COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019 VOL. 36 NO. 05 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
LAGOM YOGA: In Scandia, yoga gets a Swedish twist. PAGE 5
Residents forewarn legal action over wetland driveway BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Katie and Joe Reinhardt have their second driveway and they’re willing to go to court to keep it. Unhappy with the city for leveraging them to combine the five lots they own near Big Marine Lake, the Reinhardts appeared before the Scandia City Council last week asking that they reconsider their driveway variance and the consolidation requirement placed on it. Unsure of what process existed for the request, the council took no action and asked
city staff to research the matter further and will place it on a future council agenda. “I’m struggling a little bit with procedurally, what’s the request here?” City Attorney Eric Sherburne said. “There isn’t really anything to appeal.” Concerned about losing property value, the Reinhardts expressed stern opposition to combining the five parcels in order to keep the secondary driveway— at one point likening it to the city “taking their kids and combining them into one.” They SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 6
KYLE WEAVER | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Sons of Norway Vennelag Nick, Patty, and Florian Chmielewski, of the Chmielewski Fun Tyme Band, share a laugh during the 22nd annual Sons of Norway Vennelag held last week at the Scandia Community Center.
Soldier’s stories remembered in dispatches CONTRIBUTED PUBLISHER’S AUXILIARY
The son of a tenant farming parents in west-central Indiana, Ernie Pyle became history’s greatest war correspondent. When Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gun bullet on the tiny Pacific island of Ie Shima in 1945, his columns were being delivered to more than 14 million homes according to his New York Times obituary. During the war, Pyle wrote about the hardships and bravery of the common soldier, not grand strategy. His description of the G.I.’s life was more important to families on the home front than battlefront tactics of Gens. Dwight
Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton or Omar Bradley. Prior to the United States’ entry into World War II, Pyle traveled to England and wrote about the Nazi’s continual bombing of London. His columns helped move the mood of America from isolationism to sympathy for the stubborn refusal of Great Britain to succumb to the will of Adolf Hitler. The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist’s legacy rests in his words and the impact they had on Americans before and during a war that threatened to take the world behind a curtain of fascism. His columns open a window
SUBMITTED
Left to right: Adam Hawkinson Director of Scandia Public Works, Kim Ball, representative from Washington county Health Dept. and Carol Schwinghammer, Cycling Scandia consultant for grant writing.
Cycling Scandia benefits from generous donations CONTRIBUTED CYCLING SCANDIA
Cycling Scandia, a nonprofit organization promoting bicycling in Scandia, has received several grants and gifts to propel the group’s efforts. The City of Scandia partnered with Cycling Scandia and recently received a $5,000 equipment grant from Living Healthy in Washington County, with support from the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, Minnesota Department of Health. The $5,000 grant will make possible the purchase of bike racks, a bike fix-it station, a map holder and suggestion box, and automatic door locks at a gathering place. All of these amenities will help make Scandia a destination
SEE SOLDIER, PAGE 2
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Ernie Pyle
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SEE CYCLING SCANDIA, PAGE 8
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