PROGRESS 2020 by Daily Journal

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Progress 2020 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS SMALL TOWNS COMMUNITY

BIG

The theme of Progress 2020 is “Small Towns, Big Community.” While there are several cities and towns in the area, we took a look at a few people and businesses that bring all of us together. Whether it be a mechanic, law enforcement, a farmer or a nonprofit worker, we all contribute to our cities and towns and those surrounding it. We take a look at those people, places and things that connect us to one big community. — Zach Stich, managing editor

ON THE COVER (Clockwise from top left) Scott “Admiral BigGun” Backstrom with a fellow Viking fan, Sandy Rufer and Tom Kingston stand next to his electric car, volunteers help out at Ruby’s Pantry in Fergus Falls, Tattoo artist Sam Norman works on a client.

6 .......... LOCAL PILOTS TALK ABOUT FLYING THE FRIENDLY SKIES 10 ........ ELECTRIC VEHICLES TAKE THE ROAD 12 ........ TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME 16 ........ BEE HIVE TATTOO PARLOR IS ALL THE BUZZ 20 ........ PEBBLE LAKE AUTO REPAIR STILL RUNNING AFTER 40 YEARS 22 ........ HABITAT FOR HUMANITY’S SHOL DISCOVERS HIS OWN PATH 26 ........ FERGUS FALLS SCHOOL OF DANCE SEES STUDENTS BECOME TEACHERS 29 ........ MIDWIFE PROVIDES OPTIONS FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS

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32 ........ OTTER TAIL COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY CONTINUES TO GROW

Mike Alt Jr 1100 N Union Ave | 218-736-6000 Justin M Arneson 1806 E Fir Ave, Suite 100 | 218-998-0030 Kristi Auck 1304 W. Lincoln Ave, Suite D | 218-998-6188 Matt Hendricks 225 West Lincoln Ave, Suite 103 | 218-739-5726

4 Progress 2020

Mikel O Hess 2609 Cenex Dr, Suite D | 218-531-1480 Samuel F Mandan 402 Western Ave Ste 2 | 218-531-1231 Marcus R Meder 108 N Cascade | 218-739-0028 Brian K Vatnsdal 801 Pebble Lake Road, Suite B | 218-739-4487

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35 ......... RUBY’S PANTRY OFFERS FOOD OPTION FOR COMMUNITY 38 ......... WICK COMMUNICATIONS: FAMILY BUSINESS TAKES OVER THE JOURNAL 42 ......... WORK-BASED LEARNING GIVES STUDENTS CAREER EXPERIENCE

DAILY JOURNAL CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

47 ......... BREEN COMPANIES: LOCAL BUSINESS SUCCESSFUL NATIONALLY 52 ......... CITIZEN OF THE YEAR: GARY SPIES 58 ......... EXCHANGE STUDENTS OFFER DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE 62 ......... ASHBY’S BREWER TAKES BUSINESS TO BATTLE LAKE 64 ......... SUPERFAN BACKSTROM PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR SPORTS 68 ......... NEW KIND OF CROP: RIVER BOTTOM HEMP BEGINS TO GROW 72 ......... A LOOK BACK AT FORMER PROGRESS STORIES 78 ......... AGRICULTURAL OPTIMISM: FARMERS READY FOR 2020 80 ......... DANCEBARN COLLECTIVE BRINGS PASSION TO THE LAKES 84 ......... SHIFTWORK IN THE COMMUNITY 88 ......... FORMER CHIEF OF PUBLIC SAFETY INVENTS LAKE TOOL 90 ......... FRIEDRICHS CONTINUE HOMETOWN HARDWARE STORE 92 ......... PETZNICK FINDS NICHE AS PRESIDENT OF SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL TEAM

PAGE 52

97 ......... JOANNE NEW AGE PROVIDES POSITIVE ENERGY TO COMMUNITY

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711 Pebble Lake Road | Fergus Falls, MN 56537 Progress 2020 5

THE FRIENDLY SKIES

Flying gives local aviators a feeling of freedom By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

nyone who has ever been aloft has shared the thrill of flight. Be it a ride in a jumbo jet to some vacation spot or a ride in a Piper Cub a few hundred feet above open country, there is an element of the unknown that travel on terra firma cannot match. Like other American communities, Fergus Falls has produced its share of pilots since Kitty Hawk. Here are some of our contemporary fliers.

Rob Olson

Perhaps the biggest kick Rob gets from flying is introducing others to the wild, blue yonder. Through the Young Eagle flights he takes five or six times a year the 33-year-old pilot feels he is contributing to the future of aviation. The Young Eagles that fly with Rob include 8- to 17-year-old boys and

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THIS IS YOUR PILOT SPEAKING: Local pilot Andrew Yaggie takes to the sky with his daugher Ella. Yaggie is one of the many members of the community that enjoy their time in the air as pilots.

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FAMILY FLIERS: Fergus Falls resident Rob Olson stands next to a Piper Cherokee Challenger 180, a plane that he is a partner in owning. Olson is a third-generation pilot as his father, Guy, and grandfather, Bob, were both pilots. girls from Wadena, Wahpeton, Elbow Lake, Fergus Falls, Rothsay and Battle Lake. They usually take to the air from the airport closest to their hometown. “They like to see their house and their grandparents’ house,” Rob said. Since earning his license to fly in 2007 the Fergus Falls businessman has logged around 700 hours in the air. He has also picked up his instrument and commercial ratings. Rob revels in the feeling of freedom which flying affords a pilot. There are no “stop,” “yield” or “no turn here” signs at 500 feet. “You’re just able to do anything you want,” Rob said. One of the personal accomplishments Rob is in the midst of tackling is the rare feat of visiting every airport in the state of Minnesota. He has touched down and taken off on 97 airfields so far but has around 40 more to visit before he is finished. Rob comes from a flying family. His father, Guy, and his grandfather, Bob, took to the air before he did. Rob grew up flying with his dad but it was his association with a friend at the University of Minnesota-Crookston that triggered a desire to get his own license. Olson is in partnership with four other pilots in the ownership of a Piper Cherokee Challenger single-engine aircraft. They keep it in an aircraft hanger at the Fergus Falls Municipal Airport.

“Basically, if the plane is there you can fly it,” Olson said. If one of the group is planning a longer flight they will make arrangements with the others.

Andrew Yaggie

Many area residents put the wellknown name of Yaggie together with flying so the fact a Fergus Falls member enjoys the sport is not a big surprise. “Several of my dad’s cousins have been fliers,” Andrew said. “My dad actually took lessons at one time but he quit.” While Andrew’s father, Kevin, never got his pilot’s license he was Andrew’s biggest supporter. “I went to the University of North Dakota Aviation Camp when I was in the eighth grade and I logged about four hours,” Andrew said. Andrew started taking lessons when he was about 16 from the son of a family friend who was a flight instructor. Other interests got in the way of earning a pilot’s license but he finally qualified for one in 2005 while attending North Dakota State University. Once he had his license he tacked on an instrument rating a year later. By 2016 he had a commercial license. “Aviation is pretty cool,” Andrew said. “We take advantage of the freedom we have.”

SEE FLIGHT PAGE 8

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FLIGHT Continued from page Page 7

The 33-year-old aviator flies out of the Fergus Falls airport and, like Olson, is a member of the Young Eagles. “I think we’re the largest chapter in Minnesota flying 650 kids a year,” Yaggie said. The Young Eagles program gives young people between the ages of 8 and 17 an opportunity to log some time in the air. For Andrew, the pleasure of taking kids up for the first time is huge. “Most have not experienced any kind of flight,” Andrew said. “I think the kids are just in awe of how far you can see. We have a number who come out and they say things like ‘This is the best day of my life.’ ” Yaggie is part of a group that owns a Cessna 182 four-seater. With it, he has taken trips all over the eastern United States. He has visited some big airports including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (Georgia) International Airport, the busiest in the world serving more than 100 million airline passengers a year. Andrew said flying is a hobby for him and with a 2-year-old daughter, Ella, that loves to fly, the 475 hours that he has logged over the past 17 years will continue to grow.

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LIKE A BIRD: Andrew Yaggie is a member of the Young Eagles, a program that gives people ages 8-17 an opportunity to log time in the air. Yaggie is apart of a group that owns a Cessna 182 four-seater and enjoys taking young fliers in the air.

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FREEDOM TO FLY: Guy, left, and Rob Olson enjoy time in the air. Rob is also a member of the Young Eagles and enjoys logging hours in the air.

Brent was a senior in high school when he soloed and got his first pilot’s license - an unusual accomplishment for a young man. “I wanted to be a pilot,” Brent said recalling his teenage ambition. The 18-year-old was on the fast track toward his real dream and a year later he had his commercial and flight instrument ratings. He went to work for a crop duster from Elbow Lake, Les Folken, and flew out of the Wahpeton airport. Brent was an achiever and during his college days he was a flight instructor in Fargo. When he was 23, he started his own aerial spraying service out of Wolverton. Over the next 13 years the service expanded to Cando, North Dakota and Huron, South Dakota. Nelson’s aerial spraying business took him as far south as Oklahoma. The study of law brought Brent down to earth working his way into a law firm partnership by 1989. He sold his aerial spraying business in 1990 and two years later he bought the car dealership in Fergus Falls

which he still operates with his wife, Laurel. Brent does most of his flying these days for business. Once the owner of a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron he now flies a single-engine TBM Socata. “I use it frequently,” said Brent, who cuts his travel time to car auctions in Billings, Montana, Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis to a fraction of what he would spend on the road. Brent also uses his Socata to touch base with family dealerships in Williston and Dickinson, North Dakota. “I’m flying a couple hundred hours a year,” Brent said. Brent is not the only pilot in the family. His wife also has a pilot’s license and she often co-pilots with him. “It’s still a thrill to fly,” Brent said. “I’ve always enjoying flying.” Over the years Brent has logged more than 12,000 hours in the air. He has had his accidents, too. He has clipped some high lines and has taken two ducks through the windshield of his plane.

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Progress 2020 9

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CHARGE IT: Tom Kingston charges his Tesla Model S 100 D. Electric cars have been popping up in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area as their popularity begins to rise.

