Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 948
The God Squad students of Trinity and West Lake Johanna Lutheran churches of Brooten held their Christmas program on Sunday, December 7 at Trinity. The attached video includes video from the program that morning. The parish God Squad students performed Christmas carols on Saturday, December 6 as part of the Brooten Santa Day events. They were featured on one of the units in the Brooten lighted Christmas parade that evening....
Here's a video from the upper deck of East Norway Lake Lutheran church in Arctander Township on Saturday, December 20. The ENL church hosted the Sunburg Community Players, who performed an hour's worth of Christmas songs. They were directed by Joyce Rudningen. This video begins with the song We Three Kings being performed....
Multiple Santa Day events were held in the Bonanza Valley area on two separate weekends, first on Saturday, December 6 (Elrosa and Brooten) and then one week later on December 13 (Belgrade and Sedan). In all four towns, numerous volunteers, families and businesses worked together to bring Christmas cheer to children of all ages. In the attached video, you can watch Amy Zenzen of Elrosa read a Christmas story to children gathered for Santa Day at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church on...
On Friday, December 19, customers of the community banks of Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten and Kensington Bank of Belgrade are invited to Christmas-season appreciation events. At BVSB in Brooten that day, bank customers are invited to the lobby between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to receive free gifts and enjoy numerous treats. Treats made by the Brooten American Legion Auxiliary will be part of what's offered plus meat and cheese trays and coffee and milk. At Kensington Bank that day, they will...
Note: on Friday, for the second time, a video embed code was fixed on this web article. We continue having technical difficulties. To see a photo gallery from the lighted Christmas parade, click here: BrootenChristmasParade. Brooten was buzzing all day and into the evening on Saturday, December 6. Retail businesses were busy with activity, and the Brooten Activities Club hosted the annual Santa Day event in downtown Brooten. Businesses like Earthy Elements, LLC, had a great response from the...
Sunburg Free Lutheran Church in Norway Lake Township is in the Advent season on the Christian calendar. In the attached video, you can watch part of worship service at Sunburg Free on Sunday, November 30. Early in this clip, Pastor Ron Knutson begins reading his Holy Gospel and then gives his sermon. Sunburg Free will hold its Sunday School Christmas program during worship at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 14....
The Minnesota Farm Bureau held their state convention on November 21-22 at the Minneapolis Marriott Southwest hotel in Minnetonka. On Friday that weekend, the Farm Bureau hosted their awards banquet. Featured guest speakers that evening included Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Third District Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, First District Congressman Brad Finstad and also Seventh District Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach The attached video features Finstad and Fishbach speaking at the...
The big day for Brooten to shine is coming THIS Saturday, December 6, when the Brooten Activities Club will host Santa Day on Main Street. All events are sponsored by the generous support of the Brooten Fire Relief Association and numerous locally-owned businesses in Brooten. Posters for Santa Day started going up last week, and a color version of the poster was published on the back page of the November 27 and December 4 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Brooten's Santa Day fun...
The big day for Brooten to shine is coming on Saturday, December 6, when the Brooten Activities Club will host Santa Day on Main Street. All events are sponsored by the generous support of the Brooten Fire Relief Association and numerous locally-owned businesses in Brooten. Posters for Santa Day started going up last week, and a color version of the poster was published on the back page of the November 27 and December 4 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. Brooten's Santa Day fun...
The men and women of the Brooten American Legion and Legion Auxiliary Post No. 288 were honored guests at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa elementary school Veterans Day program. This was held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday this week. In the attached video, the full Veterans Day program can be viewed. After the Presentation of Colors by the American Legion, Principal Trent Johnson provided the welcome address. The B-B-E senior high band performed the National Anthem. Grades 4-5 students performed the song...
The newspaper ad this week on page 2 for the Brooten American Legion pancake breakfast was outdated, and was designed for their spring breakfast last April. Here's the correct information: The Brooten American Legion Post No. 288 invites everyone to their annual fall pancake breakfast on Sunday, November 16 at the Bucky's Pickle's building, formerly the American Legion Post Hall, on Central Avenue. They are serving from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Menu: pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee,...
It was over a month ago, but it's worth a look again at the Roger Sagedahl Estate auction that was held on September 20 in Brooten. Ziemer Auction Service is shown in action in the attached video. Roger had what seemed like an endless amount of artifacts and local products he collected through the years. He will never be forgotten in Brooten....
