While Sunday morning started out cold and rainy, the clouds parted, the sun came out and a large crowd was on hand for the annual Houston County Fly-In at the airport near Caledonia. Allen Schulze, far right, was getting his plate loaded up with pancakes, eggs and sausage, as members of the Houston County Flyers and Caledonia Lions cooked up a storm. They are from left, Dane Lamb, Mac Macomber and Steve Fruechte, all of Caledonia and Tim Megis of Mabel. A large contingency of airplanes arrived later in the morning and breakfast was served to well over 500 persons.
                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Charlie Warner

For the third time in four years, Houston County was hit with torrential rains that caused extensive damage. A strong strom cell hit the area early June 23, dropping between three and five inches of rain in about an hour. While the amount of rain and the damage wasn’t as severe as the 2007 or 2008 floods, areas along Winnebago Creek were hit hard. Camp Winnebago, located five miles south of Caledonia, bore the brunt of the flash floods, as two large steel bridges, that had just been installed last year, following the 2008 floods, were pulled from their concret foundations and swept downstream. The top photo  shows the 50-foot expanse where the 15,000 pound steel and wood bridge used to span Winnebago Creek. The next photo shows the 50-foot bridge, covered with debris, resting nearly 800 yards downstream. 

In the top photo, a picnic table at Camp Winnebago was deposited atop a large pile of gravel. Officials at Camp Winnebago estimated that they had between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of gravel wash down the creek. In the next photo, a large dumpster was carried nearly half a mile downstream by the flood waters.

Houston County Highway Department crews were busy repairing washouts and mudslides on numerous county roads. In the top photo, County Road 5, which meanders through Winnebago Valley, received quite a bit of attention due to washouts like this one.  In the next photo, Lake New Albin formed when Winnebago Creek spilled into the Mississippi River Valley and backed up into the low area on the north side of town.

Traffic on State Highway 26 just north of Reno was slowed to one lane, as MnDOT crews cleaned up a mudslide. In the top photo, a large back hoe was used to clear out a plugged dry wash.
In the next photo, a large caution barrel indicated where a portion of the shoulder on Highway 26 was washed away.
In the past two weeks the area has received between 10 to 12 inches of rain. During a two-day span (June 22 - 23), some areas near Caledonia received six to eight inches of rain.                                                                       Photos by Charlie Warner

 

Caledonia City Fest 2010 was enjoyed by many last weekend. In the top photo these youngsters enjoyed a sack race sponsored by the Caledonia Rockets 4-H Club. They are from left, Liam Melde, Cameron Melde, Brady Danielson, Kyle Cavanaugh and Jude Johnson. The kickball tournament was quite popular. Above right, Becky Krage puts everything into this kick, while Travis Steele (partially hidden) and Brett Benson look on. The action was fast and furious during the high-speed lawn mower races held Saturday afternoon and evening. Hokah’s Brandon Becker, at right, has his work cut out for him, as he battles U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association’s Driver of the Year Richard Webb of Saginaw, Mich. in one of the corners. Photos by Zach Thomas

By Craig Moorhead
Special for the Argus
Cuts to nine school support staff were approved at the June 21 meeting of the Caledonia School Board. The layoffs, attributed to declining enrollment, were made on the basis of seniority. The nine employees affected were Pamela DeMorett, Nicolette Gengler, Sharon Horihan, Stacie Meyer, Tammy Reichenbacher, Kathy Renk, Tracey Schmidt, Bethany Tisthammer and Susan Wohlgemuth. The layoffs were back-dated to the end of the 2009-2010 school year, effective June 7, 2010.