I fully understand there is a lot of information in the newspaper this week about amateur baseball.

I know there are people that don’t have any interest in sports but what happened this weekend was very special in more than one way.

I have my responsibilities as an editor to report on the games but I am also a big fan.

And by the looks of the stands Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at “The Willy” William J. Grose Field, there are a lot of baseball fans out there.

Charlotte Marie Hager, age 96, of Waterville, passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at her home at Traditions in Waterville.

Indians advance to 5th straight State Tourney with 9th inning heroics Sunday

Watching their team down two runs heading into the top of the 9th inning, the fans at the Waterville Indians Class C State qualifying game were a somber group.

Within minutes somber changed to elated.

The Indians, with a “Never Say Die” attitude, exploded for six 9th inning runs to come-from-behind to defeat Cannon Falls, 9-5, in the Region 5C second place game played Sunday, August 16 in Waterville.

This year is the 34th year of Ahlman's Shooter's Round Up, one of the nation's top events for outdoor and gun enthusiasts.

This year's two-day event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23 on the Ahlman's Gun Shop site north of Morristown.

The Round-Up is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. There is an admission fee for this event, which is billed as the Greatest Shooting Show on Earth.

The Round Up started in 1992 as S & W Days then gun manufacturers Colt and Browning joined in and others weren’t far behind.

James Lee Studer, age 79, of Mankato, died at his home in Mankato, on Monday, August 17, 2026.

    Kilkenny Fire Department’s annual fundraising ATV/UTV ride held on Saturday, Aug. 8, drew in larger numbers than last year. The run brought in 329 riders and 158 ATV/UTV’s. In comparison to last year, that is up from 200 riders and 94 vehicles.
    The 2026 route started as usual at Little Irish Park in Kilkenny for registration, which began at 10 a.m. Riders left Kilkenny at noon and went to Elysian, then to The Bait Bucket in Cleveland, and to Lakefront Bar & Grill on Clear Lake in Lexington, before returning back to Kilkenny at the Toy Box Saloon.

Darlene Mae (Simons) Adams, age 91, of Waterville, MN, passed away on August 11, 2026.

Born on March 21, 1936, at her family home in rural Elysian, she was the daughter of Perry and Clarice (Klang) Simons. She attended grade school in Elysian and later graduated from Waterville High School in 1954.

Twelve unanswered runs in the final four innings lifted the Waterville Indians to a 12-3 win over Pine Island Saturday, August 8 in Cannon Falls in the first round of the Region 5C Amateur Baseball Tournament.

The Indians allowed three unearned runs in the top of the second inning off starting pitcher Dalton Grose.

From that point on, Grose was masterful, allowing only five hits and allowed only one runner to reach third base, which happened on an Indian error.

I will have a “hitch in my giddy up” for the next few weeks thanks to a surgery I received 2 1/2 weeks ago.

As many of you know, I went under the knife July 24 and had a full right hip replacement.

Having really no exposure to surgeries, other than my thyroid cancer surgery many years ago, I wasn’t quite sure what this was going to entail.

I read as much as I could and I talked to as many people as I could, but nothing really means a lot until you final get your prognosis and the surgery has been scheduled.

For the past five months the Nick and Sarah Bemis family have been going through something which no young family should have to.

It was early in the morning on March 18 they were told their three-month-old daughter, Brynlee, had cancer.

The family has been through hundreds of ups and downs over the past half a year after hearing this news from an emergency room doctor in mid-March. But the fight continues and as of late, the positives have finally started to outweigh the negatives.

One of the longest running Minnesota County Fairs is celebrating its 169th year next week.

The Le Sueur County Fair begins Thursday, August 20 at the fairgrounds in Le Center, and runs through Sunday, August 23. It is the last county fair before the Minnesota State Fair.

Every year the fair board approves improvements to the grounds and this year will be no different, with many new spruced up areas.

Kilkenny Fire Department’s annual fundraising ATV/UTV ride held on Saturday, Aug. 8, drew in larger numbers than last year. The run brought in 329 riders and 158 ATV/UTV’s. In comparison to last year, that is up from 200 riders and 94 vehicles.

The 2026 route started as usual at Little Irish Park in Kilkenny for registration, which began at 10 a.m. Riders left Kilkenny at noon and went to Elysian, then to The Bait Bucket in Cleveland, and to Lakefront Bar & Grill on Clear Lake in Lexington, before returning back to Kilkenny at the Toy Box Saloon.

CANNON FALLS - With one weekend completed and a big one on the horizon, the Waterville Indians and Morristown Morries are still alive in the Region 5C Amateur Baseball Tournament.

After playing games last weekend in Cannon Falls, the teams will now set their sights on Waterville for the final weekend of the eightteam tournament.

The number which is on the mind of both teams is three.

Two local 4-H youth are stepping into one of Minnesota 4-H’s most prestigious leadership roles. Le Sueur County is one of only five counties in the state to have more than one State Ambassador selected.

Elizabeth Holicky of Le Center and Audrey Keltgen of Le Sueur have been selected as members of the 2026– 2027 Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador Team, joining 30 other outstanding young leaders from across the state.

    One of the longest running Minnesota County Fairs is celebrating its 169th year next week.
    The Le Sueur County Fair begins Thursday, August 20 at the fairgrounds in Le Center, and runs through Sunday, August 23. It is the last county fair before the Minnesota State Fair.
    Every year the fair board approves improvements to the grounds and this year will be no different, with many new spruced up areas.