Litchfield players surround coach Jim Jackman and raise their helmets and fingers in celebration of a good season following the Dragons’ loss to Dassel-Cokato in the Section 2AAA championship game Friday.
Litchfield players console each other following the team’s 27-20 loss to Dassel-Cokato in the Section 2AAA championship game Friday at Buffalo.
It was the kind of game most expected. But a result none of those wearing green and black wanted.
The Litchfield football team’s season came to a crushing end with a 27-20 loss to Dassel-Cokato in the Section 2AAA championship game Friday at Buffalo High School.
The Dragons, seeded No. 1 in the section, and Dassel-Cokato, the No. 2 seed, provided the kind of close, hard-hitting, solid football game that one might have thought. Like their previous meeting during the regular season, the outcome came down to a final drive by the trailing team.
This time, it was the Dragons trying to rally. And this time, it was Litchfield that came up just short, a fourth-down run stopped shy of the first down with just over a minute to play in a game that had gone back and forth all night.
Dassel-Cokato will go on to the state playoffs. Litchfield’s season, one of the most successful in recent history, ends with an 8-2 record.
See story and additional photos on Page 12.
American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations have posts all over the nation — including Hutchinson and Litchfield. Many face a membership dilemma as World War II veterans die and fewer younger veterans actively join these organizations.
The American Legion was established by Congress in 1919 to help veterans, service members and communities. Both Hutchinson Post 96 and Litchfield Post 104 chapters were chartered in 1920. Litchfield’s post name honors a pair of fallen from World War I — Orville Nelsan and Donald Horton.
In 1899, veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organizations to provide rights and benefits for service. These local organizations grouped together and formed the VFW. Unlike the American Legion, which accepts veterans of the U.S. military no matter where they served, the VFW only accepts those who served overseas in a combat zone or received hostile fire pay.
Hutchinson Post 906 started May 27, 1931. Litchfield’s Admiral Benson Post 2818 —named for Rear Admiral Benson, the first Chief of Naval Operations in 1916 -— was chartered in 1933.
All four posts maintained buildings of their own for many years where food and drinks was purchased and meetings were held. This offered veterans a recognizable place to come and find each other. Over the years, two posts have been able to continue with these facilities while one closed its doors and another moved around before finding its home base again.
The American Legion in Litchfield still has its building, which was purchased in 1956.
“It was Johns Hardware,” Rueben Nathe, Legion member and Navy veteran said. “The owner was the father of a World War I vet that was wounded but made it back home. “
The building was remodeled in 1996, making use of state and city grants that helped the organization with maintenance like tuckpointing and various other projects.
Hutchinson VFW also still has a physical structure. In 1983, it was remodeled to accommodate a bigger restaurant and bar and added a large meeting room. It is all self-sustaining.
Hutchinson’s American Legion no longer has its own building, now holding its meetings in the back room at the VFW building.
“The Hutchinson American Legion Post 96 sold their building in 2014 as it was no longer profitable, “ Jeanne Holfield, Second Vice Commander and membership director said.
Litchfield VFW post moved from its original building, which was built in 1959 and eventually sold to the city of Litchfield. The lot is now home to the city’s fire/rescue hall.
“The goal was to relocate to the east side of town where there was more traffic and room for expansion,” said post Commander Daniel Lease, retired sergeant first class, U.S. Army National Guard. “We purchased the Farmer’s Daughter in 2009. We enjoyed many successful years under the bar named ‘Heroes’ at VFW Post 2818.
“Unfortunately, in 2017, the new officers elected discovered that mismanagement had the post in debt with vendors and the bank,” Lease added.
In order to save the post from collapse, the post officers sold the building to Muddy Cow under the agreement the VFW would maintain its gambling operation at the site. The post purchased other property they have since sold and now is in the process of remodeling a facility on Davis Avenue.
Buildings help with visibility in the community, however, it’s the programs and opportunities that are the heart of both veterans organizations, local veterans said. It takes people to plan, organize and sustain these. Veterans for years have understood this responsibility and given time and energy to provide these to both Hutchinson and Litchfield.
“Post 96 honors its veterans with programs such as our Memorial Day ceremony,” Holfield said. “We think outside of the box and work in conjunction with our county Veterans Service Office and our post service officer, Tim Burley.
“We promote service to our country through many programs, such as the Veterans Day presentation at our local schools done by local vets, Boys State programs, which promotes Americanism, an oratorical contest that familiarizes the students with the Constitution, a scholarship for a student to attend a nursing program and Dollars for Scholars,” Holfield added.
Nelsan-Horton Post 104 in Litchfield offers most of those programs, too. Members work in cooperation with Litchfield’s VFW as well as the veterans organizations in Meeker County as a whole.
“We provide an honor guard at all veterans funerals,” said Legion Commander Marland Meyer, who is also a member of the honor guard. “We also participate in Meeker County Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, a program that connects military service members and their families with community support and resources.”
