Outside Looking In
In last week's article about Lisa Gillund competing in the Boston Marathon, I pointed out she was likely the first female from Minneota to accomplish that feat.
I felt I had done my homework enough to mention it in the headline and story. I spent several hours checking back issues of the Mascot (women have been able to run the Boston Marathon for the past 50 years) and I also obtained a list from officials of the Boston Marathon in which the list was broken down by state, so it took some time to see if any females from Minneota had ever run the marathon there.
There have been a few males from Minneota that have run the Boston Marathon. But there was no mention of a female from this city having run before Gillund.
I soon found out that at least one other Minneota native did indeed run the Boston Marathon. In fact, Darla (Neisius) Vaughn ran it twice in the early 1990s. The reason she did not show up in the list was that she was living in Amhurst, NH and listed that as her city.
Darla's stepbrother, Roger Kaas of Minneota, pointed out the fact about his stepsister. Darla graduated in 1981 from Minneota High School, but never ran track here. She got into running later when she moved out to Amhurst, New Hampshire with her husband, Kurt, whom she met while attending Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN.
Besides running the Boston Marathon twice, Darla also ran the New York City Marathon, the Cape Cod Marathon and the Hartford Marathon.
"She said her knees are still paying for it," Kaas told the Mascot.
During one of her Boston Marathon runs, Darla and two friends raised over $10,000 for the High Hopes Foundation, which provides life-enhancing experiences to New Hampshire's chronically ill children.
We congratulate both Darla and Lisa for accomplishing this rare feat.
Spring Blowout
The Spring Blowout will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bethel Fellowship Church on Saturday, May 7 with a craft/vendor show, silent auction and BBQ lunch.
Several area businesses are also involved in the Spring Blowout, including One More Time Thrift Store, Arched Door, B Lenore, J's Dream, This and That Recreated and the Mascot.
See the ad for this event elsewhere in this edition.
Garage sales
There will be several residents holding a garage or yard sale for Minneota "City-wide Garage Sale" on Friday and Saturday, May 6 and 7. There is even one homeowner starting their garage sale on Thursday, May 5.
Several garage sales are listed in the Classifieds section of last week's paper, and appear in a separate ad elsewhere in this edition.
Honor your grad
Parents, grandparents or other relatives wishing to acknowledge a Minneota High School graduating senior can place an ad in our upcoming graduation issue.
We will be including a sample in this week's edition of the paper. We had a great response to this last year so we decided to offer it again this year.
Ads will vary in sizes and prices to fit any budget.
Please call or stop in the Mascot for more information, or email me at scott@thomabooks.com.
Senior photos
The Mascot is currently working on getting the class pictures of each of the Minneota High School seniors graduating on May 21 for our special issue coming up.
The graduation issue will include the senior's photo, name of parents, and post high school plans.
To date, we have just over half of the senior pictures. We need the photos emailed to me as soon as possible. Please email a head shot to scott@thomabooks.com, or call me with any questions at 320-894-6007.
Window sign
The front window of the Mascot will soon be displayed with the paper's name, hours and phone number.
Because the Mascot is only open three days a week, many people expressed confusion and frustration on what times and days we are open. The days and times do appear on the front door, but is hard to see from passersby.
This sign should be visible from your vehicle and will include the phone number of both the office and my cell phone.
There is also a secure metal box outside our front door for anyone wishing to drop off payments, story ideas, flyers or anything else when the office is closed.