History

• The City of Wabasso was founded in the year 1900.
• Wabasso is located in Redwood County on Highways 68 and 6.
• The name “Wabasso” is an Indian word that means “White Rabbits.”
• Wabasso residents are proud of their location in “The Heart Of Redwood County.”
• General Pershing, in charge of U-S troops during World War One, came to Wabasso around the time of the war and gave a speech to help wit h the war effort.

Businesses

• Wabasso’s School District is I-S-D 640. Their mascot is the Rabbit.
• Wabasso also has a Catholic School. St. Anne’s caters to students in grades 1 through 6.
• Farmers have a place to purchase their equipment in Wabasso. Kibble Equipment is the company formerly known as Wabasso Implement.
• Wabasso has a top-notch healthcare facility- The Golden Living Center, formerly The Wabasso Healthcare Center. The Golden Living Center was recognized with a statewide award. They received the Care Providers of Minnesota’s “Committed To Quality” award. The award recognizes things such as visionary leadership, customer and employee satisfaction, use of a mission statement, resident complaint processes, and continuous quality improvement.
• Something uncommon for a small town like Wabasso is that they have an Economic Development Authority. The Wabasso E-D-A has been a separate entity for over 9 years now, and is credited with much of the town’s prosperity. In particular, the E-D-A’s revolving loan program, which helps businesses either expand or come to Wabasso, has been cited.

Festivals & Events

• The Wabasso Lions Club’s annual summer barbeque became a full-fledged festival starting in 2006. The fun-filled day includes live music, dancing, softball and baseball tournaments, threshing bees, carnival rides, and more. The annual event takes place in mid-July.

People

• The City of Wabasso has approximately 650 people and the Mayor is Jerry Frericks.
• Wabasso was once home to the famous folk artist Arnold Kramer. The Wabasso Museum is home to some of Arnold Kramer’s farm-life paintings and various items from his life.
• Wabasso is home to veteran skydiver Mike Trost, who has competed in numerous national and international events.
• In 2010 the Wabasso School District had two ExCEL Award winners. The Excellence in Community, Education, and Leadership program recognizes high school juniors who are active in their school and community as well as extracurricular activities. Wabasso’s ExCEL winners were Hillary Kletscher, the daughter of Brian and Laura Kletscher, and Zach Ourada, the son of Dave and Judy Ourada.
• The Wabasso Economic Development Authority unanimously agreed to join the Redwood County EDA in 2010. The move is expected to benefit the town due to the larger budget of the county EDA, which gets it’s funding through county taxes.
• A more-than 4-million dollar construction project got underway in the City of Wabasso in 2010. Work includes replacing the city’s water tower and around 5 miles worth of water mains as well as 7 blocks of sanitary sewer for 4-point-25-million dollars.
• The City of Wabasso is featured in a promotional video. The proposal was brought before the Wabasso EDA in 2010 by Our Story Productions to produce a television spot for local access channels to promote the city.
• The all-freshman Wabasso FFA Nursery Landscape Team walked away with a First Place plaque at a competition held in 2011. The team of Callie Rohlik, Chelsey Guetter, Mindy Goblirsch, Maria Didgeon and Jennifer Rohlik came in First out of nine teams, beating the others by a wide margin of 100 points. Callie Rohlik came in First Place out of 30 individuals as well. The contest consisted of identifying various trees, shrubs, and flowering plants found in Minnesota, judging sets of landscape plants, and practical exercises in tree pruning and starting lawns from seed, as well as a written test.
• Tom Suss retired as the Superintendent of the Wabasso School District in 2011. Suss was Wabasso Superintendent for 9 years, and had served 2 terms as a state representative in the mid-1970′s for a district covering most of Scott County.

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