Bock Fest burning goat The 2023 Bockfest celebration was one of the warmest on record and not just because of the sunny weather. Toward the end of the celebration Schell’s staff lit a seven-foot tall straw goat on fire. Bockfest has been celebrated at Schell’s Brewery for almost 40 years, but this was the first a burning straw goat was part of the festivities. Based on the response it could become an annual tradition. —Photo by Clay Schuldt (Published March 7, 2023)

Turner National Festival swimming In late July, New Ulm hosted the 2023 American Turner National Festival. The event ran from July 25 through July 29. Turner Members from around the United States came to New Ulm to compete in a variety of athletic and cultural events. Turner members made great use of New Ulm’s new aquatic center, holding multiple swimming competitions. In this photo John Siebert of St. Louis (left) battles Robert Buttala of Chicago in swimming race with several dozens spectators. —Photo by Fritz Busch (Published Aug. 1, 2023)

Spike in Street Over a thousand spectators attended the first New Ulm Spikin’ in the Street Volleyball Tournament in August. Around 600 tons of sand were poured on Minnesota Street from Center to First North to create the sand volleyball courts. A total of 44 team participated in the tournaments. As nothing like it had been attempted in New Ulm before, there were questions of whether sand volleyball tournament was possible. Weather was another concern, as it was forecasted to rain during the tournament. However, the rain held off until after the tournament. —Photo by Dan Olson (Published Aug. 8, 2023)

Hwy 14 Ribbon Cutting After years of detours, the wait for a better highway ended. The Highway 14 four-lane expansion from New Ulm to Nicollet was open to traffic following a special ribbon cutting ceremony held on the Courtland interchange bridge. The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by dozens of people involved with the project. In the photo L to R: Nicollet Mayor Fred Froehlich, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Gov. Tim Walz, State Sen. Nick Frenz, State Rep Paul Torkelson, Rep. Jeff Brand, Congressman Brad Finstad and State Sen.Gary Dahms. —Photo by Clay Schuldt (Published Nov. 22, 2023)

Smiles and Thumbs Up Early in the year, District 88 began the process of hiring a new Superintendent after long-time Supt. Jeff Bertrang announced his retirement. In the late spring after interviewing many candidates, the school board hired Sean Koster. Koster had previously served as the Supt. at Beacon Academy Charter School in Plymouth. Six months after taking over as Supt. Koster said in an interview has set up three goal areas to bolster New Ulm: Communication, Consistency, and Climate. The success of New Ulm’s students is Superintendent Sean Koster’s top priority. Here he visits a Middle School math class and talks to students about complex fractions. —Photo by Daniel Olson (Published Dec. 1, 2023)

Delacruz & Ludewig Westridge Place, New Ulm’s pod model day care, officially opened in December. The pod model day care is a new concept in Minnesota that allows up to four in-home day care providers to operate out of the same building. Instead of a single day care center operating out of the building, four independent day care businesses can run from the same location. This photo taken during the open house for Westridge Place shows who is benefiting from the new system. Sisters Liz Delacruz (left) and Rachel Ludewig (right) are both newly licensed day care providers. The two decided to start day care businesses in the pod model Westridge Place. The sisters operate independent day cares out of the lower levels of Westridge Place. Delacruz and Ava play on the chalkboard. Ludewig holds Tegan Meinzer and Emy Schmeising —Photo by Clay Schuldt (Published Dec. 16, 2023)