Honeybees buzzed freely at Mark Lease's pollinator plot in the city of Litchfield. The land has drawn in thousands of pollinators in its third year of existence.
A garden spider sat at the center of its web within the pollinator plot, waiting for its prey. The spider is just one of several different creatures that have found a home within the land.
An aerial view of Mark Lease’s pollinator plot in Litchfield shows a vast space dedicated to helping pollinators.
Full of milkweed, bergamot and many more plants specific to drawing in pollinators, five acres in the city limits of Litchfield have brought in not only pollinators, but birds and other wildlife.
Mark Lease is the property owner of three-and-one-half acres dedicated to pollinators. Teeming with plants specific for successful pollination, the land is home to a variety of wildlife.
Three years ago, Mark Lease took on quite a buzz-worthy project.
South of the train tracks that run through Litchfield and west of First District Association, 3.5 acres of Lease’s private property have been transformed into a field of yellow, purple and green flowers and grasses. It’s a pollinator plot, made distinct by the consistent buzzing heard upon approaching the field, as bees venture from one flower to the next while Monarch butterflies flutter overhead.
“It’s unique to have this in the city limits,” Lease said. “It did OK last year, but this year it just bloomed like crazy.”
The pollinator plot, now in the downward swing as colors begin to fade in the August heat, was a collective effort through Name-less Creek Prairie Farm and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. The project, which cost around $3,000, has come a long way since its inception, and even longer from the time Lease purchased the property in 1992.
The property, which is an old farm site, has undergone a Cinderella-esque transformation. What used to be full of buckthorn and other invasive plants now brings all types of wildlife to the stretch of Litchfield land. Once the land was cleared, members of the community came forward in the latter part of 2015 to assist in planting the seeds. Now that everything has exploded in color this year, Lease said he not only sees pollinators, but pheasants and deer as well.
“It’s a fantastic project,” he said. “I believe that if you build it, they will come.”
WHY POLLINATORS?
Lease’s project took off right around the same time as the “pollinator craze.”
According to Jon Fredrickson of Name-less Creek Prairie Farm of Kimball, assisting Lease in the provision of pollinator plants came at the peak of a noticeable population decline in pollinators. Especially the decline of Monarchs.
“It’s about public education,” Fredrickson said regarding those who are curious about getting into pollination.
According to an article in “Science Magazine” written by Jason Tylianakis on the subject of loss in pollinator populations, three-quarters of all food crops, which satisfies a majority of food demand across the world, somewhat depend on pollination by insects. A widespread decline in pollinator populations have led to a global “pollination crisis.”
Specifically, concerns for a decline in honeybees and Monarch butterflies has led to an increased conservation effort across the world.
Lease’s project hasn’t seen the end of this effort either. Lease hopes to plant fruit trees — specifically American plums, which Fredrickson described as a lost resource for pollinators — in the hopes of continuing to be a “collecting point for pollinators.”
Lease said someday he may invest his time in procuring honey boxes, but the time consumption on that will have to wait until retirement.
BURNING FOR THE CAUSE
The next chapter in Lease’s pollinator plot story involves a controlled burn, which he and Fredrickson said is just another step in the maintenance phase.
“We’re aiming for spring or fall to germinate the seeds,” Lease said. “It’ll give it a clean slate.”
That clean slate will come in due time, when proper precautions are taken and everything is planned and organized to a tee. With the plot in the center of a residential area, it will take time to find participants to assist in the burn and what route to take with it.
Lease mentioned that there’s been talk about breaking the plot up into four quadrants to add control over the burning process, but nothing has been finalized.
The burn, Fredrickson said, is one method of maintenance off of which prairies thrive. Another is movement.
“For this, you need disturbance,” Fredrickson said. Constant disturbance acts as a natural method of spreading seeds and recycling nutrients. Fredrickson said the main tools used nowadays in maintaining this degree of planting is by using a brush hog — which cuts down the plants — and prescribed fire.
But the controlled burn is just another topic in the public education discussion. Lease and Fredrickson both agreed that the burn will bring back a revitalized pollinator plot, and the project will carry on for as long as maintenance is provided.
“It really is a special project,” Lease said.
Cremation services are now available through Johnson-Hagglund. The crematory at the new facility makes the funeral home the sole cremation provider in Meeker County.
The reception area at the new Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home offers plenty of seating opportunities for clients during visitations.
