This Day in History

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Compiled by Jean Lundquist

Band performs sold-out show at Verizon Wireless Center

Dec. 22, 2014

In December 2014, the five-man a capella band Home Free was still riding high after they won the NBC competition “The Voice.” With two hometown members, Adam and Chris Rupp, they had performed in Mankato before in local churches and the like. But the Home Free Christmas Concert was slated for the Civic Center. It was a solid-out success.

The 5,000-seat arena was full. When they initially took the stage, they asked for the house lights to be turned up so they could see all the people in the seats. The Free Press reported it was the largest crowd the band had attracted as a headliner. The band continues today, though Adam Rupp is now pursuing a solo career and has been replaced in the group.

Not so happy trails

Dec. 8, 2000

“Supporters of the Ney Preserve think the terms ‘snowmobile trail’ and ‘nature preserve’ don’t mesh.” Three of the five county commissioners on the board at the time disagreed, and voted to allow the Le Sueur County Snowmobile Association’s request to open the Ney Nature Center to snowmobiles.

They assured doubters that a 20-mph speed limit, a dedicated route and self-policing would minimize any problems, and voted to allow a one-year trial. Today, the Ney Nature Center’s website encourages snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing on dedicated trails but does not provide a dedicated trail for snowmobiles.

Friends of Hiniker leave nothing to chance

Dec. 1, 1980

In 1972, the U.S. Corps of Engineers looked at Hiniker Pond, on the northwest side of Mankato, as a means for flood control, not for recreation. But The Friends of Hiniker Pond Inc., set up a six-member board of directors and worked to change that viewpoint.

Instead the Corps proposed a public bathhouse, a graded beach, a parking lot, picnic tables and sewer and water services along with a plan to channel storm sewer water to an old channel that runs around the 18-acre pond rather than into it. The Friends added the requests that asked for no additives to the pond water, no change in the gravel paths to the pond and no oilbased surfaces that drain into the pond.

Today, the efforts of The Friends are realized in a beautiful recreation area for anglers, swimmers, kayakers and paddle boarders.

Christmas

with

Saturday,December11at7:30pm

BethlehemLutheranChurch

720South2ndStreet,Mankato $15GeneralAdmission—$10Students