To the Lake Mills marching band.

Congratulations to the members of the Lake Mills marching band, who received several honors earlier this month at the Algona Band Day and last weekend at the Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Band Contest in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

The band received a Division 1 rating at the state contest and first place in the Class 2A bands category in Algona. It also won Best Color Guard and Best Marching and Maneuvering.

This takes a lot of hard work and determination, not only from the students, but also from the coaches and all others who have been a part of the effort.

We wish the band continued success with other competitions and look forward to hearing about continued success.

 

To the announcement that the former Herberger’s space will house the new MercyOne clinic.

Whether you agree or disagree with MercyOne’s decision to bring a clinic to Albert Lea, you can’t help but be glad to hear that the former Herberger’s space will soon again be in use. The department store closed in August 2018.

Brad Arends, one of the leaders of the Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition, said he hopes the coalition can close on the property Dec. 2. The clinic is slated to open in the summer of 2020.

With the space being put to new use instead of retail, we encourage city and economic development leaders to continue to push for more retail in Albert Lea at other locations.

 

To the United South Central football team.

Congratulations to the United South Central football team, which finished the regular season undefeated.

The team moves into the section playoffs with the No. 1 seed, an accomplishment that has not happened without much hard work and determination by both the players and coaches.

This is the second year in a row the team has finished undefeated and last year were section champions.

To top it off, head coach Brandon Neseth earned statewide honors this week of being named Gatorade Coach of the Week.

We wish the team best wishes during section play.

 

To beautiful fall colors.

The weather is cooler and the days are shorter, and with that comes the annual change in colors of the leaves.

As you drive around the area, the colors are stunning, and we encourage you to take a minute to bask in the beauty.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, this may likely be the best week of the year for color in our area, so get out there enjoy it.