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Progress 2013Maple Lake Area

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 3

by Gabe LichtFormer Maple Lake

Mayor Mike O’Loughlin isno stranger to the film in-dustry. As a longtime actor,he had often heard produc-ers saying, “Boy, we wishwe could get bigger films inMinnesota like we used to.”

A different discussionwith the makers of “Afterthe Dawn” led Maple Laketo be part of the solution.

“When I auditioned for“After the Dawn,” I askedif they’d like to film ithere,” O’Loughlin said.“She said, ‘Shoot me somepictures.’ I did and she saidit may work.”

“We didn’t really haveanything to shoot there,” di-rector and actress NicoleKruex, of TRIWAR Pic-tures, said.

But O’Loughlin urgedKruex and her colleagues togive it a shot. They tookhim up on his offer, ulti-mately deciding to reshootabout half the film in Maple

Lake, rather than drivingmore than two hours toShell Lake, Wis., where thescenes were originallyfilmed.

“When we saw MapleLake, it had the same feel,”Kruex said. “It was onlymissing a few things, but italso had things Shell Lakedid not, like a bowlingtal-ley, baseball stadium and H& H Sport Shop. Werewrote a few things to fitMaple Lake, like substitut-ing the flower shop for acafé. … It has a small-townfeel, but it’s not so far fromMinneapolis.”

O’Loughlin was encour-aged by the positive re-sponse.

“I said, ‘If they liked it,maybe someone elsewould,’” O’Loughlin re-called. So, he lobbied hiscolleagues on the MapleLake City Council for asmuch as a 30 percent re-

Seeing green: City targeting film dollars with rebate

Shamrock rebatecontinued on page 4

Maple Lake residents had a chance to be involved in “After the Dawn” as zombie extras when it was filmeddowntown in 2011. TRIWAR Pictures is planning to return to the area for another feature film in the future.

f

Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 4 P

fund on film-related pur-chases. Ultimately, they set-tled on a 15 percent“Shamrock Rebate,” up to$7,500 total, upon comple-tion of the film.

Lucinda Winter, execu-tive director of the Min-nesota Film and TV Board,said a film incentive is “agreat economic develop-ment tool because, as thecity or state, you don’t haveto make investment upfront. You don’t have tospend anything until eco-nomic development has oc-curred so there’s no risk.”

She noted that no othercity in the state, regardlessof size, has a program simi-lar to the “Shamrock Re-bate,” though the IronRange in northeastern Min-nesota now incents up to$500,000 in productioncosts per film following thesuccess of “North Country”in 2005.

Municipal and regionalincentive dollars can be

used in conjunction withSnowbate, a 15 to 20 per-cent rebate administered bythe Minnesota Film and TVBoard.

“It just makes us morecompetitive with otherstates,” Winter said. “It’sunusual for a little townlike Maple Lake to have anincentive, but it’s great. Wepromote it on our websiteand in our newsletter.”

The board will be film-ing a location trailer inMaple Lake and has alsoproduced a promotionalvideo, “The Case for Snow-bate 2013,” which includescomments from MapleLake Mayor Lynn Kissock.

In the short, Kissocksaid the filming of “Afterthe Dawn” in Maple Lake,“was such a good opportu-nity for our community tokind of come together andenjoy being part of the film.Also, it was a benefit toseveral businesses in town,giving them exposure be-

cause they were on cameraand, also, because moneywas spent there.”

O’Loughlin agrees withKissock, especially ifMaple Lake becomes alandmark for even onemovie or show.

“For the Mary TylerMoore Show, they justfilmed exteriors but every-day people go by that houseto stop and take pictures,”O’Loughlin said. “If wecould get something likethat in Maple Lake, thatcontinues to attract and getour name out there. Onceour name is out there,maybe someone wouldwant to put a factory or an-other business here.”

He acknowledged MapleLake’s limitations – such asa lack of hotel, grocerystore or city scenes – butalso pointed to many of thepositive attributes Kruexand her crew appreciated.

“There is a specific needwe can fill well because of

the beauty of the town, thefriendly people, the lakeand a clean downtown,”O’Loughlin said. “We have

all these things that are as-sets.”

Kruex and her col-leagues were so impressed

that they plan to film alarger production, featuring

Shamrock rebate continued from page 3

Though Mike O’Loughlin was not cast in the original role he auditioned for, he hadone of eight speaking roles in “After the Dawn.” Following the success of the film,which included scenes from Maple Lake, former Mayor O’Loughlin lobbied for a“Shamrock Rebate” film incentive.

Shamrock rebatecontinued on page 5

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 5

recognizable Hollywoodstars, in Maple Lake. Basedon the life of Job, the film

is expected to have abudget of about $200,000,compared to the $13,000

budget of “After theDawn,” which is availableworldwide.

“We actually planned oncoming back out there be-fore the incentive was evenfinished,” Kruex said.“Now there is even moreincentive considering thatwe can get a percentageback for post production orto start paying things off.”

She is pleased with theincentives offered by MapleLake, in addition to Snow-bate.

“To have a town itselfoffer incentives and go afterstate incentives as well, youcould potentially bring back35 percent, if you get both,”Kruex said. “Where shouldwe shoot? Maple Lake hasthis opportunity, so let’s gothere.”

Just as Maple Lake hasextended benefits to Kruex,she wants to return thefavor.

“We are bringing some-thing of worth to the town,”she said.

At least one Maple Lakeresident initially offered to

invest in a future TRIWARproduction even though hedid not have experiencewith film.

“People have been reallysupportive,” Kruex said.

Edith T., another TwinCities-based filmmakerwho filmed a portion of hisproject “Menages” at theLady Luck Ranch outsideof Maple Lake, was not fa-miliar with the rebate butsaid community support iskey to making successfulmovies.