One of several gathering areas allow for guests to enjoy a catered meal and company during funeral services. One design feature at the new facility includes technology enhancements, which allows for slideshows and video tributes to play during services.
An arrangement and planning room give clients a chance to view all options available to meet their needs.
A room dedicated to caskets and urns allow clients to find what they need during their planning process.
The staff of Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home is finally in the process of moving out of that prominent white house on the corner of south Sibley Avenue and Weisel Street.
As of Monday, staff members were saying their final goodbyes to the facility that had been their place of business since the 1930s. Now Johnson-Hagglund will be serving clients at 125 south Armstrong Avenue with a space designed to better serve the needs of the community.
In recent years, several changes in funeral service signaled that it was time to invest in a new building to accommodate the needs and expectations of today’s families, a news release from Johnson-Hagglund said. Construction began October of last year, and a grand opening celebration with a ribbon-cutting and flag-raising ceremony marked the beginning of a new era for Litchfield’s sole funeral service provider.
“It was great,” Ray Bartlett, funeral director and manager, said about the grand opening Sunday afternoon. “It was overwhelming how many people came. The turnout was fantastic.”
Bartlett estimated 800 attendees walked through the doors of the “bright and shiny” building to tour the facility, ask questions, learn about the design concepts and enjoy a meal with community members.
The new facility offers a more accessible layout for handicapped visitors as well as off-street parking. Other perks to the new facility include a multi-functional reception room, a chapel, comfortable seating areas, more space for visitation and therefore a better control of privacy for grieving families.
“In the old space, a visitation would consume the entire building,” Bartlett said, adding that the old layout would not allow for multiple events. He said the new space would open up scheduling for the staff, offering the ability to hold visitations while simultaneously meeting the needs of others.
“We as a staff take comfort in keeping the confidentiality of clients,” he said
Beyond that, Johnson-Hagglund is now the only crematorium in Meeker County.
“Our clientele dictated that decision,” Bartlett said about the addition of offering cremation services. “With more people choosing cremation, the new building will allow for us to do it right there. Our hopes are that it will give people the peace of mind that their loved ones never leave our care.”
The additional service, along with the move, will be a learning experience, according to Bartlett, but the staff is excited for the transition.
“It will take adjustments,” he said, “but, it’s a big excitement.”
When doors swing open to students at Litchfield public schools in September, a police officer will also be in attendance.
Assigning a full-time officer to the school has been a topic of discussion for months. A contract approved by the Litchfield City Council on Aug. 6 will begin action to put a school cop’s boots on the ground.
The officer would be a city employee, but the school will reimburse the city $50,000 per year to hire a full-time school resource officer, or SRO.
The school will also provide office space. That amount won’t come close to covering the full cost of a salaried officer, equipment, benefits, training and other expenses that could total $114,000 to $115,000 per year, city officials pointed out.
But $50,000 is “well within the line” of what other cities with SROs are receiving, City Administrator Dave Cziok said, and the agreement represents the “best-fit contract that can be supplied to both boards.”
As Litchfield Police Chief Pat Fank told the council, his officers have already been spending an increasing amount of time at the schools in recent years.
Officers are often called to respond to criminal activity and motor vehicle accidents at or near school property. A growing desire to have police take part in education (such as the fifth-grade DARE program) and on student-related teams, especially for young people with mental health and/or probation issues, have officers on school property already. There are also frequent requests for traffic control and security at games, prom and other events.
Fank told the council that police presence at the school sometimes totals 20 to 30 hours per week. During the summer months, it is significantly less, but his department could then use the SRO to fill in for other officers’ vacations and for seasonal patrol in the parks.
Fank pointed out that the school will be using an SRO approximately 70 percent of the time, but that he would have access to an extra officer 100 percent of the time the SRO is on duty.
Litchfield Public Schools’ Superintendent Beckie Simenson told the council that an SRO will not replace school personnel as chaperones and supervisors at events but would add police presence. The officer’s schedule would be flexible enough to permit his/her attendance at some games and events, and if an SRO is needed more than 40 hours per week, the school would incur additional charges.
Several city councilors noted that state or other grant money to subsidize SROs may become available.
To hire a 10th police officer, Cziok said, the city’s 2019 budget and levy would need to be increased, or re-allocations would need to be made. The resolution approved by the council calls for a one-year contract with an option for the city to extend it for another year, pending review.
