Reaching Everybody!
Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid St. Joseph Newsleader St. Joseph, MN 56374 Permit No. 21 ECRWSS Postal Customer
Newsleader Sartell
Friday, June 27, 2014 Volume 19, Issue 26 Est. 1995
Town Crier
St. Stephen sets Centennial Planning meeting
The St. Stephen Centennial is planned for July 18-20. A meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 29 at City Hall. Can’t attend but want to volunteer? Contact the St. Stephen clerk at 320-290-0424.
Newsleader office closed; no paper on July 4th
The Newsleader office will be closed June 30 - July 4. A July 4 edition will not be published. The office will reopen on Monday, July 7 and will resume weekly publications beginning July 11.
New pastor begins June 29 at First United Methodist
The public is invited to welcome the Rev. Leah Rosso, who will serve as the new lead pastor of the First United Methodist Church of the St. Cloud Region, 1107 Pinecone Road S., Sartell, during her first worship service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, June 29. The service will be followed by an informal reception in the church fellowship hall. Rosso formerly served as associate pastor at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church in Minneapolis. She and her husband, Todd, and their three children recently moved to Sartell. Her new FUMC congregation invites the public to join she and her family as well as to visit its new building in Sartell after moving from downtown St. Cloud in 2013. For more information contact the church office at 320 2510804, or visit the church website at www.fumcscr.org.
Postal Patron
Book gives vivid glimpses of St. Stephen history by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
Unearthing St. Stephen’s history in the form of photographs was a daunting task for a mother-and-daughter team, but they rolled up their sleeves, took a deep breath and managed to do it. Last year, Verdell Rudolph and daughter Anita Smoley agreed to gather photos from anywhere and everywhere to help celebrate St. Stephen’s Centennial. The two women sent out feelers, but there were few responses. They were very disappointed, at first. Rolling up their sleeves a little further, they became a bit more aggressive and practically pommeled people in St. Stephen to cough up old photographs. Their insistence, persistence and whip-cracking paid off. In the coming months, since last January, they managed to round up nearly 400 vintage photos – some as early as 1871 when the first church was built in what was then just a territory, not a town. Thanks to Verdell and Anita, a 97-page book containing almost 300 photos has been published to commemorate St. Stephen’s 100th birthday. A two-day bash will take Book • page 3
photo by Dennis Dalman
Anita Smoley (left) and her mother, Verdell Rudolph, peruse the final proofs of their St. Stephen photo history book just days before its printing by Sentinel Press, St. Cloud. The two women spent months collecting and collating hundreds of photos, old and new, that tell the story in images of the city’s 100-year-old history.
Sex-trafficking topic of novel, of church meeting by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
A disturbing new novel by Dennis Herschbach of Sartell will take center stage at Celebration Lutheran Church at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10 when the author and other concerned citizens will discuss the grim topic of sex-trafficking. The public is
invited. The sponsors of the meeting are members of Celebrate Freedom Task Force, a group from Celebration Lutheran Church determined to alert the public about the horrors of sex-trafficking of girls, women, boys and even babies. Herschbach, too, is so mortified by the worldwide problem he made it the topic of his novel, A River Through Two Harbors,
Schuneman retires after 45 years as bus driver
Hailing all ballplayers for co-ed game July 19
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
Ballplayers are being sought for a co-ed slow-pitch softball game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday July 19 at Smoley Field in St. Stephen. This event is in conjunction with other citywide events celebrating St. Stephen’s Centennial. Eligible players must be 18 years or older, and must have played or coached St. Stephen Little league boy’s baseball or girl’s softball. Advanced registration is expected. Please contact Mike Gillen by phone or text at 320-248-6820; email gillymj@msn.com.
Additional crier items
• Help Red Cross prevent summer blood shortage • Rox seeks nominations for hero baseball cards • Workshop explores basics of researching family history • Reusable bag workshop offered at Waite Park library • CentraCare offers free Youth Mental Health class Visit www.thenewsleaders. com and click on June 27 Criers.
which is a work of fiction but based solidly on actual facts. The book is Herschbach’s third mystery novel, all of which take place in or near Two Harbors, Minn. where he once lived and taught. At the July 10 meeting, Herschbach will read excerpts from his book. The “river” in the novel refers to the Trafficking • page 8
contributed photo
Patty Schuneman of St. Stephen, shown here with husband Clarence, recently retired after 45 years of driving school bus for Sartell schools. She was recently honored with a statewide award for her remarkable safety record – 45 years of driving without an accident.
It’s been a landmark month for Patty Schuneman of St. Stephen, a school bus driver who not only recently retired but who was honored with a “Transportation Specialist Award” from the Minnesota School Bus Operators’ Association. Schuneman drove a Trobec bus for Sartell schools for 45 years. In all of those years, in driving through Minnesota’s often fickle and nasty weather, she never had an accident. Schuneman was feted at the MSBOA convention at Sugar Lake Lodge near Grand Rapids recently. In presenting the plaque, the speaker praised her for her accident-free bus-driving years, and the audience applauded heartily. “Patty’s always began and ended the day with a smile,” said the speaker. It was a happy day, a happy month, for Patty, her husband Clarence and their children. It was pleasant to be honored
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by so many for a job she has always enjoyed. The Schunemans’ four daughters all attended the ceremony at Sugar Lake Lodge: Faye and Julie Schuneman of St. Stephen, Rennie Schuneman of Clear Lake and Amy Miller of Becker. Their two sons, Danny and David, could not make it. Two of the Schunemans’ other children died tragically of cancer – Mary Knettel at age 48, seven years ago, and Mike, at age 52, five years ago. In 1969, there was a need for a schoolbus driver in the Sartell-St. Stephen area. Tony Trobec of Trobec’s Bus Service, St. Stephen, talked Schuneman into giving the job a try. Reluctant at first, she tried it. And loved it. “Tony figured Patty’s a good ol’ farm girl, therefore she’d make a good bus driver,” Clarence said. “The best thing about the job was all the good friends I made with the children,” Patty recalled. Each school day, she would rise at Schuneman • page 4