“Usually, that’s a seriousfactor when you’re lookingfor locations; you’re look-ing for film-friendly citiesand states,” Edith T. said.

Putting out a welcomemat with a 15 percent in-centive? That’s even better.

“It’s a good idea,” EdithT. said, adding that return-ing to Maple Lake to film afuture film is “definitely apossibility.”

Winter said those possi-bilities are promising for a

town like Maple Lake.“It’s a big business,” she

said. “People are looking tostretch their dollar. If youguys help them, it can helpthe city. It takes an innova-tive mayor and city councilto do that. You have tothink outside the box abouthow to get people to yourcity.”

Kissock believes the cityis doing just that and shehopes that forward thinkingwill pay off for the commu-nity as a whole in the longrun.

“We need to get ourmain street back to life, weneed to bring as much busi-ness to the community aspossible,” she said, in “TheCase for Snowbate.”

You’re bringing bothpublicity to your commu-nity, as well as dollars intoyour community and anypenny spent in your com-munity, and not somewhereelse, is a better pennyspent.”

Shamrock rebate continued from page 4

Maple Lake Township Supervisor Gerry Giebenhain and City Councilwoman DebGeyen were among the extras who took in a screening of “After the Dawn.” MayorLynn Kissock said one of the many benefits of having the movie filmed in MapleLake was that it “brought the community together” and she hopes more produc-tions do so in the future.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 6 P

by Gabe LichtBuilding a championship

team can take several years.For the Maple Lake Lak-

ers, it took 73 years to re-claim the MinnesotaBaseball Association cham-pionship in 2012, after lastwinning in 1939.

Preparing to host thestate tournament is also adaunting task, one thatMaple Lake has embracedsince winning the bid forthe 2013 tournament in2009.

“Awarding the bid in ad-vance gives teams years toprepare the field,” MapleLake Lakers Manager ChadRaiche said. “There are im-provements that need to bemade. It has to be topnotch. The playing surfacehas to be nice. Concessionshave to be set up and wehave to have enough seat-ing.”

Though hosting the tour-nament has been a coupleyears in the making, much

of the preparation comesdown to the final 365 days.

“The last year is reallywhen we’ve put the projectstogether,” Raiche said. “Weput new lights up. That wasa $90,000 project – some-thing we’ll have to kickback after the tournament.We’re adding new bleach-ers, asphalt, fencing, kneewalls and extendeddugouts. They require thatbecause the roster limits areexpanded.

“I think the biggest thingwe worked on was ourfield,” Raiche continued.“We want it to look like agolf course. That’s the firstthing players notice.”

So what goes intopreparing a pristine playingsurface?

A fairway mower keepsthe grass short and plentyof water and fertilizer keepsit looking alive and well.Top-dressing, spreadingsand over the surface to re-move bumps, keeps it

smooth.“We water it a ton and

fertilize it a couple times ayear and top-dress it,” saidRaiche, who takes an activerole in field upkeep. “Weedge it, too. Where thebaselines are, we keep themstraight and crisp so it looksnice.”

Regardless of the workthat has been done to thispoint, winter will requirethe chores to be redone.

“We have to start allover in the spring with thesame work we did lastyear,” Raiche said. “Aslong as we don’t have a ter-rible drought, it’s going tolook nice. We had it look-ing nice last year. We’llhave another top-dressingin the spring and at the endof the regular season.”

A three-week break be-tween the regular seasonand playoffs will allow theLakers to make such last-minute improvements.

He is thankful for the

volunteers and city employ-ees who have and will con-tinue to assist withupgrades.

“City employees, if weask them for help, they’re

all over it,” Raiche said.“We’ve been fortunate be-cause I’ve talked to othercities and their publicworks departments are notas gracious. Jerry

Sawatzke, Al Hudek andKen Elsenpeter are awe-some.”

Champion Lakers preparing to host state tournament

State tournamentcontinued on page 7

Members of the Maple Lake Lakers celebrate their 2012 Class C championship.This year, the team is preparing to host the tournament.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 7

Raiche said the city as awhole has been supportiveof the team and theirchance to host the tourna-ment starting Aug. 16 andconcluding with the cham-pionship game on LaborDay.

“The city council is ex-cited about it,” Raiche said.“It’s a great way to show-case the community. IrishStadium is known as a niceplace to play. Teams fromthe Twin Cities call to playat it. Maple Lake has al-ways been a good baseballtown and people like tocome out here so we’re try-ing to keep up with that tra-dition. It helps when youwin. I think we picked up alot of fans last year. Wehave a great fan base.”

Mayor Lynn Kissockagrees.

“The state tournament isa great opportunity toshowcase our city and thehospitality of our citizens,”Kissock said. “It will bring

revenue to our local busi-nesses and allow for themto capture new fans aswell.”

The Maple Lake Cham-ber of Commerce is alsoexcited to have fans of sev-eral teams visiting the area.

“The Maple Lake busi-ness community, throughthe Chamber of Commerce,is looking forward to thetournament’s arrival to ourarea,” Chamber PresidentJeff Rivers said. “Eventslike this have great poten-tial to bring business intothe community.

“The Lakers are leadingthe way in creating the ex-perience for the fans andplayers of the event in amanner that ensures therevenue generation for theteam that they will appreci-ate,” Rivers continued.“The Chamber will supportthe event as requested andencourage businesses tocreate a welcoming, openpresence that puts our best

foot forward as a greatplace to live, work and dobusiness.”

Raiche is thankful forthat support and hopes theLakers are playing in frontof home fans in the champi-onship game.

“There’s a chance if wemake it to the champi-onship game that wewouldn’t even play inMaple Lake,” Raiche said,referencing that MapleLake is sharing hosting du-ties primarily with Delano,with Howard Lake as athird site. “That would beunfortunate. There are twoclasses and we don’t knowif they’re putting one at onepark and one at the other orboth at one. Obviously,we’d like to have bothgames in Maple Lake, butit’s out of our hands.”