Litchfield’s VFW and the American Legion are members of the Meeker County Veterans Council that purchased a $40,000 van to chauffeur vets to VA hospitals in St. Cloud and Minneapolis. A veteran volunteers to drive the van and fellow vets to these locations. This service has been helpful to rural veterans.
“We always put interests of our members first,” Lease said. “We also treat our donors as partners, promote patriotism, honor military service, ensure care of veterans and their families, serve our communities, promote a positive image of the VFW and (work with) suicide prevention.”
“We help vets with all issues or disabilities they are dealing with,” Pete Stoltenow, quartermaster with Hutchinson’s Post 906 said. “The big one is PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).”
“PTSD is a hard demon to fight,” Lease said. “Together with my fellow veterans, thankfully, that’s a battle I’ll never have to fight alone.”
Hutchinson VFW members are proud of other community service they provided, Stoltenow said.
“Every one of our members helps in some way around town,” he said. “I put a lot of pavers down at our (Veterans) Park.”
VFW Post 2818 in Litchfield organizes the Wintercade Veteran Appreciation Ice Fishing Contest every February at Lake Ripley in Litchfield, easily the club’s biggest single event.
“It started in 2010, and has donated $150,000 back into the community during its first 13 years,” Lease said.
Charitable gambling provides the biggest source of fund raising for both the Hutchinson and Litchfield VFWs. Hutchinson has pull tab, electronic tab, bingo, Friday meat raffles, event games and tip boards at its facility. Litchfield has bingo and pull tabs at Muddy Cow Bar and Grill in Litchfield.
“This past year, we made a million dollars from gambling,” Stoltenow said. “We gave 65% to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, like the fire and police departments, Veterans Home of Minnesota, Hutchinson sports teams and Boy Scouts. The other 35% helps maintain our building and other expenses.”
“We donate around $5,000-$10,000 each month to local organizations.” Lease shares. “Unfortunately, about 50% of the gambling funds raised end up going back to the state of Minnesota as charitable gambling taxes. “
The American Legion posts in both communities sponsor baseball teams. Hutchinson has two junior teams, called Gold and Tigers, and one senior team called 96er’s. Litchfield has a senior team named after its post.
“They were set up to teach team etiquette — and of course fun,” Holfield of the Hutchinson post said.
It takes veterans to keep all of these opportunities going, and there’s some concern the committed membership is declining.
Hutchinson’s American Legion peak membership was between 2007-2008 with 1,100 members. Litchfield’s was in 1978 with 528 members.
“The average age of our executive officers is 75,” Litchfield Post 104’s Meyer said.
“Death due to age and illnesses have declined our numbers,” Holfield of Hutchinson Post 96 said. “Also, the loss of our building caused decrease in membership.”
Membership at Hutchinson’s VFW post has remained steady at around 250. The peak was about 15 years ago when membership still included many World War II veterans. All of those veterans have died, with the number of Korean and Vietnam vets declining now, too.
Litchfield’s VFW membership is fewer than 300, with a much smaller number actively involved with the post’s activities. At its peak, the post had nearly 500 members.
Tim Steinert, Meeker County veterans service officer and a Post 104 member, said a couple factors complicate membership with veterans organizations. He feels the main issue is that younger veterans aren’t living in rural communities as much. The other is that younger vets have other priorities.
Lease agrees.
“The biggest struggle is attracting younger veterans, Lease said. “It seems the younger generation is already busy with family, work and many other things.”
But leadership at all of the veterans organizations agree that their mission is too important not to continue.
“I am a huge advocate for veteran organizations,” Steinert said. “They push initiatives at both the state and federal level for veterans.”
“Local membership makes the National American Legion stronger in fighting for veterans benefits such as the GI Bill, VA health care, TBI (traumatic brain disorder)/PTSD rehabilitation, employment and business, and help with disabilities claims,” Holfield of Hutchinson American Legion Post 96 said.
Cassandra Carrigan, McLeod County veterans service officer and an American Legion and VFW member, said the organizations play an important role when it comes to lobbying for veterans’ issues.
“The younger veterans don’t understand what these organizations are doing at the federal level,” she said. “The PACT Act of 2022 (is) providing benefits we’re receiving today because of the lobbying efforts by the American Legion and VFW.”
The PACT Act expanded coverage for veterans who served in areas where they may have had exposure to Agent Orange and burn pits.
As a young mother, Carrigan admitted she struggles to be involved in both organizations at this time.
“It’s hard to make monthly meetings,” she said. “I would like to see these organizations change their business model to include families to help recruit the younger generation of vets.”
Longtime members see a generational difference in attitude toward veterans organization membership.
“The vets today wait until they’re in their 40s or 50s to join,” Stoltenow of Hutchinson VFW Post 906 said. “That’s what I did. I was so busy raising kids when I first got out. When my kids graduated is when I joined. I have plenty of time to be active in the group now.”
