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SCENE: Southern Minnesota city-by-city shopping guide | Southern Minn Scene
Holiday cheer is nearly here — and southern Minnesota has oodles of options for kickstarting your shopping. Locally owned gift shops, clothing stores, art supply retailers, toy vendors and antique outlets have prepped their stocks and are ready to help those on the hunt for personal presents that will add to the seasonal magic. Among them is Jenna Odegard, proprietor of Hazelkin & Co. in Mankato’s Old Town and Bumbelou (featuring items for babies and kids up to age 12, with locations in Mankato and New Ulm). “I love Christmas,” proclaimed Odegard—and she has the goods to back up her claim. Hazelkin & Co., a gift and lifestyle boutique in…
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In Minnesota hot spot, COVID-19 has become a part of life
WADENA, Minn. — In this central Minnesota town, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just about everyone, it seems, either has had COVID themselves or knows someone who did. Many have seen friends or family members die of the disease. Yet life is going on at a pretty normal pace. The annual Christmas lighting ceremony is set for Sunday night at the local park. The stands are full at school basketball games, and the high school thespians just wrapped up a performance of “The Wizard of Oz.” Few residents are wearing masks. You’d never know that Wadena County is one of the state’s…