Lighting up with generosity

Thumbs up to the generous visitors to last year’s Kiwanis Holiday Lights.

The 182,000 people who went through the light displays at Sibley Park contributed a record $65,000 in cash that is being distributed to 78 nonprofit organizations.

They also donated 13.3 tons of food, which was distributed to 17 area food shelves.

The free event, put on all by volunteers, has gotten bigger and better each year and continues to draw interest from a wide area. It provides a big holiday boost for young and old.

All smiles

Thumbs up to the nonprofit that traveled to North Mankato recently to put a smile on the face of 6-year-old Leah Mueller.

Members of My Happy Place coordinated an effort to transform her bedroom into a joyful little girl’s room with fresh paint, neon lights, a karaoke machine, art studio, a toy chest with her name on it and a purple shag carpet, a nod to her favorite color.

The Iowa nonprofit has done dozens of similar bedroom renovations in their home state but this was their first foray into Minnesota.

The job was done with plenty of help from local businesses who donated services and supplies for the project as well as Hoover Elementary students and parents, who raised $1,300, with some of that money being held to add a playground outside.

Leah, who is dealing with leukemia, was all smiles as her new room was revealed to her, thanks to a lot of good people locally and from My Happy Place.

Three on the ag committee

Thumbs up to U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn landing his committee assignment of choice this week. The freshman Republican from Blue Earth is one of three newcomers from his party on the Agriculture Committee.

Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, whose sprawling 7th District stretches from the Canadian border to Sibley County, chairs that committee. He and Hagedorn are joined by a third Minnesotan and a second freshman in Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat whose 2nd District is mostly suburban and exurban but includes some rural areas in the southern part of the district.

Hagedorn and Craig are far from the only newbies on the panel. Thirteen of the 47 members are freshmen, and two others are on the ag committee for the first time. Hagedorn appears to be last on the seniority list on the minority side.

Minnesota had three members of the panel in the previous Congress, but Tim Walz and Rick Nolan did not seek re-election. The state, and this region, remains well represented on ag issues, however.

Warm welcome

Thumbs up to the opening of the new warming house in Spring Lake Park in North Mankato, just in time for this weekend’s Anthony Ford Pond Hockey Classic, which continues today and Sunday.

The warming house is about 4,000 square feet, roughly four times as large as the previous one. It contains bathrooms, a storage area, a kitchen for concessions and a community viewing area.

Along with the taxpayers footing the bill for the project, $100,000 in community support came from The Anthony Ford Fund and the Mankato Area Foundation.

City Administrator John Harrenstein nailed the description when he said this is not your grandfather’s warming house. (That’s a really good thing because lots of grandfathers probably used an outdoor bench on the edge of a rink to put on their skates.)

The warming house is a great addition along with other recent park improvements and those in the works that emphasize the four seasons of Minnesota. From ice rinks to a renovated swimming pool, the park continues to be a gem in lower North Mankato.