Leading the charge: Kingston enjoys electric vehicle By Johanna Armstrong The Daily Journal

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10 Progress 2020

arlier this year, the Fergus Falls Public Library installed an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. It’s the first public electric charging station in town, funded by the Friends of the Fergus Falls Public Library and donated by Otter Tail Power Company. You may be thinking it was a premature addition to the town which is still dominated by gas vehicles and about 10-12 gas stations, but more and more EVs are being spotted around town and another EV charging station was added to Fergus Brewing Co., making Fergus Falls the only town offering public EV charging locations along I-94 between Moorhead and St. Cloud. Detroit Lakes also recently received funding to install two of their own EV chargers. Slowly but surely,

EVs are catching on in west-central Minnesota. Leading the charge, pun intended, on the use of EVs is Fergus Falls resident Tom Kingston. He bought his first EV, a Tesla Model S 100D, in December of 2017 out of curiosity. “I needed a car and I had been looking at the Teslas for about a year,” he says. “I noticed them around the Minneapolis area, I’d look at them in parking lots, I stopped in at the showroom and I looked online and I just thought, ‘You know what, I got to give this a try.’” He felt safe taking the plunge because he had two gas vehicles still in the garage at home in case an EV didn’t work out. “I thought, it’s good for me that I’m lucky, I'm old, I’m retired and I have the chance to have three vehicles, so if electric didn’t work out I’d still have a fallback,” he says. For prospective but nervous EV shoppers, he

thinks that’s the best way to approach it. If you’re a two-car household, then consider replacing one with an EV, keep the other gas car and see how you like it. You’ll save time, money and the environment, Kingston says. He loved his first EV so much, in fact, that by December 2019 he’d purchased a second, this time a Chevrolet Bolt EV. The Bolt, he says, is great for driving around town, is front-wheel drive with a single motor and smaller battery, making it lighter than the Model S, with front and rear cameras. The Model S, on the other hand, is a bigger car that can hold four passengers, has dual electric motors, all-wheel drive and enough space to hold your luggage and pets for longer trips. The Model S also has a feature called autopilot that will hold the lane and speed when you’re driving on the interstate. Both cars get about 250-350 miles on a full battery and Kingston says charging them hasn’t been an issue at all. You can plug it in every night when you get home, allowing it to charge overnight. “If you live in a house or you have access to an outside outlet at your apartment building, you virtually have a car that will be charged up every morning, unlike driving a gas car. How many people start out the morning with a full tank of gas, every morning?” he says. Even longer trips aren’t a problem with smartphone apps that will locate nearby charging locations that suit your needs. If you invest in some adapters that will open up the kinds of places where you can charge, you’ll never have a problem finding a place to plug in. How long it takes to fully charge your EV battery depends on the battery and the charging station, but you should expect about 45 minutes of waiting. Luckily, you don’t have to sacrifice an enjoyable driving experience to reap the benefits of a carbon-free vehicle. “They’re fun to drive,” says Kingston. “They have really good response, they don’t drive like little tiny economy cars, they drive very responsively, good cornering because of the low center of gravity, good pickup because of the high torque of electric motors, so they’re fun.” Of course, the environmental benefits of an EV aren’t to be forgotten: “In 35,000 miles between the two cars I haven’t added any more carbon particulates to the atmosphere or carbon dioxide. So, it feels good, have

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A SHOCKING RIDE: The Tesla Model S 100 D (pictured), Chevrolet Bolt EV and other electric cars have had a long standing in metro areas. But with recent charging stations created around the area, car owners may be enticed to purchase one. fun driving and they’re easy to use.” Kingston also notes that the community has been interested in his EVs. “Frequently I have someone coming up to me and ask how I like it, how far can it go, how does it work, where do I charge it?” he says. “And I love to talk about it because I really feel that’s where I was, I didn’t know, I spent the whole year trying to figure out what it is I didn’t know about it.” He’s happy to be an ambassador to the new world of EVs, which will surely continue to grow as more and more automakers develop their own EVs and companies like Tesla continue to build factories and develop new technology. There’s lots of choices out there for EVs and while the internet might be your best bet for learning more, Minnesota Motors in Fergus Falls carries some models and is where Kingston bought his. He says, “I want to give a shoutout to Steve Brimhall at Minnesota Motors because that dealership, it’s a special requirement of Chevrolet that you have to invest before you can sell these cars, and Steve Brimhall made that commitment with this dealership, so I bought that Chevrolet Bolt right there at Minnesota Motors.”

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Progress 2020 11

TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME Eifert, Mojo trained to be effective crime-fighting team By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

hen Zach Eifert goes to work he takes a 6-yearold along - a very special one. This 6-year-old has fangs and black, pointed ears. “He’s very intimidating,” said Eifert, who serves as a deputy sheriff in Otter Tail County. Eifert’s partner answers to the name “Mojo” and along with Eifert he forms the K-9 unit of the sheriff’s office. Despite his formidable appearance, this Dutch shepherd is about the most popular member of Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons’ staff. “They all want to see Mojo when I bring him in,” said Eifert. The partners normally work a 12-hour night shift. They get called out on special jobs 80-90 times a year. The greatest need for Mojo’s service is drug work. His power of scent alone makes him an effective tool for law enforcement. “For sure on a weekly basis it would be common for either vehicle sniffs or we’ll get the search warrant work,” Eifert said. “We’ll stand by on perimeter search warrants often and then do narcotics work afterward, after the house is cleared or if there are vehicles that need to be sniffed. We go in and out of Otter Tail County. We end up all over the place and all over the state with different training.” Eifert was selected from a group of deputies who volunteered to serve as part of the 12 Progress 2020

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

FRIENDS AND PARTNERS: Otter Tail County deputy sheriff Zach Eifert and his partner, Mojo, are not only together on the job but they also spend time together off-duty.

K-9 unit. He traveled to Iowa in the spring of 2015 for training. The same man who trained Mojo in police work, trained Eifert to handle the dog. The initial training lasted six weeks and included techniques like tracking, article recovery and bite, by which a police dog can immobilize a potentially violent suspect and allow deputies to move in and apprehend them. The partnership between the two deputies has given Eifert an appreciation of Mojo’s personality. “He’s a good dog, he’s just a very good dog,” Eifert said. “Some of those police dogs are pretty hard, especially with other animals. They don’t get along. You wouldn’t want just anybody going up to them but Mojo is just a kind-hearted dog.” The partners undergo 16 hours of training a month splitting the time between narcotics and patrol. They also go through recertification each year. Eifert said Mojo gets along very well with his family. In addition to the time they spend on duty, Mojo and his handler do things together during their off-duty time. It’s not unusual for Mojo to tag along when the Eiferts take walks on the Central Lakes Trail. He also goes camping with the Eiferts.

Eifert was not arbitrarily assigned his canine partner. He described the type of dog the sheriff’s office was looking for and the trainer recommended Mojo. “I described kind of what we were looking for, not a real hard-charging dog necessarily but a good nose,” Eifert said. Mojo is a breed of shepherd that is very high-strung but is also a quick learner. Eifert has a Labrador pup and has years of experience training labs for hunting. Labs have great noses and are considered one of the most intelligent breeds but Eifert has seen a difference. “It’s amazing, I have to do three or four training sessions for a Lab to do what I want and for a Dutch shepherd if I show him three times he’s got it. He’s very quick, so quick in fact that you have to be careful that you are not training him to do something you are not intending on doing.” Being a dog, Mojo does not keep track of the hours he is on duty. Mojo is usually in the back of his squad relaxing when the two are on patrol but it’s a different story when Eifert is out of the squad interacting with someone. Mojo has occasionally barked — SEE TEAM PAGE 14

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Progress 2020 13

TEAM Continued from page Page 13

making his presence known — something that Eifert said “comes in handy” from time to time. Mojo has taken some lumps in the line of duty. His paws were burned once when the pair walked over hot coals during an investigation. He has also suffered some scrapes and nicks and Eifert has noticed that one of his teeth has been chipped. As a crimefighter the county paid $12,500 to acquire, Mojo’s health is very important to the sheriff’s office and he receives regular checkups from a vet. So what happens when Mojo is not the only dog at a suspected crime scene? “He is friendly with other dogs usually but generally we just try to avoid those situations in working conditions,” Eifert said. “We have had it in the past where there have been dogs on search warrants and one of the guys will carry a fire extinguisher and they will spray it at the dog - shoot a powder at the dog and it scares them away. It’s very effective and it doesn’t harm them.” While Eifert picked law enforcement as his career, Mojo was actually born to it. His parents were both police dogs in Missouri. “Of course they are working dogs so they always want to have a job,” Eifert said. Sheriff Fitzgibbons sees having a well-trained, four-footed deputy on his staff as a real bargain. “It’s one of those things you can’t put a price on,” Fitzgibbons said. SUBMITTED “If we use Mojo to find a lost child or to apprehend an armed suspect without putting an officer or the public in danger it’s just one of those SAFE IN THE LINE OF DUTY: Eifert (right) and Mojo are used to working 12-hour night shifts. The health of Mojo, as well as things you can’t put a price on.” Eifert, is a top priority for the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Department.

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BUZZING AROUND: Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor owner Sam Norman tattoos a customer, Chris Hanson, at his business located at 643 W. Fire Ave., in Fergus Falls.

MATHEW HOLDING EAGLE / DAILY JOURNAL

CREATING A BUZZ

Artist Sam Norman continues passion through Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor By Mathew Holding Eagle The Daily Journal

here’s nothing more integral to the lifeblood of a community’s economy than small business — it’s the foundation a city’s overall health is built on, with its strength reflected in the

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number and diversity of goods and services offered. One such business contributing its double helix to the composition of Fergus Falls’ economy is The Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor, owned by local Sam Norman, but instead of producing honey like a traditional beehive, through art, Sam creates visual nourishment on a canvass

of dermis. With a love for creating, that can be traced back to his childhood. Sam first became aware of tattooing through a motorcycle benefit run his parents hosted. After the inaugural event ended riders gathered at the Elks Point campground, 7 miles east of Fergus Falls, for an after-party where for the first time in person, he watched as an artist tattooed someone, opening a whole new world of possibilities of what art is and could be in his young mind. The motorcycle run turned into an annual event for a period of time and Sam would return each year to watch the artist work in his booth en-

amored by the process. While in high school, Sam’s mother encouraged his artistic plight by driving him to Fargo for job-shadowing opportunities at local tattoo shops which in turn gave him a broader sense of how shops are operated and the intricacies that make up the body art industry. “My parents were very supportive growing up, I’ve seen it where kids are very interested in art and their parents are like ‘What are you going to do with that for work?’ Where mine were always giving me colored pencils and sketchbooks for Christmas and birthdays letting me do anything I needed to,” Sam

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BEAM UP: Nick Wahl pulls up his sleeve to show some of the work Norman has done on his arm. said. “If I needed to go to a class or a workshop they would take time off work to take me.” A day after graduating high school Sam decided to try his hand at being an apprentice with a shop in the area, but the overall experience left him with a lot to be desired, so he ended his apprenticeship and enrolled in college “bouncing around” to various tattoo shops in whatever college towns he traveled to while seeking a more traditional and formal avenue of education. After moving back to Fergus Falls and getting a job doing what he went to school for Sam had an epiphany saying to himself “You know what? I want to tattoo, I just have to do it.” According to Sam from that moment on he focused his attention on what he wanted to be doing, he committed himself to all aspects of tattooing and hasn’t stopped since, culminating with the opening of

his own tattoo shop. Inspired by his father, who passed in 2013 and had an obsession with honey bees, raising them, “He would tell us all weird facts about the bees that we didn’t necessarily want to know about bees. … So whenever we see a bee it’s our family’s little way of saying he’s around,” Sam said, and dubbed Busy Bee by his mother after being late to a Christmas function because he was busy working on art projects, Sam opened The Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor located at 643 W. Fir Ave., in October of 2018. “The community has been great,” Sam said reflecting on over a year of business, “that’s one thing that I was a little leery about when I was younger like ‘I really want to tattoo but I live in a small town,’ I didn’t want to leave Fergus ever, I love Fergus, I just had this stigma in my own

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ARTISTIC OFFERINGS: Norman classifies his style of tattooing as neo-traditional/new school.

