JANUARY

2 — After decades of darkness, the Pix theater marquee was brilliantly lit up after it was restored downtown. Medical doctors Karlyn and Adam Armbruster plan to create a coffee shop and micro-brewery in the former theater.

4 — Sleepy Eye High School students Alexa Steffl and Isaac Huiras were chosen ExCEL award winners. St. Mary’s student Lauren Hoffmann was chosen for the award. The award is given to high school juniors who are active in school activities, show leadership qualities and work voluntarily in the community. Sleepy Eye Elementary School students collected more than 1,000 items and more than $200 for the Sleepy Eye Food Shelf in their annual Giving Tree project.

7 — After interviewing final candidates at the Sleepy Eye Event Center, the Sleepy Eye City Council unanimously approved offering the city manager position to Kelly Truver of Arizona. Truver follows city manager Mark Kober will plans to work with her in the coming months to ease the transition period.

22 — Brown County District Court Judge Robert Docherty granted a motion to dismiss charges of 2nd-degree murder, 1st-degree assault, 1st-degree manslaughter, 2nd-degree manslaughter and 5th-degree assault against Jose I. Rodriguez Limones due to lack of probable cause. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office stated the cause of death of an infant at Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis in January 2018 was “complications of subdural hematoma of unknown etiology.”

Docherty concluded that the infant died under circumstances that raised red flags about the manner of his death. How the infant died will probably never be known. Suspicion is not the same as probable cause, wrote the judge.

26 — Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Hall of Fame inductees include Joan (Braun) Abrahamson for distinguished service achievement; Maria (Gangelhoff) Halverson and Mark Schroepfer for distinguished athletic achievement. Halverson is a Mayo Clinic MRI Technologist and lives in Goodhue. Schroepfer was CEO, president and board chairman at St. Louis-based Lincoln Industrial. He was an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas. He has assisted with the digital IMAX projection program at the Science Museum of Minnesota, among other endeavors.

FEBRUARY

4 — The Minnesota Pork Board named Patrick Krzmarzick as the Environmental Steward of the Year at the Minneapolis Hilton. The family of Noah, Adam, Katarina, David, Jacque, Kyle, Patrick, Gabe Knowles and Leah celebrated the honor with him.

12 — Odin Hansen and Lenora Jarvis were named Valentine’s Day King and Queen at the Sleepy Eye Care Center. Aut Seidl was named Divine Providence Community Home Resident of the Year.

16 — Seven St. Mary’s students, Brayden Suess, Yuvraj Sidhu, Kaden Ryer, Elizabeth Schwint, Annika Nosbush, Sophie Kyllonen and Natalie Marti advanced from the regional to the state science fair.

19 — For the first time since 2014, the Sleepy Eye Lake aeration system was activated due to thick ice and snow cover reducing oxygen levels.

21 — The Sleepy Eye Public School Board of Education received a five-year funding gift from Mary Ann Christensen. The money will be used to pay for an additional school counselor and agriculture teacher/FFA advisor.

APRIL

29 — Sleepy Eye City Manager Kelli Truver resigned after two months on the job after a number of open and closed special city council meetings to discuss allegations made by a city employee.

30 — The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter was named the seventh-place chapter for the National Chapter Award at the 2019 Minnesota FFA Convention at the University of Minnesota. Sleepy Eye won the state Poultry Team title, advancing to nationals. Maddison Helget was first in the state. The chapter was second in the Best Informed Greenhand team competition, advancing to nationals and third in team market planning. Cassidy Hoffmann was Agricultural Communications state winner. Morgan Hoffmann was second and McKenzie Cselovski was third in equine production placement. State FFA Degrees went to Cassidy Hoffmann, Paige Romberg, Macy Schenk and Landon Strong.

MAY

6 — After 134 years of operation, St. John’s Lutheran School will close at the end of the school year. The school has a network of other nearby schools in its denomination including St. Paul’s School in New Ulm, Prairie Lutheran School in Fairfax and Gibbon, St. John School in Redwood Falls, and St. Paul’s school in St. James.

14 — The Sleepy Eye City Council approved a resolution for the Sleepy Eye Food Shelf to move to the back of the Sleepy Eye Community Center. Annual rent was set at $250.

17 — Four Sleepy Eye Elementary School teachers retired — Shirley Tennant, Susan Himmelman, Kris Bloedl and Nancy Moore. Sleepy Eye High School science teacher Sherri Seifert also retired. St. Mary’s School music teacher Annette Lux retired after 44 years of service. St. John’s School Principal and teacher Dan Rick will teach in Thiensville, Wis. next year since the Sleepy Eye school is closing.

June

7 & 8 — Crews of ultralight, lite sport and powered parachute flyers from Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas visited Sleepy Eye Municipal Airport. The flyers said they liked Sleepy Eye’s well-kept, grass runways and cooperative attitudes.

11 — The Sleepy Eye City Council unanimously approved an agreement with Nuvera to allow Wi-Fi installation at Sportsmen’s Park. Basic service will be free. Upgraded service will be available for a free and registration.

12 — Sleepy Eye High School sophomore Logan Netzke finished seventh in the Minnesota Class A State Golf Tournament at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker. Andrew Neid of Sleepy Eye also advanced to the state meet.

