Brian Spatenka of Waterville was honored with the 2018 Friend of the Fire Department Award during the Waterville Fire Dept. annual meeting March 19.
According to Waterville Fire Chief Chris Meskan, during the recent flooding events the last few years, Spatenka has voluntarily worked side-by-side with the fire department in sandbagging efforts around town.
He only took breaks to check the flooding around his home and refueling the generator that was running a pump to keep water out of his house.

Contract negotiations are currently underway between Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School principals and the school district.
Two of WEM’s three principals are working without current, signed employment contracts.
High School Principal John Kaplan’s most up-todate employment contract with the school district was signed on July 20, 2012. The term listed on the contract is 2011 to 2013.
Annastasia Braam, principal of WEM’s Morristown building, is also working under an outdated employment contract that covers 2015 to 2016.

A number of WEM spring sports have been rescheduled due to inclement weather in early April. The Saturday, March 24 track and field meet at Minnesota State University-Mankato was cancelled and will not be made up. The Thursday, April 5 track and field meet, also at Mankato, has been changed to 6 p.m. The WEM baseball game Thursday, April 5 with JWP has been rescheduled to April 27. The Friday, April 6 game with Kenyon-Wanamingo has been moved to May 15. The WEM softball game with Hayfield has been moved to May 15. The April 6 softball game against Mankato Loyola/St.

Hundreds of kids and their families participated in local egg hunt and Easter events on Saturday morning, March 31. The fun started in Elysian at 9 a.m. with the Lake Area Women's Easter Party, which was co-sponsored by the Willing Workers 4-H Club, and included live bunnies and many games. First Baptist Church of Waterville's giant outdoor egg hunt and Easter event started at 10 a.m., which was followed by a short program and the awarding of prizes. Then, the Easter Bunny hopped over to Morristown Commercial Club's Egg Scramble at 11 a.m.

YEP, JUST AS I SUSPECTED! In the last two columns I mentioned both times that I suspected Lisa (who schedules the column dates at the LIFE office) had an ulterior motive in scheduling me twice in the month of March, especially since the first column’s date line was the same as the first full moon in March and the second column a mere two days BEFORE the second full moon (the blue moon) of March. And everyone knows that the full moon (any full moon) brings out more "crazies" than any normal night.

Jerome Edward Janda, age 88 formerly of Waterville, passed away on Monday, March 26, 2018 at the Trinity Care Center in Farmington. Born on November 8, 1929 in Waterville, Minnesota, he was the son of Emil and Christine (Schwartz) Janda.  Jerome grew up on the farm in Waterville and graduated from Waterville High School.  He retired from Minnegasco where he worked as a home and commercial technician.  He served in the MN National Guard as a company clerk.   Jerome married Nellie Jane Pletcher on October 8, 1955 in Barnesville and they celebrated 56 years of marriage.  Jerome was a member of

Joette L. Bliss, age 61 of Waterville, died on Monday, April 2, 2018 at Pleasant Manor in Faribault. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 28, 1956, Joette was the daughter of Joseph and Alice (Jennings) Kirk. She graduated from Simley High School in 1974. Following her graduation, she married her best friend, Martin "Marty" Bliss Sr. Due to the fact Marty enlisted in the Air Force, they found themselves in Grand Forks, ND. After his discharge from the military, they moved to Vermillion, MN for the next 15 years before moving to Waterville for the last 18.

Florence Whilimina Hamele, age 98 of Waterville, passed away on March 30, 2018 at the Minnesota Valley Health Care Center in Le Sueur. Born on March 15, 1920 in Cordova, Florence was the daughter of Herman and Tena (Delaska) Gehrke.

We are in the process of launching our newly-designed website this weekend for the New Prague Times, Montgomery Messenger, Waterville Lake Region Life and Elysian Enterprise. We hope you like the new look, new functions, new design, including the new mobile versions. We apologize if there are any hiccups along the way.

Sylvia Jane Krampitz, age 79, of Waseca, was born June 1, 1938 in Morristown, MN to Harold and Mabel (Fratzke) Schwichtenberg. She was the 2nd of 8 children. Sylvia attended Waterville High School and graduated in 1956. During high school her sweetheart was David Krampitz and they were married on May 18th, 1957.  Sylvia and Dave were the parents of Wendy (Gary) Warner of Grand Forks, ND, Linda Larson (significant other, Terry George) of Waseca and David Krampitz (Paulette) of Waseca.

The WEM boys basketball team dropped a pair of contests last week, falling to Waseca and NRHEG. Waseca, rated 13th in Class AAA, downed the Bucs 76-44 Dec. 19. NRHEG, undefeated with a 6-0 record, edged the Bucs 60-53 Dec. 22. WEM has lost three straight games and fell to 1- 3 in the Gopher Conference and 2-5 overall. They will play in the Howard Lake- Waverly/Winsted Tourney Dec. 27 and 28. The Bucs scored only 16 points in the first half against Waseca. They only made three field goals in falling behind 45-16. Junior Tanner Ranslow led the team with 12 points.

Excellence in community, education and leadership.....this is what the ExCEL Award for high school juniors is all about. WEM happens to have two of those outstanding, well-rounded students who “ExCEL” in all three of these areas. Morgan Nusbaum and Jarod Pavek were nominated for the local honor by WEM staff. Their lists of accomplishments are very impressive for students yet to reach their senior year of high school.

Ten WEM Elementary students were recognized for exemplifying the school’s Bucs Pride code of conduct during December. The students were nominated for the honor of being named “Focus Students” by teachers and school staff members. WEM’s December Focus Students are: Kindergartener Emmi Frank, daughter of Derek and Vicki Frank of Elysian, was nominated by Mrs. Anderson for being responsible. Anderson wrote: “Emmi follows all of our rules in our classroom. She is a hard worker and always does her best work!

Robert Wayne "Bob" Knish, age 63 of Waseca, died on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at Mayo Clinic Health System in Waseca.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all. As I write this column Christmas morning, it never ceases to amaze me the generosity and friendly nature of those living in the Lake Region Area. It just seems like people come out of the woodwork when individuals and/or businesses are faced with tough situations. We have all seen it the last couple of months with events which has transpired in the area. People should be proud of their efforts in helping those in need. Enough said.