Liz Schwint (daughter of Deanna and George and Owen Weiss (son of Naomi and Bryan) were crowned St. Mary’s Homecoming Queen and King at the 2022 Coronation held September 11. The rest of the court included (from left): Allie Labat, CJ Surprenant, Abby Schwartz, Jake Heinrichs, Annika Nosbush, John Miller, Bella Hoffmann and Kaleb Wait. Jr. Attendants were Adelyn Ibberson and Ben Schwartz.
Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s High School Class of 1952 held their 70 year reunion on Saturday, August 20, 2022, at the Sleepy Eye Golf Club. Pictured in the front row (left): Charles Krzmarzick, Tuscan, AZ; Fred Hoffmann, Sleepy Eye and Jerome Steffl, Sleepy Eye. Back row: Irene (Lammers) Schulz, New Ulm; Josephine (Tauer) Rose, Sleepy Eye; Rosemary (Hoffman) Franta, New Ulm; Lucille (Mathiowetz) Moldaschel, Sleepy Eye and Donna (Bauer) Schumacher, Redwood Falls.
leepy Eye St. Mary’s High School Class of 1982 held their 40 year reunion on Saturday, August 27, 2022, at the Sleepy Eye Brewing Co. Pictured in the front row (left): Jim Sellner, Sleepy Eye; Cindy (Goblirsch) Scheid, Owatonna; Susan (Weiss) Kruger, Lake City; Stan Seidl, Carthage, NY; Christine (Sellner) Steffen, Sleepy Eye; Tony Schmitz, Sleepy Eye and Paul Sabatino, New Ulm. Second row: Brad Ludewig, Sleepy Eye; Gwen (Riebel) Brey, New Ulm; Valerie (Tauer) Kranz, Amboy; Lori (Helget) Deibele, Sleepy Eye; Dorinda (Kotten) Roiger, Springfield; Joyce (Pelzel) Butler, Owatonna and Cheryl (Helget) Reynolds, Mankato. Third row: Francis Fromm, Sleepy Eye; Charles Hillesheim, Mankato; Christine (Hoffmann) Lukes, Nicollet; Annette (Braun) Berkner, Sleepy Eye; DeLoy Berkner, Sleepy Eye; Linda (Lochner) Newman, Maple Grove; Terry Reynolds, Mankato and Rick Sellner, Mankato.
Fourth row: Tom Mages, New Ulm; Randy Goblirsch, Sleepy Eye; Leon Kral, Sleepy Eye; Dean Meyer, Sleepy Eye and Tim Heymans, Saint Joseph.
Fourteen FFA members posed for a picture with the FFA Float for the Summerfest parade. Pictured l to r – Winsten Nienhaus, Gunny Coulson, Isaac Lendt, Adam Johnson, Leisha Martinez, Brooke Arneson, Ellen Windschitl, Gracie Sellner, Conor Strong, Alex Joramo, Robert Romberg, Ari Krizmarzick, Alex Confer, and Daniel Armstrong.
Brooke Arneson (right) , Chapter Secretary of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter, conducted safety activities for the Summerfest Celebration. After playing a game, kids were asked questions about different areas of safety including: animal, grain, tractors, equipment, water, and chemicals.
On Friday, August 19, the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter conducted a farm safety carnival for Summerfest at Eagles Park in Sleepy Eye.
With the carnival, 20 FFA members had the opportunity to mingle with community members, while promoting safety. In order to promote farm safety and agricultural education, the activities were free and included a ring toss, ball toss, bean bag toss, ladder golf, and more.
FFA members who participated included: Daniel Armstrong, Brooke Arneson, Kyle Capacia, Alex Confer, Gunny Coulson, Nora Coulson, Chloe Howe, Adam Johnson, Alex Joramo, Ari Krizmarzick, Izzy Kunkel, Isaac Lendt, Leisha Martinez, Marcus Martinez, Winsten Nienhaus, Jake Price, Noemi Rodriguez, Kaytlyn Romberg, Robert Romberg, and Conor Strong.
Educating youth on safety and agriculture is something the FFA feels is very important. At the events, participants were asked trivia questions regarding tractor, animal, chemical, grain, water, or ATV safety following each activity to enhance the knowledge of agricultural education and farm safety. The events were filled with enjoyment for FFA members as they connected with the community.
In addition to the farm safety carnival, the FFA members stayed active during Summerfest by participating in the parade with their FFA-themed float on Saturday, August 21, 2022. 18 FFA members decorated and rode the float during the parade.
Jacob Schultz, of the Sleepy Eye FFA, earned many Champions and Overall Best in Show in the Crop Show at the Brown County Fair.
Gracie Sellner, Sleepy Eye FFA 2nd Vice President, earned the Best in Show Dairy Exhibit Award at the FFA Dairy Show.
The Best in Show Goat Exhibit for the FFA Show at the Brown County Fair was exhibited by Olivia Schieffert (right). She is pictured with Morgan Mathiowetz (left) who was Reserve Overall and had the Champion Market Goat.
Emma Fischer earns Reserve Champion for the FFA Beef Show with her Market Steer.
Winsten Nienhaus (left) earned the Best in Show Poultry Exhibit Award at the Brown County Fair. He is pictured with judge Tim Larson (right).