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head that this wouldn’t be something that would thrive here but after opening it took off way better than I could have hoped for.” In the world of tattoos, Sam’s style is classified as neo-traditional/new school which he says is more illustrative as opposed to a cartoon style. Great art influences great art and much like a talented musician performing a cover song if Sam is going to copy of a piece of art for someone, he’s going to add his own flair or twist — an interpretation if you will. “I don’t do a lot of finding an image on Google and then tattooing it exactly how somebody else tattooed it, I spend a lot of time drawing an original for clients,” Sam said about his process. “I’ll try to pull some things from the conversation that I have with them, try to pull some things from their personality or something that I think they would enjoy in their piece but it wouldn’t be anything that they’d ever think of, that’s why I like to talk to them in person.” The only things Sam won’t tattoo on the body are the face or hands unless the subject is already heavily tattooed or

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LEG WORK: Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor customer Nick Wahl shows off a tattoo drawn by his daughter he had Norman tattoo onto his leg. they work in the industry. “I went into the other tattoo shop when he was working there and the other guy was always ‘nope,’ cancel, cancel and Sam was in there one day and I was like ‘Hey. … You want to give me a tattoo?’ And ever since then he’s been tattooing me because he’s always on time, doesn’t cancel, he’s reliable and he does quality work,” long-time client Nick Wahl said while taking time out of his day to visit the shop. Other services the Bee Hive offers is microblading or permanent makeup by Sam’s wife Abby, and piercing by appointment done by a professional from Grand Forks that makes frequent visits to the city. “If you just want like a fuller look so you don’t have to put makeup on them anymore, it makes it easier to get up in the morning,” Abby said about the benefits of having the service done. “If you’re an older woman who maybe doesn’t have eyebrows anymore it’s nice to have

them put back on.” Abby added that the eyebrow process takes between two and 2 ½ hours and that steps are taken guaranteeing that clients are comfortable with the color and shape before application. To book an appointment with The Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor for a tattoo Sam says the best way is to stop into the shop for a meeting and to flesh out piece ideas, then based on what is being done he will estimate a cost, for visitors on a budget — not a problem — Sam is willing to draw something that fits, then after a $50 nonrefundable deposit which goes toward the final cost of everything, it’s all set. “I feel like a lot of people are a little intimidated for their first one and you can tell when they first walk in but it’s easier than it seems.” In a world where fortune favors the bold, Norman has found his riches in his profession and the artwork that he produces.

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WRENCH AND REPAIR: Sam Rose moved to Minnesota from New Zealand. He finds the staff at Pebble Lake Auto Repair to have common goals. The auto repair shop has been helping those in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area for over 40 years.

HUMMING ALONG Pebble Lake Auto Repair celebrates 40 years of checking under the hood By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

ebble Lake Auto Repair has been on the map for 40 years making the independent garage on County Highway 82 one of the oldest in Fergus Falls. Eugene Stenstrom and Rick Sletten opened Pebble Lake Auto Repair in 1980 but sold it to Dale Formo and Ron Carey 20 Progress 2020

15 years later. The new owners operated out of the same remodeled Quonset barns as Stenstrom and Sletten had until 11 years ago when a 60-by-108 shop was built right next door to the barns. Dale owns the business by himself these days but he is semi-retired and depends on his sons, Adam and Ben, to handle the dayto-day business operations. Dale likes the arrangement because both of his sons have

many years of experience in the business. Adam is the business manager and works with the technicians in the shop. Ben works as the service advisor and is a liaison between the customers and the technicians. One of the biggest reasons for the success of Pebble Lake Auto is their staff. They have three full-time technicians. Adam and Ben will both pitch in when their front office duties allow. The business also has one part-time shop helper. The staff works on all makes and models - something not all garages do. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We work on every vehicle make on the planet," Adam said. Assembling and holding onto an expe-

rienced staff is of paramount importance to the management of Pebble Lake Auto Repair. The lack of technicians is an industry-wide problem. "We could use another technician. They are very hard to find," Adam said. "It is an industry struggle across the United States of America," Adam said. Realizing the demand for good technicians is greater than supply at the present time, Pebble Lake Auto Repair has tried to provide a working environment their people like. "You treat them like you would want to be treated and you want to be flexible," Adam said. Technician Chris Jackson has been with the repair shop 12 of his 20 years in the business. Technician Sam Rose landed at Pebble Lake Auto Repair after growing up in New Zealand. "We get along very good," Rose said. "We've all got the same goals."

Realizing how important the morale of their employees is, the Formo brothers try to accommodate them if some family or personal needs arise. "I tend to do whatever needs to be done," laughed Ben. "We wear many hats in a day." The challenges of their work come along regularly. Pebble Lake technicians work on many vehicles that are 10 years old or more. Pebble Lake takes customer service very seriously according to Adam. The business offers shuttles and limited towing. Ben’s work as go-between with the customers and the technicians is considered crucial. "There are other good shops that have gone downhill because they don't have good service and it has nothing to do with the technicians," Adam said. The investment Pebble Lake Auto Repair has made in special tools to service such a wide variety of vehicles has been a considerable one but it has an upside "It's kind of cool to use more of the new technology," Adam said. "It's really amazing. Very seldom do these guys get things that are cut and dried." When the price of new vehicles started zooming out of sight early in the 21st century, the attitude of vehicle owners started to change in regard to repair work. They wanted their vehicles to last longer. It is not unusual these days to hear customers say, "figure it out and fix it" even though the repair bill might be higher. With 35 years of service under their belt Pebble Lake's work is known over a fairly large area. They have customers from the Fargo area as well as Elbow Lake and most of Otter Tail County.

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

FAMILY BUSINESS: Ben Formo, left, and his brother, Adam, manage Pebble Lake Auto Repair on County Highway 82 south of Fergus Falls. Ben works as a go-between with customers and technicians. Adam is the business manager and Service Advisor.

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DISCOVERING HIS OWN PATH

Shol feels calling in work with Habitat for Humanity By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

S SUBMITTED

HIS OWN PATH: Fergus Falls resident Paul Shol has taken his own path to get where he is today. From athletics to teaching math to riding bike across the country to Air National Guard and now Habitat for Humanity.

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ometimes life is a complicated equation. Adding up life’s choices doesn’t always create the answer you are looking for. Other times its complexity creates a solution with several steps. For Fergus Falls resident Paul Shol, life is not a paradox but a creation of simultaneous equations. Born in Fergus Falls, the 2005 graduate saw education and athletics take him to Concordia College in Moorhead. There, Shol would earn a degree in mathematics education, and play football and track. After receiving his degree, he would dive head first into the education field teaching high school math at Fargo North. While in Fargo, Shol would stay active through First Lutheran Church and Legacy Children’s Foundation (LCF). This would spark one of the many changes for Shol in the future. In 2016, Shol would complete the Legacy Tour bike ride — a bike ride from west of Eugene, Oregon, to Bar Harbor, Maine. The ride would benefit LCF, a nonprofit that serves at-risk youth in their personal development and path to high school graduation, and promote a Christian devotional book, “Jesus Calling.” According to Shol, God was calling him to make the most of a personal

desire to ride across the country and help others. “God blessed the effort by helping me raise $50,000 for LCF and $40,000 to buy “Jesus Calling” books with and give to people,” Shol said. “It makes me happy to think of the kids at LCF who are benefiting from this and all the people that know God more through ‘Jesus Calling.’ ” After returning from the trip, Shol went home to work for the Fergus Falls School District for a year. But there still was a feeling that would redirect his efforts.“I felt God was nudging me in another direction. The feeling to be part of the military was still there since high school and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger!” This would inspire Shol to enlist in the Air National Guard in 2017. While preparing to go to basic training, Shol began volunteering two to three days a week for Habitat for Humanity. He met executive director Stan Carignan at a function at the Bigwood Event Center in Fergus Falls. “He actually came up to me, introduced himself and said he wanted to start volunteering on our next build,” Carignan said. “We started building that fall in 2017 the home for Kwende and Heather Kiemle SEE SHOL PAGE 24

SUBMITTED

KEEPING MOTIVATED: Paul Shol is a highly motivated person as he has competed in a variety of triathlons and running races, and has ridden a bike across the United States for charity.

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at 111 Lydia Lane in Fergus Falls. Shol had joined the Air National Guard and was waiting for a seat at Air Force initial entry training (boot camp). It turned out that he had the whole fall free (before the beet harvest) and was the most diligent volunteer we had that year. He was involved in almost every aspect of the build.” Shol enjoyed the experience so much that he reached out to Carignan to see if there would be a position to join the nonprofit when he returned. “(Enlistment) lead to getting involved with Habitat and now I can see how God has guided me to this role. Following God’s spirit can lead you down a pretty interesting and fulfilling road,” Shol said. Although Shol seemed like a great fit, the nonprofit was unsure if the twos schedules would mesh well together. Habitat interviewed several candidates, but kept coming back to Shol. An agreement was reached that allowed enough flexibility for both Habitat and Shol. “Paul is a perfect fit for our small nonprofit. He and I are the only paid staff, and we have a really smooth and complementary working relationship. It is important in my opinion that we have a really strong local connection like Paul, who grew up in Fergus Falls and has made an intentional decision to live here. He brings a lot to the table for our ministry,” Carnignan said. Shol currently works as community outreach coordinator for the group. His day-to-day work focuses on recruiting and coordinating volunteers, creating and fostering

SUBMITTED

SOCIALIZING: Paul Shol, center, speaks with a volunteer during a break on one of the many building days for Habitat for Humanity. Shol helps organize the builds and looks for volunteers to help with the project.

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relationships with the community and fundraising. This is very important to the success of the nonprofit as Shol organizes volunteers to help construct the home and on most build days, you can find him working alongside many of the volunteers. With a desire to help those in need in the community, Shol has stated how important Habitat for Humanity is to the community. “There are several reasons why Habitat is important for the Fergus Falls Area. Affordable housing is one of them. It is a challenge across the world, nation, and locally right here in Fergus Falls. Habitat for Humanity is an avenue that provides opportunities for families to have a safe and decent place to call home,” Shol said. According to the Fergus Falls Housing Taskforce, most homes being built in the city are between $190,000-$300,000. With a quarter of Minnesota families spending 30% of their monthly income on housing, Shol stated that new homes are just not possible for families at a low-income level. The importance of a home is crucial to families as a study done by the Wilder Foundation, a nonprofit from St. Paul, has shown. According to the study, families reported improvements in sense of safety, their children’s education, family and personal well-being, and financial stability. “The study is interesting to look at; the data clearly shows how important a home is for a family,” Shol added. Shol is very proud of his work with Habitat and how the community has responded to the call to help others. “I am proud to be part of a Christian organization that brings God’s presence here. I am proud that our focus is on serv-

ing our community and its families. It’s a great feeling knowing that kids are benefiting from growing up in homes that we build,” Shol said. The seeds of service to those in the community was planted early as Shol credits his parents for instilling this trait. “They have also been great examples on giving time and energy to help friends, family and neighbors with whatever they might need.” He also is inspired by other members of the community including Gary Jennen, Dave Schneeberger, Tim Lanz, Sharon Stevens, Del Barringer, and his great-aunt, Faye Baylor, who is active at the Veterans Home, the Welcome House and Stavanger Church. “The list is long. Being around people like this is encouraging to keep giving back.” While Shol is happy with the work that Habitat does in the community, he hopes to see the nonprofit continue to expand its reach as a Christian-based organization. “In my mind, our most important mission is bigger than building homes. I believe the most important goal for Habitat looking forward is two-fold. We need to keep providing opportunities for the community to serve others and to be an avenue for God’s presence and light here in Fergus Falls.” “It is my hope that this ministry will continue to be a passion of Paul's for many years. We are blessed to have him and his talents in our community,” Carignan said. Shol encourages community members to continue to help others in the area and around the world. As for Habitat, Shol stated that individuals or groups can lend their time, finances and advocate for the group. “Everyone can pitch in somewhere!”

