Services will be held for Frances Marie Mertens on September 24 at the Sacred Heart Church in Staples, MN. Visitation will be at 10. Services will be at 11. Frances passed away Sept. 10. She was born to Ralph and Eileen Raines on Oct. 19, 1934, in Brainerd, MN. She married Fred Mertens on Aug. 6, 1956, in Brainerd and moved to Staples where they made their home.
The first step is a confidential survey seeking to better understand people’s hesitancy, developed with the guidance of the U.S. Vaccine Confidence Survey, 2021 County Health Survey and ACR Consulting, a firm led by Adam Rees of Pequot Lakes, the former president of Essentia Health Central Market.
19 vehicles were part of the procession that honored New York Mills Police Officer Ron Smith as it passed through Wadena on Thursday, Dec. 16. Smith died Wednesday, Dec. 15, following a battle with COVID-19.