Agnes Rose Kniefel, age 90, of Waterville, Minnesota, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at Three Links Care Center in Northfield.
Agnes was born on January 5, 1935, in Owatonna, Minnesota, the daughter of Frank and Gladys (Bartosch) Kniefel. She spent her early years in the Owatonna area before the family moved to Waterville. Agnes graduated from Waterville Public Schools in 1953.
Christopher Thomas Short, age 49, of Prior Lake, passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, November 7, 2025.
Born on March 19, 1976, in New Prague, Chris was the beloved son of Thomas and Juilee (Larson) Short. He grew up in Elysian and attended Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Public Schools, graduating with the Class of 1994. He went on to earn a degree in Marketing from Winona State University in 1998, where he made lifelong friends.
STATE FOOTBALL tab on the WEM Website with information related to the Quarterfinal Game.
On a 6-1 roll call vote, the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School Board officially decided to close WEM Middle School in Morristown. The decision was made at the board’s regular meeting on Oct. 27.
“I think we’re losing an opportunity to increase enrollment,” Board Member Jeff Stangler said. Stangler was the lone vote against closing the school. “We did all this talking, but we’ve never done anything.”
The building will be closed as of June 5, 2026.
Waterville Police Chief Bob Petrasak asked the Waterville City Council for approval to obtain and train a certified therapy dog during their Tuesday, October 7 regular meeting.
The dog would be used in police fire, CISM support group (Critical Incident, Stress, Management), North Memorial ambulance services, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School District, and for the residents of Waterville.
Council member Tim Smith commended Petrasek on his request and was absolutely in favor of it.
Bucs limit St. Clair/Loyola to 64 yards in Section 2AA Semifinal shutout
Every chance the WEM football team has to start the game with the ball they take it.
The Bucs received the opening kickoff in the Section 2AA Semifinal game against St. Clair/Mankato Loyola Saturday, Oct. 25 and showed the Spartans it was going to be a long day for them.
WEM put together their best drive of the season, moving the ball methodically on the ground, gaining 95 yards on 20 plays which chewed up 9:16 off the clock.
St. Clair freshman Payton Blount blasted 20 kills in leading her St. Clair volleyball team to a seep of WEM in the Section 2AA Quarterfinal Thursday, Oct. 23 in Waterville.
The Cyclones defeated WEM 25-14, 27-25, and 25-18 to end the Buccaneers’ season with a 20-9 overall record.
Blount provided much of the offense for the fifth seeded Cyclones, who advance to play No. 1 seed Southwest Christian Tuesday, Oct. 28 at New Prague in the Section 2AA Semifinals.
WEM finished with 31 total kills but they also had 28 hitting errors in 147 total attacks.
Delores Donna Berndt, age 92, of Waterville, formerly of Hankinson and Fargo, North Dakota, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, our GG, peacefully entered into her heavenly reward at Traditions Living Center in Waterville on the evening of Saturday, October 25, 2025.
Halloween events in the Lake Region Area will be held this weekend and on Halloween.
The Waterville Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the Trunk or Treat on Main Street in Waterville Saturday, Oct. 25 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
At 4 p.m. the Just For Kix Dancers will be performing.
The annual Elysian Spook Trail is also scheduled for Saturday, October 25 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. along the Sakatah State Trail in downtown Elysian.
Post-season playoffs begin this week for WEM athletes
WEM student/athletes have had very successful fall seasons in all three sports.
Three of the four teams have won their league and the fourth took second place.
Now the teams are starting post-season playoffs, with all of them competing in Section Tournaments this week and hopefully into next week.
Volleyball
The WEM volleyball team is the No. 4 seed in the Section 2AA Tournament which began Monday, Oct. 20 with the Bucs sweeping No. 13 seed Maple River in three sets.
Grizzly girls place 2nd in Gopher Conference
Seven WEM/JWP girls cross country runners placed in the top 20 of the Gopher Conference Championship Tuesday, October 14 at Hayfield Oaks Country Club.
All seven earned an All-Conference honor for their efforts.
Eighth grader Norah Welvaert placed 6th overall in a time of 21:16 to earn First Team All-Conference honors.
NRHEG freshman Julieann Wobbrock won the race in 19:17, followed by Hayfield eighth grader Hadley Doman in 19:28, and Blooming Prairie junior Gloria Hernandez in 19:38.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, the Le Sueur County Veterans Office is providing $25 gift vouchers during the month of November to veterans. The office is partnering with O’Keefe’s Meat Market in Le Center to provide the gift vouchers, according to a press release from the Le Sue County Veterans Office.
Area veterans can stop by the Le Sueur County Veterans Office to pick up a voucher, while they last, said the press release. This is a benefit for veterans of Le Sueur County because of their service to our nation.
Susan Jane (Sullivan) Knowles, age 73, of Kilkenny, passed away peacefully Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at Hillcrest Health Care and Rehab in Mankato.
Emerson R. Cheever, passed away Thursday, October 9, 2025 after a short illness.
He was born at his grandparents house in Chittamo, Washburn County, WI, to Dan & Edna Cheever on October 31, 1938. He graduated from Solon Springs High School in 1957 & joined the MN Air National Guard out of Duluth.
After a solid regular season, which ended Tuesday against JWP, the WEM volleyball team has been seeded fourth in the 17-team Section 2AA Tournament.
WEM, 18-8 overall, will host Maple River (6-15) at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20 in the Section first round. If they win, they would host either No. 5 seed St. Clair (16-4) or No. 12 seed JWP (10-12).
The Section 2AA semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 28 at New Prague. If WEM advances, they would play at 6 p.m.
For the past 30+ years, 1991 WEM graduate Cedric Hohnstadt has been a professional illustrator.
Little do people know, they probably have seen some of his work on a regular basis.
Over the year Hohnstadt has done a lot of work for the company Hasbro. Included in this work he has illustrated packaging for Mr. Potato Head, Pound Puppies, and Baby Alive. He has also illustrated playset stickers for My Little Pony and sketched multiple toy concepts for internal meetings about such brands as Play Doh, Sesame Street, Angry Birds, and Star Wars.
