Sartell Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Friday, May 31, 2013
photos by Dennis Dalman
Above left: Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes holds a plaque honoring him for the efforts of him and his staff in the wake of the Verso explosion and fire one year ago. Hughes was one of several people honored
during a Verso commemoration ceremony May 27 in Sartell’s Veterans Park. Above middle: Dennis Molitor, former Verso employee, speaks to an audience during the Verso paper-mill commemoration. Above right: Like a ghost of its former self, the de-
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funct Verso paper mill can be seen across the river during a commemoration ceremony in Sartell’s Veterans Park, attended mainly by former Verso employees, their families and friends.
Former Verso employees mourn losses, celebrate good times by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com At times, the gathering seemed like a funeral, with tears falling and speakers choking back emotions. Later, at the picnic that followed, the sadness was replaced with plenty of happy memories and laughter. The gathering was a reunion of sorts for former Verso papermill employees, who got together May 27 for a ceremony at Vet-
erans Park and a picnic across the street in Watab Park. It was exactly one year ago – May 27, 2012 – when an explosion and fire at Verso killed employee Jon Maus, injured four others and ultimately caused the plant to close forever. Just before the disaster happened, a Memorial Day ceremony took place on a beautiful sunny morning with the Verso plant clearly shining in its babyblue color just across the Missis-
sippi River. After the Memorial Day ceremony, the sky began to cloud up as the explosion happened, sending a roiling cloud of black smoke into the sky. As Sartell Mayor Joe Perske said Monday, in what amounted to a virtual eulogy for the paper mill, that day of disaster is one that everybody in Sartell will remember, and they’ll recall exactly what they were doing when they heard the news. It was an explosion and fire that
spelled doom for the mill and caused 175 people to become unemployed. It also ended an era of paper-making in Sartell, an industry that began in the city nearly 110 years ago. That sense of momentous history and of sorrowful loss was readily apparent at the Monday ceremony. Once again, speakers and listeners mourned the death of Jon Maus and empathized with the pain of his family and friends.
Dennis Molitor, one of the organizers of the event, presented plaques to four people for their hard work in the wake of the disaster: Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes, Sartell-LeSauk Police Chief Ken Heim, former Verso human resources employee Nancy Koska and Gerry Parzino, a member of United Steelworkers International Local 274. “We lost a piece of our past,” Molitor told the participants Verso • page 10
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