Reaching Everybody!
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Newsleader Sartell
Friday, Nov. 15, 2013 Volume 18, Issue 45 Est. 1995
Town Crier
Love of Christ celebrates 20th anniversary Nov. 24
Love of Christ Lutheran Church will celebrate its 20th anniversary starting at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 24. A luncheon and program will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Members of the congregation shared the following: “God has done so much in peoples’ lives during the course of the past 20 years. You may be one of the thousands touched by a worship experience at Love of Christ, or engaged with us through one of the church’s community ministries. Whatever your relationship with the Love of Christ Family has been, we would be so blessed to have you celebrate with us.”
Proposed City Center meeting set Nov. 18
Persons interested in supporting a City Center are invited to attend an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18 at the District Service Center, 212 3rd Ave. N., Sartell. Discussion will focus on creative ideas to facilitate the building of the City Center as well as structural suggestions. Refreshments will be served. Call 320-253-4036 for more information.
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Veterans, students enjoy lunch together by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
A good time – and a good lunch – was had by all when Sartell Middle School sponsored its annual “Lunch with a Veteran” last Monday, Veterans Day. At some of the tables in the large lunch room, veterans sat with students. The veterans were related to one or more students as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins or siblings. At both lunch shifts, the American Legion Honor Guard of Sartell welcomed guests as they arrived. The food staff decorated the kitchen, serving areas and tables for the event. At one table veteran Steve Kelly sat with his daughter, Kaitlyn, 13, a seventh-grader. Kelly served in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Yosemite in 1989. His wife, Jennifer, is a student Lunch • page 2
photo by Dennis Dalman
Holly Cofer of Sartell, a U.S. Army National Guard member, stands in the Sartell Middle School lunch line with her brother, Kovey, who is an eighth-grader at the school.
Veteran urges students to do the best they can by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
Car seat clinic offers free checks
A free car seat clinic will be held from 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20 at the Gold Cross Ambulance Garage, 2800 7th St. N., St. Cloud. This is a free service. To schedule an appointment, call 320-656-7021. For more information, visit www.thenewsleaders. com and click on Criers.
What are you thankful for?
Kids Fighting Hunger, a Sauk Rapids-based humanitarian hunger-relief organization is hosting a “We Are Thankful” foodpackaging event before Thanksgiving. Volunteers are needed to help assemble food packages for shipment to children who are in desperate need of food. “We Are Thankful” will take place on Saturday Nov. 23; 180 volunteers are needed to participate in twohour sessions to package “hunger packs.” The packaging sessions are from 9-11 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and 1-3 p.m. at the Kids Fighting Hunger warehouse in Sauk Rapids. The goal is to package approximately 30,000 meals that day. For more information, visit www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
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photo by Dennis Dalman
Major David Peterson (right) chats with Snuffy Putnam, a member of the American Legion of Sartell, at Sartell Middle School’s “Salute to Veterans” events on Veterans Day. Peterson, a member of the Sartell City Council, is a 16-year member of the Minnesota Army National Guard who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also an attorney and humanresources supervisor for the St. Cloud VA Medical Center.
Thank-you cards sent to veterans
There were many pleased veterans at the VA Medical Center on Veterans Day, thanks to the students at Sartell Middle School. In early November, all middle-school students had the chance to make thank-you
cards to veterans through their home rooms and through the Student Advisory Council. More than 500 cards were created. They were then delivered to the VA Nov. 8 and delivered to veterans on Veterans Day.
Years ago when he was in law school, it never once crossed David Peterson’s mind he would someday be using his legal expertise in a faraway country in the midst of war. But that, in fact, is what happened. Not once. But twice. Monday, at a Veterans Day ceremony sponsored by Sartell Middle School, Peterson shared some of his experiences as a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Peterson worked as an attorney for many years with the Dan Eller Law Office in Waite Park, but more recently he took a job as human-resources specialist for the Veterans Administration Medical Center in St. Cloud. As a 16-year member of the Minnesota Army National Guard, Major Peterson still does some legal work for the military. He’s also a member of the Sartell City Council. For a year, starting in 2009 and ending in 2010, he served in Iraq as a legal advisor for “ruleof-law” issues. Then, a year later, he served for six months in Afghanistan helping police, judges and courts in a countercorruption program. In two talks for two ceremonies in the Sartell Middle
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School gymnasium, Peterson addressed jam-packed audiences of students in the bleachers. He shared projected slides of his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, but before that, Peterson opened his presentation with a pep talk to the students. He told the students to do their very best at whatever they pursue – whether extracurricular activities or studies. “Practice hard,” he advised, “and learn from your mistakes. If people apply themselves, good things will happen, especially if they keep forging ahead even under trying times when people find it hard to believe in themselves, Peterson told the students. Being called to active duty in two warring countries, he said, was a “curve ball” Peterson did not expect, but life, he noted, is full of “curve balls.” That’s why students must work hard, apply themselves, do their best and forge ahead. If they do, they are certain to succeed, Peterson promised. Peterson’s slide-show consisted of snapshot glimpses of him and his colleagues in a rather alien terrain of desert-like dusty and rocky landscapes. His jobs there required many long hours of travel, sometimes to remote villages where he would Veteran • page 2