COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 34 NO. 7 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
SCANDIA-MARINE LIONS CLUB: Celebrates 35 years of service. PAGE 7
Pipeline proposal would increase oil flows through watershed BY GREG SEITZ REPRINTED FROM STCROIX360.COM
A proposed oil pipeline project across northern Minnesota could have significant implications for the St. Croix River watershed. Enbridge’s plans for Line 3 would make it possible to move large amounts of oil under the St. Croix’s tributaries in Minnesota and toward another pipeline across the river’s headwaters in Wisconsin. Public input is currently being accepted on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, with several hearings scheduled in the next few weeks.
Double the carrying capacity BILL VOEDISCH
Sunday storm Bill Voedisch of May Township took this photo of an approaching storm front about 30 seconds before hail hit on Sunday morning, accompanied by high winds. The storm took a toll on plant life, wreaking havoc on gardens. Voedisch reported he had just finished planting, “then the fun began.”
More shade on solar in Scandia? Scandia council discusses another solar moratorium BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
With yet another project on the city’s docket, the Scandia City Council may be pumping the brakes on solar farms yet again. The Scandia City Council last week instructed city staff to research a possible moratorium to the city’s solar garden ordinance for discussion at the council’s June 20 meeting. “How many of these does Scandia want?” Mayor Christine Maefsky asked. The city has given conditional use permits to five larger solar farms since October 2015, including a somewhat contentious farm in the Oldfield Avenue neighborhood and one in the former Zavoral/ Tiller Corporation gravel mine near Highways 95 and 97.
Last Tuesday, the city’s Planning Commission also recommended approval of a 1 megawatt solar farm off Manning Trail North, amid objections from a few neighbors. The city council will consider that permit on June 20. Of the five solar farms now holding permits, Maefsky noted, only one has been installed—near the Manning Trail/Highway 97 intersection—and none have begun operating. Maefsky also noted that the state tax incentives through the Minnesota Solar Garden Program have now been extended until 2019. Those incentives were originally supposed to end last year. But council member Chris Ness suggested a moratorium may not be necessary because the biggest concern for most people was the farm’s effect on the viewshed. SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 12
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The project would abandon an old 34-inch pipe and build a new 36-inch pipe through North Dakota and Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin. It would cross under or near many prized waters, including the Mississippi River. Although it would be only two inches larger, the new pipe could carry twice as much oil, at much higher pressure. The aging pipeline is SEE PIPELINE, PAGE 2
Midsommar magic is nigh Midsummer? Already? It certainly might not feel like it is the middle of summer, but the summer solstice does arrive in late June. The sun may set a bit later than usual here, but in the north of Sweden the sun never sets and in the south only for an hour or two. Of course, after a long dark winter, a celebration is a must! At midsummer in Sweden now, everyone seems to begin their five-week annual holiday. In the days of early Swedish immigrants to Minnesota, a day was all that could be dedicated to the celebration — and what a celebration it must have been! Midsummer day was a popular time for weddings and christening as farm work stopped, people came into town to celebrate. This year MIdsommar Dag at the Gammelgården Museum will be celebrated on Saturday, June 24. As in Sweden the day includes making wreaths to put on the Majstång (the Swedish version of a Maypole) and worn on the heads of women and young girls. The celebration at this year begins with a marketplace with blacksmiths, wood carvers, spinners and weavers. The St. Paul Kubb Club Society will give a demonstration.
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People dance around the Majstång at last year’s Midsommar Dag celebration. The Gammelgården Museum has set this year’s event for Saturday, June 24.
Children and adults will sing and dance around the Majstång. Pastor Hub Nelson will give an invocation. There is a smorgasbord at Elim Church (11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., $12, no reservations needed). Hot dogs, sweets, soda and coffee are available at the festivities. All the historic buildings are open to visit. Guides are on hand to tell the stories of the early immigrants. Swedish Genealogy Society of Minnesota will be available to answer questions to get you started on discovering your own family’s story.
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The Maypole itself is a folk tradition in Germanic Europe celebrating May Day or Pentecost. In Sweden, the maypole is called a midsummer pole, midsommarstång, in some places but the literal translation majstång, where the word maj refers to the old Swedish work maja meaning dress and not to the month of May. The stång or pole is generally a cross with two rings or wreaths. Midsummer is considered a magical time. Legend has it SEE MIDSOMMAR, PAGE 6
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