Thanks for support

To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the community of Fairmont, many businesses, Chamber of Commerce, Sentinel and the outstanding school system for fantastic support of the many wonderful programs for our students.

I’ve chosen to retire from coaching after 27 years but will always be there for the many young people and their families that I have been beyond blessed to coach. Because of the collaboration of many facets in this community, we are developing awesome contributing citizens with many thanks for your continued support.

It was great to bring the fall Pep Fest back downtown to Citizens Park where we can get our businesses involved again. Thanks again for the constant support over the years and look forward to your continued support. God bless you all and look forward to seeing you all at our school activities.

Deb Heinrich

Fairmont

Beware, grandparents

To the Editor:

On Aug. 15, we received a phone call about our grandchild and asking for our help to get the grandchild out of jail. We asked if this was our grandchild’s name. The answer was yes and went on to say that only one phone call was allowed. We were instructed to bring $2,000 right away so the child could be released. We asked if we could come to the jail and talk to the arresting officer.

We were told it was either Mr. Brooks or Mr. Green. “Officer” Green answered and said our grandchild was under a gag order and had only one phone call and ours was the one call. He said he was from the state police department. I asked for his badge number, which he gave. He said he was not the arresting officer.

We told him we could come to the jail and he said, “No, we don’t have a cash box here. You will have to go through the ‘bail’ department.”

We asked for details of the arrest. He said our grandchild was with a friend in a car that neither one owned. The friend blew through a stop sign so the officer stopped them this morning. There were drugs in the vehicle.

Then they told us the amount of bail was $4,000. We told him we did not have that kind of money readily available. He said, “Go to the bank and get a cash advance.”

I pushed for more details of the arrest and he said he was not the arresting officer, so he would have to get the details while putting us on hold.

In the meantime while I was waiting on the phone, my husband phoned our grandchild at work and talked to our grandchild. By then, I was disconnected from the “hold” call. I quickly called the Martin County Law Enforcement Center and notified them of the call. They said it was a scam and not to follow through. They also said to tell our friends and relatives about this miserable phone scam.

These two people were very pushy. The “grandchild” was crying and asking for help from us right away. The “officer” became very brusque and insistent. We thought it was strange that the officers were identified as “Mr.” and the child’s voice didn’t sound quite right. Another red flag was the amount of bail increasing from $2,000 to $4,000. So, beware.

Lela and Everett Hanning

Granada

Proud to call it home

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Fairmont Soccer Association and the boys and girls soccer teams for Fairmont Area High School, I wish to convey our great thanks to the city of Fairmont, Nick Lardy and the Parks Department.

The Jeffery Kot Soccer Fields are, first and foremost, a city park. The city of Fairmont Parks Department does a phenomenal job of maintaining the entire complex, from the fields to the restrooms.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, the Fairmont Soccer Association hosted scrimmages for high school soccer teams. We received consistent praise for the quality of the complex and the condition of the fields from our visiting guests. The most common comment being, “Why is this here?” Meaning, why is something of this high quality in Fairmont? The answer that we give is that the city has done a wonderful job of committing to the park and we, the Soccer Association, have tried to be good stewards.

Really and truly, this is the finest soccer complex in southern Minnesota. We are proud to call it our soccer home and we are thankful for all of those who support us and maintain the facility.

Matt Nielsen, president

Fairmont Soccer Association

Cleaning up the lakes

To the Editor:

Ward Park in Fairmont was a busy place on Aug. 10. It was a staging area for a lake cleanup organized by Fairmont Lakes Foundation, Inc. You may have seen the truck sponsored by the city of Fairmont that was filled to capacity with debris removed from Sisseton and George lakes.

The success of these events hinges greatly on the volunteers who are willing to pitch in. Pheasants Forever, the Fairmont Fire Department Dive Team, city of Fairmont, board members from Fairmont Lakes Foundation, Inc., along with individual community members made up a contingent of 40 volunteers who put in about three hours of gathering debris from our lakes.

A special thanks to Pheasants Forever for its members making this a family effort. You really made this stewardship opportunity a teachable moment. Also, thank you to Dr. John and Donna Holstine who provided ice cream treats for the volunteers.

Michael J. Katzenmeyer,

chairman

Fairmont Lakes Foundation, Inc.