For seven-year-old Taya Nelson, her dream is to become a dance instructor and a dance judge. “I enjoy dance and love meeting new friends at dance competitions,” said Nelson, a dancer with The Dance Academy – Kay Williams Prunty in Worthington, Minn.

Family Medicine doctor Lawrence “Larry” Sanchez is excited to be seeing patients in the clinic at Murray County Medical Center in Slayton. Having started on July 8 with a week of orientation, he is now available to see patients of all ages.

On May 10, 2022 our daughter, 6 year old Alaina was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia). She saw multiple different doctors to get this diagnosis. Her first symptom was her back hurt. Then the next week she couldn’t walk. We were carrying her everywhere. The doctors just thought she pulled a muscle in her back. Little did we all know it was far more than a pulled muscle. She started treatment right away at Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls. It was a huge adjustment for our entire family. We had to start relying on more people for help because Alaina was in and out of the hospital, she had multiple different appointments, and we never knew when she would be hospitalized. Alaina had a pretty rough time with getting used to all the medications she had to take, and they made her feel worse sometimes. One thing she did enjoy though was the children’s hospital. They always made her feel right at home and always had something fun for her to do. Alaina had multiple hospitalizations. Many times, she was very sick. The chemo would tank her blood counts and she would have no immune system. She needed multiple blood transfusions too. For the past two years Alaina went to the castle regularly for checkup’s and treatments. The thing Alaina had the most trouble with was losing her hair. She loved her curly red hair. She embraced it well though. She always had a smile on her face even through some of the hardest times. That helped us all. As parents it was really hard to watch our little girl go through things we couldn’t imagine going through. She had countless lumbar punctures, a couple bone marrow biopsies and multiple different lab tests. She was always getting poked. Sitting back and not being able to do anything about it was so hard as a parent. All we could do was be there. Which was exactly what she needed. We had so much support from our families and our entire community. We are so grateful for everyone that helped us through such a difficult time. On July 2, 2024 she got to celebrate and ring the bell. She took her last dose of chemotherapy on July 13, 2024. Alaina can finally say “I BEAT CANCER”!

By: Kathy Schwartz, Murray County Master Gardener Forked roots on carrots is usually due to rocky or heavy soil. Yellow leaves on a tree usually mean something is wrong further down the tree.

By John Stenen In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus says something that should be very alarming to many ‘Christians.’ In verse two He says, “Every branch in Me (believers) that does not bear fruit He takes away…..” The only way we can bear fruit for God is to abide in Christ. To abide does not mean to have a one time religious experience and then go on your merry way, never serving the Lord all through your life -and to go on and live your life as such, that people do not know if you are a Christian or not. If you abide in Christ, your life would be producing much fruit; it would just come natural as an apple tree producing apples. In verse six of that chapter, Jesus says, “If a man abide not in Me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” That sounds horrible to me. It reminds me of the parable Jesus told in Luke 12:41-48. He tells of a faithful servant who was given the opportunity to serve the Lord, and if he is faithful, he will be well rewarded. However, if that same servant says in his heart, “My Lord delays His coming and quits living for the Lord and stops being obedient to his responsibilities and lives worldly, verse 46 says, “the Lord will cut him in sunder, and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” You may believe that as a Christian we can live any way we choose and do what we want, when we want, even though it is contrary to God’s Word - you are deceiving yourself. We all need to examine our hearts to see whether or not we are in the faith, (2 Cor. 13:5). God bless.

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The following students from your area graduated after the spring 2024 semester at South Dakota State University. More than 1,500 students completed all requirements for a degree and/or certificate program. Justin Clarke, Avoca, MN Cheyenne Hulstein, Chan dler, MN Brooke Christian, Currie, MN Lucas Gervais, Currie, MN Brandon Clausen, Fulda, MN Cassidy Holinka, Fulda, MN Levi Spittle, Fulda, MN Taylor Smith, Iona, MN Danielle Hoekman, Slayton, MN

By Arnold Krusemark In last week’s column we mentioned seeing sweet corn stands. We hope the sweet corn in your garden is now or near the edible stage. In addition to the family sweet corn stands, locally grown sweet corn is also available at the weekly farmers markets and some area supermarkets too.

Monday, July 29: Beef Macaroni & Cheese, Carrot Coins, Fruit Cocktail, Dinner Roll w/ Margarine, 1% Milk. Tuesday, July 30: Chef Salad w/ Turkey & Ham, Diet French Dressing, Mandarin Oranges, Dinner Roll w/ Margarine, Cherry Cobbler, 1% Milk.

The City of Slayton is ramping up efforts to comply with a Minnesota Department of Health and EPA requirement to identify the materials used in water service lines throughout the community. To expedite this crucial process, City staff and the City’s engineering consultant, DGR Engineering, will be conducting door-to-door inspections starting the week of July 29th.