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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
Fillmore County Fair Premium Section Inside this issue
Mabel manhole project in doubt page
8
Monday, June 18, 2018
“Full House” for the Canton City Council page
14
Volume 33 Issue 39
Peterson bandstand, athletic fields page
16
Spring Valley South Park to ban dogs? page
23
Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Justin Ward: Worldclass bullfighter
Rushford preps for service for fallen WWII native By K irsten Zoellner kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The brief Monday, June 11 Rushford Council meeting focused on just three agenda items. One notable update to the council was details of an upcoming ceremony honoring fallen soldier and Rushford native Joseph Morris Johnson. The navy seaman served on the USS Oklahoma and was killed in action at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Johnson was just 22 when he was killed. He was initially interred in a mass grave at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Johnson’s remains were recently recovered and are being returned to his family in Rushford. A
funeral is scheduled for July 7 with burial in the Rushford Lutheran Cemetery. Specifics for the day are still in the planning stages, but it’s expected that the Rushford Legion Post 94, which is partly named in honor of Johnson, will host a service at the new Veterans Memorial Park, weather permitting. The city is expecting representatives from the U.S. Navy and The Office of Veterans Affairs present for the service. Todd James, Commander of Legion Post 94, is in charge of planning the events. “This is a big deal,” said Councilor Jim O’Donnell. “A very big deal,” added Mayor Chris Hallum. See WWII NATIVE Page 5
Lanesboro school staff participate in ALICE training By H annah Wingert
Justin Ward on his way to a $10,000 bullfighting title. By R ich Wicks rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Photo by Todd Brewer approaches. The second type, freestyle bullfighting, is a oneon-one situation between a bull and the athlete, with no protection. After about five years of protection bullfighting, Justin says this year he decided to try freestyle, and, “It all started with me going to a development camp in San Bernardino, Calif. It’s a school where they teach you how to fight Mexican fighting bulls.” He explained that these bulls are specially bred for speed and aggression. “And from there,” he adds, “I got selected to go See WARD Page 2
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Conventional wisdom says that anyone trying out a new sport will “take their lumps” for quite a while before they achieve any type of success. But Justin Ward is not an average athlete. And while he continues to take his lumps (literally), he’s also quickly found success charging at him like an angry bull. Justin graduated from MabelCanton High School in 2014, and then went on to graduate from Dickinson State College earlier this year with a degree in Agricultural Business. His
current “day job” is working as a ranch hand in Richardton, N. Dak. While in high school, Justin participated in rodeo, and that continued when he went to college. Justin said he was riding bulls at rodeos, and then went to a couple of rodeos and was told that they needed someone to be a “protection bullfighter,” so he stepped in and tried it, and liked it. Justin explained that there are two types of bullfighting in the U.S. Protection bullfighters are those who distract the bull, when a rider has fallen off. These are the bullfighters that sometime jump in or behind a barrel for safety when the bull
hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The staff of the Lanesboro school district recently took part in an ALICE training. Despite the name, ALICE training has nothing to do with someone named Alice. The letters stand for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, and the program trains people how to react appropriately in an active shooter situation. The training was mandatory for all Lanesboro district staff, including the daycare employees. Steve Dudeck, a National Trainer for ALICE, conducted the training which included a class and active scenarios. Dudeck, an Iowa native, was a state trooper for 25 years before becoming certified as an ALICE
instructor in 2011. He noted that any doubt someone has about the effectiveness of the program is usually assuaged by the time they’re done with the training. “It’s very well received,” he said. The program takes a proactive response to active shooter situations and teaches appropriate reactions which go beyond the traditional lock-down procedures. It has been instituted in over 4,200 schools across the nation as well as in approximately 1,300 healthcare facilities, 480 churches, 950 colleges, 760 government buildings, and over 3,000 businesses. Over one million people, including law enforcement, have been trained in the program so far.