All the veterans organizations are doing what they can to recruit new members. Most reach out one-on-one.
“We spend time in the Veterans Service Officer booth at the Meeker County Fair,” Meyer of Post 104 said “There’s nothing like striking up conversations with another vet.”
Lease of Litchfield VFW agreed. While bingo sessions and their community events help, he said. word of mouth is the best.
“It is my belief that veterans seem to be more open to express feelings with other veterans,” Lease said. “I’ve had amazing conversations getting to know a veteran at a public event. Once I introduce myself to a fellow veteran, it’s like there’s an instant friendship.”
Hutchinson American Legion hosted a summer picnic to boost membership and has also reached out through email, letters and visits.
“Post 96 is working to build relationships with guard and reserve units in Hutchinson,” Holfield added.
Both VFWs are working with their membership dues.
“There are annual membership dues, but if you subscribe to a lifetime membership, our post will take $100 off,” Stoltenow of VFW Post 906 said.
“Annual membership dues cost less than a dinner for two at a fast-food restaurant,” Lease said. “We’ll cover a new membership cost for your first year.”
Stoltenow highlighted other perks of membership at Hutchinson VFW, such as a $2 meal at post meetings and half off the price of renting the building for family events.
The area American Legion and VFW have been serving Hutchinson and Litchfield for years. Generations of veterans have actively provided strength to fundraising and programs offered, but they all hope to reenergize their organizations’ activities through younger members willing step up to keep them going before it’s too late.
Josh
Fenton
Growing up and attending school in Litchfield gave Josh Fenton advantages he didn’t really think about until after he left his hometown.
“At the time, and shortly thereafter, I didn’t really have any different perspective,” Fenton said. “I just thought, naively, that this is what everybody’s community and school experience was. But there’s no doubt that (growing up here) prepared me for what was coming next.”
What came next was a lot, not the least of which is his current job as commissioner of The Summit League, an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference.
There have been plenty of other impressive entries on the 1997 Litchfield High School graduate’s resume, including nine years as commissioner of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and several years as senior associate athletic director for finance and administration at Miami (Ohio) University.
The culmination of the duties, as well as other personal and professional highlights, will bring Fenton back home Friday when he will be inducted, along with two others, into the Litchfield High School Hall of Fame.
“I think, for me, two words come to mind,” Fenton said when asked to describe his reaction to his Hall of Fame nomination. “I’m certainly honored and very humbled by the recognition. Litchfield High School has produced many, many great citizens across our country, and I guess to be honored in some distinctive way … I’m honored and very humbled.”
Though “college conference commissioner” was not something on his list of career objectives when he was attending LHS, the experiences he gained in the classroom — and athletic fields — in Litchfield certainly set the stage for it, he said. Those experiences extend far beyond the professional tract and into his personal life, as well.
“A lot of the values that I think I embody in my life started because of the kind of strong value system around the Litchfield community — what was taught through the high school,” Fenton said. “And a lot, to be honest with you, is a reflection of my parents (Chuck and Sue Fenton), the manner they believed myself and my sister should be brought up.
“But I also think it extended across the community — the community itself embodied the same value system, like family and sense of community, discipline, work ethic, things like that,” he added. “They’re a part of my life today because of my family upbringing, my parents first and foremost, but then also just being around the Litchfield community and certainly everything through the high school.’
That value system might be best illustrated by the fact that in his list of accomplishments provided to the LHS Hall of Fame committee, Fenton included professional and personal achievements:
- Over 20 years of service to NCAA Division I college athletics;
- NCAA Division I conference commissioner;
- Dedicated to the holistic development of student athletes; and
- Proud husband and father of three boys.
Asked by the committee what he thought his greatest contribution to society was, Fenton admitted that formulating an answer was difficult.
“The industry I work with, and its impact on the greater good of society is overemphasized too many times,” Fenton wrote. “However, for those of us who work in college athletics, we work in the industry to focus on furthering the lives of young adults through an intertwined experience of academics and athletics. We are in the human development business, and college athletics is one of the greatest human development models our world has. I am very proud to be a small part of the leadership group that supports this development in the context of sport.”
Athletics was a big part of Fenton’s high school experience, one in which he earned a couple of significant firsts in LHS sports history.
“I think during that time (in high school), I was focused on, No. 1, being the best student that I could be,” Fenton said. “And No. 2, sports was very important to me. I wanted to excel and progress and be the best athlete I could. And I was fortunate to do some things around the sport of golf.”
He won the state golf championship during his junior year in 1996, then took second at state in his senior season. Fenton also was a member of the first Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato hockey team to qualify for the state tournament in 1996.