Regardless of that finaldecision, the Lakers, andMaple Lake as a whole, areprimed for a profit.

“The state board splits

the gate money and gives itto teams in the tournamentbased on the game share,”Raiche said, adding that theteam will make the majorityof their money from food,novelties and beer.

In total, paid attendanceis expected to be about15,000 at the three loca-tions over the three week-ends.

Raiche and his team arejust excited to host the tour-nament, following theirsuccessful 2012 campaign.

“It couldn’t work outbetter for us to win last yearand host it this year,”Raiche said. “It was a per-fect storm for us.”

For those who can’tquite wait for baseball sea-son, the Lakers’ appearancein the St. Patrick’s Day pa-rade will provide a re-minder of the past year anda peek at what is yet tocome as they strive for a re-peat performance.

State tournament continued from page 6

Several upgrades to Irish Stadium have been com-pleted, including new lights, since the Maple LakeLakers learned in 2009 they won the bid to host the2013 state baseball tournament.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 8 P

by Katie FriedmanAs he marks the first an-

niversary of his installationas pastor at St. Timothy’sChurch, Father John Meyerexudes the peaceful air ofone who knows he’s wherehe’s meant to be.

“It’s going well,” hesaid. “I love it here.”

Rating his first year inMaple Lake as “great,” Fa-ther Meyer also describedit as a time of adjustmentto the parish community, tothe town and to his role inboth.

“Initially,” he said, “it’slike going into a partywhere you don’t know any-body.”

Happily, twelve monthshence he is well-acclimatedto his adopted community,and expresses sincere ap-preciation for the localpeople who helped him tofeel a part of things fromhis earliest days in town.

“The people here havebeen very welcoming,” he

said. “They’ve been verykind and hospitable. Theyreally have welcomed mewith open arms.”

Shepherding a flock thatincludes 821 families - anestimated 2,600-2,700 indi-viduals - has afforded himmany opportunities to getbetter acquainted with hiscongregants. And as he hascome to feel at home here,he’s also come to recognizesome of his new commu-nity’s more admirabletraits.

“Maple Lake is a placeof deep roots, of strongfamilies and traditions,” heobserved. “It’s been a greatblessing to get to knoweverybody this past year.It’s a wonderful commu-nity to be a part of. ServingMass, going to visit theschool, you see people youknow. You see peoplewhose background youknow. Whether it’s casualor formal, whether I’mserving Mass or playing

cards, it’s great to get toknow people. I truly love ithere. It’s a great parish tobe serving.”

A priest’s preparationFather Meyer, 31, has

one brother three years hissenior, and often spends hisday off visiting his parentsin Woodbury, where he wasraised and attended highschool.

“I never thought aboutthe priesthood until I was19,” he said.

While attending theUniversity of Minnesota(where he received a de-gree in history and Latin),he says he read Saint Au-gustine's “Confessions”and found himself pro-foundly moved by SaintAugustine's words.

“I felt a strong pushfrom God,” he said. “Andafter about three moreyears of discernment, talk-ing to people and praying –mostly praying – I enteredseminary at 21.”

Enrolling at Saint PaulSeminary in 2002, he stud-ied philosophy for twoyears and theology forfour. Ordained as a priestin 2008, Father Meyer haspreviously served asparochial vicar at theCathedral of Saint Paul, aswell as at Saint CharlesBorromeo in Saint An-thony.

The assignment to St.Timothy was his first aspastor. The experience, hereports, is everything he’dhoped it would be.

“It’s been great,” he re-peated. “No surprises.”

While in seminary, heexplained, he’d been ableto gain a sense of parishlife through various assign-ments along the way. Inretrospect, he believesthose experiences ulti-mately served their highestpurpose.

“The hope is to get the

Father finds good fit in St. Timothy’s, Maple Lake

St. Timothy’scontinued on page 9

As he marks the first anniversary of his installation aspastor at St. Timothy’s Church, Father John Meyer ex-udes the peaceful air of one who knows he’s where he’smeant to be.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 9

intellectual training to helppeople understand theirfaith,” he said. “And whileit’s also true that you neverreally learn to swim untilyou’re thrown into thepool, definitely, my previ-ous assignments preparedme very well.”

If it works…During that first year,

Father Meyer says he initi-ated as little change as pos-sible.

“My goal was to get toknow the people and theparish, the families and thecommunity,” he said. “So,while there may have beensome minor tweaks inbackground processes, interms of the big picture,there were no majorchanges.”

Parishioners can expecthis second year, and thoseto follow, to be largelysimilar.

“There’s a strong foun-dation here,” he said. “Iwalked into a great parish.

It’s not a matter of institut-ing change. It’s just a mat-ter of continuing to grow,and to see the school con-tinue to grow and thrive. Iwant to try to continue toshare with people in thegrowth of our understand-ing of our Catholic faith, sothat we can truly under-stand why we do what wedo, and why we believewhat we believe. That in-cludes explaining thethings we hear in the newsin the context of our faith.”

And as Father Meyerbegins his second yearserving St. Timothy’s, it isa calling he is as happy tocontinue as he was to as-sume.

“Our Catholic faith is awonderful thing, a beauti-ful thing,” he said. “It’skind of a treasure wesometimes take forgranted. St. Timothy’s is agreat church, and I want toget the word out aboutthat.”

St. Timothy’s continued from page 8

Tech enhancing education at St. Timothy’sby Vicki Grimmer

As with most schoolsand organizations, technol-ogy and its applicationsare the buzz at St. Timo-thy’s School.

