Belle plaine herald april 20, 2016

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Belle Plaine DFLers Hold Convention

Spring Sports Teams in Giddy-Up Mode

Local Vet Has Day to Remember in Washington Page 2

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Pages 12, 13

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR

BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, APRIL 20, 2016

75¢ SINGLE COPY

NUMBER 16

Renee (Hillstrom) Ahrens Honored City Administrator to Resign as Caring Sister, Mom, Teacher and council have also been very by Dan Ruud Class of 1966’s Homecoming Queen Died in Tragedy

She is remembered as a woman who cared for everyone she knew, her family, friends and students. This weekend, family and friends of Renee (Hillstrom) Ahrens will bid her a heartfelt farewell. Ahrens was found Monday night (April 11) murdered in Shakopee at the home of her fiancée, Terry Weimer. Both Ahrens and Weimer died from blunt force trauma, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner. Police believe Weimer’s son, Adam, is responsible for the killings. Police spent 2½ hours trying to convince him to surrender Tuesday before he took his own life in Waseca. A memorial service for Ahrens will be held Saturday, April 23, 11 a.m., at St. John Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine. Rev. Mark Johnson will officiate. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday, April 22 at the Kolden Funeral Home in Belle Plaine. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at church on Saturday morning. Her obituary is on Page 3 of this week’s Belle Plaine Herald. Ahrens, 67, grew up outside of Belle Plaine on the family farm along County Road 40 above Bevens Creek in East Union, San Francisco Township. She was the eldest of Vera and Roger Hillstrom’s four children, the big sister who took good care of her younger brother, Ron, and sisters Rita and Ruth Ann. She graduated from Belle Plaine High School in 1966 and was the class’s homecoming queen that year. Ahrens attended St. Cloud State University. Uncertain of her career path, she eventually studied to become a teacher. It was a choice that eventually benefitted an untold number of elementary students and teachers from Eau Claire, Wis. to Japan. Ahrens’ sisters -- Rita Redman

Renee (Hillstrom) Ahrens grew up in East Union, just outside of Belle Plaine. She and her fiancee, Terry Weimer, were murdered last week in Shakopee. She was 67. of Chaska and Ruth Ann Nytes of Henderson – describe their older sister as “gentle and loving,” and “a saint.” Renee took care of them, such as taking her younger sister Ruth Ann with her anytime she went into Belle Plaine or had errands to run. Ahrens’ daughter, Michelle Kamrowski of Menasha, Wis., described her mother as a person who sought to make the day better for anyone around her as well as herself. Kamrowski said her mother’s approach to life during difficult times was guided by the phrase, ‘if this is the worst day I’ve ever had, I’ve had a good day.’ “She was easy-going and always tried to be happy, finding humor in things all around her,” Kamrowski said. “She always wanted to make the day better.”

Non-Judgemental

Troy Ahrens described her mother as an accepting person, someone who tried not to judge people, their actions and beliefs. By example, she taught her children to accept others, regardless of whatever challenges they face. “The world would be a completely different if more people were like her,” he said. Renee wanted to study elementary education. It was one of the common career paths for young women in the late-1960s and ‘70s. Her nurturing approach to

City-Wide Garage Sale Starts Friday Belle Plaine’s annual Spring City-Wide Garage Sale will take place Friday and Saturday (April 22-23). You can obtain a map listing registered garage sales and their locations on the Belle Plaine Herald’s website. For more information, contact Diane Skelley at 952-8732467.

