Over a thousand people turned out in the heat to be a part of yesterday’s Memorial Day ceremony at Northfield’s Veterans Memorial Park. After years of serving as the Master of Ceremonies, Ken Grism turned the mic over to Keith Beckwith. Guest dignitaries included 102 year old Bill Beerie who served in the Battle of the Bulge. VFW Post 4393 Commander, Bruce Stowe explained Memorial Day flag protocol wherein the flag is lowered to half staff in the morning hours to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in times of conflict, at noon the flag is raised to full height to recognize those who “picked up the flag by carrying on the mission of our fallen heroes”. This year’s Voice of Democracy speech was by Northfield High School Junior Logan Ledman, he took 1st place in the State, earning him a trip to Washington, D.C. where he placed 7th in the Nation with his speech, “American History – our Hope for the Future”. He began the speech with Francis Scott Key, at the time, a prisoner aboard a ship watching the British bombardment of Fort Henry, “on the back of a postcard, Key wrote the first stanza of a poem, ending it with a question, oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave. It’s a question and a challenge that reaches across the ages”. Ledman’s speech took us through all the wars including WWII, Vietnam, “while the war itself remains contentious no one can deny the sacrifice of those who came home as veterans and those who came home in caskets. Their generation etched the flag into the Nation’s soul”. He brought it back to the Flag, “as each generation has etched it’s story into that flag, they created new meanings unique to them. As we seek to write our story into the flag, it is our duty to search for guidance in their example”. The bell rang Forty-eight times this year for the Last Roll Call. The entire ceremony is on kymn.net and was also filmed for NTV.
3 Northfielders rescued from Cannon River
Last evening 3 people were rescued from the Cannon River in Bridgewater Township. Rice County Sheriff’s deputies responded around 7:15 to 2 females and one juvenile male stranded in the area of Faribault blvd and Telemark Rd. 26 year old Kylah Debuse, 28 year old Shantae Dubuse and 9 year old Joel Debuse, all of Northfield, were stranded on a rock bed after their inflatable watercraft deflated. Water Patrol Deputies located and rescued all three without injury. The Sheriff’s department was assisted by Dundas Police, NAFRS and Nfld ambulance. I spoke with Sheriff Dunn who said that the group hit some rocks and the craft ripped. All of them were wearing life jackets and chose to stay on a rock for help to come because they didn’t know how deep the river was. Dunn also wanted to recognize 2 citizens, Darrel and Gretchen Touchette, who let deputies use their ATV’s to search the shore and locate the trio.
Air quality alert – no burning
An air quality alert has been issued today from noon to 8pm in Rice County. Similar to yesterday, burning permits are not be allowed in Carver, Scott, Dakota, Le Sueur, Rice, Goodhue and most southern Minnesota counties.
