Minnesota
So Minnesota: German POW camp at Wright County Fairgrounds
So Minnesota: German POW camp at Wright County Fairgrounds
Minnesota played an important role during World War II.
In the summers of 1944 and 1945, a group of about 60 German prisoners of war were brought to a camp at the Wright County Fairgrounds to help work in factories.
“They would be picking the corn for the canning company,” Geoff Welles with the Wright County Historical Society said.
The fairgrounds were turned into the POWs’ home.
“They had the barracks over in the ag building, showers in the poultry building. They ate around here at the grandstand,” Welles said.
One year the Wright County Fair was delayed because of the POW camp. The prisoners were allowed to worship at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Winsted and were treated very well.
“They were given toys, tools, games to play,” Welles said.
Few who attend the Wright County Fair know of its connection to a German POW camp.
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Minnesota
An Unusual Airport Is Closing in Minnesota
A small airport with a bigger claim to fame is closing in northern Minnesota after more than a half-century of operation. The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport is so named because its runway crosses the US-Canada border, reports Minnesota Public Radio. In fact, it’s been hailed as “the world’s first binational airport,” notes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Despite the bragging rights, however, the airport has been mostly used by hunters and fishermen, and the cost of maintenance has proven to be too much. The airport has a 3,297-foot runway, of which 2,350 feet are in Minnesota and the rest in Canada, per the Grand Forks Herald.
“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” says Ryan Gaug of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The airport opened in 1953 and is one of six now that straddle the border—but only Piney-Pinecreek has a paved runway. “It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” says Gaug. The agency has jointly owned the airport with the municipality of Piney, Manitoba, in Canada, but the town ended the arrangement because it was unable to meet the cost of maintenance. As such, “a colorful era in the history of Minnesota aviation” ends on Friday, per the Herald. (More Minnesota stories.)
Minnesota
Two St. Stephen residents involved in injury crash on Highway 55 near Buffalo
Two St. Stephen residents were involved in an accident Christmas Eve morning.
The accident took place at roughly 7 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 55 and Highway 25 in Buffalo, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Road conditions were listed as wet at the time of the accident.
St. Stephen’s Hunter Merten, 24, and Amber Burns, 25, were heading west on Highway 55 when their Ford F150 collided with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep was heading east on Highway 55, and was allegedly turning northbound onto Highway 25 at the time of the accident.
The Jeep’s driver, 22-year-old Dakota Dimond of Maple Lake, was transported to Buffalo Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the incident report. Burns was also taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
All persons involved were wearing seatbelts.
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