“We have one-to-oneiPads for the middle schoolstudents, and we did in-clude the sixth grade thisyear, along with the sev-enth and eighth grades,”Deacon Mike Medley said.“Each student receives theiPad in a case with a Blue-tooth key board andthey’re required to keepthem in the case and tocare for them.”

An obvious fan of thetechnology himself, Dea-con Medley is quick topoint out the benefits ofusing the newest devicesas teaching tools.

“A student used to,maybe, have a set of ency-clopedias,” said Medley.

“Now, every edition isavailable right at their fin-gertips. All their textbooksare loaded on them andhomework is done onthem, it even ‘dings’ as areminder if something ismissing. The assistance tothe quality and speed oflearning is amazing.”

Students are also madeto recognize that the iPadsare not playthings. “Eachstudent and parent sign aseparate contract detailingtheir responsibilities,” saidMedley. “If they’re lost orbroken, replacement is attheir expense.”

Nonetheless, the impor-tance of play is not forgot-ten. No games are loadedon the iPads unless theyhave an educational base,but in the words of DeaconMedley, several of the edu-cational games are, “out-standing.” The iPads also

come loaded with emailaccess as well as the abil-ity to instant message, textand facetime, which allowsface-to-face contact withfellow students and teach-ers by accessing the com-puters’ cameras.

In another technologicalexperiment at St. Tim’s,Wednesday envelopes arenow sent out electroni-cally, as well as beingbrought home by the stu-dents.

“We do have parentsand businesses who signup with their email ad-dresses,” said Medley.“But many are not quiteready to give up the hardcopy.”

Also new this year isthe middle school staff ad-dition of a new science andmath teacher, SamanthaPadellford.

“She’s exceptional,”

Medley said. “She camefrom California to acceptthe position.” And in keep-ing with the technology ofthe times, her interviewwas held on facetime whileshe was still on the WestCoast with the interview-ers facing her on cameraand her face projected ontoan interactive white board.

In addition, longtimeMaple Lake resident, AmyLoch, accepted a custodialpost at the school this year.

“She keeps this placespotless,” Medley said. “Idon’t know how she doesit, but we’re very pleased;she takes good care of us.”

Enrollment is stayingsteady and, with kinder-garten round-up coming upon March 5, everyone islooking forward to meet-ing the newest members ofthe St. Timothy’s Schoolfamily.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 10 P

The following business update is acompilition of business articles

written and updated by: TheresaAndrus, Katie Friedman and

Gabe Licht.Several Maple Lake busi-

nesses saw changes in thepast 12 months, while othershave closed their doors. Themost visible addition is theexpansion of Maple Lakeicon, H&H Sport Shop.Expansion of H&H

Sport ShopProminent on Highway 55

near the eastern edge ofMaple Lake and adjacent tothe new Irish Diamonds ball-fields, H&H Sport shop hasseen many changes in themonths since the city councilapproved the expansion plansof owners Jim and JodyChurchill, including con-struction, deconstruction andthe addition of four or fivejobs.

First, a large addition was

added behind the originalbuilding.

“Most of the building is awarehouse for product, an of-fice and a shipping and re-ceiving area,” owner JimChurchill said. “We’ll havemore room in the buildingand gain some openness inhere.”

The former liquor storehas been demolished and, thisspring, a road will be addedand connected to the schoolparking lot to access theirballfields.

In the future, he is plan-ning to develop the westernportion of his property, likelyas a restaurant, though thereare not specific plans yet.

“That will be at least ayear away,” Churchill said.

Less conspicuous, but noless important in the areabusiness landscape, were theseveral changes that tookplace within local businesses.

VFW becomes The V by HH

In June of 2012 it was an-nounced that the VFW facil-ity on Highway 55 in MapleLake had been sold.

Harnanan Heeralall,owner of HH Meats Deli andCatering, Inc., closed the saleof the building on June 12after months of work that al-lowed him to purchase the fa-cility from the Maple LakeVFW organization. In addi-tion, Chris Nelson of Madi-gan’s Pub & Grill purchasedthe land adjacent to his facil-ity between Highway 55 andStar Street.

Heeralall had owned theMaple Lake Cafe from 1998to 2003. He was then associ-ated with Dehmer’s Meats,first operating a Dehmer’sMeat Market before losingthe lease on the building andthen working for Dehmer’s inSt. Michael. Throughout that

2012 was a mixed bag forMaple Lake businesses

Business reportcontinued on page 11

Harney Heeralall was accompanied by his daughters, Lauren and Maya, as theyworked together on the first day of ownership of the former Maple Lake VFW facility onHighway 55. Heeralall, formerly of the Maple Lake Cafe and Dehmer’s Meats, pur-chased the facility in June of 2012.

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period, he also operated HHCatering.

Last September, theMaple Lake American Le-gion Club approached himabout cooking at that estab-lishment every Friday night.And now he is associatedwith the other veteran’s or-ganization after the purchaseof the VFW property.

“The VFW opportunitycame up in February and Ihave been working on it eversince,” Heeralall said. “TheVFW felt I was the right per-son to come and take thebusiness over.”Star Bank comes to

Maple LakeAfter a long, deliberate

process, Star Bank took own-ership of the former First Na-tional Bank of Elk Riverbranch in Maple Lake onJuly 20, 2012.

Star Bank is a privately-owned bank with ninebranches in the Minnesotacities of Annandale, Barrett,Bertha, Eagle Bend, EdenPrairie, Elbow Lake,Graceville, Verndale and

Wheaton. As of December31, 2011, Star Bank had as-sets of $149 million, depositsof $127 million, loans of$108 million and 55 employ-ees.

The acquisition of theMaple Lake office of FirstNational Bank of Elk Riverwas Star Bank’s third officeexpansion in the past sevenyears. Star Bank opened anew branch office in EdenPrairie in July of 2010 and anew branch office in Annan-dale in May of 2005.