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Building stability and self-reliance Your Hometown Mission @ www.Fergushabitat.org Progress 2020 25

EDUCATION OF MOVEMENT

Former students now teachers at Fergus Falls School of Dance By Johanna Armstrong The Daily Journal

he Fergus Falls School of Dance (FFSD) has a unique set of teachers this year with four former students returning as instructors. Sara Anderson, Molly Johnston, Amanda Lewis and Suzanne Svare all started dancing at FFSD from as young as preschool and danced through high school. Some of them left to pursue dance elsewhere or start new careers but all four have returned to their roots to share their passion for dance with a new generation of young dancers. Anderson began dancing at FFSD in preschool, Johnston and Lewis began in first grade and Svare began in second grade. All four studied under Ramona Jacobs, the director and owner of FFSD, who is still at the school of dance after 35 years and to whom they feel they owe their success — “We couldn’t do it without Ramona,” they say. Mary Pettit, who has been with the school of dance for 26 years, says, “It’s really rewarding to see them grow,

26 Progress 2020

JOHANNA ARMSTRONG / DAILY JOURNAL

TEACHING DANCE: Fergus Falls School of Dance teacher Molly Johnston has students follow her movements during her pre-ballet class. Johnston is one of four former students that now teach at the school.

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GIVE IT A LITTLE TAP: Teacher Suzanne Svare demonstrates a tap technique to students in her School of Dance tap class. not just as teachers but as human beings, and to see what they’re pouring back into the community, into the program.” Johnston, Lewis and Svare continued to pursue dance after graduating — Johnston got her undergraduate degree at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a graduate degree in dance from the University of Oregon. She went on to work at the Zenon Dance Company and School in Minneapolis as their school coordinator and founded and is co-director of DanceBARN, a nonprofit based in Battle Lake committed to bringing dance opportunities to rural communities. Lewis went to the University of Minnesota for dance and graduated in 2012. She then left for New York and danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She returned to Fergus Falls earlier this year to complete a Hinge Arts residency with Springboard for the Arts which included a waltzing get-together in Battle Lake where participants waltzed in

fishing gear for her screendance project and teaching free yoga flow classes at the Sunroom in Battle Lake — she continues to teach yoga, in addition to dance, with FFSD. Svare went to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for dance but only stayed for a year before transferring to Minnesota State University Moorhead for a degree in social work. She moved to South Dakota for work, helping a company in Fargo-Moorhead open a satellite office there, but recently returned to the area and now lives in Barnesville. She has continued to professionally pursue dance, though, including attending workshops at the North Dakota Ballet Company, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Jazz Dance World Congress and International Peace Gardens. Anderson didn’t pursue dance after graduation, choosing instead to get an Associate of Arts degree from M State

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SEE DANCE PAGE 28 Progress 2020 27

DANCE Continued from page Page 27

before attending Minnesota State University Moorhead to get her degree in elementary education. However, she danced for 13 years with FFSD, became a teacher there in 2014 and has remained in the area, helping choreograph the high school choir concert and the musical at NDSCS Wahpeton. “(FFSD) is something that I don’t ever want to leave because there are people that support you and people who want to see you grow in all aspects, and you want to share that with students, too, and make sure that they have that space. It’s just special,” she says. Johnston, Lewis and Svare all returned to the area for different reasons, but they all knew they wanted to go back to FFSD, a place that is special to all of them. Johnston was able to teach at a variety of different studios, but none met the bar that FFSD had set for her. “I think going away and learning that other people didn’t have the same family-centered, positive dancing environment in their studios, really realizing how special it was after being away,” she says. “Being able to teach at a school that I know is something that I want to be a part of, it feels really good to be able to teach somewhere that I care about.” Lewis had planned to leave again after her residency with Springboard completed, but what made her decide to stay and teach for a full year was the other teachers and staff at FFSD. She says, “I wanted to grow as a teacher and with this community of teachers, you can text them or call them and say, ‘This is happening in my class, I don’t know how to reorganize it, or I want to try this or a new way of teaching something,’ and they’ll say, ‘OK, well, let’s go to the studio and figure that out.’ Everyone here is really excited to try new things while keeping the students in mind.” Svare’s fond memories of FFSD, where she danced for 12 years, played an important role in influencing her decision to return as a teacher. “A lot of ways, for me, FFSD was kind of like my escape, my safe place while I was dancing and I love having the opportunity to be a positive part of kids’ lives, being able to have them come into the studio and leave all of their drama and baggage, stuff that’s going on in their life, at the door and help them just have a good evening where they have something they’re passionate about and I can help them work toward being excellent in that,” she says. “See28 Progress 2020

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FROM STUDENT TO TEACHER: Sara Anderson (left to right), Molly Johnston, Amanda Lewis and Suzanna Szare were all former students at the FF School of Dance who now teach there (above). Sara Anderson teaches a boys’ hip hop class. Anderson began dancing in pre-school and now teaches for the FF School of Dance (below).

ing them grow and seeing the joy in their eyes when they get it is just life changing for me.” With 10 teachers total working at

FFSD, returning students make up 40% of the teaching staff. It’s an incredible proportion that serves to encourage students to continue their hard work in

dance studies as Johnston, Lewis, Svare and Anderson serve as role models for them, examples of what’s possible for a young girl learning at the FFSD studio.

EMPOWERING MOTHERS

Tri-County Health Care’s midwife Dahlgren-Roemmich offers different care option By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

T ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

CHECKUP: Certified nurse midwife Dawn Dahlgren-Roemmich examines a patient during one of their visits. Dahlgren-Roemmich works for Tri-County Health Care at locations in Ottertail, Wadena and Sebeka.

he birth of a child is a special moment in a parent’s life. It’s exciting, nervous and a whole bunch of other emotions wrapped up in an event during and after the birth. But while there are so many decisions to make after the baby is born, there are plenty that happen before — including what pre and postnatal services a mother will choose. According to a report by the Mayo Clinic in 2020, fewer physicians are pursuing careers in obstetrics due to the round-the-clock demands of the job and high burnout rate.

While birthrates in the United States are declining, the need for care for mothers-to-be is still high. One way for hospitals to meet the needs of expectant mothers is to employ or collaborate with midwives, and for Tri-County Health Care, Dawn Dahlgren-Roemmich provides the health-care agency with a certified nurse midwife (CNM). “I was inspired to become a midwife because I wanted to take care of moms and babies and make the journey of pregnancy and birth joyful for patients and their families,” Dahlgren-Roemmich said. “I want to empower women through having knowledge about their bodies to SEE MIDWIFE PAGE 30

Progress 2020 29

MIDWIFE

Continued from page Page 29

have the courage to lead their health care.” But what is a midwife? According to the American Pregnancy Association, a midwife is a health-care professional that can offer an array of services for women. These include contraceptive counseling, gynecological examinations, prescriptions, and labor and delivery care. A specialty of a midwife is offering care during labor and delivery, as well as after birth, which is what makes them unique. Educationally, there are multiple certifications and designations for midwives. As a CNM, Dahlgren-Roemmich was required to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s or doctorate degree in nursing with a certificate in midwifery. Dahlgren-Roemmich received her nursing degree from Concordia College and then went to the University of Minnesota to receive her master’s in nursing and to be certified in midwifery. Other types of midwives are a certified midwife, certified professional midwife, direct-entry midwife and lay midwife. Each of the types requires different levels of education and varying services offered. Dahlgren-Roemmich’s day-to-day work

schedule is everchanging. For her, a typical day finds her making the rounds, visiting moms and babies, doing clinical work and running to labor and delivery for a birth, which could be either day or night. During the week, she travels to several locations as she is in Ottertail on Monday morning, Sebeka on Tuesday, and in Wadena Monday afternoon, Wednesday and Friday. Dahlgren-Roemmich explained that the nearest midwife for the area is in Morris and it is important to provide the option for those in Ottertail, Wadena, Fergus Falls, Sebeka, Park Rapids and the surrounding area. “After a baby is born we make sure that the mother is taking care of herself with the correct techniques to ensure postpartum healing along with taking care of the baby the first 30 days of life. We make sure feeding is going well for the baby and we follow up with the mother at two and six weeks out and more if needed,” Dahlgren-Roemmich said. As a CNM, Dahlgren-Roemmich can admit and discharge to a hospital, write medication scripts for the management of pregnancy, see patients like a primary care provider and can deliver babies at a patient’s home or in the hospital. While other types of midwives can do similar things, they are unable to have hospital privileges

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY: Dawn Dahlgren-Roemmich’s typical day as a certified nurse midwife involves making the rounds around the hospital, visiting mothers and babies, doing clinical work and running to labor and delivery for a birth.

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like a CNM. Other services she can provide for women are annual exams, education on birth control, sexually transmitted infections, depression, and work with females from adolescence through menopause. While many are familiar with using an OBGYN during pregnancy, according to Dahlgren-Roemmich there are several benefits to using a midwife. “You will have a provider who listens to you and works to understand you and meet you where you are at with your health care, a provider who understands alternative medicine as well. Nationally it is well researched and documented that midwives have lower interventions in birth and better maternal mortality outcomes,” Dahlgren-Roemmich said. Those that choose to use a midwife can expect a more “hands-on” approach to pregnancy according to Dahlgren-Roemmich. A midwife will be with you throughout the labor and support whatever is the best position to birth in. “With a midwife, you will have a care provider who walks with you not ahead of you, the midwife will look at the whole picture and the whole person,” Dahlgren-Roemmich added. Midwives can do much of what an

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WHERE THERE IS A NEED: Dawn Dahlgren-Roemmich spends her time in three different locations during the week including the Tri-County Health Care clinic in Ottertail (pictured). OBGYN can, but there are a few situations where a midwife would pass a pregnancy on to a doctor. These include pregnancies that require medical intervention or if a pregnancy is considered high risk. Midwives will regularly consult with obstetri-

cians, perinatologists and other healthcare professionals. For Dahlgren-Roemmich, the best part of being a midwife is the relationships that you build as you get to know the families and watch them grow together to

become a family. Though it is a very rewarding experience, she also points out that there are difficult times as well. “The most difficult part of my job is when families lose a baby or have serious health complications.” According to the World Health Organization, midwives play an instrumental role introducing women to the health system and ensure that women and their babies receive a continuum of skilled care during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the important days and weeks after birth. The availability of midwives for expectant mothers is important to communities, both developed and developing. So where does the future of midwifery go? “I think that midwives are going to be the face of rural health care because you can’t attract obstetricians to come and do the amount of call that would be necessary to do a practice, nor is there the volume to maintain all their skills. The family practice programs are really not training family practice residents to have obstetrics anymore, they are really focusing on internal and family medicine. So, because of these things, I think you will see midwives more and more,” Dahlgren-Roemmich said.

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As the history of the county grows, so does the OTCHS By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

n the summer of 1927 when Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States and Babe Ruth was on his way to a 60 home run season for the New York Yankees, a group got together at Amor Park on the west side of Otter Tail Lake to form the Otter Tail County Historical Society. The huge county had been formally organized in March of 1868. Over the next 60 years it attracted many immigrants from European countries like Norway, Sweden and Germany. In 1870 the population of the county was 2,000. Since that time it has grown to nearly 59,000. As the county began to see new generations join those early immigrants, people like Marguerite Patterson, the wife of Dr. William Patterson, superintendent of the state hospital, realized

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PRESERVING HISTORY: The Otter Tail County Historical Society has been a staple in Otter Tail County since 1927, the year a group led by Marguerite Patterson assembled. Today, OTCHS continues to show exhibits (pictured) and is in the midst of a facilities renewal project.

