COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017 VOL. 34 NO. 12 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
HAY LAKE SCHOOL SPEAKER SERIES: Continues with talk about old-school games. PAGE 7
Fun, sun at Fat Cat Beautiful weather, 220 racers, hundreds of community volunteers and many sponsors made for a successful and fun Fat Cat Triathlon. It started with a paddle from the Log House Landing on the St Croix River and transitioned to the running phase in William O’Brien State Park, where runners were offered Gatoraide or water and “cooling towels.” It ended at The Lion’s Club Shelter in Scandia where racers got on their bikes and headed out through the beautiful countryside guided by some of the many yellow-shirted volunteers. Scandia mayor Christine Maefsky and her family cheered on the bikers from the end of her family’s driveway. After crossing the finish line, racers were provided a delicious cat fish lunch, bananas, bagels and other refreshments. Even the volunteers were given a prize in a drawing. Joel Johnson won the custom fishing rod. Race winners received a nice jersey declaring them the “fastest cat.”
Before the honeybee
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Cathy and Mike Mackiewicz of Scandia’s Bone Lake Meadows Apiary stand in front of a bee-themed quilt at the Scandia Farmers Market. BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Standing outside the Gammelgården, Scandia’s outdoor museum dedicated to immigrants, beekeeper Mike Mackiewicz offers a rarely considered fact about the honeybee: It, too, is an immigrant. “Honeybees are not native to North America,” says the Bone Lake Meadows Apiary beekeeper, who has been keeping bees for two decades and teaches at the Women’s Environmental Institute in North Branch. “They came here probably with SEE HONEYBEES, PAGE 2
CAROL SEEFELDT
A volunteer offers a Fat Cat racer a "cooling towel." Lions Club member Carol Seefeldt reported that "beautiful weather, 220 racers, hundreds of community volunteers and many sponsors made for a successful and fun Fat Cat Triathlon."
Elim Foundation celebrates 20 years Outside of Elim Lutheran Church on the corner of Oakhill and Olinda a new bed of flowers — planted by volunteers and tended by the Elim Garden Guild — marks the 20th anniversary of the congregation’s Elim Foundation and two decades of work it has enabled. Although the foundation was chartered in February 1996, its seeds were sown several years earlier when Scandia resident Ralph Bellingham left an end-oflife gift of $250,000 with no directives for use. For several years the church used Bellingham’s gift to meet its needs: a new roof, van repairs and the like. By 1995, $100,000 remained. At the annual meeting, the suggestion was made to use that remaining $100,000 to start an Elim Foundation. A year of meetings and planning led by Pastor Bob Engstrom, Jan Lindgren, Lee Sandager, Wendell Johnson, Roy Stenborg, Lynne Moratzka and others with the professional leadership of Curt Gallenti from Lutheran Brotherhood resulted in the proposed charter for the Elim
congregation’s approval at the annual meeting. Basic guidelines were established: • The principle is never to be spent. • Five percent of the principle, or net asset value, at the end of the Foundation’s fiscal year (September 30) is to be distributed to Christian ministries outside Elim Lutheran Church. • Members of Elim Lutheran Church may nominate Christian ministries for gifting. • A six-member board will lead the Elim Foundation. Since 1996 — with added gifts, careful and wise investing and no administrative costs — the net asset value has reached nearly a million dollars, $958,678 to be exact. Gifting began in 1997 with $5,950. To date, the Elim Foundation has shared $405,360 with 76 different ministries. As the Elim Foundation and its mission of supporting Christian ministries outside Elim Church became an established part of Elim life, people started to understand the power of end-of-life
NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
gifts, and began establishing funds within the foundation with specific purpose for ministry. Here are those funds and purposes. Reuben Miller, long-time Scandia resident, valued higher education at Lutheran institutions, something he had never enjoyed. He provided an end-of-life gift with an insurance policy, with specific directives for use. Each year, support is provided to 1) an Elim student attending a Lutheran College, or 2) an Elim student attending a Lutheran Seminary, or 3) continuing education support for the Elim pastors. His daughters, Jean Miller and Dorothy Peterson, have added memorials and honorariums to the fund. Megan Detzler, daughter of Wyman and Joan Detzler, died as a teenager. Her parents designated a portion of her life insurance money to establish the Megan Detzler Fund and the annual grant be directed to support a Christian ministry for youth or children. The 150th Anniversary Fund was part of the 2004 celebration of
ADVERTISING 651-433-3845 sales@osceolasun.com
SEE ELIM, PAGE 2
PUBLIC NOTICES 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
Chocolate Co. tastes international success Local chocolatier Robyn Dochterman has taken on the Americas and won gold. Dochterman, owner of St. Croix Chocolate Company in Marine on St. Croix, said she loves to enter competitions to gauge her progress as a chocolatier.
“I like to see where I’m at nationally and internationally,” she said. “I like the challenge of putting my chocolates up against my peers, and I like to see what is trending in the world of chocolate.” SEE AWARDS, PAGE 2
SUBMITTED
Chocolatier Robyn Dochterman at New York’s JFK Airport after winning gold and silver at the International Chocolate Awards.
SUBSCRIPTIONS 651-433-3845 office@osceolasun.com
BREAKING NEWS, UPDATES Whenever, wherever you are! Scan me with your smartphone