A 17-year-old Senior at Randolph High School was killed yesterday morning in a one car rollover accident.
According to the reports from the Dakota County Sheriff and the Minnesota State Patrol offices, shortly before 8am Wednesday morning, Tayven Matthew Geiger, who was the lone occupant in a 2000 Ford Ranger, was traveling north on State Highway 56 near Dakota County Road 88 when the vehicle left the road and rolled. Geiger was ejected from the vehicle. The statement said he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a statement released late yesterday morning, the members of the Dakota County Sheriff’s office extended their sympathies to Geiger’s family and friends.
LBSA Encouraging Online Participation for the 2023 Gala
The 28th Laura Baker Services Gala is set for Saturday night. The event, which will be held at the Weitz Center on the campus of Carleton College, is sold out but the organization is reminding the community that one need not be present at the gala to enjoy it.
LBSA Director of Community Services, Andrei Sivanich, said the gala will once again be streamed online as it has been for the past few years, so folks can both watch and participate from the comfort of their own living room.
The livestream is especially important this year as the Weitz Center does not hold as many people as Carleton’s Great Hall and Sayles Hill, which has been the home to the gala for several years. Moreover, there will not be a silent auction at the event this year either, so outside participation in the live auction and Fund-A-Cause events will be vital.
This year’s gala theme is “Hope Ignited” which reflects a wide variety of changes, and new and growing programs. Those who tune into the gala, which will be hosted by former Northfield Pastor and KYMN host Will Healy, will hear from many who have benefitted from Laura Baker Services over the years, including family members, employees and clients themselves. The LBSA Choir will perform as well.
Among the items that will be up for bid during the live auction will be a backyard Barbecue for 40 people, a suite at US Bank Stadium for a 2024 Vikings game that includes all food and beverage, 22 tickets to the game and four parking passes, and a vacation for two that offers a choice of destinations: Jackson Hole, Wyoming or Negril, Jamaica. And as he has done for many years, local painter Wendell Arneson has donated an original piece to be auctioned off as well.
Those unable to attend the live auction in person may arrange for a proxy bidder by contacting Sivanich at andrei@laurabaker.org.
The livestream will begin at 7:30 on Saturday night. Those wishing to watch may register for free by clicking on the ‘Events’ tab of the LBSA website at laurabaker.org.
Riverwalk Market Fair will be seeking volunteers for 2024
The Riverwalk Market Fair has moved into its holiday venue at 115 West Fifth Street, which is the former Northfield News building, and is now open for business on Saturdays through Christmas.
This is the second year that the Market Fair has moved indoors to provide holiday shopping opportunities. Outgoing Riverwalk Market Fair Board Chair Teresa Jensen said the organizers had been trying to find opportunities beyond the regular May-October Saturday markets. When the city acquired the Northfield News building, they were able to rent the space and present an indoor market.
The venture was a successful one, but not without its shortcomings, and those have been addressed this season. For example, last winter the market was open on one Saturday each in January, February and March. Jensen said that will not happen this year. After the holiday season has ended, she said the market will go dormant until it returns to Bridge Square next May.
The space allows for 30-40 vendors, all of whom are juried by the Market Fair Board of Directors. Jensen said every vendor creates the things they are selling, and there is no resale or secondary retailer involved in the market. Along with the fine arts and crafts available, she said they have farm produce vendors as well.
Mayor Rhonda Pownell voiced strong support for the Market Fair moving indoors. She said the summer and fall Saturday events have been a great boon to the city for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is the Market Fair’s ability to act as a small business incubator.
“It opens up the opportunity for people to explore the idea of pursuing a small a small business. They have an idea, and the Riverwalk Marketfair allows them the ability to test it out and see if there’s really a market for it.”
Jensen said the board will be re-organizing itself over the winter in an effort to improve what is already a highly successful venture. Among the needs that have been identified is the lack of help for the vendors or patrons of the market. To that end, the Market Fair will begin to look for volunteers to help during the 2024 Market Fair, and that search will begin almost immediately.
“We’re working on having a cadre of volunteers, so we’ll be looking probably at the winter market. Not to work at the winter market but to get signed up so that we can have people work at the Saturday fairs. It would be great to have people other than just board members there who are helping out.”
The Riverwalk Market Fair will run on Saturdays from 9am-1pm through December 23rd in the former Northfield News building at 115 West Fifth Street. For more information visit riverwalkmarketfair.org.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
