Henderson Native Displays Trophy Elk
School Board Told Technology Improvements Paying Off
Hoops Teams Wind Down Regular Season Pages 12, 13
Page 4
Page 11
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, february 22, 2017
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 8
More Chapters Added to Cross Issue Return the Cross Supporters’ Concerns Turn to Optimism
April in February Belle Plaine and the rest of the Twin Cities region experienced several days of record-breaking February warmth with highs in the 50s and even some 60s this past week. But all that is about to come to an end. As of Tuesday, weather models indicated that winter weather appears to be heading our way as temperatures fall to seasonal averages, which could be accompanied by a significant snow event in the Twin Cities and elsewhere in southern Minnesota late this week. Pictured above are kids taking advantage of this past weekend’s warmth at Heritage Square Park in Belle Plaine.
Belle Plaine FFA Alive & Growing
Additional Teacher Preparing Students to Thrive In the shop in the northwest corner of Belle Plaine JuniorSenior High School, Paige Lemke helped a group of students rebuild small engines. She wasn’t about to tell the students how the job should be done. Lemke let them learn through trial, err and adjustment. That’s how she learned when she was a FFA student at Hutchinson High School. Lemke’s not your older brother’s FFA instructor. She’s bringing new life and a new perspective to the BPHS FFA, an already-popular program that continues to grow, said Bruce Mathiowetz, the school’s lead FFA instructor. Lemke, a graduate of the Ridgewater Community College and the University of Minnesota, will be among the FFA members celebrating FFA Week at the school Feb. 20-26. The BPHS program has 47 students in it, plus recent alums. That’s a slight increase over the past two years. Statewide, FFA has about 11,000 and around 650,000 members nationally. Lemke joined FFA when she was a freshman at Hutchinson High School in 2008. Her family grew produce on her grandparents’ hobby farm. Lemke was impressed by her teacher’s willingness to let her try anything. “I didn’t really know what it (FFA) was about,” Lemke said. “As soon as I learned, I wanted to be a part of it.” She hadn’t planned to pursue a degree in education while in high school. She had no interest in agricultural education when graduating from Hutchinson in 2011. Her plans included culinary school. “I love to bake,” she said. Lemke’s FFA instructor,
Lavyne Rada, encouraged her to consider a career path that included teaching. Rada, who is now the state FFA leadership coordinator, saw potential in Lemke. She recalls her leading a FFA safety program for elementary-schoolers and an agricultural program for nonFFA students. Today in Belle Plaine, she teaches junior and senior high students. “Everything she did, she did with a lot of passion,” Rada said. The beauty of teaching FFA in Belle Plaine is the variety, Lemke said. Last week, she led a group of students during an exercise tearing down, cleaning and then rebuilding small engines. Her schedule includes classes in agricultural technologies, agricultural food and natural resources, an agricultural exploration class, and a leadership class where students learn in-depth information about FFA. “It makes it easier to go through the day. There’s always something different happening,” Lemke said. “I want students to understand that agricultural touches almost every part of their lives.” Mathiowetz said the addition of a second ag. educator has allowed for greater supervision and flexibility when working with FFA students. With the departure of Joe Deutsch, Mathiowetz’s schedule has been broadened to include construction classes. Lemke’s arrival has allowed the addition of a food science class. “We haven’t been able to
do food science in five or six years,” he said. Mathiowetz said the job market for students in agricultural is wide open. “We need every student, all ability levels,” he said. “There is a job for them.” Belle Plaine FFA students will be busy this week. Monday, they went to Feed My Starving Children for a community service project. Tuesday, they were at Oak Crest teaching fourth-graders about fruits and vegetables. Today (Wednesday,
FFA Week
(continued on page 2)
by Dan Ruud The roller-coaster ride that is the cross removal issue at Veterans Memorial Park took a few more dips, climbs and turns in the days leading to Tuesday night’s Belle Plaine City Council meeting. The Defend Veterans Park group, via Facebook, had expressed displeasure with the changes the Belle Plaine City Council was proposing to make to the limited public forum resolution, final approval of which was expected to be voted on Tuesday night after this edition of the Herald went to press. Last week, Andy Parrish, a spokesperson for the Defend Veterans Park group, posted: VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE CITY!!: I have reviewed their proposed policy. It is a total joke and worse than a Nicolas Cage movie. It is written so we reject it and they can say they “tried”. Their Policy allows 18 monuments rather than the 5 we proposed. They are approved on a first come first serve basis with ZERO preference given to YOU the residents of Belle Plaine. Finally, the display must have liability coverage of $1,000,000 which coverage must list the City as an additional insured. $1,000,000 is more insurance than your average house has, more than your average life insurance policy, and an amount the Vets Club and your average individual resident can’t sustain. However, a large out-of-state group certainly could pay for that. I am hopeful that someone on the council will amend these items
and then pass it as amended to more accurately reflect our original proposal. - Very disappointing, but we are not giving up. If passed as written Joe’s memorial won’t go back up. However, Parrish posted this week that: GREAT PHONE CALL WITH MAYOR CHRIS MEYER: I can’t divulge the details of the conversation between him and me, but I can tell you after our conversation, I am confident we will leave Tuesday night extremely pleased! PLEASE: Attend the meeting at the Veterans Club at 5:30 pm tomorrow night (Tuesday). I will explain what is happening there, and then please attend the city council meeting at 6:30 pm to show your support. We are almost there!
