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Three honored for life-saving efforts

Tuesday, Sleepy Eye City Council honored Bransten Rehbein-Weber, Max Heiderscheidt and Lucas Heiderscheidt with the Outstanding Citizenship Award in recognition for their selfless and lifesaving efforts during a May 8 house fire. The three young men all entered a home engulfed in flames and assisted in getting two children out of the fire before first responders arrived. Police Chief Matt Andres presented the three young men with the award. He said their efforts went above and beyond what could be expected at such an horrific event. The fact that they entered the home with no training or protective equipment demonstrated extreme bravery.

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Frigid temperatures this weekend

Winter has returned to south central Minnesota and seems to be making up for the last two years of mild winters. Since the last days of November, the region has seen at least a dusting of snowfall every few days, but temperatures remained relatively high, hanging around 20 or 30 degrees. This weekend that is set to change with temperatures expecting plummet to the single-digits or colder. Temperatures are expected to bounce back up next week, but this feels like an indicator of things to come. The region will need to be ready for snowy and cold winter.

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Holiday celebrations in the full swing

Christmas is less than two weeks away and area organizations are getting into the holiday spirit. Multiple groups and organizations have held musical events, including St. Paul’s Elementary’s students caroling and the Suzuki School’s Christmas sing-along performance. Martin Luther College is hosting a holiday Christmas concert this weekend and State Street is following up its Miracle on 34th Street production with a Christmas by Candlelight performance, Sunday.

Those seeking festive activities will not have to look far. There are plenty of organizations donating to worthy causes. Last weekend, the New Ulm Civic Center took donations for the New Ulm Food Shelf during a Skate with Santa event. This Friday, the Sertoma Club gathered up donated toys at the New Um Armory for Santa’s Closet. The Salvation Army bell ringers are also back in action accepting cash donations for those in need this time of year.