Recycle and Cleanup Day April 30

Belle Plaine’s annual Recycle and Cleanup Day will take place Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Belle Plaine

Police Department parking lot, 420 East Main Street. The event, sponsored by the city of Belle Plaine and Belle Plaine Lions Club, gives residents of the city of Belle Plaine and the townships of Belle Plaine, Blakeley and St. Lawrence an opportunity to rid their homes of unwanted clutter during these spring cleaning days. Recyclable items that will be accepted free of charge include glass, newspapers, scrap metal, aluminum, cardboard and plastic. There is also a long list of fee items. More information will be published in the April 27 Herald.

younger children made elementary education a good fit. After graduation, she got a job teaching, and she spent most of her years as an elementary school teacher. “She was extremely good at working with children,” Nytes said. Renee married Wayne Ahrens in 1969. He was in the U.S. Air Force. The young couple lived in Washington State into the mid-1970s. They moved back to Belle Plaine with their two children, Michelle and Troy. She taught in Jordan for several years. Ahrens’ teaching career included a long-time stint teaching in Eau Claire, Wis. at Robbins Elementary School from 1986 to 2007. A constant inhabitant of Ahrens’ classroom was a tarantula. She used it for a variety of lessons, perhaps the most lasting was that something that looks scary is not necessarily dangerous, but rather interesting and worth exploring. “Although I didn’t have Ms. Ahrens for my second-grade teacher at Robbins, I remember her face and after talking with a couple other of my former classmates. I’d completely forgot she was the teacher with a pet tarantula. She will be missed but she will always be remembered,” said Kat Nequette, a former student at Robbins Elementary School.

Improving Her Teaching

During her teaching years, Renee traveled to California to study under Madeline Hunter, and in later years traveled to Japan to learn about the Japanese approach to education. Over the years, the family hosted several foreign-exchange students. Renee loved to travel. Her favorite country was Germany, where she visited friends and former foreign-exchange students. “I was fortunate enough to have the world’s greatest teacher, Renee Ahrens, for both my first- and second-grade years at Robbins Elementary School. One of my favorite memories during that time was when she and I both dressed up as Ghostbusters for Halloween during second grade. We were a team,” former student David Shimanski posted lasted week on Ahrens’ Facebook page. “Then, somehow, in an incredible stroke of luck while I was attending UWEau Claire, I found out she was hosting one of the Japanese exchange students I had become friends with, and she and I were able to reconnect. “We stayed in touch ever since, and when I became a teacher in Japan, my memories of being in her classroom set the standard that I aspired to. I’m so glad that I was able to tell her how much she meant to me, and how grateful I was for her pres-

After less than two years on the job, Belle Plaine City Administrator Holly Kreft is resigning. “I have accepted a position as executive director of Charlson Meadows, a private foundation in Victoria. “I wasn’t seeking another position, but this is my dream job,” Kreft stated. “The new position will give me a chance to continue to serve others, but with more flexibility in my schedule and new opportunities.” Mayor Mike Pingalore said Kreft will be missed. “Holly over the last couple of years has helped move this city forward. Her economic development background has allowed us to create opportunities to enhance our community. The city has many projects underway and new ones being discussed. Holly’s ability to network along with building relationships has given many of these projects a starting point. “While our city’s staff is strong, her leadership has not gone unnoticed by me and the council,” Pingalore continued. “It will be a task by the council to fill this position and to have a seamless transition. I am confident that our next administrator will step up and continue to be progressive and support the staff and the city as we continue to grow.” The city hopes that finding a replacement for Kreft won’t be as eventful and lengthy of a process as was the case a couple of years ago. After hiring a private public sector advisor, two rounds of job postings and interviews and two job rejections, the city looked to Kreft, who had been Belle Plaine’s community development director from early-2001 to mid-2006 until taking the same job in Victoria, where she had been until accepting the city administrator job for Belle Plaine. Her first day on the job in 2014 was July 31. She started at step 6 of the city’s salary schedule, which at that time was $93,423.63 per year. Kreft’s hiring came 11 months after the release of David Murphy, who held the job for nearly 10 years. Kreft said she has had no regrets about leaving her community development position in Victoria to become Belle Plaine’s city administrator. “While my time as city administrator was brief, I’m thankful to work and learn from many gifted people. Belle Plaine has a wonderful staff and they were very patient with me in this new role,” Kreft said. “The mayor

supportive in trying new and different ways to approach the wide variety of challenges that Belle Plaine faces. I know that some exciting times lie ahead. I’m sad I won’t be part of them, but I’m looking forward to watching the progress as a visitor. I’m committed to working with the council on making this as smooth of a transition as possible.” Kreft’s resignation is effective May 31, but her last day in the office will be May 16, at which Holly Kreft time she will use accumulated paid personal time. “I will be available for assis- dure for hiring a new city emtance after May 16,” Kreft re- ployee involves advertising for ported to the council Monday night. “The city has been very City Admistrator generous to me and I’m thank(continued on page 4) ful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity.” Belle Plaine’s standard proce-

