Cornerstone youth center in Frazee to host fundraising call-a-thon Oct. 13, haunted forest Oct. 20-21

Detroit Lakes , MN (KDLM)- Cornerstone, a Frazee community and youth center, will be holding a fundraising drive on Friday, Oct. 13 and hosting a haunted forest in Frazee the following weekend.

The nonprofit provides lakes area kids in 12th grade or younger with a safe space to hang out afterschool and, according to Mackenzie Hamm, one of the coordinators at Cornerstone, it also provides amenities they may not have at home and hungry teenagers with a kitchen.

“They get to come in and play pool, ping pong, video games with their friends, arts and crafts,” said Hamm. “And we’ll schedule a few different activities for them, but they just like to come there and hang out with their friends. And eat food, they are in the kitchen cooking all the time.” 

Friday’s Call-a-thon is a fundraising push by nonprofit to finish raising funds for their capital campaign goal of $900,000, of which they only have $100,000 left.

The group hopes to use the last of their capital funds to complete their Crepes and Coffee Bistro on the Cornerstone main floor, which will provide some entry level jobs and a stage for aspiring local artists to perform.

Anyone looking to make a donation during the Call-a-thon can stop into the center on Friday or call: (218) 329-6199, to make a donation.

In addition to fundraising, Cornerstone will also be hosting a Haunted Forest at Hank Ludke Riverside Park in Frazee on Oct. 20-21.

“The entrance will be at the Hand Ludke Riverside Park, right by the river,” she said. “It’s already creepy without anyone in the woods scaring you, so this is going to be a fantastic time. We have a lot of youth that are going to be hiding in the forest. We’ve got a lot least 25 youth that are going to be jump-scaring people”

The Haunted Forest is about a half-mile hike through the woods and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. next weekend. The cost is $10 per person with a family maximum cost of $50.

Woman killed in single-vehicle crash near Melrose

A woman is dead after a single-vehicle crash west of Melrose Monday afternoon.

Stearns County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called out just before 4:00 p.m. after emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a cell phone. They could hear someone on the other end of the line, but could not understand what was being said or precisely where the vehicle was located.

First responders found it difficult to locate the vehicle, but after several minutes of searching, they found the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu near the dead end on 355th Avenue. 

The investigation determined that 38-year-old Katie Llewellyn was driving south on County Road 185 when she crossed County Road 65, where it changes to 355th. She struck a tree just beyond the end of the road.

Llewellyn did not have her seatbelt on and died at the scene from her injuries.

The accident remains under and active investigation.

Becker County Food Pantry seeks volunteers for move

The Becker County Food Pantry is ceasing operations on Friday, Oct. 20, so they can pack up their building and move to their new location on Terry Street, just north of Highway 34, in Detroit Lakes, and they need your help.

The food pantry is looking for volunteers to help them move between Oct. 20-27 so they can prepare for the grand opening of their new building on Oct. 31.

Brad Carlson, executive director for the Becker County Food Pantry, said they need volunteers to help them take apart their shelving and other fixtures and re-install them in their new building.

“The biggest hassle, of course, is kind like rearranging your garage,” said Carlson. “You’ve got to take the shelf apart first and then you need to move the shelving into the new location and put it back up … anybody who’s strong and able-bodied, and in particular, knows how to take pallet racking apart and put pallet racking back together, we would appreciate any and all help.”

The new food pantry building is about double the size of the old building and, Carlson said, should provide more shelf and refrigerated space to hold more food and service more customers.

“Our freezer and refrigerator space is going to be two-and-a-half times what we currently have,” he said. “We’ve run into issues over the last couple of years where we’ve gotten so much frozen food product that we had to hire a refridgerated semi to hold the stuff for us. With this we’re hopeful that we have room to hold everything.”

Anyone interested in volunteering to help move the Becker County Food Pantry is encouraged to email: bcfoodpantry@gmail.com, or show up next Friday at 9 a.m. to help with the move.

Lakes Area Quilt Expo hits Detroit Lakes Saturday

Colorful patterns stitched to perfection are sure to adorn the Lakes Area Quilt Expo at Washington Square Mall in Detroit Lakes this Saturday.

