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Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017 VOL. 34 NO. 18 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
MAY TOWNSHIP: Subdivision approved. PAGE 2
50 years Wild and Scenic: film, book, art to mark St. Croix Anniversary The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, one of the region’s greatest natural treasures, celebrates its golden anniversary next year, and the St. Croix River Association (SCRA) announced last week it will honor this milestone with a special multi-faceted initiative. 1968 marked the passage of the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and with it the creation of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, which is a national park. The riverway, which includes both the St. Croix and its tributary, the Namekagon, was among the eight original rivers designated as Wild and Scenic by the 1968 act, and the first to be named a national park. SCRA’s mission is to protect, restore, and cel-
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Nearly a century of friendship LBJ PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY | PUBLIC DOMAIN
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act on October 2, 1968.
ebrate the St. Croix River and its watershed. It is also the Friends group for the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and collaborates with the
Missing target, bullets enter Marine home BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Two high-powered rifle bullets struck a Marine on St. Croix home Sunday, August 20, possibly fired from a nearby property where several people had been target shooting earlier that day. According to a report from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, a resident in western Marine initially noticed a window had been shattered on the second story of her home. Then she saw two bullet holes in the wall. Sheriff’s deputies examined the scene, staying at the house for about an hour to listen for more shots. They didn’t hear any. The following day, a deputy visited a nearby home with a target range and confirmed that seven guests had been target shooting the day before. The deputy collected several .223 and 9 mm casings at the site. The case remains under investigation.
National Park Service to protect and enhance the park and offer quality experiences and access for its visitors. SCRA’s special ini-
tiatives feature a documentary by noted filmmakers John Kaul and Tom Reiter, set to SEE SCRA, PAGE 2
These women, shown at Ethel Marty's 95th birthday party, are childhood friends and neighbors. They grew up near the intersection of Scandia Trail and Manning Avenue and recalled walking to Big Lake school, playing together and getting into mischief! Front: Ethel Kuhnly Marty, age 95, and Edryce Johnson Lund, age 95. Back: Audrey Julien Hawkinson, age 89, and Ruth Johnson Vogt, age 91. Three of them are long time Scandia residents and members of Elim Lutheran Church while Ethel lives in White Bear Lake.
Not forgotten, Scandia ‘saints’ portrayed in Living Cemetery BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Members of the volunteer cast set to play “saints” in this year’s Living Cemetery Tour at Elim Lutheran Church chatted last week about their roles as influential denizens of Scandia past. The actors are beginning to prepare scripts for the tour, which is set for September 17. Some have had to research the saints they’ll represent. Elim’s associate pastor, Meredith McGrath, and Lee Turner, a postmaster in Lindstrom, will play former postmaster Edla Hawkinson and mail carrier Pete Sandquist, respectively. Hawkinson and Sandquist would have worked together at the post office to disseminate mail that came by way of train at Copas. Neither McGrath nor Turner personally knew the historical character they’ll play, and must build their characters from scratch. In contrast, David and Nancy Olson wondered how they would pare down extensive knowledge of the saints they’ll portray — David’s uncle and aunt John and Harriet Edstrom — into a five-minute routine. The couple recalled decades’ worth of stories, from David tending the farm while the Edstrom family took a rare vacation to winter picnics and cold-weather games such as Flying
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Four of the 10 actors playing Scandia saints in this year’s Living Cemetery Tour. From left: Meredith McGrath will play former postmaster Edla Hawkinson, Lee Turner will portray mail carrier Pete Sandquist. Nancy and David Olson will play David’s uncle and aunt, John and Harriet Edstrom.
Dutchman. Megan Storkan, a descendent of the Holcomb clan and recent intern at the Gammelgården Museum, will fly back from college on the east coast to play Lavinia Holcomb, reported Cemetery Committee chair Scott Walcker. Although Holcomb is not buried in the Elim Cemetery, Walcker describes her as a “daughter of Elim”
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who died tragically in a fire whole doing mission work in Africa. The church held a memorial service and her family donated candlesticks for the altar in her memory. Kim Salmela and Cindy Ecklund will play Clara (Almquist) Ekegren and her daughter, Harriet (Ekegren) Johnson. SEE LIVING CEMETERY, PAGE 2
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