COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018 VOL. 34 NO. 50 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
WIND IN THE PINES PARK : Scandia City Council votes to keep open, for now. PAGE 2
Celebrating 50 years Wild & Scenic State of Wisconsin presents proclamation to St. Croix National Scenic Riverway The National Park Service and the St. Croix River Association are celebrating 50 years of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Wisconsin State Senator Patty Schachtner, community leaders, and young river stewards gathered at the St. Croix River Visitor Center Thursday, April 5, to commemorate the anniversary and highlight plans to celebrate all year long. “Today’s riverway reflects the commitment of people working together over the past 50 years,” said Julie
Folk school may join elementary in Wilder Forest BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Betty McCollum, the U.S. Representative for Minnsota's 4th congressional district, helped kick off the 50th anniversary of the St. Croix River's designation as a national park.
Galonska, superintendent of the riverway.
“The inclusion of the St. Croix and Namekagon
SEE RIVER, PAGE 11
A long and special winter might be ending BY JIM MORTWEDT CONTRIBUTIING WRITER
Someone once said that late winter days have value in that they allow you to savor a foul mood. Why is it that meteorologists and psychiatrists both use the term “major depression”? Is there a link? Famously moody Ron Gardenhire used to tell his massively paid Twins players just before their annual postseason loss to the Yankees, that “they must not get too high or too low.” And that’s good advice for attitudes about the weather too, which is reason enough to bring up Gardy. Last week, with ball players in balaclavas, the Twins had a record-cold Opening Day April 5. But Gardy’s long gone. Anyway, the winter of 2017-2018 certainly has something been something special. (Notice the previous is not in the past tense!) Climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld of Minnesota’s Climate Office points to last December, in 2017, and our current weather travails, as two bookends to the long winter past, well, soon to be past. You remember our sustained nights of double digit below zero temps starting the day after Christmas through January 7,
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As of early April no lake in Minnesota is ice free, says climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld. As of early April, a beaver on Lake Alice in William O’Brien State Park, made galloping tracks to open water formed by a spring. Look for the “tailing” impression.
right? Wonder why Christmas decorations seemed to linger this year? They were frozen-in like a tongue to a pump handle. We had the second coldest last
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week of December ever in the Twin Cities. The record goes back to 1886. That’s one bookend. Half a foot of snow and more in April is the other. Yes, we’ve been bookended! And even those of us in the St. Croix Valley, known as we are to be more above average than most gopher staters in cheerfulness, have now had enough. The winter began amid reports of La Niña forming in the Pacific. Yes, it was a true La Niña, a cool spot in the ocean out by Guam or somewhere, but not to be confused with that huge tangle of waste plastic rafted together somewhere else in the Pacific. Blumenfeld says at first it looked bad for the predictive value of La Niña this winter. Until Christmas the weather was mild. But sure enough, La Niña means snowier and colder winters for Minnesota, he says. And that is what we got and keep getting. “It’s been a long, old fashioned winter,” the climatologist says, “with snow on the ground through March.” But, Blumenfeld says, Minnesota doesn’t generally get as cold as it once did because a heat-trapping blanket of water vapor and CO2 has become more or less a fixture.
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SEE WINTER, PAGE 2
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May Town Board members gave a warm reception, if inconclusive, to the notion of a folk school running in tandem with River Grove Elementary School in Wilder Forest. The concept, pitched by Marine resident Robin Brooksbank, is in the early stages and would likely require an amendment to the Marine Area Community School’s (MACS) conditional use permit. But Brooksbank believes that a folk school focusing on traditional skills, crafts and lifelong learning would be a natural complement to the elementary school. “There’s an opportunity for synergy between the two schools,” said Brooksbank to the May Town Board last week. “It would increase learning opportunities for the students, with an emphasis on cultural heritage and project-based learning. … They’ll have an opportunity to see lifelong learning.” Speaking on behalf of the elementary school, MACS Board Chair Kristina Smitten said she believed the program would enhance learning at River Grove. “We’re not doing this as an income generator,” she said. “We’re doing this to enhance our learning program.” Folk school programming would occur during the school’s off hours: weekends, evenings and in summer. Operational hours and traffic would fall within the existing parameters of the conditional use permit. Board members Bill Voedisch and John Adams encouraged Brooksbank and Smitten to begin a formal application process with guidance from SEE MAY, PAGE 7
Gammelgården announces 2018 theme Opening April 27 for the 2018 season, Gammelgården Museum’s focus this year is on Celebrating Swedish Folk Art. You’ve heard Grandma’s stories about the “old days.” You still celebrate Christmas by making the same cookies she did. You may even have a few pieces from “the old country.” Is this folk art? Experts will tell you that folk art is creative expression in a wide variety of media, based on local resources and permeating every aspect of daily life. It incorporates the folklore, faith, vocation and the history of any ethnic
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group. It defines people. It is embedded in their collective memory; it travels with them if they emigrate and is passed to future generations. Gammelgården’s exhibit focuses, of course, on some of the Swedish folk arts. The stories behind these items are as important as the item itself. Why did the ladies of Leksand have so many aprons? And what happened in that fabled story when young teens decide to not wear “the correct apron?” Why is that wrought metal candleholder with a rooster so iconic? And what are SEE GÅMMELGARDEN, PAGE 2
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