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It’s
Pork ! Month
“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
October is Pork Month Inside this issue
County land acquisitions page
9
Monday, October 9, 2017
Kingsland OK’s facilities plan page
13
The whole place is Ace page
Volume 33 Issue 3
Fountain able to dissolve plan with Pollution Control
21
page
24
Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Kedron Valley Farm
LaVerne Paulson retires from recycling center
By M ary Whalen
By H annah Wingert
mary@fillmorecountyjournal.com
hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
“Think of your grandchildren. They’re going to appreciate what you do.” That’s one of LaVerne Paulson’s favorite sayings and one he uses frequently. Paulson, a long-time Preston resident and active member of the community, officially retired from his position at the Fillmore County Recycling Center on October 6 after working there for 10 years. Before that, he was a teacher at Fillmore Central for 35 years, taught Driver’s Ed for 40 years, and served as an EMT on the Preston Ambulance Service for 20 years.
See PAULSON Page 2
Harmony teen earns distinguished Eagle Scout rank By Barb Jeffers
Aaron Terbeest, with his first shipment from the hatchery, has opened Kedron Valley Farm in rural Spring Valley, which offers fresh Minnesota grown shrimp to local residents. Photos submitted ture to help maintain water quality.” It is vitally important to keep oxygen in the water, which like in an aquarium means that the water needs to be constantly in motion. The process of moving this idea to a viable business was quite involved. “We researched shrimp farming for about a year; on our own, attending seminars in Iowa, touring other indoor shrimp farms, and hiring a consultant as well,” says Aaron. After a final decision to move forward with their plans, Aaron, Janet, and Larry began making
logistic headway. Aaron mentions, “We contacted Morton Buildings to construct the building, since they had experience with building another shrimp building in Lime Springs, Iowa, at Windy Rock Shrimp. Local carpenter, Tom Ramaker built our production tanks. I helped him but Tom made sense of the plans we received from our consultant and made some useful alterations to the design as well.” Even though work began in September 2016, several conSee KEDRON Page 5
barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com
After years of working toward his goal, Matthew Gregg, of Harmony, Minn., reached the highest advancement rank in Boy Scouting on May 27, 2017, when he became an Eagle Scout. Matthew, 18, the son of Ron and LeAnn Gregg, started in Cub Scouts in first grade and, as his family is very active in scouting, he was also very interested. After a few years he made the decision that he wanted to become an Eagle Scout. In fact, Matthew is the thirteenth member of the Gregg family to become an Eagle Scout. Ron became an Eagle Scout in 1973 when he was only 13 years old and remembers working very hard to accomplish the rank.
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“All of Ron’s brothers have Eagles, his cousins all have Eagles and his nephews have Eagles,” states LeAnn. Matthew’s older brother, Andrew, became an Eagle Scout in 2013. In order to receive the Eagle Scout rank you have to earn merit badges through camp or conventions, according to Matthew. “If you get merit badges you rank higher and higher,” he explains, stating, “you have to go through certain ranks,” until the rank of Eagle Scout is achieved. In Boy Scouts the ranks are Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and then finally Eagle Scout. There are certain requirements to reach the rank of Eagle Scout that can be quite daunting. See GREGG Page 16
Since 1856
Since 1901
Have you heard that Kedron Valley Farm is raising shrimp in Southern Minnesota? This should come as no surprise to area residents hearing that Aaron Terbeest, graduate of Kingsland High School in 2004 and Winona State University in 2009 with a degree in psychology, has ventured into a new kind of farming involving the hatching and growing aquatic animals. Fillmore County has a rich history of cultivating areas of water to produce places suitable for marine life to flourish. The Peterson Hatchery beginnings reach back before the turn of the century. The Fish Hatchery in Lanesboro was established in 1925 and the Spring Valley Trout Farm has been involved in the business of providing a positive environment for fish since the 1940s. Kedron Valley Farm actually began in 2015 as an idea when Aaron and his mother, Janet Webb got “carried away after her husband, Larry Webb, read an article about shrimp farming in Iowa,” says Aaron. “We researched many topics such as shrimp production methods, energy efficient building design, and economic feasibility. After careful consideration, we decided to dive in.” The name Kedron Valley Farm was chosen for the business because, “Kedron Creek runs through the pasture north of the building site,” comments Aaron. “Fittingly, Kedron can be translated to dark or torrential, which reflects what the water looks like in our production tanks. The water is the color of tea because of the beneficial bacteria we nur-
He also worked at Berwood Hill Inn as a gardener for a few years after hanging up his hat as a teacher. When Paulson saw advertisement 10 years ago in the paper looking for a replacement for retiree Sandy Benson at the recycling center, he decided to apply. He had retired from teaching a few years before and was looking for something to fill his time beside his gardening job at Berwood Hill Inn. “Why not give it a shot?” he said. During his 12 hours a week working for the recycling center, Paulson was rarely in his office. He spent time visiting church