HANLEY FALLS

Get ready to rendezvous for some old-fashioned fun in west central Minnesota

West Central Tribune staff report — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 14:22:00 GMT

Threshing shows and old machinery are featured at Heritage Hill, Hanley Falls, Atwater and Forest City, with a Summer Rendezvous also taking place at the Forest City Stockade during the Forest City Threshers show. Be sure and check websites or Facebook pages for current information closer to the events.

Heritage Hill

The Minnesota Valley Antique Farm Power and Machinery Association will have its annual show June 16-17. The tractor feature is “military-related machinery and equipment.” The Fairbanks-Morse engine line will also be featured. The Heritage Hill show site is four miles east of Montevideo on the corner of Minnesota Highway 7 and Chippewa County Road 7. More information can be found online at www.heritagehill.us and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/heritagehillshow

Hanley Falls

The Good Old Days & Pioneer Threshing Show will be Aug. 5-6 on the grounds of the Minnesota Machinery Museum in Hanley Falls. This year’s feature can be found on its Facebook page or its website at www.mnmachinerymuseum.com

Forest City

The Forest City Threshers show and Summer Rendezvous will be Aug. 19-20 at the Forest City Threshing grounds and the Forest City Stockade. The Summer Rendezvous is a reminder of how life was like back in 1862. You can tour historic buildings and enjoy different period-specific activities and food while checking out the goods offered by those participating in the rendezvous. The Forest City Threshers features old machinery as well as different historical buildings featuring the history of the community.

Admission to each of the events is $5 ages 12 and older. For more information, visit www.forestcitystockade.org and www.forestcitythresher.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Forest-City-Stockade and www.facebook.com/forestcitythreshers.

Atwater

Threshing Days will be Sept. 9-10 at the site on the east side of Atwater. Admission charged. Check the website at www.atwaterthreshingdays.com or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Atwater-Threshing-Days for this year’s features.

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Minnesota trooper involved in Sunday crash that injured three in Yellow Medicine County

Mark Wasson — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 15:41:26 GMT

HANLEY FALLS, Minn. — A two-vehicle crash involving a Minnesota State Patrol trooper resulted in three people being injured Sunday evening, March 8, in Yellow Medicine County, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

Leo Roy Kack, 88, and Audrey Marie Kack, 83, both of St. Leo, Minn., suffered serious but what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries and Trooper Chad Patrick Nigg, 48, of Marshall, was treated and released from the hospital following the crash.

According to the crash report, a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by Leo Kack, was traveling westbound on County Road 18 east of state Highway 23 and a 2019 Ford Explorer State Patrol squad car, driven by Nigg, was southbound on Highway 23 approaching County Road 18 with its emergency lights on.

The Equinox continued through the intersection of County Road 18 and Highway 23 and was hit on the passenger side by Nigg's squad car which had braked and moved to the right in an attempt to avoid the crash, according to the State Patrol.

Audrey Kack was airlifted from the scene to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Leo Kack was transported to the Avera Granite Falls Health Center but was then transferred with serious but non-life-threatening injuries to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Nigg was treated and released from the Avera Granite Falls Health Center.

Airbags of both vehicles deployed and Nigg was wearing his seat belt. It is unknown if the Kacks were wearing their seat belts.

Alcohol is not listed as a factor on the crash report and road conditions were dry.

The crash investigation is in its preliminary stages and is ongoing, according to the State Patrol, and further details will be released once the investigation is complete.

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Minnesota farmer airlifted after tractor accident

Forum News Service — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 18:40:54 GMT

HANLEY FALLS, Minn. — A Hanley Falls man was airlifted Friday evening after being hit by a tractor on his farm.

The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release that Joshua Kruckman, 30, was struck by a tractor at his home near Hanley Falls about 9:30 p.m. Friday.

Kruckman was airlifted for treatment. No information is available about his injuries.

The Clarkfield Ambulance, Granite Falls Ambulance, LifeLink III air medical transport and the Hanley Falls Fire Department also responded to the scene. Hanley Falls is about 21 miles northeast of Marshall, Minn.

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Fire damages south-central Minnesota grain elevator

Kelly Boldan — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 14:57:56 GMT

HANLEY FALLS, Minn. – Volunteer firefighters and emergency responders went door-to-door evacuating residents near the Hanley Falls Farmers Cooperative Elevator early Friday morning as flames glowed from the burning structure spewed.

No one was injured, and the local firefighters – with help from at least 10 other departments – were able to contain the blaze to the traditional wood-crib elevator on the west side of the community.

“What they do is just amazing,’’ said Scott Dubbelde, general manager of the Farmers Cooperative Elevator, of the efforts by the volunteers. “We’re really blessed to have those folks in our communities. They just did it.’’

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad crew spotted and reported the fire around 4:30 a.m., according to the Yellow Medicine Sheriff’s Department.

Hanley Falls Fire Department Chief Paul Neisius said flames were already erupting from the wooden structure as the first volunteers reached the scene minutes later. He said the first to arrive realized immediately that more help was needed, and sent out calls to area departments.

Protecting neighboring structures from the burning embers and “making sure that everybody was safe’’ were the top priorities as the firefighters set up to battle the blaze, said the chief.

The wood-crib elevator, built in 1959, was about half full of grain at the time it was destroyed, according to Dubbelde. It held corn, oats and soybeans and was used only for storage. No staff members were in the structure at the time the fire was discovered.