Ricky Gerhardson, 69, of New London, died Saturday, November 1, at his home near New London surrounded by his loving family. His funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 7 at Crow River Lutheran Church, rural New London. Visitation will be from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Thursday and continue one hour prior to the service all at the church. Arrangements are with Harvey Anderson and Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade. Online tributes can be posted at the funeral home's website: w...
On Friday, October 17 in North Fork Township, Big Grove Lutheran church was the site of a terrific turnout of support for the annual fall WELCA supper and auction. The church basement at Big Grove got comfortable crowded as families from near and far gathered for food and fellowship. They also enjoyed the entertaining presence of Mark and Brian Ziemer, who ran a successful auction that had a total of 69 bidders. More coverage was in the October 23 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. In...
The Crow River Lutheran Church fall soup supper and auction fundraiser was held on Saturday, October 11. Video attached features part of the live auction, which was led by Ziemer Auction Service of New London....
The Elrosa Fire Department will serve from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church basement on Saturday, October 10. The cash raffle drawing will be held in the church basement at 8 p.m. at the end of the steak fry. Yes, takeouts are availabe! Please pass the word....
The weather was warm and sunny for Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's 10th annual Color FUND Run on Wednesday, September 24. Student participation was the best it has ever been with 97 percent of the high school student body part of the race. The attached video features the first "finish line" video of the Color Run recorded by the Bonanza Valley Voice. Fundraising totals and other financial information from the Color Run and the school's activities fund which it supports will be published in the...
The Turkey Fest community celebration in Swift Falls was held on Saturday, September 20. Activities were hosted by Brink's Beer Joint and numerous volunteers and town supporters. The main events included a turkey cook-off contest from 3 to 5 p.m. that raised funds for local first responders plus the parade that was held at 5:30 p.m. that evening. The attached video features the parade. Additional coverage of Turkey Fest was published in the September 25 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice...
Levi Adrian, 16 of Belgrade, died Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at his home near Belgrade. A celebration of his life will be at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2025 at Peace Lutheran Church in New London. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at the Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade and for one hour prior to the services at church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred. Online at https://www.hafh.org/obituary/Levi-Adrian. In the attached video, you can watch Levi participating...
The second-to-last Brooten Farmers Market will be held on Thursday, September 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the city park. Available on the 18th: pumpkins, mums, garden produce (tomatoes, peppers and more!), homemade jams, hand drawn cards and more! Thank you to everyone who stops by with their support. You are appreciated in Brooten....
Trinity Lutheran Church of Grove Lake held a marvelous Fall Festival on Sunday, September 7. The turnout for their dinner, bake sale and produce sale drew almost 170 paid adults and youth along with many children who were young enough to eat free. Additional coverage was in the September 11 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. The attached video was recorded near the end of the two-hour event. As stated in the video, proceeds from this were donated to the Glenwood and Brooten Food Shelf...
The Cedar Creek Gospel Band from the Kandiyohi/Willmar area led a music-filled worship service on Sunday, August 24 at the Brooten Pavilion. The worship was organized by Big Grove-Crow River-Grace Lutheran Parish and held as a joint worship with the Trinity/West Lake Johanna Lutheran Parish of Brooten. The attached video features the full worship service, start to end. It began with a presentation of local youth who traveled to the Christikon Bible Camp in Montana from July 19-27. It was led by...
Big Pharma could be in big trouble. In the wake of the trans maniac shooting that took place at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, August 27, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced that the federal government will study the link between puberty blockers and other drugs pushed by Big Pharma on children in America and violence that some of those youth have inflicted on society. One of these drugs is known as SSRI, which is an anti-depressant....
Difficult, gut-wrenching decisions for Norway Lake-area pioneers in the early 1870s paid off for generations who followed them as the original Norway Lake Lutheran log church was the forerunner of East and West Norway Lake Lutheran churches. In the period of time in the 1870s when a mass exodus of Norway citizens flooded parts of the United States, including central and western Minnesota, the Lutheran faith community in Norway Lake experienced massive growth from 1865 to 1875. On the heels of th...
The Brooten Farmers Market, which still invites vendors to join, continues the 2025 season on Thursday, August 21 at the city park on Highway 55. The Brooten Farmers Market runs from 4 to 7 p.m. It features a wide array of garden produce, baked goods and even some incredible hand-drawn/hand-painted art work! The art work has been brought by Robert Anderson, a 1968 Brooten high school graduate. Available on the 21st are baked goods by the Zimmermans (breads, pies, cookies, cinnamon rolls,...