Council Okays Girl’s Request to Improve City’s Dog Park Cambria Donates to Fire Hall Work by Dan Ruud For a third time this spring, the Belle Plaine City Council has okayed an offer from local Girl Scouts to add amenities to city parks. On Monday night, the council unanimously approved Girl Scout Vivian Herrmann’s request to install improvements at the city’s Dog Park located in the hockey rink across the street from Belle Plaine Junior/Senior High School. Herrmann’s request for $600 from the city to help pay for some of the material for the improvements was also approved. The funds will come from the city’s park fund. Herrmann is doing the improvement project for her Girl Scout Silver Award, the same award fellow Girl Scout Elissa Moonen is working on. The latter’s request to build and install a little lending library at Court Square Park (near the Carriage House Museum) was approved last month. Meanwhile, the council at the same time as Moonen’s request also approved a request by the community’s younger Girl Scouts to establish a little lending library at Heritage Square Park on the south side of Highway 169. As for the dog park improvements, Herrmann had previously met with the city’s park board, as well as local veterinarians to discuss amenities that could be added to the park. She also worked with city staff

to develop a community survey regarding the park, for which there were 85 responses. The majority of those stated that they had not used the dog park because they didn’t know one existed. Of those that used the park, the majority used it at least monthly. Respondents also indicated that they would like to see more amenities added to the park, among them a ramp at the entrance gate, teeter-totter, hurdles, weaving poles, large wooden spools and a bench, etc. “Ms. Herrmann will be building the majority of the fitness equipment,” reported City Administrator Holly Kreft, adding that Herrmann has received donations for some of the material, including a set of weaving poles from Minnesota Search and Rescue and wooden spools from Gregory Electric. Herrmann has requested that public works build the entrance ramp and install the bench. The installation of all the above is expected to be completed before a grand “reopening” ceremony for the park on Thursday, June 2 from 6-7 p.m. The park is currently open for the season, just as it has been since the spring of 2013. All amenities are removed each year before the start of the winter skating season. In other business Monday night, the council unanimously accepted a donation of counter-

Council

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Caring Sister

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Pioneer Power Swap Meet This Weekend “If you can’t find it at the Swap Meet, it probably doesn’t exist.” These words of a longtime Le Sueur County Pioneer Power member most accurately describe the 39th annual Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Association’s Swap Meet to be held this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The showgrounds are located 13 miles south of Belle Plaine on County Road 26 (watch for signs starting at County Road

3/Meridian Street). Over 800 vendors from all over the United States and Canada will be selling everything from rusty tractor parts to antique furniture and everything in between. Held rain or shine, thousands of buyers are expected to search for that special treasure on Pioneer Power’s 100-acre grounds located at the junction of County roads 26 and 33. Gates open at 8 a.m. all three days and admission is free.

If you get hungry, the popular Thresher’s Kitchen serves up home-cooked specialties, and the delicious pancake and sausage breakfast is offered Saturday and Sunday mornings in the Pancake House. In addition numerous food vendors are located around the grounds offering edible treats.

Nighttime Lane Closures Coming S.M. Hentges and Sons, contractor for the Belle Plaine overpass project, will be setting the beams for the bridge this week. They plan to work overnight on Wednesday and Thursday. Southbound Highway 169 will be closed in 15-minute intervals from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday while they set the beams. The northbound work will be completed in the same manner on Thursday starting at 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Friday.


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Belle plaine herald april 20, 2016 by Belle Plaine Herald - Issuu