14 — The Sleepy Eye Parks Department recently installed a new dock by the observation deck at Sportsmen’s Park. Campers and day-use boaters can tie up their boats instead of having to trailer and remove them each day.

22 — After a courageous battle with stage 4 soft tissue sarcoma cancer in his left lung, Faith United Methodist pastor Clint Evans died June 22 at age 38. Cancer was also found in his right lund and attached to two of his ribs. His funeral was June 30 at United Methodist Church, Plymouth.

23 — A summer reading program at the Dyckman Free Library included the University of Minnesota Bell Museum traveling planetarium, the Exploradome.

30 — Congregations at Faith United Methodist Church in Sleepy Eye and Oakwood United Methodist Church in New Ulm welcomed their new pastor, Dr. Gerhardt Miller. He formerly served as pastor for several Methodist churches in Mineral Point, Wi.

JULY

8 — After 27 years in business, McCabe’s Ace Hardware owners Ann and Russ McCabe announced the sale of their store to Mike Wieboldt, who owns 10 other area Ace Hardware stores in the region. Wieboldt hired former McCabe’s store manager Matt Dauer to manage the store that will change hands Sept. 3. Wieboldt said he plans to keep the store open every day, on Sundays year around from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

25-27 — The Sleepy Eye 14U girls softball team finished the season 22-9 with two tournament titles, reaching a national tournament in the Twin Cities where they played teams from Minnesota, North Dakota, Illinois and Wisconsin.

AUGUST

5 — Minnesota State Fair and fair foundation officials, family, friends and colleagues of the late Bob Christensen gathered for a ribbon cutting and unveiling of new signage at the Robert A. Christensen Pavilion swine barn.

9 — The Sleepy Eye City Council approved a resolution by a 4-1 vote to offer the city manager job to Sleepy Eye interim city manager and public works director Bob Elston. Councilor Larry Braun cast a dissenting vote. Elston said he was honored and humbled to be selected for the job.

20 — Del Monte Pacific Limited announced the closure of U.S. subsidiary Del Monte Foods plants including the Sleepy Eye Del Monte plant. The company said layoffs will begin in stages and conclude when all labeling, shipping and closing work is done, possibly around June 2020.

31 — Sleepy Eye Public Utility linemen Jose Saenz and Tom Hillesheim left town to join a group of Minnesota Municipal Utility workers headed to Florida to help with power line damage caused by Hurricane Dorian.

September

19 — Native American descendants to Chief Sleepy Eye visited Sleepy Eye on a memorial prayer walk on their way to the 47th annual Mahkato Wacipi pow wow at Land of Memories Park in Mankato.

22 — Kyle Fischer was crowned Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Homecoming King and Lauren Hoffmann was crowned Homecoming Queen.

23 — Matthew Sellner was crowned Sleepy Eye High School Homecoming King and Emma Fischer Homecoming Queen.

24 — Mary Bartz of Sleepy Eye received Distinguished Friend of University of Minnesota Extension for her commitment to 4-H and Extension. She belongs to the Extension Service’s Driven program helping build bright futures for Minnesota young people.

October

17 — Sleepy Eye City Councilor Larry Braun was censured by the Sleepy Eye City Council for conduct described as “acting beyond the scope of his office and authority.” The city council determined that an email from River View Sanitation owner Brent Kucera constituted a complaint under the City Code of Conduct.

20 — Powerhouse Nutrition opened at 135 Main Street West. Brook Stevenson, a 2015 New Ulm High School graduate, is an Herbalife independent distributor and health coach. She described the business as a funky coffee shop with healthy fast food. A basic combination includes an aloe shot for digestion, tea for energy and a meal replacement shake offered in many flavors. Protein bars are also offered. Business hours are 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday.

26 — Cole Deibele, a 2000 Sleepy Eye High School graduate, received the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Section 5 Coach of the Year award. His Monticello High School baseball team finished 19-7 and advanced to the state tournament in 2019.

27 — Thanks help from 150 volunteers, 75,000 rice meals were packaged at the 16th Annual Sleepy Eye Area Food for Kidz event at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. About $3,000 in donations was collected at the event.

November

21– The MPCA reported restoration work improved water quality in the lake so current nutrient levels are low enough to meet recreational standards.

“It is good news. It’s a wonderful thing,” said Sleepy Eye Mayor Wayne Pelzel. “That’s one of the impacts of dredging. It improves water quality and reduces weed growth.”

Pelzel said discussions are underway with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on doing work in the slough behind (north of) of St. Mary’s School .

“A good share of the lake sediment comes from the slough that gets drainage from the north end of Sleepy Eye and farm land north of Sleepy Eye,” Pelzel said. “If the slough is working properly, it will filter only good water through (to the lake). But the slough is filling in, so more unfiltered water is coming into the lake.”

Pelzel said discussions are underway about pushing some of the mud out of the slough so it filters water better.

December

3 — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) proposed to remove Sleepy Eye Lake from the impaired waters list. The lake was one of only four water bodies in Minnesota proposed to be removed from the impaired waters list.

10 — The Sleepy Eye City Council approved a resolution to buy an inflatable, eight-foot long shark as a water toy feature at the Sleepy Eye Water Park. Parks Director Steve Lingen said the shark will be tethered in a deeper part of the swimming pool. City Manager Bob Elston said shark will replace water lily toys that became broken over the years.