The Gensmer Building, located at 210 South Kingston Street in Caledonia is the first structure to utilize the Southeastern Minnesota Development Corporation, Caledonia Commercial Rehabilitation program. 

Sara and Eric Cordes have been making considerable progress on the rehab project they have been doing on the old Caledonia Drug building. A portion of the funds to conduct the project was through the SEMDC Caledonia Commercial Rehab program. City EDA Director Jane Schiltz, who helped process the grant, at right, presented the Cordes with a check from SEMDC in front of the recently-remodeled building.                      Photo by Charlie Warner      

By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor

Persons attending area parades this summer may have noticed a very colorful float displaying five brightly-painted barn quilts. The reason for the barn quilts in parades is to drum up interest in a unique auction that will take place later this summer.

The five barn quilts are the artistic creations of Michelle Werner and Anne Selness. The money raised by the sale of the five quilts, which will take place during the Houston County Fair, will serve as seed money for the newly organized Caledonia Area Convention & Tourism Bureau (CACTB).

Volunteers at CC&R, left photo, Hannah Kirchner, above left and  Abby Hoskins, above right, are part of the Summer Youth Program at CC&R. They are pictured with resident Marie Rose. Hannah is the daughter of Tim and Courtney Kirchner of Caledonia. Abby is the daughter of Willy and Sonja Hoskins of Caledonia. Right photo, on a sunny afternoon several residents and volunteers enjoyed their time out on the patio at Caledonia Care & Rehab. They are from left, volunteers Lorraine Schmitt, Mildred Schmitt, residents Paulette Wilhelm and Helen Buxengard. Photos by Thomas Bulman

By Thomas Bulman
Summer intern

Over the years Caledonia Care and Rehab has had many generous people donating their time and talents through the volunteer program. Right now  they have about 77 volunteers who give their time to the residents.

Merchants Bank has reached an agreement to purchase the current Central Bank in Spring Grove, according to Merchants Financial Group, Inc., President and CEO Richard L. Mahoney and Central Bank President Larry Albert.

The sale will include more than $22 million in deposit relationships and the physical locations of the bank in Spring Grove.

Through an agreement with the FDIC, Central Bank had assumed all the deposits of Jennings State Bank and its two locations in Spring Grove and Stillwater in early October of 2009. Central Bank is headquartered in Stillwater.

The sale is pending regulatory approval. Barring complications, Mahoney said he expects the sale to be completed in late fall. Terms of the sale have not been disclosed.

For the complete story, see the July 7 issue of the Caledonia Argus.

Brownsville Days 2010 was a huge success, as the rain clouds stayed away during the two-day festival. Action included fireworks, both natural and man-made, top photo. At left, Spencer Otto smacked a triple in co-ed softball. Spencer played for Little Miami. In the photo below, the Brownsville Color Guard led Sunday’s Grand Parade. 

Photos by Craig Moorhead

Eric and Beth Sauer with the most recent addition to the ESR Mods family, Alexis, who was born a month ago.                                            Submitted photo

When driving down the main drag in the little town of Eitzen, a large frame building that has obviously been recently remodeled jumps out at you. There isn’t any sign on the building, but a van parked to the side lets passersby know that it is the home of ESR Mods.