JANUARY: Therapy dog Tenley was the center of attention during a visit to Erin Eichner’s kindergarten class at Lake Ripley Elementary. Tenley was one of three therapy dogs who visited the school as part of a new program in 2023.
FEBRUARY: Greg Gilbertson and his wife, Margi, hold the plaque he received in recognition of his 40 years of service during the Litchfield Fire Department’s annual banquet.
MARCH: Brennan and Jessica Rosenow opened Half Bushel Brewing in 2023 in downtown Litchfield.
APRIL: The five face-off circles on Litchfield Civic Arena’s hockey floor provided the perfect zones for five age groups of the Easter egg hunt. Inclement weather forced the egg hunt — traditionally held outdoors at Central Park — inside to the Civic Arena, but it did nothing to dampen enthusiasm for the event.
MAY: Andraya Heflin and Emily Kruger prepare to plant one of many varieties they and their classmates planted last week during a field day at the Forest City Waterfowl Production Area.
MAY: Caps filled the air at the conclusion of Litchfield High School’s 2023 commencement ceremony in the school gym. One hundred fourteen seniors received diplomas during the ceremony.
JULY: Members of Girl Scout Troop 3040 stand, along with leader Sarah McCormick and MnDOT representative Justin Heinze, under the crosswalk sign they worked to have installed at U.S. Highway 12 and Holcombe Avenue. The troop worked for more than a year to get the signs approved and in place.
AUGUST: Meeker County 4-H youth development director Cassidy Martin, center, stands with Bonnie Giese and Mimi Davis, who put together the 38-board display celebrating the 100th anniversary of the county’s 4-H organization. The display was set up in the old barn during the Meeker County Fair this past weekend.
SEPTEMBER: Jeff Wollin answers questions posed by FOX 9 sports anchor Jim Rich during an in-game interview as part of the television station’s Town Ball Tour visit to Optimist Park in Litchfield earlier this summer.
OCTOBER: Odie Larson checks the rear tire of a bike for proper inflation, one of the basic maintenance steps fifth-graders learned during the bicycle unit taught by Tyler Storm.
NOVEMBER: Veterans representing various branches of service and Litchfield’s American Legion and VFW posts salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of a Veterans Day program Friday at Lake Ripley Elementary School.
DECEMBER: Lake Ripley Elementary teacher Mary Carlson and third-grader Michael Edwardson play a game of “guess the sign” as part of one of the school’s American Sign Language club activities.
The past year held plenty of news for the Litchfield area, and the Independent Review covered much of it.
Among our most read stories from 2023 were those that featured new businesses, like the Fieldgate Cheese Store, Captain’s Club and Half Bushel Brewing. Stories about baseball — specifically those about Litchfield being co-host to the state amateur tournament — also garnered high readership. But there were many others that caught readers’ attention, as well.
The photos above capture some of that news, while additional pages inside this week’s Independent Review recount other top stories from the past year. With the speed at which things change in today’s world, it can be difficult to remember all that’s happened in our day, much less the past year. So we hope our Year in Review will provide a helpful look back.
Additional coverage, pages 5-8.
Meeker County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting death of a woman in Dassel Township.
According to a news release, the sheriff’s office received a 911 call at 10 a.m. Thursday from a man who said he had shot his wife. He requested a law enforcement response.
Deputies responded to a home in the 22000 block of 713th Avenue in Dassel Township and found a woman dead. Deputies took a man into custody.
Two children who were in the home at the time were unhurt, according to the release.
The investigation continues, and the sheriff’s office said that additional information, including the identities of the people involved will be released at a later time. The sheriff’s office reported there was no threat to the public.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Litchfield Police are assisting with the investigation.
With a new year comes a new business in downtown Litchfield.
Sweet Escape, the ice cream and gift shop at 226 Sibley Ave. N., announced Dec. 1 it would be selling to a new owner and the the shop would be getting a new name. But the change also comes with some familiarity.
Hannah Groth, who has operated a catering business out of the kitchen in the building, purchased the business. And she has named her new venture Papa’s Sweet Tooth in honor of her grandfather.
Papa’s Sweet Tooth will continue to sell the ice cream and candy familar to Sweet Escape customers, but she plans to add her own flair and products to the store.
“I will be bringing in some more nostalgic candy,” she said. “Because I think I want just the look of the shop to be a little bit kind of vintage-eclectic — just because it is going to be called Papa’s Sweet Tooth. And just bringing in some cool old-school candy that some people haven’t maybe seen in a while.”
Groth graduated from culinary school in 2019 and started working at a bakery that same year. It wasn’t long before Sweet Escape owners John and Terri Dyer noticed Groth’s work and asked her to make ice cream cakes for them.
“So I would use their ice cream (and) decorate ice cream cakes,” Groth said. “And then, I would say probably a year after that, they told me that I should come check out their location in Litchfield, because they have a really big commercial kitchen in the back of the building. I was currently looking for a kitchen to rent or just to find a kitchen somewhere because I wanted to start my own catering company.”
Groth set up her business, Any Thyme Catering, in the back of the Litchfield store and went to work. But Groth wasn’t done.
“Probably three, four months ago, John came to me asking if I would want to kind of buy the Sweet Escape from him, change the name and run my own little sweet shop,” she said. “And I never thought that this was something I would ever do, (but) I have always wanted to have a storefront. I thought it would always be super cool to sell cakes and cupcakes, but never really thought that at this point in my life I would be able to do that.”
In the span of a few months Groth was ready to take over the store — she had her ideas and inspiration ready to go, but she wasn’t giving herself much time to put them in place.
“I will be opening up the sweet shop on January 5th,” she said. “The last day for the Sweet Escape will be New Year’s Eve, and then I’ve given myself a week to turn everything around and start that Friday.”
Although the shop will open on Jan. 5, Groth said until winter is over the shop will keep its same hours.
“Winter is not the best for an ice cream shop in Minnesota. Once we get a little bit of warm weather, we’re going to be open five or six days a week,” she said.
Even with restricted hours, Groth is excited to get the business up and going.
“I really want a venue where I can display cakes, cupcakes, and I think my sweet shop is a great place for that,” she said. “Because we don’t have a, just like, standalone bakery. We have the Walmart, we have the Family Fare — and they obviously provide good product — but I want to have a place where people can come for a really good custom cake for birthdays, anniversaries, wedding or anything.”
Bryan Demarais
A Dassel woman is dead and her husband is in custody following a shooting incident Thursday at a Dassel Township home.
Kayla Demarais, 29, died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. Bryan Demarais, 35, was arrested by Meeker County Sheriff’s Office deputies on second degree homicide charges. He was being held in Meeker County Jail pending a first court appearance, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office reported that it received a 911 call at 10 a.m. Thursday from a man who said he shot his wife and requested a law enforcement response. When deputies arrived at the home in the 22000 block of 713th Avenue in Dassel Township, they found Kayla Demarais dead.
Two children in the home at the time of the shooting were not injured and were placed in protective custody.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, according to Sheriff Brian Cruze.
