COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 32 NO. 29 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
HEY BULLDOG: Scandia puppy wins heart of Twin Cities television host. PAGE 2
Marine filmmaker pens children's book BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Gayle Knutson, Marine, has been telling stories for much of her life through a career first in broadcast journalism, then in documentary filmmaking. Still, she considers writing her first children’s book a significant accomplishment. "It's not ‘War and Peace,’" said Knutson, "but for me it’s a pretty big deal." Knutson struggled with reading in school but often hid the fact, adapting through keen observations and careful listening. “Illiteracy is not looked highly upon in our culture,” she said, “so people come up with survival techniques.” The book, “Full of Smiles,” isn’t about reading, but when she read the book aloud to students at Marine Elementary, part of her message was empowerment and the importance of literacy. “Being able to read doesn’t have anything to do with ‘Full of Smiles’ and yet it has everything to do with it,” she said. Among the story's themes are inclusiveness and taking the time to appreciate people and build community. Tension builds in the book when a fixture of a small town, an old woman who sits on her porch every day, seems to have disappeared. When she read the story to students at Marine Elementary School, said Knutson, she could see their eyes widen in suspense as they wondered what had happened to the woman. "It's about not taking people for granted," said Knutson. "And there's a loneliness aspect. We've all been there and it's not fun. It's great to talk to the kids about that, and ask, 'Have you ever felt left out?' and everyone raises their hand. Kids get it."
The message resonates with Knutson too. "In the last five years we've lost some real pillars of the community," she said. "I think about them and wish I'd gotten to know them better." Marine on St. Croix inspired the small town setting and friendly
BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SEE KNUTSON, PAGE 2
SUBMITTED
Marine’s Community Library will host a talk with local filmmaker and children’s book author Gayle Knutson on Fri., Nov. 20, 7 p.m. at the Marine Village Hall.
Marine gifted historic piano BY AUNDREA KINNEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The piano is a traveller, and something of a legend. Having come to Minnesota from California, its keys had been played by jazz musicians including Earl Hines and Duke Ellington. Now, Marine residents Fred Hundt and Cindy Jepsen have donated the historic upright to Marine on St. Croix’s village hall. The piano is from Hundt’s childhood home in California, and it comes with a storied past. “There’s actually a cigarette burn on the top of the piano from Duke Ellington’s cigarette,” Hun-
AUNDREA KINNEY
Fred Hundt talks about the historic upright piano he and Cindy Jepsen have donated for use in Marine’s village hall.
Log House Landing boat ramp costs grow
dt said, “and we can attest to that because I saw it happen. The piano has had a lot of love from very good musicians over the years, and I just thought it would be a good addition to the hall.” It’s a William Knabe piano, similar in quality to a Steinway. According to Hundt, it was made between 1890 and 1895. “So it has some historical fit with the village hall and the restoration,” he said. The donated piano will take up about the same amount of space as the upright piano currently in the hall. The Restoration SEE PIANO, PAGE 2
What started out as a less-than-$5,000 project to improve the boat launch at Log House Landing has become a project that might cost $40,000 or more. Last June, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources donated 50 concrete-and-cable planks to the City of Scandia to be used to revamp the boat launch. In a deal facilitated by the Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District, the city accepted the donation and agreed to provide approximately $2,900 worth of gravel and rock for the project; the watershed also agreed to chip in $2,000 for the work. In a joint meeting with watershed officials last week, however, the Scandia City Council learned the project needs more than concrete-and-cable planks. After looking at the project more closely, the watershed district’s engineer added a concrete boat ramp, drainage improvements, bank stabilization and erosion controls, and a stone stair/path to direct foot traffic.
“The ramp here wasn’t part of the original grant [for the planks],” said Jim Shaver, watershed district administrator. Cost estimates provided by the watershed district put the total for the work at around $33,000, but City Administrator Kristina Handt estimated soil borings and additional engineering reviews could push the total closer to $40,000. Handt suggested the city and watershed district should agree to a cost-sharing plan up front if the project were to proceed. “We should learn from the last year-anda-half and walk handin-hand with this,” Handt said. Councilman Chris Ness agreed. “I don’t want us to be left hanging out to dry,” Ness said. The watershed district managers agreed to a 50/50 split of the costs up to the estimated $40,000 at their meeting last Wednesday, Shaver said. Plans for rehabilitating the boat ramp were developed last summer while the city SEE LANDING, PAGE 5
Early deadline Due to the Thanksgiving holiday the deadline for submitting advertising or press releases for the Nov. 25 edition of the Country Messenger will be Nov. 19 at noon. Our office will be closed Nov. 26 and 27.
Urgent Care is open Happy Thanksgiving from Osceola Medical Center and Scandia Clinic. Our Urgent Care is available in Osceola from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving. For all our hours, visit MyOMC.org/hours or call 715-294-2111.
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