COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015 VOL. 32 NO. 15 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY: May Township considers county’s offer on land use regs. PAGE 2
Big River Farms hopes to grow in Wilder Forest
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Ian Marvy, left, and Joel Kellum feed apples to horses at Big River Farms. The Minnesota Food Association [MFA], through which Big River Farms operates, has applied for a grant to aid in the potential purchase of Wilder Forest. Currently, MFA leases land in the forest from the Wilder Foundation.
COUNTY SUPPORTS PURCHASE, MFA SEEKS GRANT BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
When Joel Kellum describes his vision of a “forest farm” on the land that’s currently Wilder Forest, he’s dreaming 100 years in the future. Inside the dream, cherry and peach trees line the farm’s drive, arching over raspberry bushes and strawberry plants. Honeybees flit between flowers, gathering nectar and pollinating flowers that will transform into fruit. The food and waste of chickens and pigs are integrated into a system that supplies the surrounding community not only with fruit, vegetables, nuts, eggs, mushrooms and meat, but a chance to see how food can be grown to benefit land, water and other living creatures. The educational piece is far from an afterthought. For Kellum, farm manager at the Minnesota Food Association’s Big River Farms, creating a place for people to learn is motivation for the rest of the work. “I see more people coming in for more educational opportunities, not just a vegetable program run six months a year,” he says of the farm’s potential expansion. “We’re looking at maple syrup production, year-round egg production, we’re looking at putting in fruits and berries and mushrooms, continuing full season agriculture and integrating these systems.” Within the 100-year plan, there will be a fiveyear plan and a 30-year plan, all building toward an abundant and resilient future for the farm and surrounding communities. But before the vision SEE WILDER FOREST, PAGE 6
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Longtime grocer brings skills to General Store BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Cheryl Arcand wasn’t struck by inspiration the instant she found out Marine’s General Store was for sale. In fact, she’d known the news for weeks before the thought occurred to share it with her husband, a longtime grocer. "I had seen an article in the paper about Andy and Karen [Kramer] putting it up for sale," she said. "I didn't really think anything of it until one day Gordon was driving home from work. He hadn't had a good day and I remarked, 'Well, there's a store for sale in Marine.'" Though Gordon Arcand was willing to take a look at the store, he doubted they’d ever own it. SEE GENERAL STORE, PAGE 3
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Gordon and Cheryl Arcand, new owners of Marine’s General Store, outside the store August 6. The couple purchased the store from Andy and Karen Kramer, taking over dayto-day operations on July 15.
Gammelgarden gets Little Free Library BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Gammelgarden will soon be host to a tiny library, filled with books written in Swedish. The idea was conceived when Margareta Ritt, a Gammelgarden “advokat,” announced that she had Swedish-language books to share, said Lynne Moratzka, who helped coordinate the project. Although the museum has a library of Swedish
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A Little Free Library built to model the Gammelgarden’s Valkommen Hus will be placed near the open air museum’s driveway by August 15.
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books, they are historic in nature, so Ritt suggested making the books available to the community through a small satellite library near Gammelgarden’s entrance. Gammelgarden staff asked local woodworker Paul Mack to build the library as a miniature of the museum’s Valkommen Hus. While Mack was constructing the tiny hus, longtime Gammelgarden board SEE LIBRARY, PAGE 2
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