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that history was being made by this new group of residents. The mission Patterson and others undertook in 1927 is essentially the same one that OTCHS director Chris Schuelke and his staff are engaged in today - collect, preserve and interpret the history of Otter Tail County. Schuelke believes that an appreciation for history comes to most people with time. “As you get older you have your own family and you start getting a sense of generations and how important it is in your life,” Schuelke said. As the years progressed after the society was formed, the group put much of their effort into placing historical markers around the county. The society found themselves a home in the basement SEE HISTORICAL PAGE 34

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

HISTORIC GROUP: The Otter Tail County Historical Society has a staff that has been together for many years. They include, from left: Ina Myers, LeAnn Neuleib, Missy Hermes, Chris Schuelke, Kathy Evavold and Vicky Anderson.

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of the Otter Tail County Courthouse and operated from there for decades. “They had displays and a place to house their growing collection of objects,” Schuelke said. What really motivated these pioneers of the OTCHS in their work? “They felt the stories of the early settlers were important to preserve,” Schuelke said. “People were very cognizant of where they had come from. They realized it was important to understand, to have a sense of history.” The courthouse was the headquarters of the society until the early 1970s. By that time they had run out of space and they needed a facility of their own. By this time another group was leading the way. It included people like Charles Beck, John Gronner, Carroll Crouch, George Walters, Jim Gray and Virginia Adams. “They conducted a capital campaign and opened the current museum in 1973,” Schuelke said. “Within 10 years

they needed more space so an addition was put on in 1983.” Beck was an art instructor at the Fergus Falls Community College and he used his artistic eye to frame unique exhibits at the museum on West Lincoln Avenue. “We’ve made a lot of changes over the years but we’ve always had Charles Beck’s original vision in mind,” said Schuelke. “When people visit they are always interested in how visual they are.” Schuelke came aboard in 1989 as curator and within a couple of years, he found himself holding the position of director. His staff includes Kathy Evavold (curator), Missy Hermes (education coordinator), LeAnn Neuleib (office manager) Vicky Anderson (research assistant) and Ina Myers (bookkeeper). Schuelke deeply appreciates his association with the veteran group. “We’re not academics. We’re public historians,” Schuelke said. “All of the work we do is for public consumption.” One example of this public consumption is the turbine the society moved from Parkdale Mill 8 miles

southeast of Fergus Falls on Pomme de Terre River to Phelps Mills on the Otter Tail River - 14 miles northwest of Fergus Falls. Both were once part of the county’s milling industry that entrepreneurs had high hopes for in the late 1800s. Otter Tail County is larger than the state of Rhode Island. It has 62 townships and encompasses 2,225 square miles of land and water. “The size of Otter Tail County makes our job challenging,” Schuelke said. “Even though we are headquartered in Fergus Falls we are really an Otter Tail County organization.” The society realizes that as the decades go by the amount of history the county is accumulating is growing as well. That is one of the reasons it is now in the midst of a facilities renewal project - a needs assessment is underway and the society is looking at a potential site for a new museum in Fergus Falls. “We feel we have one of the more active historical societies in Minnesota and one of the main reasons for that has been my staff. Everything we do is a team effort,” Schuelke said.

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Ruby’s Pantry making a difference with grocery shopping alternative By Johanna Armstrong The Daily Journal

R JOHANNA ARMSTRONG / DAILY JOURNAL

ORGANIZING THE PANTRY: Ruby’s Pantry site organizers, leaders and volunteers include (left to right) Kristen and Lee Danielson, Tim Rostad, Carol and Pete Bertram and Kim Skramstead. The pantry provides an affordable food option for community members.

uby’s Pantry has been running in Fergus Falls for a little over a year now, providing residents with an affordable alternative to grocery shopping once a month through Church of the Nazarene. Ruby’s Pantry itself has been around for 16 years with locations throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Detroit Lakes, Perham, Breckenridge and Moorhead. The organization receives donations from different companies, entire pallets of food that are then distributed in “shares” one

night a month. Participants have no say in what constitutes their share; when it’s their turn to go through the distribution, they receive a set amount of everything that’s available, whether they want it or not. If they don’t want something, they’re encouraged to share it with their friends and neighbors. “Typically there’s milk, dairy, dry goods, there could be eggs, there could be cottage cheese, there could be pizzas, typically there’s a meat product,” says Carol Bertram, one of the organizers at the Fergus Falls site. There are SEE PANTRY PAGE 36

Progress 2020 35

PANTRY

Continued from page Page 35

also paper products available, like paper towels, napkins and toilet paper. Bertram and her husband started out volunteering in Breckenridge and occasionally bringing shares to Fergus Falls. “We started bringing back shares to people in Fergus Falls and then it has expanded and now we have our own site here in Fergus Falls,” she says. The food that’s available depends upon what companies are able to donate, so participants can never be sure of what will be available. In early December, for instance, the pantry had a meat product shortage. “Food is donated from different companies, sometimes it’s excess food, sometimes it’s soon to be outdated, but it’s all donated food, Ruby’s Pantry never pays for any of their food,” said Bertram. “Right now, that’s why they’re praying for more meat donations, because that has gone down right now. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen that happen.” It costs $20 to participate in Ruby’s Pantry and guests can either register for a time slot online or show up the night of the event and register. In Fergus Falls, it’s held on the first Monday of the month from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. In Breckenridge, it’s on the fourth Monday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Perham is open on the fourth Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Detroit Lakes is open on the second Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Moorhead is open on the fourth Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Guests are asked to bring two totes or large boxes (many people bring two laundry baskets) to carry all the groceries and are assigned a number at registration. When their number gets called, they’re paired with a volunteer who pushes a cart with their two totes around

JOHANNA ARMSTRONG / DAILY JOURNAL

BROWSING THE OPTIONS: Participants of Ruby’s Pantry are escorted by volunteers through a room with all the groceries they’ll be receiving, arranged in a round circuit that allows everyone to go through and exit efficiently. the distribution area where other volunteers hand out the food. While waiting for their number to be called, people can wait in the sanctuary of Church of the Nazarene. Occasionally there’s live music on stage, in addition to a kids’ corner where volunteers do arts and crafts with children and free Bibles to read. “The average wait time would maybe be about an hour, maybe a little

bit longer for the people who are waiting in the sanctuary. We schedule the door to open at 5:30 p.m. but typically I’ve been opening it at 5 p.m. if we’re ready. The distribution starts at 6 p.m,” says Bertram. “The people, if you look at the sanctuary now there’s people visiting and talking with each other.” There are no income or residency requirements to participate in Ruby’s Pan-

try and they’ve been nearly selling out each month. “We’ve been very successful, the truck can bring 400 shares and that’s basically what they’ve been bringing the entire time,” says Bertram, with about 390-397 shares typically given out over the last three months. “It warms my heart to see these people every month, it’s so much fun,” says Kristi Sem, who has been volunteering

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36 Progress 2020

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COMPLETED SHARE: A completed share awaiting pick-up outside includes ice cream, pizza, bread, milk, water, chips, cookies, paper towels, napkins and more. with Ruby’s Pantry in Fergus Falls since they opened in October 2018. Pat Melkert, another volunteer who has been with Ruby’s Pantry for a little less than a year, is happy to be helping her community. “I get people come by and say to me, ‘My fridge is empty, this is saving me.’ Usually the elderly, but when I see the college kids come through I think it’s great because a lot of people think they are above, or don’t want to humble themselves or whatever, but they want to do it. I think that’s good.” That help doesn’t just happen one day

a month, though. “We get to keep 10% of the money that we take in, so we get to keep $2 out of every $20,” says Bertram, and while most of that money goes towards operation costs, the rest goes back into the community. “We’ve given gift cards to the cancer center, we help pay for a women’s conference for someone, and we buy a lot of Bibles and give Bibles and scripture out to people. … We don’t try to push it on them, it’s there if they want to take it,” she says. It also helps pay for the crafts they offer the children during Ruby’s Pantry nights.

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NEW ACQUISITION: Fergus Falls Daily Journal staff members Anna Anderson, Johanna Armstrong, Brian Hansel, Sarah Johnson, Mary Sieling, Ken Harty and Deanna Forkey busy at work. The Daily Journal was purchased by Wick Communications in July of 2019, adding to the parent companies stable of community newspapers.

GENERATIONAL JOURNALISM Wick Communications continues community news in acquisition of The Daily Journal By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

n July of 2019, The Fergus Falls Daily Journal was purchased by Wick Communications from Boone Newspaper Inc. The news brought change for those working at The Jour38 Progress 2020

nal. What will happen with the paper? Will things change? Who are the new owners? Although ownership changed, the commitment to journalism and community did not. While The Daily Journal has been in the community for over 140 years, The Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parent

company, Wick Communications, has a storied history that began in the 1920s and continues to flourish today.

The beginning Born in Bowdle, South Dakota, Milton I. Wick, founder of Wick Communications, started from humble beginnings. Milton would graduate from South High School in Minneapolis and go on to receive a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree from the University of Nebraska. While in college, Milton, along with

brother James, organized a business in Lincoln, Nebraska, that employed university students to sell books to farmers during the summer. The business took off and expanded to Iowa, Missouri and Kansas, employing more than 500 students during its three years in operation. After graduating, Milton would work in the sales department of McQuay-Norris, a manufacturer in St. Louis, Missouri. But it would be the purchase of the Niles Daily Times in

1926 that Milton would turn his focus toward publishing. The duo would acquire 27 newspapers in several states. In 1965, James passed away. Milton and his sons, Walter and Robert, purchased James’ interests. Milton would pass away in 1981 at the age of 82. Milton’s sons would continue the family tradition of serving the community. In 2004, the Wick brothers were named to the Arizona Newspapers Association Hall of Fame in recognition of their devotion to newspapers and their support of community journalism.

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tunity as it would enable my wife and I to move back to the area to be closer to family and our lake home in Otter Tail County. When the agreement was finalized we were very excited as Fergus Falls and the lakes area are a great place to call home,” Harty said. Francis Wick, CEO and third-generation member of the Wick family, was excited about the acquisition of The Daily Journal. Not just because of the newspaper itself, but because of the SEE WICK PAGE 40

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Communications. The announcement was a shock to those at the newspaper but there was also a sense of excitement. “My first thought was there are going to be some changes,” Daily Journal classifieds specialist Anna Anderson said, “but I am excited about the future of the paper.” After the purchase of the newspaper by Wick Communications, Harty was excited to return to the area as publisher of The Daily Journal. “I was very excited about this oppor-

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Although Wick Communications is new to the community of Fergus Falls, they have had a working relationship with The Daily Journal in the past. “When I was the publisher of the Wahpeton Daily News we had a tight relationship with The Daily Journal due to our CEO of Wick Communications at that time was John Mathew, who was the former CEO of Boone Newspapers (owner of The Daily Journal at that time),” Fergus Falls Daily Journal publisher Ken Harty said. “Under my tenure in Wahpeton, we closed the pressroom and began printing in Fergus Falls which brought us even closer together professionally as business partners.” The Daily Journal continued to print the Daily News until January of 2017. The Daily Journal would soon close its presses as well as moving its printing operation to Detroit Lakes. The two companies would not have any official business together for another two years. But in 2019, Alabama- based Boone Newspapers announced that it would be selling The Daily Journal to Wick

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WICK BROTHERS: Rev. Stanley A. Wick (left to right), James L. Wick and Milton I. Wick stand together in 1941. James and Milton founded Wick Communications in 1926.

WICK

Continued from page Page 39

community. “There were two main factors that Wick found attractive to Fergus Falls, not just The Daily Journal,” Francis Wick said. “First, and even though Fergus Falls has experienced some struggles over the past few years, the community symbolizes much of what Wick reflects; strong family values, lifestyle and neighbors who clearly want the community to advance in a thoughtful and positive manner. These characteristics, coupled with our history in and around the region, compelled us to carry on the important work of The Daily Journal.”