Winsten Nienhaus (left) and Isaac Lendt (right), both Sleepy Eye FFA Officers, are pictured with their Best in Show Doghouse Ag. Mechanics Exhibit at the Brown County Fair.
Over 20 Sleepy Eye FFA Members worked at the Kiddy Barn during shifts at the Brown County Fair. This is Wednesday’s group. Pictured l to r – front: Lee Wahlborg, Brooke Arneson, Noemi Rodriguez, Chloe Howe. Back: Katelyn Wurtzberger, Adam Johnson, Gunny Coulson, Marcus Martinez, Ari Krizmarzick, Kaytlyn Romberg, Leisha Martinez, Izzy Kunkel.
Sleepy Eye FFA chapter members had many different roles at the 2022 Brown County Fair from August 10-14. The members showcased their crop, mechanics, and livestock projects and also helped run the FFA Kiddy Barnyard and FFA shows at the Brown County Fair.
Livestock exhibitors included: Dairy- Sophie Gustafson, Rachel Portner, Gracie Sellner. Beef- Emma Fischer, Isaac Lendt, Lucia Martinez. Goats- Morgan Mathiowetz, Olivia Schieffert. Poultry- Winsten Nienhaus. Swine- Olivia Schieffert.
The Sleepy Eye FFA chapter was very successful with their projects. The following are their placings and the resulting champions for exhibitors at the Brown County Fair.
FFA Dairy Show:
Gracie Sellner: Senior Champion and Overall Best in Show
Sophia Gustafson: Junior Champion and Reserve Overall Best in Show
Rachel Portner: Reserve Junior Champion
FFA Beef Show:
Emma Fischer: Reserve Champion Market Beef
FFA Poultry Show:
Winsten Nienhaus: Champion Egg Production, Champion Pen- Ducks, and Overall Best in Show
FFA Goat Shot:
Olivia Schieffert: Champion Breeding Doe and Overall Best in Show
Morgan Mathiowetz: Champion Market and Reserve Overall Best in Show
FFA Swine Show:
Olivia Schieffert: Market Gilt Champion and Reserve Champion Breeding Gilt
FFA Crops Show:
The crops show was a very large competition with nearly 500 samples. All of the crops will be entered in and displayed at the Minnesota State Fair from August 25th until September 5th.
CROP SHOW CHAMPIONS:
Ear Corn: Jacob Schultz
Miscellaneous: Jacob Schultz
Oats: Jamie Hulsey
Shelled Corn: Jacob Schultz
Soybeans: Jacob Schultz
Wheat: Carson Uecker
CROP SHOW RESERVE CHAMPIONS:
Ear Corn: Adam Johnson
Miscellaneous: Jasmine Peterman
Oats: Jon Peterman
Shelled Corn: Isaac Lendt
Soybeans: Emma Fischer
Wheat: Tim Friton
Overall Crops Best in Show – Jacob Schultz
Reserve Overall Best in Show – Jasmine Peterman
FFA Ag Mechanics:
The Ag Mechanics division had several entries this year including woods, construction, metals, and combination projects. Kyle Capacia, Destiney Dittbenner, Zack Dominguez, Enrique Flores, Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Johnson, Lily Kallevig, Jessy Lozano, Marcus Martinez, Evan Thompson, Winsten Nienhaus, and Jade Sellner had exhibits for Sleepy Eye FFA.
Winsten Nienhaus: Construction Champion, Reserve Champion, and Overall Best in Show
Enrique Flores: Metals Champion
Destiney Dittbenner: Metals Reserve Champion
Kyle Capacia: Woodworking Champion
Marcus Martinez: Woodworking Reserve Champion
Morgan Hoffmann: Multi-class Champion
Jessy Lozano: Multi-class Reserve Champion
The FFA chapters within Brown County also conducted the FFA Kiddy Barn during the five days of the fair. It was a huge success thanks to the many FFA members from Sleepy Eye, Springfield, and New Ulm who worked shifts during the fair as well as the people who donated animals for the Kiddy Barn. Over 20 members of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter participated in helping children have a great experience with baby animals and learning about farm safety and agriculture while at the fair.
The FFA Kiddy Barnyard exhibited newborn farm animals donated by several families including: Roseview Dairy (Holstein Calf), Port Haven Dairy (Brown Swiss Calf), Stacy Tauer (Hereford Crossbred Calf), and Spring Creek Dairy (Jersey Calf).
The FFA Kiddy Barnyard also had an agriculture coloring & activity station as well as a safety carnival. At the safety carnival, FFA members conducted several games with safety questions covering grain, ATV’s, tractors & machinery, animals, and chemicals. The members of the Sleepy Eye chapter had a great time teaching youth at the Kiddy Barnyard about animals and safety as well as showcasing their FFA projects during the Brown County Fair.
The Sleepy Eye Education Association named Kathy Haala their 2022-2023 Friend of Education.
Haala joins previous award winners Mel Cook and Duke Cook, Arneson Distributing, Dave Vosbeck, Julia Coulson, Darla Remus, Karen Okerman, Shari Hittesdorf, Dennis Mangen and Mary Ann Christensen.
