BLOOMING PRAIRIE, Minn. — Sportscasters may lose their favorite team nickname — the Awesome Blossoms of Blooming Prairie. The school boards in Blooming Prairie and Hayfield voted to merge their football teams. Unsettled is whether the nickname Awesome Blossoms will survive. Or Hayfield’s Vikings. The enrollments:
> Blooming Prairie: 380 (Grades 7-12).
> Hayfield: 306 (Grades 6-12).
Toponymical origin. An Austin sportswriter called them “the awesome blossoms” 100 years ago. It stuck.