Present and the future Now in its third generation, Wick

40 Progress 2020

Communications continues to grow. Running his family’s business, Francis Wick continues to show commitment to supporting the mission of journalism in an era of change and knows the importance of professionally curated journalism. “I take tremendous pride in the work of my forefathers and the fact our family developed a passion for journalism and what it means to an informed community. To work for our family company, in a time of great transition, is a blessing though it's not easy,” Francis added. It has been a nearly seamless transition at the newspaper as the staff has gotten to know Harty, the Wick family and the company as a whole. After more than six months, Harty was able to confirm much of the perception that he held about The Daily Journal from afar.

At Synstelien Community Services we believe every person is valuable regardless of ability or resources and needs caring relationships. Living out our core values of caring, dignity, teamwork, responsibility, and knowledge we provide caring therapeutic treatment and daily living support for people with disabilities in the community of Fergus Falls.

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“As the publisher of The Daily Journal and its website, The Daily Journal conI have come to know and confirm what tinues to offer strong local journalism I already knew that the staff here really covering government, lifestyle, sports, cares about the community, the news- art, education, agriculture and more. What does the future hold? paper and each other. They have a great “The Daily Journal and Wick have work ethic and it shows in the quality of work they produce. I am proud to be the the same fate. If we do our jobs corpublisher of a newspaper that showcas- rectly, and serve the community with es what we can do for our readers, our high-quality journalism that define our franchise, the advertisers and community will the community There is no question this is support us. Ultion a daily baa very interesting time but mately, what will sis,” Harty said. differentiate us is meaningful work, takes a Currently, true contextual The Daily Jourmeaningful approach and I journalism, not nal is looking believe our citizenry will find it what a public into find better ways to service within themselves to support us formation office might spoon feed the community Francis Wick the communiand to operate President and CEO, Wick Communications ty on Facebook, smoothly. The but something newspaper will produced indelook to move out of its current location to a new pendently and offers consideration. home in 2020 to consolidate their space There is no question this is a very interto a building more suitable for custom- esting time but meaningful work, takes ers and staff. The newspaper has also a meaningful approach and I believe transitioned to a new website e-edition, our citizenry will find it within themand app offering. Although there has selves to support us,” Francis Wick been aesthetic changes to the paper said.

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Progress 2020 41

BUILDING BRIDGES WITH THE COMMUNITY

Work-based learning class offers students a look at different careers By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

ackpack. Check. Homework. Check. Work boots. Check. Work boots? While many other students are looking at potential careers after high school, Fergus Falls students are taking a different path as they head out into the workforce and are experiencing different fields through a new work-based learning class. The class, taught by Katheryn Enderson, allows students at Kennedy Secondary School (KSS) to experience different internships in a semester during the school year. Students leave campus for two periods a day, Monday through Thursday, to work at different businesses including car dealerships, art galleries, engineering, health care and more. A few years ago Enderson had a conversation with Troy Haugen, director of college and career readiness at Lakes Country Service Co-operative, about reintroducing a work-based learning class, known in the past as student work release, in the curriculum. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This is kind of the trend in education going toward work-based learning and you should get somebody on board that has their licensure so you can do

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INTERNSHIP: Fergus Falls student Nori Donais stands in front of a exhibit at the Kaddatz Galleries in Fergus Falls. Donais and several other students have taken internships at local businesses as a part of the work-based learning class offered at Kennedy Secondary School.

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this.’ So I went back through Bethel University and got my endorsement,” Enderson said. With the licensure, Enderson became a work-based learning coordinator. Enderson has had a desire to help students be aware of the opportunities and careers available in their community. According to her, in Minnesota an estimated 68% of jobs require a high school diploma or less, yet the mentality is “we need to send every student to a four-year college.” This has left students overeducated for several well-paying jobs. “We are really focusing on preparing students for the jobs that are out there and whether that means a two-year vocational degree or whatever, there are so many different jobs and we want to bring awareness to students and to help the community fill that gap that they have.”

How the class works

The work-based learning class is designed to be an internship for the stu-

dents that are in the course. The format of the class sees students go through two weeks of in-classroom orientation with discussions ranging from confidentiality to professional and include assignments about workplace attitude, attendance and appearance. After completing the orientation aspect, students are given internships at businesses in the community and work during two class periods Monday through Thursday. Students also have timecards that they need to fill out during their work week. They need to mark down the hours they worked, what they did that day specifically, and have their supervisor sign off on what they did. On Fridays, the class has a special seminar component that has the class meet at a local business with a topic in mind. “So every week there is some kind of topic, maybe it is communication on the job or it might be how to search for a job, then at that Friday seminar we talk about that

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WORKING IN THE KITCHEN: Fergus Falls student Audrey Mudford slices tomatoes at Union Pizza and Brewing Co. in Fergus Falls. Students in Kathryn Enderson’s work-based learning class had the opportunity to take a variety of different internships in the community.

Progress 2020 43

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

NOT QUITE OFF THE CLOCK: When not in the workplace, students in the work-based learning course work in the classroom on different assignments that involve learning about workplace attitude, attendance and appearance. Working as an intern Monday through Thursday, the class is given an opportunity on Friday’s to have different seminars about workplace issues at different local businesses.

CLASS

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work topic for the week,” Enderson said. Businesses that host the seminar component are given the topic for that week and are given the opportunity to construct how they want to present their business. Enderson stated that many give tours of the business’s operations and then will meet with students to discuss the seminar topic with a Q&A portion at the end. Businesses that had internships were selected by Enderson as she reached out to see who was interested in having a student-intern. Due to the class being new, there was a small selection of businesses to choose from, as Enderson reached out through meetings, emails and telephone. But after a successful first run, she has been approached by other businesses with the future looking bright. “I am so amazed at how receptive the community has been and if there is not a barrier of confidentiality, the community has really embraced this. I would love to have bulletin boards around all the different areas of the school showing these types of opportunities stating

these are the internship opportunities that we have,” Enderson said.

Students In the fall of 2019, Enderson’s class was made up of 11 students working internships. Shane Wahlund, a senior at KSS, decided to take the class after one of his interests fell through. “I had taken accounting my junior year and wanted to take Accounting 2 my senior year,” Wahlund said. “But there was just not enough interest. My teacher Ms. Appert told me about this class and I was like ‘Hey, this would be cool,’ and it fit in my schedule.” Wahlund would work at Nelson Auto Center in Fergus Falls working in the office with accounts payable and receivable. Owner Laurel Nelson is a big supporter of the work-based learning class. “We are very enthusiastic about the high school intern program,” Nelson said. “We have a learning environment that can give real-life context to the content they are learning in the classroom. Oftentimes the student does not see the value or reality of the concepts they are taught from a textbook or a teacher. The community and business environment can provide the actual examples of the

importance and use of what their books and teachers are telling them.” Nelson explained that one of the main goals for them was to teach interns what the real-world work environment expects of them, including being on time and calling immediately if they were going to be late.” We expected professional speech and dress. They had to follow directions and be friendly to other staff and customers. They had to have a good attitude,” Nelson said. Another student that participated in the class was Nori Donais. Donais would intern at the Kaddatz Galleries in Fergus Falls doing paperwork, sitting in on committee meetings, helping organize and hang up shows in the gallery. “I am hoping to be an art major, so going into something art related like a gallery was a very valuable experience,” Donais said. According to executive director Amanda Cross, Donais experienced a real sense of what was all involved at the gallery. She would review grants, financials, strategic plans, design marketing materials, attend the “Over the River Holiday Festival” committee meetings SEE CLASS PAGE 46

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IN THE OFFICE: Fergus Falls senior Shane Wahlund opted to take the work-based learning course after another class was not being offered. Wahlund believes he has gained useful knowledge of what the workplace can be like after high school and college.

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and help the gallery look at the future of arts and the community. “The best part for us having the opportunity was getting the perspective of a young person in our community, to tap into and utilize her skills, interests and talents, and to give her an inside view of what it takes to run a nonprofit arts organization,” Cross said. For the students, there was a lot of enjoyable parts in the class. “The freedom is nice. I liked the small class size and the objectives were simple, Wahlund said. “Early in the year, we did a lot of stuff from OSHA. Learning about the workforce and learning about ourselves, which was cool. These tests had us look at ourselves and see what we were best at and what we could improve on.” “Getting real-life experience in a work environment and learn more about a career and a business than learning a skill,” Donais said. The hardest aspect that each student mentioned was organization. While going to a job can be a fun, interesting time, it also requires a lot of organizing

SUBMITTED

WORKING RELATIONSHIP: Nori Doanis, left, stands with her supervisor at the Kaddatz Galleries Amanda Cross. Employers enjoyed the interns help and offered them valuable knowledge for the future. as they looked to balance their work and school lives.

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Although there were a few challenges, both recommend taking the class to other students as it provides a multitude of benefits. Wahlund stated it was a great way to gain connections and to take a really fun class. Donais’s view on the benefits is that it allows students a perspective of what careers are out there and to experience a day to day in each internship.

While many businesses are excited to add extra help and provide work experience for students, there are a few limitations that the class is still looking into. Due to the need for self-transportation, students must have a driver’s license to be in the class. This has limited the class to juniors and seniors at the school. “We don’t want to deny students this opportunity, but currently, we do not have a way around that. We are going to have to find unique ways to help these students,” Enderson said. While the option for younger students to participate in the class is unavailable, Enderson added that there are programs to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work closely with employers. Another option is for students to work a job and learn real-life situations like balancing a checkbook and creating a budget. She hopes that in the future that the class

can offer these opportunities. One other issue present is the work hours for each internship. While students are allowed two separate classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon with each going two periods, employers needs may not fall in either timeslot. “We’re really trying to figure out how we can be flexible with this,” Enderson added. “Most of the facilities don’t need extra help when I have class, they need help during mealtime.” Opportunities to work a schedule outside of class time have been discussed, but while the class is still in its infancy Enderson says that it will be awhile before such an option is available. Lastly, one of the things that Enderson mentioned as a future opportunity and a current limitation is with jobs that have certain laws or require a sense of confidentiality. Students have requested internships in both the medical field, namely mental health, and construction that have certain age restrictions or require a level of confidentiality. Also, since the class is a 15-week section, some internships would not need the student for the full time. Enderson is currently looking at building cluster internships that feature different businesses in the same field that would allow a student to work in multiple jobs during their overall internship.

Closing time The experience seems to have been positive all around with students and community members. “We loved our interns! Our staff was energized by helping them. We had one staff person in particular who really went the extra mile in helping the student be successful. It was a very encouraging and positive experience all around,” Nelson said. Cross also believes that it has been a positive. “This class offers a unique opportunity for students to get an honest and tangible sense of what is involved in the day to day of certain careers and it can help them identify their strengths, interests and weaknesses, in a more authentic way while giving them hands-on experience in the workforce.” With the work-based learning class allowing students a peek behind the curtain in many of the careers in the community, it is no surprise that a student-intern may one day be an employee. “I see this program being a valuable link to the community,” Enderson said.

SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

Breen Companies finds success in auction supplies, chandeliers and printing By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

COMPANY POLICY: Breen Companies Inc., located in Fergus Falls, has found success in several niche markets. The company sells auction supplies, chandelier parts and provides printing. Owner Mike Breen has found great success in his companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; diversity.

hen you think of Fergus Falls, you may think of a small city in Otter Tail County that is the gateway to larger cities like Fargo and St. Cloud. You may think of it as a hub for travelers and resort-goers, coming off of Interstate 94. But what few people realize is that it is also the home of the largest full-line auction product supply house in the country and the largest direct authorized reseller of Swarovski crystals in the nation. While many would think two separate businesses anchor the city, customers can find both of these businesses under one roof â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and owner Mike Breen is happy to be of service. Kiefer Auction Supply, Chandelier-

parts.com and Nelson Brothers Printing are three businesses under Breen Companies Inc. in Fergus Falls. Founded in 2018, Breen Companies and owner Breen acquired the three businesses after the death of Kiefers.com founder Kurt Kiefer. Breen, a long-time employee, took over the operation and continued to help it grow. But how did Fergus Falls get such a unique business? Breen explained that the original owner moved the business to the area from Florida several years ago. The plan was to make a central location for shipping and to lower operating costs. The business was able to thrive and maintain a strong spot in the market place ever since. The business had humble beginnings SEE BREEN PAGE 48

Progress 2020 47

BREEN

Continued from page Page 47

as Kiefer Auction Supply began in 1980 out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After six years in the Sunshine State, the company relocated to Fergus Falls at its current location at 417 W. Stanton Ave. Breen joined the business in 1990 and was there during the major growth of the company. In the early ’90s, the company expanded and began Chandelierparts.com, a replacement chandelier business, operating on a recent development — the internet. The company continued to dip its toes into other forms of business as they purchased Nelson Bros. Printing in 1996. The company’s auction supplies business has been successful for over 40 years and many of their products have become the standard in the industry. The various products that they offer include stock and custom items, such as clerking forms, bidding cards, labels, tags, contracts, as well as banners, PA systems, signage, apparel and more. In the past few years, the business has expanded its offering into charity auctions including different versions of bidding paddles, which have gained huge popularity at large national fundraising events and have been used in movies.

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48 Progress 2020

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE: Mike Breen, owner of Breen Companies Inc., shows off a machine that helps create bidding paddles for auctions. The sale of auction supplies is just one of the few businesses that fall under the umbrella of Breen Companies Inc.

In the chandelier business, Breen continued to expand as the company purchased Igmor Crystal, a crystal wholesaler and importer to the lighting industry. Bringing in products from Turkey, Italy, China and the Czech Republic, the business has been able to continue successful relationships with lighting manufacturers and a large customer base that is mostly in midtown Manhattan. With Nelson Brothers Printing, Breen Companies can offer a variety of printing products for businesses in central Minnesota. “We can print most any type of product, including large format and onto surfaces such as metal, glass, plywood, etc.,” Breen said. The print company prides itself on its ability to provide high-quality products with quick turnarounds. After the acquisition by Breen, the company maintained its location in Fergus Falls. The owner credits this as a way to stand out in the market. “We keep the company here because I believe that while four decades ago it might have been considered a gamble to be located in rural Midwest, today I think that is what helps to set us apart. We answer our

phones with real people, not computers, and deal with customers one on one. That is something that has become lost in this Amazon-type retail world,” Breen said. The company isn’t just stationed in Fergus Falls, but is also active in giving back to the community. Breen is a longstanding member of Fergus Falls Noon Kiwanis, while the business donates to various causes in the area. The company looks to continue to donate to charitable causes and is looking into different ways to give back in the future. As the business continues to make its mark, Breen had thought about expanding the company’s offerings outside of auction supplies and chandelier parts but felt that the group should focus on what they do best. “I have taken the approach to step back and try to focus on what we do best, and growing those offerings where we are most comfortable in the markets we know. With auction supplies and chandelier parts, these are relatively small, niche markets. I like to think of ourselves as big fish in a small pond,” Breen added.

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

DIVERSIFY: Breen Companies Inc. is a collection of businesses that serve a variety of different markets. Nelson Brothers Printing provides customers with several printing options (pictured), Chandelierparts.com provides replacement parts for chandeliers, and Kiefer Auction Supply has an assortment of items for auctions.

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Progress 2020 51

CITIZEN OF THE YE

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CITIZEN OF THE YEAR: Gary Spies, center, is the inaugural Daily Journal Citizen of the Year. Spies, a lifelong Fergus Falls resident, was recognized for his contributions to the city of Fergus Falls and several businesses, events and ideas.

52 Progress 2020

EAR: GARY SPIES

Spies recognized for contributions to Fergus Falls By Johanna Armstrong The Daily Journal

ary Spies was born and raised in Fergus Falls and, at 77 years old, has never left. “I think it’s the finest place in the world to live,” he says. “I think that it is a wonderful, wonderful place to raise children, I think we have a wonderful school system, I think our city and county governments are extremely well-run, so I think we’re all very fortunate that we get to live here.” Spies, a businessman and owner of Service Food, is The Daily Journal’s inaugural Citizen of the Year for his contributions to the community and his lifelong passion for helping others realize their goals. “I’ve known Gary for

years and he’s just done a lot of good in the community. He’s as benevolent and as wise a person as I know,” says John MacFarlane, former CEO of Otter Tail Corporation, who nominated Spies for the award. “He’s involved in an awful lot of the things that kind of make our community go, and you don’t hear his name mentioned very often. He’s pretty humble but he’s there to help on community efforts. He’s got some notion of where the future lies and he’s able to help get us there.” Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer can’t think of anyone more deserving of the award than Spies. “Gary’s a champion citizen of the world. We’re so lucky to have him in Fergus Falls,” he SEE SPIES PAGE 54

Progress 2020 53

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RECOGNIZED Gary Spies was honored at the 2019 State of the City (pictured). Spies has been known to sit on several boards, be involved in multiple community projects and lend a hand to those in the community.

SPIES

Continued from page Page 53

says. “He does so much for so many people, he really cares about people. Gary understands that he’s been very blessed and he wants to share those blessings with others. Whether that’s the financial contributions to the community that he makes, but he also makes contributions of his time, of his wisdom.” Rick Schara, marketing coordinator at West Central Initiative, sought Spies’ wisdom once 10 or 15 years ago for a project he was looking to start. “His advice on getting a project done was spot on,” he says. “So he supported it, thought it was a good project, he said, ‘Here’s what you need to do. Oh, by the way, let me start to be your first donor for that project.’ ” If there were a lifetime citizen award, Schara adds, Spies would be up there for that, too. Spies has been involved in a number of major community projects including the Community Ice Arena, Lake Region Healthcare Cancer Care and Research Center, Otter Cove, the electric vehicle charging station outside of Service Food

and more. “There probably hasn’t been a project that’s benefited the community that Gary has not been a part of in one way, shape or form. And that goes in many ways, it goes into giving advice, supporting things financially, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a major event that doesn’t have Service Food as a sponsor,” says Schara, yet Spies doesn’t go looking for credit or praise. “I mentioned humility and some of these big box places will give $5,000 and get their picture in the paper, Service Food will give a multiple of that and never ask for recognition,” says MacFarlane. “I was on the Chamber of Commerce board, I’ve been on the hospital board, I’ve been on Otter Tail Power’s board, I’ve been involved with some stuff at the college. … I’ve been on the economic development commission, on and on and on,” Spies said, looking back on his long tenure in Fergus Falls. Today he’s taking things a little easier, trying to relax more and spend more time with family. “I think that Fergus Falls and the world we live in is a better place because, I think, the community that I participated in has done a wonderful job in keeping up with the world we live in.”

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Progress 2020 57

JOHANNA ARMSTRONG / DAILY JOURNAL

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION: Junior Redempta Umutoni (Left to right), junior Håkon Hagerup, senior Anh “Alysa” Bui and freshman Deborah Diniz are four of the 58 international students currently attending Hillcrest Lutheran Academy.

AN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

International students in Fergus Falls By Johanna Armstrong The Daily Journal

very year, millions of international students come to the United States to study, sometimes as part of a study abroad program for only a few months or a year, sometimes for the full four years of high school or college. Otter Tail County itself sees a few, including

58 Progress 2020

58 now attending Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls, representing 17 countries. “I feel like the world has really shrunk,” says Hillcrest Lutheran Academy director of student connections, Dawn Synstelien, “from years ago when it was a big deal to travel to another country and now we have a lot of our students that graduate and go to Norway or go to Korea or some

of the other countries.” Hillcrest also mindfully places dorm students with roommates from other countries, to encourage learning and sharing between countries and cultures. “You aren’t placed with anyone from your country, you aren’t even placed with people from your continent, if they can help it,” Synstelien says. “Sometimes we’ll do international baking or we’ll do dessert contests or we’ll try different foods and go to different restaurants, just to

kind of get into that culture.” Some students find out about Hillcrest through the Danielsen School in Norway, a relationship Hillcrest began 30 years ago. Current junior Håkon Hagerup’s mother attended Hillcrest through the Danielsen program, and Hagerup followed in her stead. Hagerup isn’t the only one following in the footsteps of his family, Anh “Alysa” Bui from Vietnam had a cousin who graduated from Hillcrest

in 2015 and his parents told her parents about the school. She’s now set to graduate later this year and hopes to stay in the U.S. for college. Deborah Diniz, a freshman from Brazil, also has family connections to the school. “My great-grandfather, he taught here a long time ago,” she says. “He was American, he was a missionary in Brazil. All my great-uncles and all my cousins and aunts and uncles and my mom graduated from here.” Other students, like Redempta Umutoni, a junior, and her two younger brothers from Rwanda, simply found the school online. “My dad did a search online,” she says, “and he decided that it was a good school so he sent us here.” Her father, who works for the U.N., travels around often, so Umutoni started school in Kenya before returning to Rwanda, then Uganda, then Kenya, then Jordan, then Kenya again and now hopes to finish school in Fergus Falls. “The world being smaller means, I think, we care more about what’s going on,” says Synstelien. “Kids that JOHANNA ARMSTRONG / DAILY JOURNAL

WELCOMING: Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls currently has 58 international students in grades 9-12 representing 17 countries.

SEE STUDENTS PAGE 60

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Progress 2020 59

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HELPING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Junior Redempta Umutoni of Rwanda meets with Hillcrest Lutheran Academy director of student connections Dawn Synstelien. Synstelien encourages students to get to know different cultures by having different activities like international cooking or baking events.

STUDENTS

Continued from page Page 59

I’ve talked to, the things they’ve said is, ‘I just care about the world more.’ If there are problems going on in Korea, or threats or concerns, I’m concerned because I know people who live there.” Hillcrest also fosters a sense of closeness and familiarity among its students. “Since everyone is from a different place, we have a different perspective on friendship,” says Diniz. “We want to be better friends with these people, we want to get to know them, because we don’t really know if we’re ever going to see them again, so we want to be as best friends as we can be now and get the most out of it.” The other students agree. “The relationship that we have as a school, 60 Progress 2020

last year this guy said, ‘Hillcrest is not like a school, we’re like a family,’ which is really true,” said Bui. “We treat each other like family. I have a lot of international friends.” “Your friends are your family. You live so close, you have all your friends in one place, especially if you are a dorm student, all your friends are your neighbors, your family,” added Hagerup. “The brotherhood and sisterhood we get is so special and so unique.” This sense of family and friendship has helped the students adapt to life in the US. Some of them had to get used to the snow, and others had to get used to the food, but none of them have felt like they had to deal with these things alone. While Fergus Falls High School doesn’t have any international students attending this year, they had two

students from Brazil last year. “We’ve had them from all over the place, Europe, Central America, Asia, those are probably the top three major areas with which we seem to have attracted students,” says Kennedy Secondary School (KSS) Principal Dean Monke. “We think it’s extremely important to have that kind of exposure for our students. There are definitely pluses and minuses.” The issue with schools like KSS bringing international students in is finding host families for them, since the school doesn’t have dorms. Unless the student has established a host family that Monke can meet before the student arrives, the school won’t accept them. He also says it’s important to make sure the students are as old as they claim (sometimes they’re younger) and that their English language level is decently pro-

ficient. While many of Hillcrest’s international students learned English at schools in their home countries, many of them also went out of their way to increase their proficiency. Umutoni learned from her travels and speaking English with her neighbors while Bui says she learned by watching YouTube videos. “I really like watching YouTube and just listening to American music, and singing along, and when watching YouTube I act the same way or talk the same way as them, it’s like talking to myself. So that’s how I learned English,” Bui says. Next year, Bui hopes to attend college in Arizona, Hagerup will return to Norway to finish his senior year, Diniz will be returning to Brazil and Umutoni hopes to return to finish her senior year.

