COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 VOL. 36 NO. 25 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
FARMING: New options for local farms. PAGE 7
Story Time walking path opens at Lilleskogen Park
Meet the May Township man turning stones into jewels BY SUZANNE LINDGREN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The steady grind rumbling through Bill Voedisch’s garage is not the hum of a car engine, but a tumbler filled with grit, pellets and stones. Agates, to be precise. A days-long jostle in the machine is the first step to transforming the rocks into finished pendants, ready to be strung on a chain and worn around the neck. After
MATT ANDERSON EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Lilleskogen Park in Scandia opened a brand-new “Story Time” walking path Oct. 9 with stands placed throughout the park that will hold stories and pictures made by Scandia Elementary Students. Scandia Mayor Christine Maefsky, City Councilmember Patti Ray, and Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman Terry Gorham all attended the ribbon cutting ceremony with students from Scandia Elementary. “I was elected to office starting January 1, and one of my assignments was to be liaison with parks and rec committee,” said Ray. “So, in January, before my first parks meeting, I went and walked all the parks in Scandia. I thought Lilleskogen was such a beautiful park, and I was trying to think of a way to get people to use it more.” Because of Lilleskogen’s proximity to Scandia Elementary, Ray, along with the parks and recreation committee, decided to incorporate the art and writing skills from Scandia Elementary students by displaying their stories in an interactive story walk. “We would eventually like to get to where we can cycle stories from the students every two weeks,” Ray said. “The next project will be the fifth
The Agate Alchemist
SEE VOEDISCH PAGE 6
MATT ANDERSON | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Pictured left to right: Scandia Mayor Christine Maefsky, City Councilmember Patti Ray, and Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman Terry Gorham cut the ribbon at the Story Walk opening in Lilleskogen Park.
graders, and they’re going to be writing stories about explorers.” The first set of stories at the opening day was about butterflies. Students got to release their own butterflies at the end of their walk. Ray reported that the cost of this project was relatively low. Each stand to hold the stories is estimated to be $140 with help from Scandia Public
Works, and Sentenced to Serve, a program that puts non violent offenders to work on public projects like the Story Walk. “Public works did a great job laying the foundation for each of the stands,” said Ray. “And we had Sentenced to Serve put down all the woodchips. They’ve been very helpful in SEE LILLESKOGEN PAGE 2
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
After a weekend class at North House Folk School in 2016, Bill Voedisch was hooked on transforming whole agates into wearable pendants.
Scandia to host Prescription Drug Take Back event MATT ANDERSON EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
There have been 17 prescription drug overdoses in Washington County so far in 2019 alone according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. In an effort to combat this issue, Scandia will be hosting the county’s Household Prescription Drug Take Back Event Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. -2 p.m. “The big thing that we want to focus on is preventing theft, accidental poisoning, and the potential for drug abuse with this program,” says Washington
County Sheriff Dan Starry. Since the beginning of the prescription drug take back program, Starry reports that there have been roughly 28 tons of unused prescriptions collected during the annual event and at the permanent drop boxes located in Forest Lake, Hugo, Cottage Grove, Woodbury and the Sheriff’s Office. “It’s usually that the leftover medications are either unneeded, or they were over prescribed,” says Starry. “When they are sitting in the medicine cabinet, there’s a potential for abuse or accidental overdose. NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
People don’t realize that the drugs they have left over can be abused by friends or family, or that children could accidentally take them.” Most people are unaware that disposing of these leftover prescription drugs by their own means does not guarantee that they are totally safe. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office encourages people with leftover medications to bring them to the event in Scandia to learn more about safe disposal. “We see it twofold: people typically either SUBMITTED
SEE EVENT PAGE 2
ADVERTISING 651-433-3845 ads@osceolasun.com
Sheriff Dan Starry (left) and Sergeant Jim Gribble (right).
PUBLIC NOTICES 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS 651-433-3845 office@osceolasun.com
BREAKING NEWS, UPDATES Whenever, wherever you are! Scan me with your smartphone