at Ace Hardware in September. Cam Swanson, right, is leaving the manager position at the end of August.

Bidding farewell

The Waseca Ace Hardware store celebrated two “appreciations” in one on Friday, August 5: Departing manager Cam Swanson was honored for his four years of service, and store customers were thanked for their patronage and loyalty. Food catered by Morgan’s Meat Market was served from 10 to 2 p.m.. “...

Thousands of people have attended “revivals” hosted by the Nations Glory Barn in rural Waldorf.

Feeling a revival

For the last several years, JR’s Barn of rural Waldorf has made a name for itself as a prime location for weddings, parties, and other social gatherings. This summer the venue is also opening to the public in another way: ministry. Owner Renae Groskreutz wants the public to know that, in...

Jenna Krassin, a 2016 graduate of Waseca, is taking over the role of administrator previously held by Pete Madel.

‘We want to continue operating as Pete did’

“We want to continue the legacy created by Pete [Madel] and keep building,” says Marc Halpert, Chief Executive Officer of Monarch Healthcare Management, Inc. The corporation, based out of Mankato, owns 44 facilities across the state of Minnesota: It took ownership of the two aspects of “...

Waldorf Mayor Rob Wilkening

A new Waldorf

Waldorf is known throughout Waseca County as a tight-knit community. However, the town’s been declining in population since the 1970s. After peaking at 285 people according to the 1970 census, it’s lost almost 100 people, with the 2020 census setting its population at 201. If Waldorf had...

Social pressures devastate teens

“I didn’t really plan it,” remembers “Lily,” an anonymous Waseca County teenager who attempted suicide in 2019. “I just…did it.” “It,” in Lily’s case, was to acquire the contents of a wide array of pill bottles. “I swallowed them and then I just sat there for, I don’t know how long. A half hour...

Janesville Librarian Linda Prechel in her “happy place,” the Janesville Public Library. Pioneer photo by Jonah Stafford

Prechel’s happy place, the library

On Thursdays from 2 to 8 p.m, local retiree Linda Prechel offers a smiling face and helping hand at the Janesville Public Library, where she works as a part-time librarian. “I used to go to this library when I was a kid,” said Prechel, who added that the house she shares with her husband in...

Brock Nelson was sworn in as the new county assessor during the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, August 2.

Pioneer photo by Amelia Roessler

New assessor, attorney sworn in

Two new county employees were sworn in at the August 2 meeting of the Waseca County Board of Commissioners: Attorney Deja Weber joined the county attorney’s office. Waseca resident and former Steele County Assessor Brock Nelson was sworn in for a four-year term as the county assessor. MnDOT...