Local saddle club members earn year-end honors
Two local members of the Rock River Wranglers Saddle Club earned year-end accolades during a Jan. 16 drive-up awards ceremony through the Minnesota Prairie Saddle Club Association.
Andrea Johnson, Beaver Creek, and Mavis Fodness, Hardwick, competed in the 35-and-older age group.
Johnson showed Shez Zippin Doubles and earned third place in halter mares and fifth in showmanship.
Fodness, with Obviously Bar Scotch, earned firsts in halter mares, English pleasure and English equitation, fourth in showmanship, and third in western pleasure and horsemanship.
Riders competed for year-end points during the 11 MPSCA open shows conducted in 2020, including the RRW event in July.
City of Luverne employee honored
City of Luverne wastewater employee Darrel Ykema has been named Operator of the Year by the Minnesota Wastewater Operators Association for 2020.
Ykema works in the laboratory for the city and has 14 years of experience in the wastewater field.
He’s worked for the city for 26 years and now takes care of the wastewater sampling and testing.
He is certified for fecal coliform, CBOD, pH, total suspended solids and chlorine. He also analyzes wastewater samples from pond systems in 10 surrounding communities.