Mayor Responds
When asked what Parrish meant by “we are almost there,” Meyer provided the Herald with the following written statement this past Tuesday morning: “I had a very open conversation with Andy regarding the pending policy and also some of the language changes that will be reviewed by the legal counsel that would make the veterans more at ease with the policy. “I also had a few things in the policy that I needed some clarification and also possibly changed,” Meyer continued. “I have forwarded this information onto the city administrator as well as Bob Vose the city attorney for comment. I also requested that any of these proposed changes be presented in a form at the meeting tonight (Tuesday) that could be voted on by the council for action. “I am sure there will be more
developments as the day plays out but I remain confident that at the end of the meeting tonight all parties will be satisfied.” Meanwhile, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which demanded that the cross be removed from city property (Veterans Park) in the first place, expressed concern of its own over recent developments. In a letter from FFRF Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert to Belle Plaine City Attorney Bob Vose dated Feb. 16, it states in the first sentence that: “In light of the city of Belle Plaine’s decision to open a ‘limited public forum’ in its Veterans Park, our national organization, which works to protect the constitutional principle of separation from state and church, is considering its legal options including litigation in this matter.” Before learning that the proposed limited public forum had grown from space for five monuments to space for 18 monuments, Parrish stated that four Belle Plaine residents had submitted plans for four monuments, which along with the current monument (with cross reattached) would account for the five monuments in Veterans Park. Parrish said each memorial would have the logo from each branch of the military that would surround the present memorial, which would be made of the same steel and color. On the non-logo side of the monument a “size appropriate” plaque would read: Dedicated to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines—religious, agnostic, and atheist— who served our Nation as one and as brothers. Presented by (Name).
Scott West Headed Back to St. Paul The Scott West wrestling team qualified for the Minnesota State High School Class 2A Team Wrestling Tournament for the fourth year in a row with victories over Tri-City United on Thursday night, and then New Prague and Hutchinson in Saturday’s Section 2AA Final Four Championships at a jampacked and noisy Jordan High School gym (see details under “Section 2AA Tournament Recap” on page 13. Scott West, 19-0 on the season, is returning to the state team
tournament for the 17th time in its 27-year history. The entire team tournament will take place throughout the day next Thursday (March 2) at Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. Scott West, a combination of wrestlers from Belle Plaine and Jordan high schools, received the tournament’s No. 3 seed and will square off against unseeded Totino-Grace in the quarterfinals. Kasson-Mantorville is the top seed and Simley is No. 2. Foley is No. 4.
The top five teams have been seeded 1 through 5. Perham received the fifth seed and the other three teams randomly drew to determine which of the top three-seeded teams they will face in the quarterfinals. Those match ups and the team tournament schedule can be found at the end of this article. Defending state Class 2A champion Kasson-Mantorville finished undefeated last season
State Wrestling (continued on page 12)
Members of the Scott West wrestling team celebrated their section team championship victory Saturday night in Jordan.