E’leese Madgett Manrique, a 12-year-old from Buffalo, was tired and dusty when she arrived on horseback Tuesday afternoon at West River Park in Hutchinson. Her purebred Arabian horse, Chips ‘n’ Salsa, was ready for a break, too.
Manrique was escorted by members of the Meeker County Sheriff’s Posse.

Tuesday’s stop in Hutchinson is just one of many Manrique is making on her 86-day, 860-mile ride to raise money to start a ranch where any soldier in need of a place to heal can go for free.

Dennis Bergquist, a retired Ridgewater College dairy herd management instructor, has become the Hutchinson area’s unofficial ambassador to the world. But one country — Guatemala — seems to have grown especially dear to his heart, as shown by the six trips he has made there in recent years.

Since mid-June, Faith on Grove in Hutchinson has been the hub for Club 218, a day camp for children ages 4 to 10.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 31 children are enrolled in the first-year program. They spend their morning rotating between four areas: music, crafts, games and stories.

Lunch is provided at noon and ranges from such kid-pleasing dishes as spaghetti and tacos to homemade macaroni and cheese, plus fresh fruit, milk and bread. Afterward, it’s quiet time to relax and watch a movie such as “VeggieTales.”

Hutchinson residents Lisa and Steve Synstelien didn’t know that when they bought their miniature horse, Thunder, they were getting two horses for the price of one.

After they got Thunder home, they found out she was pregnant. And baby Starlet was born May 18. Starlet wasn’t an ordinary miniature horse though, she was smaller.

If you’ve never attended the annual McLeod County Relay for Life, I urge you to do so. It’s one of the most moving events you’ll ever spend time at.

From beginning to end, it’s an amazing experience to see so many people involved in the fight against cancer. There are teams of all kinds walking the path in memory of someone who has died of cancer as well as those who are walking to honor a survivor.