Month: November 2022

The Crookston Pirate Fine Arts Boosters will issue over $14,000 in grants to Fine Arts programs thanks to their summer fundraising letters and the June Shaver Trust fund.

Every summer, the Fine Arts Boosters sends out letters asking for donations and contributions from the district families. This year, in collaboration with their yearly collection from the June Shaver Trust fund, they collected over $14,000. “The funds for all of this are contributions that people from the community have made. We send a fundraising letter out in August, and people respond, and then we also received some money from the June Shaver Trust,” Pirate Fine Arts Boosters Chairperson Jim Kent explained. “So, combine all of those monies, and in October, teachers from the Fine Arts programs in the Crookston Public Schools make requests, and the total of the requests that were made were $14,850, and we were able to fund that entire amount and turn that money back to the school district.” The Pirate Fine Arts Boosters received several requests from the Crookston High School Fine Arts programs, the Elementary School, Junior High School Fine Arts programs, and to improve the Crookston High School Auditorium.

The funds awarded for the funds include a $2,000 request from the Crookston High School orchestra to purchase ¾ size violins, full-sized violins, and some method books for students, a $2,800 was given to the Crookston High School band for percussion and auxiliary instruments, and new music. The High School choir received $500 for more solo and ensemble music, and the Elementary School Music program got $170 for music library books. The Junior High One-Act Play received $500 for painting supplies, costumes, and props for future plays and prop construction. The Speech team requested $850 for funds for their Assistant Speech coach, and the Junior High Art program got $2,020 for art display rails, digital cameras, cases to display art projects the students created. They also asked for $500 to purchase new painting supplies for the class. The final amount awarded was for the construction of new art storage closets at $4,000, which will be made with the cooperation of the school’s Community Projects class. “What’s neat about that project is that the Community Projects class taught by Travis Oliver is going to construct those cabinets,” Chairperson Jim Kent explained. “So, this $4,000 is just for the materials for the construction of those cabinets because they are providing all of the labor.” Kent explained that the combined requests totaled $14,850 and will be brought forward to the Crookston School Board meeting on Monday, November 28.

Along with the requests made by the Fine Arts teachers, the Boosters is also using the funds to provide scholarships and opportunities to Crookston students throughout the year for them to attend music festivals and competitions. “This past year, we were able to pay $750 for one of our students to attend the Minnesota All-State Choir. This person was selected for the All-State Choir, which was a big honor because the competition is very fierce for that. Another one of our students went to the Minnesota All-State Band for $750, and we had a person who attended the North Valley Orchestra String Camp in Grand Forks, and the registration for that was $110,” Jim Kent explained. “The other big item we helped to fund was the Crookston High School Band marching at the Minnesota State Fair, and we were able to pay for the overnight accommodations for them, and we also purchased T-shirts that helped the band. All of that came up to almost $5,000. We not only provide for the programs but also individual groups and students in our high school.” Kent said there will be more upcoming events the Boosters will fund, such as the All-State bands and choirs, the Junior High Band Festival, and the Triple AAA banquet in May.

The Pirates Fine Arts Boosters are always looking for contributors for the Fine Arts programs in the Crookston School District. If you are interested in contributing, donations can be made at Post Office Box 743 in Crookston, at the High School Office, or you can learn more about the Pirates Fine Arts Boosters online on the school’s website. All donations are tax-exempt.

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American Crystal Sugar Co. is making a strong initial payment estimate of $71 per ton beet for its 2022 crop, which set a record total volume of 12.1-million-ton, company officials told shareholders in meetings across the Red River Valley. It may be a record-high for the first estimate of payments, but comparisons weren’t immediately known. More details will be discussed in the company’s annual meeting on December 1 in Fargo.

American Crystal based in Moorhead, is a closed cooperative that owns six beet sugar processing factories throughout the Red River Valley, including Crookston and East Grand Forks. It is owned by about 2,600 shareholders.

To compare, American Crystal in November 2021 projected a $60 per ton payment for the 2021 crop. The company can adjust those payments in the following spring and fall. The company did not adjust the payment in the spring of 2022. Two weeks prior to the factory district meetings, the co-op increased the final 2021 crop payment to a final figure of $64.98 per ton. To compare, the all-time record-high payment was $73 per ton for the 2010 crop.

On the supply side, Crystal’s 2022 crop turned out stronger than expected, averaging 26.5 tons per acre which is less than the 30-ton-per-acre expectations. The company started stockpile harvest five days later than expected, which added tons and sugar content to the unharvested beets, especially with the sunny, cool October that occurred this year. Sugar content ended up at 18.5% which is better than the 18% average.

Shareholders started with a late, wet spring, followed by wind damage and flooding. The co-op activated its so-called “TAP” (Targeted Acre Program) which allows some willing growers to add more acres in the case of late planting or other planting problems. The company added 52,000 acres to plantings to compensate for the late planting.

The 12.1-million-ton crop, which is a record by 100,000 tons, is at the high end of the range of what the company is able to process. The company typically projects a processing or “slice campaign” to run into the middle of May.

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The following is a public notice from the City of Crookston

To Whom It May Concern,
Crookston Parks & Recreation would like to send out a press release that we have two aerators at our ponds on the NE side of town off Eichof Blvd.

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