Outstanding weather, great events, huge crowds highlight weekend festival
Thousands of bullheads (13,000+) were served, the rain and clouds stayed away, the temperatures were perfect, queens were crowned, the carnival returned, and fun was had by all.
The 2025 Waterville Bullhead Days Celebration held June 6 through June 8, was considered by many as one of the best in the 60-year history of the festival.
One of the highlight events of the weekend was the Friday night crowning of Miss Waterville and Junior Miss Waterville.

The Waterville Indians and Morristown Morries combined for 29 runs and 32 hits in an 18-11 win by the Indians Sunday, June 1 in amateur baseball.
There were a ton of hitting stars for both teams. Waterville had seven players with multi-hit games, led by Josh Cook with five hits. Nolan Wetzel reached base six times, and Nolan Grose hit three doubles.
Doug Harmon had two hits and three RBI while Kolin Rients and Ben Lamont each had two hits and two RBI for the Morries. Brent Vollbrecht walked three times.

Seven WEM track and field standouts will be representing the school district at the 2025 Class A State Meet Tuesday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 11 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.
Three of these Buccaneers will be making their third appearance at State. One is making his second trip. Three are making their first trip. All athletes advanced after placing either first or second at the Section 2A Meet held Saturday, May 31 at Mankato West.

2024 was once again a rough year for the City of Waterville due to the record-breaking flooding with ravaged the community.
But thanks to the efforts of many people, the community was kept safe and the city continued to operate.
Among those who had their hands in the stabilization of the city were Waterville city employees, city council, firefighters, police officers, and many, many volunteers.

The 60th Annual Waterville Bullhead Days Celebration will begin with the coronation of Miss Waterville 2025 on Friday, June 6 at 7 p.m at the Waterville Baptist Church. Admission is five dollars for this 68th Miss Waterville and Junior Miss Pageant.
Miss Waterville 2024 Claire Elness and her attendant Ryley Henning will preside over their last pageant.
The candidate who is crowned Miss Waterville, along with the 1st Princess, will represent the community of Waterville by participating in area parades and celebrations, attending area pageants throughout the next 12 months.

Rod Reifsteck and Duane Anderson were first time honorees receiving the Quilt of Valor at the 3rd District Convention held in Forest Lake two weekends ago.
American Legion Veterans are given this honor as deserved. It was pretty rare to have two members of the same Post receive this award. (From Elysian 311) at the District level.
Quilt of Valor have reached 245,000 service members and veterans, showing our gratitude and valuing their contribution to our freedoms.”
The Quilted Stars from both quilts were sewn by the Elysian Unit 311 members...

It is a milestone celebration for the City of Morristown this weekend, with the 40th annual Morristown Dam Days celebration starting Thursday, May 29 and running through June 1.
The first event of the weekend will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with a Bean Bag Tournament at the Morristown American Legion Pavilion.
The activities continue Friday, May 30 with a Euchre Tournament at the Morristown Community Center at 1:30 p.m. Local food stands open at 5 p.m. as does the carnival - Midwest Rides.

Two WEM boys track and field athletes won Section 2A, North Sub-Section Championships Thursday, May 22 at Central Public Schools in Norwood.
Sophomore Griffin Atherton won the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash, and junior Grady Grohman won the shot put.
These two along with junior Talen Taylor and sophomore Wyatt Jans will represent the Buccaneers at the Section 2A Track and Field Championships Saturday, May 31 at Mankato West.

Senior Ashlyn Pelant won two titles and junior Addison Condon won one at the Section 2A North Sub-Section Track and Field Meet held Thursday, May 22 at Central Public School in Norwood.
These three along with seniors Loryn Caldwell, McKenna Schuster, and Tatum Richards, and seventh grader Rachel Mielke will represent the Buccaneers at the Section 2A Meet Saturday, May 31 at Mankato West High School.
Pelant picked up wins in the shot put with a distance of 38-feet, 1-inch, one of her top efforts of the year and the discus, with a distance of 112-feet, 1-inch.

The 40th Annual Morristown Dam Days Celebration will begin with the crowning of Miss Morristown 2025 on Friday, May 30 at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 404 W Franklin St., Morristown at 5 p.m.
Miss Morristown 2024, Loryn Caldwell, will crown Miss Morristown 2025 and share her memories of the past year. There will be special guests’ appearances by Miss Minnesota Emily Schumacher and Minneapolis Aquatennial Ambassadors.

A total of 59 seniors will don caps, gowns, and tassels in anticipation of graduating from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School at 7 p.m. Friday, May 23 in the Waterville gymnasium.
Of these 59 seniors, 41 have been named honor students.
The Class of 2025 has three students who have achieved a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). They are Madeline Heuss, Kaedyn Judd, and Grace LaFrance.

Area communities will honor their local veterans during Memorial Day programs Monday, May 26.
Waterville will hold their program at 8:15 a.m. Elysian will follow with their program at 9:30 a.m. Morristown will hold their program at 11 a.m. Kilkenny will have programs at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m.
The Memorial Day Ceremony in Waterville will be held at the Memorial Park on the corner of E Hoosac St and S. 3rd Street.

With a split of two games Sunday, May 18, the WEM girls flag football team tied for the Sub-District Championship.
The Lady Bucs lost to Fairmont, 26-13, but defeated Lakeville South, 24-21, avenging an earlier season 40-14 loss to South.
South, Fairmont, and WEM each ended their Sub-District schedule with a 4-2 record. Fairmont was 6-2 overall while South and WEM were 4-4 overall.
In the loss to Fairmont, Alenka Jans completed 24-of-38 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

The WEM baseball team is heading into the Section Playoffs with some positive performances the last two weeks.
The Bucs have won three of their last four games, including a 7-0 forfeit victory against NRHEG and a 10-3 win over Waseca Saturday, May 17. They are now 2-8 in the Gopher Conference and 4-12 overall.
In the game against NRHEG, following the loss, officials realized the Panther pitched had already pitched during the week and exceeded the number of innings pitched allowed.

The City of Elysian has installed a new fishing pier at Lake Francis Park. The purchase of this pier was made possible with a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Grant – Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences).
Get Out MORE is a historic, one-time investment of $150 million to help ensure Minnesotans of all abilities and interests enjoy a world-class recreation system, whichever outdoor experience they choose. The pier was designed by Hewitt Docks and installed by The Lake Boys of Cleveland, MN.

Four games in five days for the WEM softball team ended in two wins and two losses for the Lady Bucs.
All four games could have been won by either team, with all the games finishing with a one run winner.
WEM defeated Medford Thursday, May 8 by a 5-4 score. The next day WEM defeated Maple River, 8-7, in a non-conference game. Nicollet edged the Bucs, 4-3, Saturday, May 10. Monday, May 12 Blooming Prairie pulled out a 9-8 win.