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Support local retailers

Christmas is just weeks away and millions of Americans will be perusing for bargains at their favorite retailers. For those of us who have chosen to live in small communities the drive to a large mall or box store might be hours away and not very convenient when the roads are bad and daylight hours are few. Some will take solace in front of their computer screen while sipping their hot cup of coffee to shop from the convenience of their home and not venture out into the cold. Amazon is now the go to place for many when it comes to shopping. It is so successful that its creator ...

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THUMBS UP New volunteers help with Community Friends Thanksgiving The 37th New Ulm Community Friends Thanksgiving was held at St. Mary’s Church Thursday and it was once again a success. It is estimated 1,400 meals were served during the dinner. All of this was made possible thanks to the volunteers who gave of their own time during the holiday. This year roughly 175 volunteers helped, either with the meal preparation or the meal services. In addition, this year saw a higher number of first-time volunteers lending a hand. As the annual community dinner grows, the number of people ...

Give thanks for the food on community tables

Thanksgiving dinner will cost less this year compared to the last two years, according to the Minnesota Farm Bureau. The bureau’s shared its Thanksgiving meal survey in a Monday release. “The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 40th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey provides a snapshot of the average cost of Thanksgiving staples that make up a classic holiday feast for 10, which is $55.18 or about $5.52 per person,” the Bureau stated. “This is a 5% decrease from 2024. Three years of declines don’t fully erase dramatic increases that led to a record-high cost of $64.05 in ...

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THUMBS DOWN The loss of Denny Warta The death of Denny Warta Wednesday is a monumental loss for the New Ulm community. Few other people were as heavily involved in the community as Warta or could claim a greater influence. Warta‘s greatest strength was collecting people. He knew how to forge and maintain relationships with a wide range of individuals. Warta could turn complete strangers into a friend after a short conversation. He was great at connecting with people because Warta was genuinely curious about them. He always wanted to know more. He was also more than willing to share ...

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Thumbs up Northern lights unite the country Nearly all of North America was treated to a rare display of the northern lights this week. The lights were visible as far south as Florida. As a result, social media was saturated with photos of the northern lights from everyone with a camera. It was a rare example of everyone coming together to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. The reason the northern lights were so intense on Tuesday is that energy from two solar flares hit the atmosphere at the same time. The overlapping energy resulted in the extremely vibrant green and red ...

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THUMBS DOWN Tragedy in Hanska  The community of Hanska was hit by unspeakable tragedy last week following the double homicide of Justin Reinarts and Tabitha Trescott. There are no words to describe the depth of this loss. Reinarts and Trescott were valuable and cherished members of Brown County and to lose them so suddenly is difficult to understand and raises questions as to why it was not prevented. The alleged suspect in this crime had previously been convicted of multiple assaults and was currently facing charges for stalking. This suspects’ criminal record is one red flag ...