BPHS Trapshooter Qualifies for State
All-Conference Baseball, Softball Teams Page 14
Tigertown Classic Begins Friday
Page 13
Page 13
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, JUNE 10, 2015
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 24
Members of Class of 2015 Set to ‘Write Their Own Stories’ by Dan Ruud With diplomas in hand, over 90 members of the Belle Plaine High School class of 2015 wrapped up their official business with the school and were greeted outside by sunshine and temperatures in the 80s to begin “writing their own stories for life after high school,” which was the theme of classmate Rylee Pumper’s graduation speech. “Often when I read a book, I find myself wondering when the action will start. When will the villain attack and the hero swoop in to save the day? When will I be so engulfed in the story that I can’t put it down? I think that’s the way a lot of us think about life; when will I be content with my life? When will I be so engulfed in my own story that I don’t want to change it? What we may not realize is that we are writing our own stories. Those questions are pointless to ask because we are the only ones who know the answer. Everyday is a fresh, blank page, and the moves we make become inerasable words on that page.” Later in her speech, Pumper reminded everyone how far the Members of BPHS’s state Class 1A champion 4x800-meter relay team took time out for a class has already come. photo near the center of Hamline University’s Klas Field on Saturday. From left, are senior “Somewhere between the Janessa Meuleners, sophomore Haley Leger, junior Alissa Schultz and seventh-grader Emily countless hours we spent learnBerger. ing in the classrooms, at home doing homework, participating in robotics, FFA, sports and the arts; working weekend jobs and making memories with
Belle Plaine Girls’ Track Team Comes Through Down the Stretch, Wins State Team Championship
by Dan Ruud The biggest flurry of state titles of any sport in Belle Plaine High School history occurred over the span of a few hours during Saturday’s finals of the Minnesota State High School Class 1A Girls’ Track and Field Meet at Hamline University in St. Paul. It started shortly after 3:30 p.m. when the 4x800-meter relay team of seventh-grader Emily Berger, junior Alissa Schultz, sophomore Haley Leger and senior Janessa Meuleners outraced the rest of the 16-team field in a time of 9:38.50, which was three seconds ahead of second-place Fairmont. Meuleners, the anchor, who had won countless races but no state titles during a combined 12 years of varsity cross country and track and field races for Belle Plaine, was not going to be denied in this race as she
got the baton from Leger a second or two before Fairmont’s exchange and it was all Belle Plaine the rest of the way. A couple of hours later, Belle Plaine junior Jenna Gatz successfully defended her state Class 1A championship in the 400-meter dash when she sprinted around the oval in a time of 57.11 seconds, which was more than a half-second ahead of Katie Eidem of Schaeffer Academy. The Tigers had two state titles in two hours, and after a another event or two, learned they had amassed enough points through the two-day meet to lay claim to the state Class 1A team championship, only the second state sports “team” title in school history. The girls’ golf team won the state crown almost two decades ago. The Tigers accumulated 56 points. Rounding out the top 10
Rylee Pumper delivered a speech called “Class of 2015: Writing Our Own Stories” at Sunday’s commencement. friends and family, we grew In concluding, Pumper talked up. Gone are the days of brace- about “the next chapter of our faces, colored skinny jeans and lives.” zebra-print high tops. We grew “As children, we aspired to be into our gangly limbs and ex- astronauts, ballerinas and fire changed those awful hairstyles fighters. We may look back now for new ones that will be just as and think that it was foolish of terrible in four more years. We Class of 2015 did all this without looking up (continued on page 2) from the page.”
were Minneapolis Edison (49), Pequot Lakes (44), Redwood Valley (28), Plainview-ElginMilleville (26), Luverne (25), Zumbrota-Mazeppa (24), Byron (24), Kenyon-Wanamingo (23) and Breck School (23). Approximately 80 schools registered points in the meet. Every Belle Plaine girl in the nine events they qualified for in the state meet (relays included) contributed to the 56 team points. Joining the five already mentioned Tigers on that list was junior Bridget Egan, who for a second year in a row placed second in the pole vault by breaking her own school record by 3 inches with a height of 10 feet, 9 inches. Samantha Perry of Guitarist Emmett Luetmer and the choir performed “Homegrown” during Sunday’s graduWaterville-Elysian-Morristown ation ceremony. took first at 11 feet. Gatz was second in the 200
Girls’ Track
(continued on page 15)
Warm Weather, Cool Water Hundreds of area youth were on hand for the Belle Plaine Municipal Pool’s season opener Friday afternoon (June 5). Warm sunshine was a stark contrast to the 60-degree water temperature in the pool. Swimmers spent much of the afternoon sitting along the edge of the pool, saving space for the hardiest of swimmers. The pool is open for recreational swimming Monday through Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to dusk, weather permitting. It is open for lap swimming Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Metropolitan Council Says Belle Plaine is Losing Population Despite an increase in the number of new house building permits the city has issued over the past few years, the Metropolitan Council believes Belle Plaine’s population has dipped a bit since the 2010 Census. The latest set of Metropolitan Council’s preliminary 2014 population estimates show Belle Plaine has 6,538 residents living in 2,346 households. That’s a reduction of 123 residents and 16 households from the 2010 Census where the city has 6,661 residents in 2,362 households. “We were also surprised by the estimates given that we have seen an uptick in our new home permits,” said Mayor Mike Pingalore. The Met Council uses the housing stock from the 2010 Census as the baseline and then adds in new structures permitted since then, Pingalore said. Since 2010, Belle Plaine has issued 40 permits for new sin-
gle-family homes (13 2010 2014 Met. more than the Metro- City/ Twp. Census Council politan Council says BP (city) 6,661 6,538 the city issued) and 5,470 5,994 six for multi-family Jordan 22,796 24,764 housing permits. The Prior Lake Savage 26,911 29,047 Metropolitan Coun37,076 39,523 cil says Belle Plaine Shakopee didn’t issue a multi- Elko 4,110 4,472 family housing permit New Market Belle Plaine (twp) 878 907 since 2010, Pingalore St. Lawrence 483 505 said. 418 436 The reduction is “due Blakeley Helena 1,648 1,796 mostly to a decline in 23,770 25,270 Belle Plaine’s popula- Chaska 3,724 4,293 tion in group quarters Carver Chanhassen 22,952 24,503 (nursing homes and 1,519 1,633 group homes),” said Cologne Benton 786 810 Bonnie Kollodge, a Scott Co. 129,928 138,410 spokesperson for the 91,042 97,166 council. “Some comes Carver Co. Metro Region 2.85 mill. 2.98 mill. from a slight increase Source: Metropolitan Council in Belle Plaine’s esti mated vacancy rate, meaning that more homes are empty and
Population
(continued on page 3)