EXCITING REMEMBRANCE - The New Richland-Hartland Class of 1971 met at the Willows on Saturday, July 18, 2026, for a whole day of activities during the New Richland Farm and City Days weekend. 14 classmates have passed away, and 19 classmates attended. With spouses, 30 total were in attendance.Front row: Bill Robran, Carol (Westland) Peterson, Lynn (Proehl) Hall. Second row: Gordie Nelson, Blaine Lewer, Neil K. Berg, Vicki (Jesson) Windfeldt , Jerry Kroeger, Jerry Demmer, Jim Possin, Jane (Zellweger) Bluhm, and Chuck Rosacker. Back row: Jim Loken, Roz (Bach) Krook , Mike Matthies, Joan (Arneman) Anderson, Mitch Routh, and Dennis Winegar.
Class of 1971 holds 55th reunion
Thu, 07/23/2026 - 7:45am
There was a reunion for the New Richland-Hartland (NR-H) Cardinal Class of 1971 at The Willows on Saturday, July 18. The consolidation of the former New Richland-Hartland (NR-H) and Ellendale-Geneva districts created NRHEG School District #2168 in 1992.
Organized by co-chair’s Jane Bluhm and Chuck Rosacker, the event had the room filling quickly with excited retirees. Bluhm was looking through some information and supplies. She had a radio near her. Next to that was an old cassette tape from the 1983 movie “The Big Chill.”
She had a smile on her face, and it looked like she had been planning to play music, but it was quite loud in the room. She revealed only 14 people had registered in advance, but also pointed out many more people than that were already present. “I also got great responses from the people who said they couldn’t make it.” She would go on to include Chuck Rosacker in the conversation, “Chuck helped me out a lot.” She said there were 79 graduates in the NR-H class of 1971. “There was a pretty even mix of both boys and girls in that class.”
Rosacker said, “We once had our reunion at Gene Miller's house over in Waseca, but that was like 20 years ago.” He had to repeat this a number of times because the volume of those reunion folks had gone up since they were all talking at the same time. Bluhm added, “The person who is living the furthest away was Marleen from up in Alaska. She won’t be here, but it’s still nice to include her.”
William Robran was there. He is retired and spends a lot of his time, “Fishing and picking berries. Before that I worked at Crown Cork and Seal in Owatonna for 14 years and did Cargill for 23 ½ years. I have also farmed all my life.” Lynn Hall, née Proehl, is semi-retired; she works at Collin W. Fritz Consultation Co., which is a third-party administration firm. Her husband is David.
Jim Loken was there, also retired. He was operations manager for Kristico’s in Mankato. He and his wife Donna live in St. Peter. Neil Burg, a railroad man, worked for Union Pacific for 39 years and lives in Waseca. Jerry Kroger, an aggregate transportation specialist, has delivered stone in Freeborn and Waseca counties. Also present was Mitch Routh, brother to Hartland Mayor Kelly Routh. Mitch is a mover of heavy equipment. He has worked for the county, he’s been self-employed, he’s also worked for his nephew Jesse Wells and currently lives on St. Olaf Lake.
Bluhm had a whole list of activities for the group during the afternoon, including remembrance of classmates who have passed. The agenda also featured news and good news, group photos, a short parade and a street dance to attend later.