“We are excited to con-tinue our growth planthrough the acquisition of theMaple Lake office,” saidHarry Wahlquist, presidentand CEO of Star Bank. “Istrongly believe in the futureof the Maple Lake and An-nandale areas and we arevery pleased with this oppor-tunity.”

Koch buys Maple Lake Bowl

Following seven years ofservice in the Minnesota Sen-ate, including the role of Ma-jority Leader, Amy Koch

decided to go into business asthe owner of Maple LakeBowl and the Pines Bar andGrill, taking ownership onJan. 1, 2013.

Koch was familiar withthe Maple Lake community,due to her experience work-ing with her family’s utilityservice company in town forseveral years, as well as herinvolvement with openingthe Maple Lake Library.

“It just seemed like a funbusiness opportunity,” shesaid. “The business weowned was a utilities com-pany, but I spent a lot of timewaitressing in high schooland in college. … Businessesare businesses are businesses.You have some of the sameissues. The entire staff stayedon and they’re fantastic. Wejust need a few more. We’vebeen in the process of hir-ing.”

She has also made otherchanges, such as addingweekly karaoke and tweakingthe menu. In the future, she

plans to paint and add a deckfor the summer.

“I just want people tocome in and see us and giveus a chance,” she said.Pace offers clinic for

employees, familiesIn February, Pace Indus-

tries began offering free med-ical services for employeesand their families at a Healthand Wellness Center, staffed

by a nurse practitioner withweekly hours.

With no room to expandthe physical plant, Travis

Former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch’s business interests led her to buyMaple Lake Bowl and The Pines Bar and Grill on Jan. 1, 2013.

Business reportcontinued on page 12

Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 12 P

Olufson spearheaded build-ing the center in the parkinglot of the facility.

Kenny Sandlin, Pace di-rector of wellness and safety,praised a couple different as-pects of the new addition.

“The biggest goal is to getproactive in our health,” San-dlin said. “The side effect ofthat is it will help lowerhealth care costs for both ourassociates and the companyand to have the convenienceof being able to come in be-

fore work or after work,rather than having to drive toa location and wait a couplehours.”

Rivers believes the invest-ment will prove worthwhile.

“I simply say we’re mak-ing some upfront investmentsfor what we believe will bethe potential return of preven-tion over the long term,” hesaid.Camps of Courage,

Friendship uniteCourage Center Camps,

of Golden Valley, and Friend-ship Ventures, of Annandale,announced in November theywould be merging.

Camp Courage was estab-lished in 1955 to serve indi-viduals with physicaldisabilities. Friendship Ven-tures followed in 1964 toserve participants with devel-opmental disabilities and spe-cial needs.

The new partnership cre-ated “Camps of Courage andFriendship,” enhancing serv-ices to nearly 4,000 people.

Theresa Doose wasamong the SchlennerWenner & Co. staff that

welcomed the generalpublic for an open houseat the new office at 220

Highway 55 N., Suite No.4, in Maple Lake.”Themajor reason we movedwas for more visibility frombeing located on the high-way,” Certified Public Ac-countant Bill Buckentinesaid. “It gives us a lot moreexposure.” The locationalso provides at least 500more square feet thantheir previous downtownlocation, Buckentine said.

New office for Schlenner Wenner & Co.

Business reportcontinued on page13

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Although the overall cli-mate of the Maple Lakebusiness community wasupbeat in the past year,there were, unfortunately, afew down-tics, includingthe departure of WrightAero and the closing ofBonnie’s Maple Lake Cafe.

Wright Aero leaves Maple Lake

Effective Dec. 31, 2012,Wright Aero, Inc., relo-cated its main offices to itsSt. Cloud facility.

Wright Aero PresidentBill Mavencamp cited eco-nomic conditions as thecause for the change andsaid he pondered the deci-sion for two years beforeleaving the community.

Flight training haddropped substantially, find-ing pilots and instructorsfrom the area had provendifficult over the past 15years and employment haddwindled from nine em-ployees to five, all of

whom had an opportunityto relocate to St. Cloud.

Mavencamp’s father,Bill Mavencamp Sr., hadbeen instrumental in estab-lishing the municipal air-port in 1967 and WrightAero had provided flightschool and charter flightservice from the MapleLake location for threedecades.

“It’s been nice for me,”Mavencamp said of run-ning his flight services lo-cally. “It’s been convenientto work where I live, andit’s been nice to deal with acity that’s been so helpfuland supportive.”

While Wright Aero hasserved as the airport’s fixedbase operator, Mavencampclarified an FBO is not re-quired for airport opera-tion.

“The airport will go on,”he said. “It doesn’t need meto survive. But I’m verysorry to be leaving. From acompany standpoint, thedecision was easy, but from

a personal standpoint, it’svery hard. This is a prettysad day for me, actually.”

Maple Lake Cafe closes its doorsBonnie’s Maple Lake

Cafe, owned for nearlynine years by Bonnie andRod Eastham of SouthHaven, has closed itsdoors.

The following note wasposted on the door: “Due toeconomic hard times, thecafe will be closing perma-nently as of Sunday, May6. Thank you for your pa-tronage.”

On Monday, BonnieEastham said the currenteconomic conditions arehard on restaurants. But shesaid she will miss her cus-tomers.

“Basically, our experi-ence in the town wasgood,” she said.

Eastham said an effortwas made to sell the busi-ness, but it didn’t work out.She said she will now workon selling her equipmentand furnishings.

Business report continued from page 8

Despite the Wright Aero sign, the business no longer occupies the Maple LakeMunicipal Airport, following a decision to move all offices to the company’s St.Cloud facility. The airport is currently looking for a fixed base operator in the ab-sence of Wright Aero.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 14 P

The following is a compi-lation of summarized MapleLake City Council storieswritten by Katie Friedman.

