5 years ago

Frazee-Vergas Forum

August 11, 2020

For many, leaving a dying campfire to smolder after an evening under the stars is a common affair. The Levenhagen family in rural Vergas shared how such a common decision changed their lives forever. Alex Levenhagen explained on May 30 the family with two children had a campfire on their patio. The next morning he woke, made breakfast and then the kids went out to play. “There was no smoke,” he said. “My son and his sister were playing with the new pup we got at the beginning of quarantine. He saw a stick in the fire ring, and we are guessing he went for that.” The stick was atop the ashes. The then 20-month-old Troy reached in the pit for the stick and lost his balance. He placed a hand on the hot ashes, and when the searing hotness hit, he instinctively put the other hand down.”

His soon to be 8-year-old sister reacted swiftly and pulled her brother from the fire ring. But it only took seconds for little Troy to sustain third and fourth degree burns. Levenhagen explained his son’s burns are known as full-thickness burns, which means the veins and tendons were not compromised, but all of the flesh and meaty part of the hands were destroyed. Levenhagen, who grew up in the Lake Bronson area, is a fishing guide owner. He shared the summer with the pandemic had slowed business, and after the accident his focus has been on helping his son recover.

25 years ago

Frazee Forum

August 10, 2000

According to site inspector Jeremy Peterson, work on the Old Highway 10 bridge near Frazee began Monday, July 31. A large portion of the bridge was removed Friday, Aug. 4. Riley Bros. Of Morris are contracted for the job. Contractors have constructed an earthen dam and are using a pump to pull water from one side of the Otter Tail River, around the construction site, to the other side.

Candidates for this year’s Miss Vergas title pose with the current queen, Jessica Meyer. They are Amanda Soland, Angela Witte, Brooke Leach, Jessica Miller, Amber Bunkowske, Allison Sukke and Kari Pederson. Meyer’s successor will be crowned at a pageant starting at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 10 at the Vergas Community Center.

Sonkajärvi is located 340 miles north of Helsinki, Finland, but a unique tradition of that tiny town will be “carried over,” so to speak, this weekend at the Wolf Lake Harvest Festival. Sonkajärvi (population 6,000) is home of the Wife-Carrying World Championships, an annual event which draws 25 couples and thousands of spectators from around the world to the isolated village.

50 years ago

Frazee Forum

August 14, 1975

A pair of lucky fishermen returned home with a 27 pound muskie which they caught last Thursday, Aug. 5 in Leech Lake. While neither Ken Ketter or Jim Henn would tell who hooked the large muskie, they said they caught the fish in only about five feet of water and that it took nearly a half hour to land the muskie.

The Frazee Fire Dept. was called out Monday evening to extinguish a grass fire along the railroad tracks near Luce.

Two young Fargo men were injured in a boating accident about 3 p.m. Sunday on Leek Lake near Vergas. Charles Klinkhammer, 18, was reported in satisfactory condition Monday in St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo. Daniel Brainerd, 17, was treated at St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit Lakes and released. The two men were reported to be swimming and using an inner tube. A boat operated by Mary Brainerd, 14, a sister of Daniel, was circling the pair. She lost control of the boat and the resulting whirlpool action sucked the swimmers under the boat and they were cut by the propeller.