As the fire quickly grew in intensity, a wind from the southwest carried embers into a residential area of the community of just over 300 people along the Yellow Medicine River, southwest of Granite Falls in Yellow Medicine County. Firefighters used the river as a source of water for their efforts. The Montevideo and Marshall fire departments brought aerial ladder trucks to the scene, and they kept a steady stream of water on the burning structure, as well as on two adjacent concrete grain silos.

Dubbelde said it is too early to know whether the concrete silos or their contents were damaged, but from their appearance he is hopeful they escaped harm.

Once the blaze was controlled, concerns turned to making certain the smoldering pile of wood and grain did not flare up or cause other, recurring issues. A crew and their equipment from Gregerson Salvage of Waubay, S.D., was expected to reach the scene later Friday to manage and clean up the site. Dubbelde said the company is fully equipped for this type of work and has a long history of dealing with elevator fire cleanups.

The cause of the fire is not known at this time, and is under investigation, according to Chief Neisius.

The fire will not impact operations at the Hanley Falls elevator. Its largest storage and operation facilities are separately located on the south side of the community, and the cooperative also owns and operates facilities in neighboring communities. All employees are on the job and patrons can expect service as normal, according to the general manager.

Dubbelde said he credits the “heavy lifting’’ done by all the volunteers, as well as law enforcement from throughout the area, with keeping everyone safe and bringing a major fire under control. “We have to put things in perspective,’’ he said. “No one got hurt. We’ll deal with this. We were real fortunate, that’s just the bottom line.’’

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Former Minnesota baseball coach sentenced for sexual assault

Carolyn Lange — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 23:51:22 GMT

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. - A former baseball coach was sentenced to 60 days in the Yellow Medicine County Jail after pleading guilty to a 2013 sexual assault of a girl he was coaching at the time.

Jose Rodriquez, 22, of Hanley Falls, was also placed on 10 years of supervised probation and ordered to pay fines and fees of $575.

The court granted a stay of adjudication, under which no conviction will appear on his criminal record if he successfully completes the terms of his sentence.

According to court documents, Rodriquez was a baseball coach for the Hanley Falls summer recreation program in 2013 when he assaulted the girl, who was under the age of 13. The incident occurred in an equipment building near the baseball field. The incident was reported in August of 2017.

Rodriquez was originally charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree and one count of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree with a victim under the age of 13; both charges are felonies.

He pleaded guilty in October to criminal sexual conduct in the second degree.

Judge Thomas Van Hon sentenced Rodriquez on Jan. 4 and ordered him to begin serving his jail term on or before Feb. 1.

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Minn. co-ops offering group health insurance to farmer members

Tom Cherveny — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 00:49:03 GMT

HANLEY FALLS, Minn. - Two central Minnesota cooperatives are among the first in the state to make group health insurance policies available for farmers.

Glacial Plains Cooperative, based in Murdock, and the Hanley Falls Farmers Cooperative Elevator are offering group health insurance for their members through Land O'Lakes cooperative.

Legislation approved at the onset of the 2017 session of the Minnesota Legislature opened the way for cooperatives to make group insurance programs available to farmers. Some cooperatives, the Hanley Falls Cooperative among them, had previously offered group health insurance programs for its members.

"We did it once before: The only issue is the Affordable Care Act put the kibosh on it,'' said Bill Doyscher, assistant general manager of the Hanley Falls Farmers Cooperative Elevator.

Under the Affordable Care Act, known to many as Obamacare, farmers were among the 4 percent of Minnesota's population who purchased individual insurance policies. Doyscher said those buying individual policies experienced high premiums and deductibles, and saw steadily rising costs.

Many spouses are working off-the-farm so their families can access affordable health insurance through their employers, Doyscher said.

Land O'Lakes was able to experiment with forming a group insurance program for farmers last year. It offered the program only to its dairy producers, and it worked well, according to Doyscher.

Land O'Lakes provides a group health insurance program for its employees as well as the employees of other farmer-owned cooperatives that are also Land O'Lakes members. It is using this as the template to offer the new group health plan for farmers.

Doyscher said it offers a range of several policies, from a catastrophic, high-deductible policy to lower-deductible versions. It's part of the Preferred One health network, which means enrollees will find many available providers throughout the state.

Land O'Lakes partnered with Gravie, of Minneapolis, to make the program possible. Gravie was started in 2013 as a health benefits marketplace to assist individuals and businesses in comparison shopping for health care plans, according to a report on the company in Twin Cities Business.

Doyscher said Gravie will assist members who want to compare what is available through the Land O'Lakes program with offerings by other insurance providers.

At this point, Land O'Lakes and a separate farmer cooperative, known as 40 Square, are offering group health insurance policies for farmers in Minnesota under the new legislation.

Neither the Glacial Plains nor Hanley Falls Cooperatives have any ownership stake in the program being offered through Land O'Lakes.

"We don't have any so-called stake in the game, no benefit to the co-op,'' Doyscher said. "It's one more thing we can offer to our membership.''

Membership is a must, however. To obtain the health insurance, a farmer must be a member of either the Hanley Falls or Glacial Plains cooperative. The cooperatives will verify membership to the insurer.

Doyscher is confident there will be a lot of interest in the insurance. Since the cooperative announced its plans, he's been fielding phone calls from interested farmers every day, and this during a hectic harvest season.

The Hanley Falls Farmers Cooperative Elevator is hosting information meetings on the option at 3 p.m. Nov. 9 in Cottonwood and at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Kilowatt Community Center in Granite Falls. The Glacial Plains Cooperative is hosting informational meetings at 2 p.m. Nov. 16 and 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at McKinney's in Benson.

The enrollment sign-up period is Nov. 20 through Dec. 8.

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