January•Agreed to reimburse resi-

dent Bob Randall for costsincurred in a complianceorder that ultimately was de-termined to be unnecessary.

•Was introduced toWright County Deputy DustyMiller, a St. Cloud native andnewcomer to the force, whowill be on rotation duty inMaple Lake. Miller told thecouncil members he likes toget out of the patrol car whenon duty and walk around thetown, visiting local busi-nesses and getting to knowthe residents.

February•Voted to approve a pre-

liminary plat/site plan for ex-pansion on H&H SportShop’s property that does notpresently include a fast foodrestaurant, but leaves thedoor open for that possibilityin the future.

March•Voted to submit a pur-

chase agreement to seller JP

Chase for a house next doorto city hall at 26 Maple Av-enue South at a cost of$30,000. Staff had reportedthat ReMax realtor BrendaPilger had contacted city hallwith the information that thehouse, a foreclosed property,was for sale at $49,900. Thecouncil had discussed pur-chasing the lot for city hallexpansion during a workshopFeb. 22.

•Approved the closing ofFund 415 – Birch AvenueCapital Improvement and thetransfer of that fund’s nega-tive balance of $215,851.93to Fund 315 – Birch AvenueDebt Service. Fund 415 wasestablished in 2008 when thecity received bond proceedsfor construction funds relatedto the Birch Avenue Im-provement Project.

•Approved plans andspecifications by Stantec fora 2012 sealcoat project. Thestreet maintenance includedcrack filling and seal coating,and included streets were tobe determined by EngineerPhil Gravel’s office and Pub-lic Works Director Jerry

Sawatzke based on the city’spriorities and availablebudget.

April•At its April 2 meeting,

the Maple Lake City Councilfinalized a tax-abatementagreement with Airlift Doors,formalizing a tentativearrangement that had beenreached in the fall. Theagreement calls for an abate-ment period of five years, atan estimated amount of$56,500, and contains stipu-lations set by the city towhich the business must ad-here during that term.

•In the interest of citizens’convenience, directed PublicWorks Director JerrySawatzke to leave the citycompost site open on week-ends. The council also re-quested that signage beinstalled to instruct as to ac-ceptable items and indicatewhere various materialsshould be placed.

•Passed a resolution call-ing for the redemption of theOutstanding General Obliga-tion Improvement Bonds of2004B. The bonds, issued by

the council in 2004 and total-ing $725,000, will be subjectto redemption and prepay-ment June 1, and the councilvoted to redeem $245,000 ofthat amount at 100 percent of

the bonds’ principal amountplus accrued interest for eachsuch bond called.

May•At its May 15 meeting,

the Maple Lake City Council

heard the city’s 2011 audit re-port as presented by MollieThompson and John Archerof Schlenner Wenner & Co.

City officials invested in the community in 2012

City reportcontinued on page 15

Crews work to demolish the former liquor store on the H&H Sport Shop propertyin December. The city had approved expansion at the site earlier in the year.

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Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 15

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•Agreed to re-examine aprevious decision to drop outof the Wright County Eco-nomic Development Partner-ship. Director Ted LaFrancespoke before the council, im-

ploring members to onceagain weigh the organiza-tion’s benefits against thecost, which is $525 annually,plus 10 cents per capita.

•Approved the transfer of

the VFW’s liquor license toHarnanan Heeralall, owner ofHH Meats Deli & Catering,Inc.

June•The City of Maple Lake

has stepped up to reimburseresidents over the past yearfor several mistakes that ledto extra costs for residentsduring the effort to inspectproperties for drainage orsewer line issues.

•Agreed to close portionsof Birch and Division streetsfor an open house celebratingthe 75th anniversary of theMaple Lake Fire Depart-ment.

•Awarded bids for the2012 Street Maintenance

Project. City Engineer PhilGravel said of the three bidsreceived for the project, thelow bid of $134,470 camefrom Mid-Minnesota HotMix. He said the bid washigher than the estimate forthe project, but it was stillwithin the amount of fundingavailable. In addition, theproject will include the repairof cracks on some of the citytrails, with about $5,000 forthat project to come out ofthe city park fund.

July•Approved a charitable

gambling permit for theMaple Lake Lions at “The V,by HH,” the new businessoperating in the former VFWfacility on Highway 55. CityClerk Linda Hruby said thesite would be in addition tothe Lions’ gambling opera-tions at Madigan’s Pub andGrill.

•Approved an amended

City reportcontinued from page 14

City reportcontinued on page 16

The Maple Lake Fire Department celebrated its 75th anniversary in July with avariety of activities for people of all ages.

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City report continued from page 15

easement agreement withFirst National Bank of MapleLake. Pagel said the city wascontacted by Star Bank,which is in the process ofbuying the Maple Lakebranch. It was noticed thatthe sewer easement did notinclude using the easementfor a drive-through bankingfacility.

August•Conducted a public hear-

ing on Rob and MaureenMcClanahan’s petition forthe vacation of a portion ofNorth Street East that is nolonger a traveled throughstreet for vehicle traffic. Nocitizen spoke at the hearing,and the vacation was ap-proved. Later in the meeting,neighboring resident MariaMetz appeared before thecouncil with questions re-garding the specific dimen-sions of the area to bevacated, and was assured thatthe area includes only theMcClanahans’ side of thestreet.

•Tabled a request to con-sider allowing vintage carsales as an interim use at the

creamery building at 25Birch Avenue North untilJohn Northenscold and fel-low planning commissionmember Jeff Rivers researchthe criteria for a more spe-cific definition of “vintage.”

September•The Maple Lake City

Council adopted a resolutionat its Sept. 11 meeting ap-proving the 2013 proposedbudget and tax levy. Theoverall budget requirementfor 2013 is $1,445,923 – anincrease of $88,503 over2012. The overall certifiedtax levy for the coming yearwill be $793,401 – an in-crease of $7,088.