“There were a lot of great experiences for me, certainly many of them connected to golf and winning a state championship,” Fenton said. “But I would put that (state hockey tournament) up there with any other one. That was an amazing experience. It’s something I will never forget.”
He expects that joining the LHS Hall of Fame will be another of those unforgettable experiences, and as he contemplated its meaning, Fenton also offered advice to students making their way through the school today.
“We live in a very transactional world and extremely competitive society,” Fenton said. “Someone’s worth seems to be measured by a ‘what have you done for me lately’ mentality. I believe this leads to diminished personal relationships and significant pressures faced by our younger population. It is important to ground your life around meaningful relationships and concerting your own efforts to what brings you happiness, all the while staying disciplined and focused towards your goals.”
Andrew Zilch, Litchfield High School Graduate of 1995, works in the film industry in California.
The world of filmmaking, action shots and famous directors seems a far-off place from small town Litchfield, but one man made it his goal to live that life. A goal he will share with Litchfield High School students this week when he is inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
Andrew Zilch, a Litchfield High School graduate, made his life out in California as a television producer and film screenwriter. He has worked on many shows and studios in his line of work, even getting to work under award-winning director Steven Spielberg.
It all started in Litchfield.
“The fondest memories I have of Litchfield High School were the connections I made with people,” Zilch said. “Not just friends, but some influential teachers as well. I have a lot of fond memories of my time making music. I was a trumpet player in all the bands and participated in the marching band and marching band tours. That was all very memorable.”
Zilch got into music after seeing the Litchfield indoor marching band concert with his mother.
“I remember being blown away by the music the high school band was making,” he said. “It inspired me to pick up a trumpet and eventually try and be part of that.”
With his love of music also came a love of movies.
“When I was in school, my friends and I always enjoyed playing around with old VHS camcorders, and making silly movies and filming ourselves,” he said. “And so I think I got the bug a little bit from that.”
Zilch graduated in 1995 from Litchfield High School and pursued his love of movies and filmmaking at Concordia College in Moorhead, where he graduated with a double major in music and filmmaking in 1999.
“I came out of Concordia knowing that I wanted to work in the film and television industry,” he said, “and so I moved to the Twin Cities where I first volunteered and then eventually got paid to work on a couple of independent films that were shooting in the Minneapolis area. That kicked off a 25-year career in that industry.”
He has accomplished much in those 25 years in the film industry. Zilch was the senior TV producer on the Emmy Award-winning “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” team, a recipient of the 2019 Black List honor and worked for numerous studios such as Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. In addition, he’s a proud father and husband.
But each success took time. It wasn’t until Zilch was 10 years into his career that he worked on “Carpool Karaoke.”
“Through industry connection I managed to get an offer to work as a senior producer for the series,” he said. “It was a lot of fun — definitely a lot of crazy experiences with different combinations of celebrities.”
While the work was challenging, Zilch said he met a few celebrities he looked up to such as Jack Black, Martin Short, Lebron James and Metallica, during his time working on the show.
“I was a big metalhead in high school and loved heavy metal music,” he said. “So it was crazy to be able to get to produce a Carpool Karaoke with Metallica.”
But while Zilch has worked on big productions like “Carpool Karaoke” he says there isn’t much of a difference between studio and independent productions.
“There’s not a tremendous difference … other than large studio films have more people and a bigger budget,” he said. “But there is still the same amount of hustle, hard work and dedication required to devote. Both are hard and difficult, but ultimately rewarding.”
Beyond TV production, Zilch writes screenplays, one of which was selected for the Black List, a list of outstanding screenplays that have yet to be produced. Scripts are voted on by industry professionals and Zilch said his script ‘Wayward” received enough attention that he was voted onto the list, which was a “great honor” for him.
Outside of his work, Zilch spends time with his wife, Abby, and two kids, Quincy and Evan.
“It’s super rewarding to be a dad and watch my kids get curious about learning,” he said. “I’m excited to see them eventually take the step beyond school.”
Zilch said while he doesn’t know if his kids will follow in his footsteps, it hasn’t stopped him from helping those who are interested in the field.
“Along the way, in my career, I’ve had a lot of generous support from industry professionals who have helped me learn, taught me the ropes and given me incredible advice along the way,” he said. “And I’m always trying to give back in that way to young, aspiring people trying to break into the industry by connecting them to seasoned industry veterans and giving people a leg up if there’s an opportunity.”
But to Zilch, connections can only take you so far. So he advises Litchfield students to not dismiss their goals as unrealistic or unachievable. He believes that small, daily actions can get the job done.
“That advice applies mostly in my work as a screenwriter where the idea of writing a full-length movie seems incredibly intimidating,” he said. “But I’ve learned over the years that if I just write one paragraph, or even one sentence in a day, that’s more progress over what I had done the day before. And so, eventually, enough of that can add up to a completed screenplay. There are a lot of small daily things — incremental actions that can be taken that will eventually add up to something great.”
