Month: December 2021

The 50th annual Crookston Christmas Bird Count held on Saturday, December 18th, tied the all-time record. 13 individuals braved the cold or watched their bird feeders. The Christmas Bird Count is coordinated by the National Audubon Society and the Minnesota Ornithologist Union. The volunteers counted birds in a designated 15-mile diameter circle southeast of Crookston and in the community.

Field observers and feeder watchers recorded 36 different bird species, tying the record set in 2019. 1,216 individual birds were observed on Saturday. The high for the day was only 9 degrees. The 6 teams that went out into the rural sections of the count circle in the morning were greeted with light snow. It’s not easy spotting birds in the rural area; one team only found 2 species representing 18 individual birds in the 4 hours they were out. Again, the number of people feeding birds through the winter has drastically declined over the years. To emphasize the importance of winter feeding of birds, this year’s count can attribute at least 17 species that were recorded at a handful of active feeders.

The complete list of species recorded this year included: Gray Partridge, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie-Chicken, Wild Turkey, Bald Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Great Horned Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Blue Jay, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Horned Lark, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Purple Finch, Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.

Thanks to this year’s participants: Phil Baird – Fisher; Jeff Bell – East Grand Forks, Jason, Logan, and Sawyer Ekstein – Erskine; Emily Hutchins – Mentor; Gladwin Lynne – Warren; Ryan Mandelbaum – Brooklyn, New York; Leon Thoreson – Climax; and from Crookston, Mike Christopherson, John and Lisa Loegering, and Dan Svedarsky.

Volunteers interested in participating in the 2022 count should contact John Loegering at jloegeri@crk.umn.edu.

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Governor Tim Walz has ordered all United States flags and Minnesota flags to be flown at half-staff at all state buildings in the State of Minnesota, from sunrise until sunset on Friday, December 31, 2021, in honor and remembrance of Deputy Sheriff Jayme Williams.

“Deputy Sheriff Williams was a dedicated public servant who was respected by his family, friends, and colleagues,” reads the proclamation issued by Governor Walz. “With its deepest gratitude, the State of Minnesota recognizes Deputy Sheriff Williams for his dedicated service to, and sacrifice for, his fellow Minnesotans, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and entire community.”

Deputy Sheriff Williams dedicated 13 years to the Itasca County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Sheriff Williams died Monday, December 27, 2021, due to a medical illness obtained during line of duty service. He is survived by his wife and three children.

At the direction of the Governor, Minnesota flies its flags at half-staff following the death of Minnesota first responders fallen in the line of duty. Individuals, businesses, and other organizations are also encouraged to join in lowering their flags.

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The Crookston Blue Line Club will be hosting a Happy New Year 2022 Bash tomorrow night at the Crookston Eagles Club. The event will start at 5:00 p.m. and continue past midnight into 2022.

Crookston Blue Line Club Executive Director Kristy Swanson says they’ve done events in the past towards the end of October, but this year they’ll be holding the event around the holiday and will be honoring a loved hockey member from the community that has passed away. “We normally do an end of October event, but the last couple of years have been difficult for everyone and our program,” said Swanson. “We decided to push it back a little bit so we could have more time to plan it. We hope parents come out and support the Blue Line Club, but more importantly, support a member of our community that has passed away. We thought we could give a last toast to Paul (Dragseth) with this event. He was such a huge part of our hockey community, and we saw him everywhere.”

Dragseth unexpectedly passed away earlier this month. While the event will support the Crookston Blue Line Club, Swanson says, first and foremost, it will serve as a big toast to Paul for all he has done for the Crookston hockey community over the years. Swanson also noted Dragseth would want everyone to have a good time and celebrate the New Year.

Limited tickets will be sold at the door tomorrow night, and Swanson explained how the night will unfold for those interested in attending. “Will be having a nice dinner of Prime Rib or Chicken Parmesan, and we plan to have some horse racing games as well,” said Swanson. “Will be doing a 50/50 raffle, photo booth, and the night will end with a band called Four Wheel Drive. If you would rather attend the band, you can certainly do that, and we are asking $10 at the door for that.”

Dinner tickets are $30 or $50 for a couple, and a limited amount will be sold at the door as Swanson says she always orders extra food.

There will be one other significant event that night during the celebration. “Most importantly, we would love to see people there for Paul and have them bid on our silent auction items,” said Swanson. “We have several items that people will enjoy this year.”

The night will begin with a social at 5:00 p.m., dinner at 6:00 p.m., with games, the silent auction, and the raffle taking place afterward. The band Four Wheel Drive will begin playing at 9:00 p.m. and play into the New Year. Swanson says it’s still not too late for those interested in supporting the Crookston Blue Line Club and honor Paul Dragseth. “It’s not too late to come,” said Swanson. “Even if you want to come for dinner, I ordered extra food. So please reach out to me and we can get you signed up.”

For those interested in attending the event tomorrow night, or if you have any questions, you can contact Kristy Swanson at 218-470-0423. Limited tickets will be sold at the door starting at 5:00 p.m.

The post CROOKSTON BLUE LINE CLUB HOLDING 2022 NEW YEAR BASH AT CROOKSTON EAGLES CLUB TOMORROW NIGHT appeared first on KROX.

On Wednesday, December 29, at approximately 8:08 p.m. the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a structure fire at 37327 335th Ave SE, Fosston, MN. Fosston Fire Department, McIntosh Fire Department, and Essentia Ambulance responded.

There were no injuries resulting from the fire. The fire was located within the insulation of a Quonset on the property. The Quonset sustained a severe amount of damage. The fire did not appear to be suspicious. No further information will be released at this time.

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