FREE PRESS MESSENGER AMERY
TUESDAY, MARCH 33, 8, 2016 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2222
VOL.131 120NO. NO.1937 www.theameryfrepress.com VOL. www.moraminn.com $1.00 $1.00
SPORTS: Clayton girls to make second appearance at state PAGE 20
Latest plan keeps motors off Gandy
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BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Serving Marine-on-St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
SENTINEL BURNETT COUNTY
JESSICA DE LA CRUZ|AMERY FREE PRESS
Dr. Michael Marra was an Amery doctor from 1949 to 1979. Now 99 years old, he has no plans to slow down. He uses the internet to find tax forms, and look for answers to his daily crossword puzzle.
Doc Marra’s secret to a long, healthy life BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
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from deliveries & tonsillectomies to routine office visits. Today, Doc Marra is not only alive, but well. And living independently at Evergreen Village, #214. He’s 99 years old. Marra grew up in New York City, born in Manhattan on January 8, 1917. His father, a Sicilian immigrant, passed away when Mike was just a toddler, prompting his mother to move Mike
and his three-year old brother to Brooklyn to live with his grandparents. Only Italian was spoken in that home. In fact, Mike didn’t learn English until he went to grade school. Marra’s upbringing in the New York boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens couldn’t have been more different than
COUNTY ST
It’s been more than 70 years since he’s lived in Brooklyn, New York, and Doc Marra still can’t shake that accent. Anyone who grew up in Amery in the 50s, 60s or 70s might remember that voice from Amery Clinic. Doc Marra was a fi xture there, performing everything
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 33, 2222 No motorized vehicles would be allowed on VOL. 131 NO. 19 www.moraminn.com Polk County’s slice of the$1.00 Gandy Dancer Trail in summer – even by special permit – if the full county board approves the latest version of the trail’s master plan later this month. Amendments that would have allowed two motorized events on the trail each summer and two non-motorized events each winter were removed by the Conservation, Development, Recreation and Education (CDRE) Committee after a nearly two-hour long public hearing March 2. The new draft will go before full board for discussion and possible THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER approval March 15. 33, 2222 VOL. 131 19 hearing, www.moraminn.com AtNO. the the $1.00 question of whether to allow motors on the trail proved complex and contentious, with Kirk Johnson ATV riders asking Osceola, Wis. that hikers and bikers “share the trail” and silent sport enthusiasts arguing that ATV use would compromise the trail’s surface and safety. Several ATV supporters encouraged the board to simply open the trail to ATVs, seemingly asking for access beyond the two special events. “There’s only one group that wants to keep anyone else from using the trail,” said Kirk
‘There’s only one group that wants to keep anyone else from using the trail, that’s non-motorized users.’
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Amery Holiday Station to be sold to Pennsylvania firm
THE SUN BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
One of Amery’s south-side landmarks will soon change hands. According to store manager Gale Lunsmann, by month end, Holiday will be sold to the publicly traded CrossAmerica Partners, a Pennsylvania company. The Amery Holiday Store has
been under the ownership of SSG Corporation of Hudson, a company that owns convenience stores throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Lunsmann is not aware of any plans to change anything about the Amery store. She says they will retain all employees, and no disruption in service is expected. According to the company’s
website, CrossAmerica Partners LP distributes fuel to more than 1,200 locations and owns or leases more than 800 sites throughout 25 states. CrossAmerica Partners ranks as one of ExxonMobil’s largest distributors by fuel volume in the United States and in the top 10 for additional brands.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 33, 2222
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