“Shetek Revisited” highlights the history and culture of the early Lake Shetek people
Lake Shetek State Park will again be hosting several programs and a bus tour highlighting the history and culture of the people living at Lake Shetek in 1862.
During August of 1862, there were nine families numbering approximately 50 people living along the eastern and southern shores of Lake Shetek. They had big hopes and dreams for a new settlement and a new life on the southwestern prairies of Minnesota. There were also a number of Dakota Indians living around the lake much as their people had been for centuries. Here at Lake Shetek, these two groups of people learned to get along and live as neighbors.
All that changed on August 17, 1862 when four Dakota Indians, driven by starvation and broken promises, killed five settlers at Acton, near present day Grove City, MN. They sparked a war that would last six weeks in Minnesota and for many more years in the West. Fourteen settlers at Lake Shetek would also lose their lives as a result.
On Friday, August 16 at 7:00 PM, “Sweet Dreams” will be presented at the picnic area council ring. The Native American Dream Catcher according to the legend is supposed to capture the bad dreams coming from the sky and allow the good dreams to pass through onto us as we’re sleeping. Join us for this program to learn how to make one for yourselves so that you may always have sweet dreams.
On Saturday, August 17, take a bus tour journey back in time to August 20th, 1862 as you are guided through the events on that fateful day. Learn about the settlers’ lives before and after this deadly conflict. We will meet at the park’s picnic area parking lot so that we can leave promptly at 9:00 a.m. for a driving tour of the cabin sites, visiting Slaughter Slough, and ending at the Shetek Monument. The cost of the tour is $5.00 per person. Reservations are required. Please either call the park at (507) 763-3256 with the number of people attending or stop in at the park office to sign up. Reservations must be made by August 16.
Also on Saturday at 7:30 PM at the picnic area council ring, join us for a “Visitor from the Past”. Mrs. Eastlick, one of the settlers at Lake Shetek, will tell us about her experiences during and after the conflict that took place here in August of 1862 when fourteen of her friends and family were killed.
Nobles’ Operation Round Up Application Deadline Is Drawing Near
Apply for Operation Round Up funds today!
A local school needs to provide books for underprivileged students. A local hospice needs new equipment and a local fire department needs to raise money for pagers. You see these types of stories on the news and read them in the papers. What have they all got in common? Thanks to Nobles Cooperative Electric’s Operation Round Up program, the answer to this question is “help in time of need.”
Nobles Cooperative Electric members help their neighbors a penny, nickel, dime and quarter at a time through Operation Round Up (ORU). Thanks to the generosity of Nobles’ members, a lot of good work is done for the communities we live in. Operation Round Up is a community program of people helping people. Through this voluntary program, over 72 percent of the members of Nobles Cooperative Electric have elected to have their electric bills rounded up to the nearest dollar. As a group, Nobles Cooperative Electric members raise over $1,800 per month. These Round Up funds go into a trust fund. Nobles-Murray Rural Electric Trust Board administers the donations.
Operation Round Up is designed to provide financial assistance to non-profit organizations in the surrounding communities of Murray, Nobles and adjacent counties. Organizations that serve these communities can request funds for projects involving:
Community Service
Economic Development
Education and Youth
Environment
Disaster Relief
The trust board is currently accepting applications. The deadline for submitting applications is September 3. Call Nobles Cooperative Electric at 507-372-7331 or 800-776-0517, visit our website (www.noblesce.coop) or email nce@noblesce.com to request an application.
Nobles Cooperative Electric is a rural electric cooperative that serves approximately 6,800 members in Nobles and Murray Counties. We’re your good neighbor!