•Issued a proclamationrecognizing the Maple LakeLakers for an outstandingseason that included theirwinning of the North StarLeague’s regular seasonchampionship and their cap-ture of Maple Lake’s firststate amateur championshipsince 1939. Team managerChad Raiche and playersCasey Pack, Jeremy Schmidt,Nate Johnson and CodyDecker were on hand to ac-

cept the council’s hearty con-gratulations.

October•Approved an elec-

tronic/wire funds transferpolicy identifying policiesand procedures for electronicfunds transfer.

•Agreed to submit a letterto Wright County commis-sioners regarding a proposalto amend the county’s zoningordinance to include athleticcomplexes under commercialoutdoor recreation as a condi-tional use. The council mem-bers objected to a stipulationin the proposed amendmentthat such complexes must bewithin a radius of 1.5 milesof cities with populations ofno fewer than 5,000 people.

November•Adopted a resolution

providing for the issuance,sale and delivery of$1,030,000 in general obliga-tion improvement crossoverrefunding bonds and award-ing the sale thereof. GeorgeEilertson of Northland Secu-rities walked the councilthrough details of a refundingbond he’d worked out for the

city, explaining that this is abond that refinances streetbonds the city issued in 2008.During the life of a usefulbond, he said, it is possible toadvance-refund once, tax ex-empt. He called it an “ad-vance refund” because thecall date of the bonds is April1, 2015, and said the conceptof advance refunding, withcurrent favorable interestrates, allows the city to lockinto future savings that willoccur after 2015. The currentaverage interest rate on theexisting bonds is 4.46 per-cent. By refinancing, the citywill lock into a new interestrate of 1.71 percent, for al-most $90,000 in savings.Though it does not create animmediate benefit, the citycould potentially lower itslevy in 2014, Eilertson said.The city’s good income,strong wealth indicators andgeneral fund reserves, plus amoderate debt burden, werekey factors in determiningthe available interest rate.

December•Conducted a public hear-

ing on a 2013 fee scheduleamendment, at which no citi-zens came forward to com-ment, and adopted aresolution to make reserva-tion and maintenance fees forCommunity and BolduanPark shelters nonrefundable,set street vacation fees at$350 and raise water serviceinactivation fees from $20 to$65 to cover city costs. Thecouncil also approved the2013 water and sewer fundbudget, increasing water andsewer rates by 35 cents and50 cents per 1,000 gallons,respectively, to meet a 2013increase in joint sewer treat-ment plant fees.

•Denied Don and Chris-tine Gilson’s request to ex-tend living quarters to a back,main-floor portion of thestore front they own at 63Birch Ave. S.

•Heard an update on eco-nomic activity from eco-nomic developmentconsultant Paul Bilotta, whoreported that a film and TV

rebate incentive program isnow up and running and thatadditional contact has beenmade with a constructioncompany interested in bring-ing its business to the city.

January•Passed a resolution revis-

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•Adopted a resolution or-dering Stantec to prepare afeasibility report on potentialreconstruction of Park Av-enue South, along with someutility replacement and repairbetween Division and Firststreets, as well as Linden Av-enue from the north end toFirst Street.

•Approved the purchaseof a Ford F450 from Lun-deen Motors, at an estimatedprice of nearly $34,000 in-cluding a trade-in, for themaintenance department.

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f

by Gabe LichtMaple Lake School Dis-

trict began 2012 with goodnews: Enrollment stood at946.5, compared to the 942number used for the budget.Unfortunately for the dis-trict, kindergarten through12th-grade enrollmentdropped to 905.62, belowthe 913 budget number,about a year later.

The drop in enrollment,and subsequent decrease infunding, is now pushing thedistrict to consider cutting5.76 full-time equivalent li-censed staff positions, 2FTE instructional aide posi-tions, one FTE custodian, amedia manager positionand other part-time posi-tions in an effort to saveabout half of the projected$882,000 shortfall.

In spring of 2012, thedistrict found itself an esti-mated $359,000 overbudget, though, when unas-signed funds were consid-ered, that number wascloser to $162,000.

In April, the schoolboard addressed the short-

fall by eliminating 1.3 FTEaide and paraprofessionalpositions, including onewho resigned; full-time ele-mentary teacher DawnHanson, who had been ap-proved for a year-longleave; .35 FTE part-timeoverload positions in art,physical education andSpanish; a .03 FTE elemen-tary music teaching posi-tion; and secretarialrestructuring due to the res-ignation of office clerk andsecretary Kim Schwartz.

While stimulus dollarsdropped more than$88,000, Literacy IncentiveAid was estimated to beabout $50,000.

In a bit of good news,the school’s levy rate de-creased .27 percent.

School board changesThe Maple Lake School

District began 2012 bynaming Shelley McAlpineschool board chair and BradNeutz as vice chair. Neutzwas named chair a yearlater, as McAlpine transi-tioned to the clerk position,and Arnie Michalicek be-

came vice chair. New mem-bers Ben Elsenpeter and JoePaumen also joined theboard at that time.

The board also decidedto combine the Q Compand District Staff AdvisoryTeams into one DistrictLeadership Team. Awards and recognitions

Brian Redemske andLaura Wagner representedMaple Lake High School asthe Academics, Arts andAthletics award winners. Ayear later, Laura’s brother,Neal, and Hannah Haegeleclaimed the award.

Freshman Charlie Ste-jskal represented MLHS atthe state speech tourna-ment, marking the thirdconsecutive year in whichMLHS was represented.

Six MLHS students wereselected for the WrightCounty Boy/Girl CountyDay: Hannah Haegele,Rachel Latour, HollyGoelz, Greg Dorow, NealWagner and Ben Winkel-man. Haegele and Wagnerwere also selected to attendBoys and Girls State.

