MnUSA Snowmobile Family of the Year Award - 2025

Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association’s (MnUSA) awarded Saturday, February 14 during that evening’s banquet at the annual Winter Rendezvous at SouthShore Hotel in Bemidji, the Snowmobile Family of the Year to the Mike and Cheryl Clevenger Family of Morristown and member of Faribo Sno-Go Club - Faribault, MN and Sakatah Trail Sno-Cruisers - Waterville.

The trip to the Class A State Wrestling Tournament for the first Grizzly wrestlers will provide memories of a lifetime.

Four of the five were making their first appearance. Two of the five were able to win a match. Three of the five have a chance to make a second appearance.

Seniors Brady Murphy and Kayle Langford and juniors Kavan Sheehy, Trenton Huber, and Aiden Gruber each represented the team with great determination and pride.

A new member of the Waterville Police Department is currently in the process of going through training while still be utilizing by the department.

Leo, a new law enforcement therapy dog, is currently in the middle of his training which is being provided by Soldier’s 6, a non-profit based in Inver Grove Heights.

Waterville Chief of Police Bob Petrasek and the Waterville Police Department have been selected by Heart of America Whoodles to receive the canine who will become part of the department. Petrasek will be the dog’s handler.

The WEM Board of Education accepted the retirement letters of two long-time school district employees.

Jeff Boran, Activities Administrator/Community Education Director and Thomas Walker, High School Spanish and Social Studies Teacher, will be be retiring following this school year.

Boran submitted this letter to the WEM Board:

For the past 37 years it has been my privilege to work alongside excellent colleagues, administrators, members of the WEM Board of Education, teachers, coaches, custodial, transportation, and clerical and support staff.

The WEM boys basketball team finished its regular season schedule with an 11-15 record after winning their final two games.

The Bucs picked up a 74-52 win over NRHEG Friday, Feb. 20 to end their Gopher Conference season with an 8-6 record and second place finish in the West Division. Monday, Feb. 23 the Bucs picked up their biggest win of the season, defeating Nicollet, 78-61. Nicollet came into the game with a 21-4 record after winning the Valley Conference Championship.

NRHEG Secondary hosted the 2026 Gopher Conference Fine Arts Showcase Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. A total of 71 band and 87 choir students from NRHEG, Blooming Prairie, JWP, Hayfield, Medford, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Randolph, Triton, USC and WEM participated in this extraordinary event.

Twelve of the 13 WEM/JWP wrestlers placed in the top six at the Section 2AA Wrestling Tournament. The tournament was held Saturday, Feb. 21 at JWP High School.

WEM/JWP had two champions, senior Brady Murphy (139 pounds) and junior Aiden Gruber (152 pounds) and two runners-up, junior Trenton Huber (189 pounds) and junior Kavan Sheehy (215 pounds). All four will represent the Grizzlies at the Class A State Wrestling Tournament this week in St. Paul at Grand Casino Arena.

Waterville Police Sergeant Amy Mathias is now a certified D.A.R.E. Officer after completing training over the past month.

Mathias is scheduled to starting teaching the WEM fifth and sixth grade students next year, continuing the tradition the Rice County Sheriff’s Department had started with local students in Morristown over a number of years.

Being a repeat Section runner-up is something which the WEM/JWP wrestling team can certainly be proud of.

Before last year, no Grizzly team had ever advanced to this level. Now they have accomplished it two years in a row. Last year Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial defeated the Grizzlies, 40-25, in the Section 2A Championship. This was WEM/JWP’s 1st Section Championship appearance.

As a child, you may have created your own special valentine box out of a shoe box and some construction paper. Did you know that the custom of crafting valentine boxed emerged way back in the mid 1800s and began in the United States?

Two school records were set by a pair of seniors last week during a pair of Gopher Conference girls basketball wins by the WEM Buccaneers.

Addison Condon and Kaitlyn LaFrance each set records while defeating United South Central (67-49) Thursday, Feb. 12, and Faribault BA (62-48) Friday, Feb. 13. The Bucs started the week with a nonconference loss to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (LCWM), 57-43.

More than 500 individuals took advantage of a gorgeous mid-February afternoon to take part in the North Elysian Silver Lakers Fishing Contest Sunday, Feb. 15.

According to Silver Lakers President Tyler Schnoor the event was the biggest in the 38 year history, with the amount of people and the amount of fish actually caught.

He said more than 50 fish were caught, and within seconds of the contest starting people caught fish and had them recorded. There wee many more caught but returned to the water knowing...

Ward Edward Hering, age 84, of Waterville, passed away on February 13, 2026, at Regions Hospital, surrounded by his family and loving wife of 64 years. 

Six Grizzly girls wrestlers placed in the top six of their respective weight classes at the Section G-2 Tournament last weekend at Rochester.

One of those six will be making a trip to the 2026 State Tournament.

Senior Kayle Langford, who was seeded second in the 136-pound weight class, won four straight matches to place first and advance to State.

Just a few months after leading the WEM football team to the Class AA State Football Tournament and a Section 2AA Championship, senior Talen Taylor signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Minnesota State University - Mankato.

Taylor signed his contract during a special gathering of coaches, family, and members of the WEM senior class Wednesday, Feb. 4.

A young lady well known to many in the Waterville – Elysian area is celebrating her 90th birthday. Julaine Roemhildt Jacobson was born on Valentine’s Day in 1936 to Hugo and Mabel Roemhildt. They lived on a farm by Roemhildt’s Lake south of Elysian. Julaine grew up with her brother Loren and two sisters Darlene and Louise. They moved once to a larger farm house but remained in the same area.