1
Your hometown newspaper! The Maple Lake The Maple Lake Established 1895 • maplelakemessenger.com Movie on Birch: page 5 Inside . . . Coming up . . . *Labor Day is Monday *Maple Lake classes begin Tuesday *Maple Lake Airport Fly-In is Sept. 8 Volume 118, Number 48 Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Maple Lake, MN 55358 Commissioners discuss raising water rates by Katie Friedman Correspondent Members of the Annan- dale-Maple Lake-Howard Lake Wastewater Commis- sion are grappling with a dilemma that will likely re- sult in rewarding consumers for reducing their water usage with increased rates. Presenting an estimated budget, Secretary Kelly Hin- nencamp told the commis- sioners of difficulties in bal- ancing a fluctuating usage fee against the significant fixed cost of a $3 million bond payment, requesting that a plan-ned rate hike of 50 cents per unit be raised by another 25 cents, which she projected would raise $60,000 to $70,000 more in revenues. “There’s trouble every year with estimating what our gallons are,” she explained at the Aug. 22 meeting, “be- cause we never know if it’s going to rain a lot or if it’s going to be dry. If our projec- tions are wrong and it ends up being a real dry year, we could be in a world of hurt next year or the following year.” County board to embrace social networking by John Holler Certain things have never been associated with the Wright County Board of Commissioners, including discussions trending on Twit- ter including #WrightCoun- tyBoard. At a time of technology and communica- tion advancements, especially for younger residents, the county’s system of operating has become a bit antiquated. That may change as the four new commissioners, who consider themselves tech-savvy, would like to take the county out of the 1990s and into the 2010s. As part of the Aug. 20 agenda, the com- missioners referred discus- sion concerning significant advancements to the pre- sen- tation of county board meet- ings and how the county conducts its business to the technology committee’s Sept. 11 meeting. $1 by Gabe Licht Editor Seven new faces will greet students at Maple Lake elemen- tary and high schools, as classes begin Tuesday. They include nurse Sarah Barder, MLE band and music in- structor Elise Beckel, MLHS special education instructor Susan Bjorstrom, MLE/MLHS special education instructor Danielle Blumhoefer, MLHS so- cial studies teacher Andrew Boman, band instructor Nathan Mitchell, Strategies for Learning Instructor Jodi Raisanen and grade 1 instructor Tia Skay. Each new staff member was asked to introduce themselves, share what they are looking for- ward to about their new posi- tions and list their goals. Sarah Barder I grew up in Big Lake, at- tended Maple Lake Elementary in fourth and fifth grade when my mom first began teaching here, and then finished my edu- cation at Big Lake Middle and High School. Right after high school, I moved to Duluth and attended The College of Saint Scholastica for nursing, where I received my Bachelors of Science. News Briefs... by Don Gadow Correspondent With a convincing 9-2 win over the Watkins Clippers before a large crowd at Irish Stadium on Friday, the Maple Lake Lakers advanced to the final weekend of the State Amateur Baseball Tour- nament. The Lakers will take on the Luverne Redbirds this Satur- day at Irish Stadium. Game time is 5 p.m. In a second game that evening, Sartell takes on So- biesksi. The crowd was already build- ing at Irish Stadium as the first game began—Jordan vs. Bertha—at 5 p.m., and the noise and excitement continued to build as the stands were filling up. Before the tournament, the chairs had estimated seating for 900, but paid attendance grew to 1,003. The grandstand was packed, all the bleachers were filled, and many fans were stand- ing down both baselines all the way to the bullpens. The crowd noise drowned out the PA system at times. Now the Laker tournament committee is bracing for another big night on Saturday with So- bieski expected to bring a large contingent. To repeat their 2012 success as state Class C champions, the Lakers will have to beat Luverne and then win games on Sunday and Labor Day. The Maple Lake- Luverne winner will play at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, in Delano. Any loss in the single-elimination tournament would end the Lak- ers’ 2013 season. Dollar General store coming to Maple Lake New faces continued on page 10 (Top) Maple Lake teen Marissa Meyers stayed at the Ricefields in Udon Thani, Thailand, while serving with Rustic Pathways. (Middle) Meyers bonded with a little girl who had initially cried when strangers visited her preschool. (Above) Meyers’ team posed with a 92-year-old woman who rode her bike to where they were distributing food. (Photos submitted) by Gabe Licht Editor A little girl sat terrified in the corner of a preschool classroom in Udon Thani, Thailand. She had never met anyone from out- side of Thailand and did not know how to respond to the Rustic Pathways volunteers who were there to help the youngsters build social skills. Maple Lake teen Marissa Meyers was among the group of strangers and decided to be a part of the solution, though she didn’t “normally like kids.” “On the first day, I started tickling her and she smiled,” Meyers said. “The next day, I was coloring with her and a ball rolled over. She picked it up and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is great.’ There was a huge smile on her face. It was adorable.” Water rates continued on page 3 Social networking continued on page 3 by Katie Friedman Correspondent Plans are in the works for the construction of a new Dollar Gen- eral store in Maple Lake to coin- cide with spring’s arrival. Tuesday, Aug. 20, the Maple Lake City Council approved a pur- chase agreement with The Over- land Group for the sale of a city-owned lot on the corner of Spruce Avenue and Minnesota Highway 55, at a price of $100,000. Overland, one of Dollar General’s premier agents in this area, averages around 70 store openings annually, including one recently in Annandale. At this point, the company will begin a 60- to 90-day process of due diligence, followed by studies of environ- mental issues and application for city approval, according to Maple Lake Economic Development Di- rector Paul Bilotta. Lakers continued on page 8 Maple Lake Elementary School is now a 2013-14 Min- nesota School of Excellence. The Minnesota School of Ex- cellence Program promotes excel- lence through a rigorous eval- uation process that showcases dy- namic schools of the 21st Century. The Minnesota Elementary School Principals’Association-established program is recognized by the Min- nesota Department of Education, and National Association of Ele- mentary School Principals and was nominated for the Brock In- ternational Prize in Education for “the best ideas on education in the world…to expose them to our ed- ucators, teachers, administrators and politicians." City Council continued on page 3 Marissa Meyers continued on page 12 ‘School of Excellence’ New faces join staff at Maple Lake Schools New faces at Maple Lake Schools include (front, left to right) Sarah Barder, Elise Beckel, Tia Skay (back) Susan Bjorstrom, Andrew Boman, Nathan Mitchell, Danielle Blumhoefer and Jodi Raisanen. (Photo by Gabe Licht) More than 1,000 fans filled Irish Stadium for a beautiful night and Laker win on Saturday. (Photos by LMC Photography) Player/manager Chad Raiche gets a tag-out at first base in the Lakers’ 9-2 win over the Watkins Clippers. MLE award continued on page 7
