COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 VOL. 36 NO. 14 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
OH DEER: DNR hosts second round of area open houses for deer conservation . PAGE 5
The Stillwater connection Square Lake Fest collaborators meet across time BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
A tornado touched down in Scandia Sunday afternoon, July 28, leaving a trail of debris and destruction.
They say timing is everything. After Stillwater-based musician Frankie Lee had recorded an album, but before he’d settled on a name, some vintage film footage from his hometown caught his eye. “I saw it on TPT [Twin Cities PBS] late at night,” he said. “It was just happenstance.” The everyday scenes from the late 1940s and early 1950s had been captured by Stillwater photographer John Runk on 8-millimeter film. Although Runk was a celebrated still photographer, the footage was little known. After his death in 1964, 48 reels of 8 mm film sat in storage until
Tornado leaves tracks in Scandia BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
A tornado touched down in Scandia Sunday afternoon, July 28, leaving a trail of debris and destruction. Visiting the site Monday,
National Weather Service staff confirmed that the cause of damage was a tornado. NWS will give further details about the size and type of tornado on its website, weather.gov. Basic details were expected to be live Monday night, with further reports posted later
in the week. The tornado started in Forest Lake, moving northeast through the solar farm on Highway 97 and Manning Trail, according to Scandia’s mayor, Christine SEE TORNADO, PAGE 2
Trolley tours highlight history, arts north of Stillwater BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
From bite-size chocolates to giant sculptures, a ghost-town play to a lively drink, upcoming trolley tours will offer a glimpse into the arts and history north of Stillwater. Stops on the Art Trolley Adventures are scheduled in Scandia, Marine, May Township, Franconia and Shafer. Organized by Wahoo! Adventures, riders will join Heather Rutledge, executive director of ArtReach St. Croix, for tours, visits with artists and hands-on demon-
COURTESY STILLWATER TROLLEY
Upcoming trolley tours will offer a glimpse of the history and lively arts scene north of Stillwater.
strations. “The really cool thing
is it’s a behind-thescenes look,” Rutledge
said of the tours. “The itineraries were pulled together in collaboration with the artists, but Kerri [Kolstad of Wahoo!] also provides an experience, lunch and vino. It’s such a treat to have her hospitality and have her take care of all the details.” The series launched last week with a trip to Afton and Hudson. “It was fun!” Rutledge said of the tour, which stopped to paint with Sharon Weiser in Stillwater, craft a haiku with writer Greg Seitz at Belwin Conservancy,
2008, when his grandnephew donated them to the Washington County Historical Society. In 2010, the historical society asked Paul Creager of May Township to distill the footage into a 30-minute video, which became “An Ode to Stillwater: The John Runk Films.” It still airs occasionally on Twin Cities public television, which is how Runk’s imagery found its way to Lee’s eyes. “I’ve known Paul for years but I didn’t know he did this Runk project,” Lee said. “I called him up
SEE TOURS, PAGE 2
SEE FESTIVAL, PAGE 2
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