MLHS students BrookeDecker, Lexi Pingel,Alexandra Schonnesen andBrady Gagnon were namedStudents of Excellence.

Emily Webb and Jack-son Willard representedMLHS at the State VocalSolo and Ensemble Contest,with Webb receiving an ex-cellent rating from herjudge and Willard receiving

a superior rating.MLHS senior Aaron

Carlson, who had been crit-ically injured a year earlier,was named a KARE-11 Ac-ademic All-Star.

MLHS graduated 77seniors on June 1.

In July, the Irish March-ing Band participated in pa-rades in Boston and RhodeIsland.

Ten new teachers startedat MLHS and Maple LakeElementary.

MLE was classified as a“Reward School” in theMinnesota Department ofEducation’s multiple Meas-urement Ratings, meaningit was in the highest per-forming 15 percent ofschools receiving Title Ifunding for low-income

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The Maple LakeThe Maple Lake

continued on page 18

Progress in Maple Lake 2013, Page 18 P

families. MLHS’ rating was77.78 percent despite notreceiving Title I funds.

MLE started the schoolyear with publicity onKARE-11 TV, which aireda clip of the“Sign It Daily”video about signing plan-ners.

Holly Goelz and NealWagner were selected asHomecoming King andQueen.

Senior Brooke Deckerbecame the all-time leadingscorer in Maple Lake girlsbasketball history. She waslater named to the 5AANorth basketball team forher fourth consecutive year.ANML Lightning advancedto the 6AA Quarterfinalsbut lost to Becker by threepoints. ANML Lightningwrestler, Jordan Hanan,recorded his 100th win and51st pin. Members of theAnandale-Maple LakeYouth Wrestling teams took1st place in the junior andsenior divisions of the Na-tional Youth Wrestling As-sociation TeamChampionship at St. John’s

University.MLHS sent the boys and

girls track team to the StateTrue Team Meet for thefirst time in school history,with the boys taking firstand the girls finishingfourth. Joe Mooney set apersonal record of 6’6” inthe Class A boys’ high jumpfinals on Saturday at Ham-line University in St. Paul.Mooney finished in a tie forsecond place, the highest-ever finish for an Irish trackathlete at the state meet. Inaddition, the boys’ 4x200relay team of Cody Bakka,Forrest Coughlin, KevinSalveson and Drew Hansonfinished in fifth place, break-ing a school record with atime of 1:31.83. 2012 alsomarked the first subsectiontrack title for the boys. Fit-tingly, Ben Youngs wasnamed CMC Boys and GirlsTrack Coach of the Year andSection 5A Coach of theYear.

The Irish baseball teamclinched their first CentralMinnesota Conference titlein school history.

The Irish softball teamwon the Central MinnesotaConference title.

The Irish girls golf teamtook second place in theCentral Minnesota Confer-ence.

Amy Voigt was namedCMC Assistant Coach ofthe Year. Dave Schroederwas named Athletic Direc-tor of the Year. Tim Knud-sen was CMC SoftballCoach of the Year.

Brian Redemske partici-pated in the 2012 Min-nesota All-Star BaseballTournament.

The Irish girls crosscountry team won the CMCChampionship, while theboys took third place. Italso marked the first timethe Irish cross country teamhad sent more than one ath-lete to the State CrossCountry Meet: GregDorow, Halle Geyen andSommer Carlson.

MLE teacher Mary LouNygaard received $1,000 inschool supplies, and theMLE office received an ad-ditional $650 in supplies, as

part of OfficeMax’s Na-tional School AdvocacyProgram.

Support staff membersJodi Stecker and TammyHeitkamp were honored ata regional event hosted byResource Training & Solu-tions.

Maple Lake teachersMike Hojnacke, Nygaard,Trish Ludwig and CaseyPack were honored asLeaders in Educational Ex-cellence.

MLE music teacher PatJohnson was presented witha plaque for many years ofservice as she retired.

InfrastructureIn February, the school

board entered into an en-ergy savings performanceaudit with Siemens, Inc. Itlater approved a $605,010project with 3.5 percent in-terest over 15 years, whichwas expected to save thedistrict $50,660 annually.

Irish Diamonds werecompleted and a grandopening celebrated the newfacility.

New programs

A new elementaryschool literacy programwas approved to complywith a modified state statuterequiring students’ dailyreading to increase from 90to 120 minutes.

Irish PATHS, standingfor Parents And TeachersHelping Students, began atMLHS, under the leader-ship of former Parents InEducation President PaulaSchmidt.

To combat bullying, theschool district took on“Rachel’s Challenge,”which is named afterRachel Scott, the first stu-dent killed in theColumbine High schoolshooting.

Irish Connections beganin MLE to match each stu-dent with a caring adult ingroups for 20 minutes eachmonth.

Overview“I think we’re doing a

lot of things well,” Superin-tendent Mark Redemskesaid, referencing academicachievement, as evidencedby the “Reward School”

title for MLE. “Anytimeyou’ve got administratorswho break down data,we’re always going to findthings to work on but, over-all, we’ve got to be pleasedwith that.”

In addition to academicexcellence, Redemske isproud of district involve-ment and success of co-cur-ricular and extracurricularactivities.

“We have very high par-ticipation levels, with a lotof successes there,” Re-demske said.

With that said, he ac-knowledges several chal-lenges remain.

“We have been strug-gling with enrollment dip-ping and, of course,enrollment is what drivesour revenue, so we have toaddress it,” Redemske said.

One way the districthopes to address decliningenrollment is by offeringmore college classesthrough Lake Superior Col-lege to keep high schoolstudents at the local cam-pus.

Maple Lake Schools continued from page 17

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