On Oct. 14, the Lakes Area Quilt Guild will be hosting the event at the mall to show off some of the best pieces that were completed by members of the group over the past year and also feature some technique demonstrations for a half-dozen skills that are assured to help any aspiring quilter.

Connie Wood, a longstanding member of the Quilt Guild, said the group is celebrating their 40th birthday this year and its membership has continued to grow over the decades.

“It started with 11 members that met in each other’s homes,” said Wood. “We now have 56 members and I would say that there are a lot more young people joining.”

She also said lakes area residents may have seen their quilts around town and not realized it.

“One of them is a quilt that we made for the public library and it’s displayed behind the circulation desk,” she said. “And this past summer, we assisted some of the young 4-H-ers with making their first quilt. And maybe you say some of those at the county fair.”

Wood said she got into to quilting through the 4-H program when she was younger and it’s a hobby she’s stuck with over the years. In fact, she added, she’s assembled a nice collection of fabric over the decades she can use for upcoming projects.

“I’ve been collecting fabric, which probably I could weigh right now,” said Wood. “So I have fabrics that are 40 years old and I find that it’s really fun to pull those out and put them into quilts. I think a lot of my fellow quilters have really large stashes.”

The members will feature demonstrations on binding techniques, salvaging and English paper piercing, among others at the expo on Saturday, between 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. the at Washington Square Mall.

Anyone interested in joining the Lakes Area Quilt Guild can stop by the community room at the Detroit Lakes police station on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. for a short meeting, show and tell with the members and then an educational topic for quilters.

The next meeting of the Lakes Area Quilt Guild is Thursday, Oct. 26.

2 arrested on drug charges following possible bomb incident in Campbell

Campbell Public School in Wilkin County was evacuated Monday morning over explosive device concerns across the street.

On Oct. 9, 2023, at 8:14 AM, the emergency dispatchers received a text message from a caller on the 300 block of 3rd St. in Campbell, MN, reporting a disturbance.

The caller indicated the presence of a potential danger, mentioned the involvement of a bomb, and urgently requested immediate assistance.

Multiple law enforcement and emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene.

Due to the proximity of the incident to Campbell Public School, the school was evacuated as a precaution because the residence was directly across the street from the school.

Upon arriving at the scene, deputies and officers made contact with the occupants of the residence, Daniel McLaren Sr. and Mary Vry, who were promptly relocated to a secure location for their safety.

Further assistance was sought from the Red River Valley Bomb Squad, which arrived equipped with a robot designed for the purpose of investigating and securing the area around the residence.

No hazardous devices were found, and it was determined that the residence was safe.

The Wilkin County Sheriff’s Office then executed a search warrant at the residence, revealing the presence of illegal substances, including methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as various pieces of drug paraphernalia.

McLaren Sr. and Vry were both arrested on charges of 3rd-degree possession of methamphetamine within a school zone and were booked into the Wilkin County Jail.

Story by Zakk Daniels / KBRF

Waite Park burglar struck with gun during break-in attempt

A suspected burglar was arrested Waite Park after a homeowner bashed him in the face with a gun during the attempted break-in.

On Oct. 6 at 10:20 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report of an attempted break-in at a home in the 200 block of 11th Avenue. 

Police talked with a victim who said he was upstairs when he heard a banging on his house from the outside. The owner says he ran downstairs and looked out the window, where he saw a man breaking through his screen door.

The victim shouted he had a gun and told the burglar to leave. 

When he didn’t flee, the homeowner stepped forward and hit the suspect in the face with the butt of his gun. The burglar then ran from the scene.

Through their investigation, police learned a house a block away was also burglarized by a man fitting the suspect’s description. 

That victim told investigators he was upstairs when he heard his dog barking. Once downstairs, the owner found the suspect holding several pieces of property worth around $120. The burglar entered the house by breaking glass in the front door.

While investigating the incidents, police were called by a nearby Kwik Trip for a man who refused to leave the store. 

The man fit the description of the burglary suspect and was arrested.

He was later identified as 20-year-old Dylan Nyatenya Okoth of St. Cloud. 

Okoth was charged on Monday with two counts of first-degree burglary. Bail was set at $75,000.

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