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218-736-5485 / Toll Free at 888-736-5400 or apply online at ssbfergus.com Progress 2020 61

SOMETHING BREWING Smedsrud, associates bring brewery to Battle Lake By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

reg Smedsrud is one of those fortunate men who has been able to combine two of his interests into his business. Smedsrud’s interest in brewing beer and his interest in running a steam engine promises to please a lot of craft beer lovers in their visits to Battle Lake in 2020. Smedsrud has been the point man in making ABC Brewery one of the popular summer spot’s newest businesses.

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The new business, located in the for- ta six years ago. He has used the direct mer Battle Lake Oasis Bar and Grill es- steam heat from his engine to make the tablishment at 114 Memory Lane, will be beer. He also favors a type of yeast used serving a variety of craft beers brewed by by the ancient Vikings more than 1,000 the Ashby Brewing Company. The com- years ago - one that makes beer faster. pany has been serving beer in the Grant The new ABC Brewery will be open County town 13 miles southeast of Battle six days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lake for three years. and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m. In Smedsrud is assoaddition to its craft ciated with the Ashby beers, the brewery The best way to brew will serve wines Brewing Company, its operations managand will offer Neabeer is by steam. er Mike Risbrudt and politan pizzas (init’s head brewer Juscluding three pizza Greg Smedsrud tin Flatgard. The eight doughs that incorABC Brewery styles of craft beer porate their beer). served in the new BatSmedsrud has a tle Lake establishment woodburning pizza will be brewed in Ashby until later this oven on order from Napa, California. spring when another microbrewery goes ABC will also offer live music during into operation in Battle Lake. the summer months in the outdoor venFor those into craft beers and mi- ues at the Battle Lake location. crobreweries, steam beer is described “That’s probably the biggest area for as having a very distinctive flavor that entertainment in Battle Lake,” Smedscombines characteristics of ale and la- rud said. ger - two of the most popular types of The growth of the micobrewery inbeer. dustry in the United States has been “The best way to brew beer is by phenomenal. Between 2008 and 2018 steam,” Smedsrud said. the number increased from 1,500 to A fan of steam engines who is married more than 7,450 in the United States. to the granddaughter of the late Mil“To me, the biggest reason why miton Martinson — a revered member of crobreweries have been so popular is Dalton’s Lake Region Pioneer Thresher- because of social media bringing this men’s Association - Smedsrud bought a current generation to microbreweries in steam engine of his own in South Dako- order to socialize,” Smedsrud said.

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Ultimate fandom Superfan Backstrom shows loyalty to regional sports teams By Mathew Holding Eagle The Daily Journal

ong before fans of pop-culture genres spanning comics, movies and TV started showing appreciation for their favorite characters by dressing up as them to congregate at fan expos like San Diego Comic-Con in California, in turn, giving rise to the term “cosplay” (which literally means costume play), stand the grandfathers of all things fandom, known from here on out as the sports superfan. Paralleling the world of comic books some sports superfans have even taken a page from the superheroes’ mythos of alter egos, Bruce Wayne has Batman; Clark Kent, Superman; and Pelican Rapids local Scott Backstrom, Admiral BigGun — a larger-than-life persona who sports an over-the-top, custom-made blond beard ala Yosemite Sam, bracers around his forearms, a horned helmet and sunglasses — champion of all things Minnesota Vikings, so ingrained in Backstrom’s psyche that he’s not entirely sure where the persona originated. Here are the facts as Backstrom remembers, there’s not a time in his life that he can think of without Vikings football, the Vikings taught him to never give up which he learned from watching Ahmad Rashad catch a hail Mary pass from Tommy Kramer against the Cleveland Browns in ‘80, now known as the Miracle at the Met, and he is a recognized member of one of the most prodigious sports fans organizations in the history of the NFL, the Viking World Order, where a requisite for admittance is that members have to bleed for their team, more on that later. Intertwined among Backstrom’s origin story as Admiral BigGun is his love for grilling which goes hand in hand with tailgating. “Watching sports crosses the thresholds that normal people put up espe64 Progress 2020

SUPER FAN: Scott “Admiral Biggun” Backstrom poses with Victor the Minnesota Vikings’ Mascot on the sidelines at U.S. Bank Stadium. cially nowadays,” Backstrom said. “You can’t seem to talk about anything without somebody being offended or somebody hurting someone’s feelings but you can go to a sports game and everybody there

is dressed in purple, it doesn’t matter where you came from, it doesn’t matter your background, it doesn’t matter what your belief system is, everybody there is there for the same reason and that’s to

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have a good time and to cheer for your team to win, and tailgating is an extension of that.” When asked what came first tailgating Vikings football games or the birth

of Admiral BigGun, Backstrom answers, “That’s like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg?” Saying that in a way they both manifested symbiotically starting a little over a decade ago, finally conceding that when he began tailgating it was “as Scott before the transformation,” a transformation that allowed Backstrom, a self-described introvert the freedom to express himself without anxiety, which is commonly triggered by public events for many introverts. As Backstrom’s proficiency grilling grew, so too, did his embrace of BigGun picking up the title of admiral because of a small fleet of watercraft he owned: a boat, a canoe and a kayak. Along with his ever-evolving character and being a web designer by trade, Backstrom channeled his flare for grilling and tailgating into the website TailgateMaster.com where visitors have been able to seek advice from Admiral BigGun about “super tailgating recipes, football gameday party ideas, and grilling and smoker tips for the backyard barbecue,” for over a decade. For the uninitiated thinking about giving tailgating a try for the first time SEE FAN PAGE 66

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SMILE FOR THE CAMERA: Admiral BigGun poses for a selfie with a fan while being filmed by the an NCAA crew in Frisco, Texas for the NDSU championship game 2019.

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Progress 2020 65

FAN

Continued from page Page 65

Backstrom says not to be intimidated by the atmosphere, throw on a pair of jeans and a jersey and walk around, take everything in, but added to be mindful of a few things. “Don’t be a jerk. … Tailgating is a celebration of food and sports camaraderie,” Backstrom said. “Yeah you can razz the other team but you don’t harass the other team. … There’s an unwritten slogan ‘Hate the team but don’t hate the fan,’ — even though they’re going to lose.” Through the years Backstrom has had a front-row seat to the changing tides of the Vikings organization, being one of a few thousand season-ticket holders invited to a “close down the Metrodome party” in 2013 before it was eventually demolished to make room for the team’s current venue, U.S. Bank Stadium. “It was sad and awesome at the same time, seeing the lights get turned off in that stadium for the last time was pretty special and sad. … I remember sitting down and taking a picture of my season-ticket seat and going ‘Yep, today is the last day I get to sit in you,’ but then I ended up buying the seat so I can sit in it now at home, so it’s not over,” Backstrom said with a laugh. As a sports superfan Backstrom’s biggest recognition came on Jan. 10, 2016, the coldest day in Vikings playoff history also remembered as the Blair Walsh missed kick to the Seahawks. On that day Admiral BigGun was knighted (with a real sword) into the Viking World Order (VWO) as SIR BigGun, an acronym that stands for service, integrity and respect. The VWO started in Minnesota as a movement to keep the Vikings in the state, to be considered for membership prospects must have a Vikings tattoo somewhere on their body. One day as a VWO member Backstrom, who had purchased an original seat from the Old Met (Metropolitan Stadium) was given word that their organization was going to be adding two special members. Following the trail of breadcrumbs, Backstrom was able to figure out that one of the new members was going to be Jim Marshall so he stripped the chair down, painted it purple and gold and added Marshall’s jersey number 70 on the seat. The day the VWO swore in Marshall and Carl Ehler, a first for any superfan club, Marshall spent the day sitting in Backstrom’s seat, signing it at the end of the day for him to exhibit in his fancave. 66 Progress 2020

CHANGING COLOR: Admiral BigGun stops for selfies with fans of the Fargo Invaders semi-pro football team (Above).

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TRAINING CAMP: Admiral BigGun poses with children who requested a photo with him while at Vikings training camp in Mankato (below). “To meet two of the original Purple People Eaters, have them eat my food and think it was awesome and then at the end of the day sign my chair for me was a unique environment that wouldn’t have happened for me if circumstances weren’t what they were, it was surreal,” Backstrom said about the moment. Fargo Invaders president Matt Petznick likes the added dimension Backstrom as Admiral BigGun brings to his organization. “It’s nice that he’s able to pull in his football ties, he obviously has some fandom, he’s a fan of football for sure and we’re happy to have someone with his passion be a part of the team and a sponsor of the team with Tailgatemaster. com,” Petznick said. “Admiral BigGun is another way for fans to interact and see the spirit of the invaders and that sort of Viking mentality.” Looking to the future Backstrom as Admiral BigGun plans to continue volunteering for the Special Olympics, raising money for the organization by taking Polar Plunges throughout Minnesota. He also plans to continue tailgating football

games for the NDSU Bison, Fargo Invaders and his favorite Minnesota Vikings. “Anybody can be a superfan, it has nothing to do with what you wear or how you go to the game, maybe you don’t, I think a superfan is someone that has a super passion for your team but then also having a respect for the fans as well, and wanting to have the whole game be

a good experience, but you have to have that passion,” Backstrom said. “If you don’t know what time the game is on you’re probably not a superfan. … It’s all about the passion, it’s about the smiles, it’s about the game-day experiences, it’s about paying it forward, it’s all those things and more, it’s more than the sum of its parts.”

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Progress 2020 67

A NEW KIND OF CROP

River Bottom Hemp brings new agricultural growth to the area By Mathew Holding Eagle The Daily Journal

R SUBMITTED

SPROUTING UP: River Bottom Hemp, located in Kent, begin planning to grow hemp last winter.

68 Progress 2020

iver Bottom Hemp Farms owner Myron Tschakert of Kent, is putting social stigmas to rest with a foray into growing hemp locally to extract cannabidiol (CBD) oil. “We have people that are taking it and it’s helping with their cancer treatment and my dad takes it for joint pain and to help him sleep,” Tschakert said about the benefits he’s seen CBD oil used for. “It really relaxes you and helps you sleep and for people with restless legs syndrome.” For the uninitiated, it is legal for anyone in Minnesota to buy and use CBD oil without any type of medical card or physician’s note. CBD oil can be purchased at gas stations, online, smoke shops or

through other retail stores like Walmart. The product comes in a bottle with a dropper which is then used to ingest the oil, however, some people choose to add a couple of drops to beverages or food, while some even use it topically. Although hemp is from the same cannabis family as marijuana, the THC levels in hemp are too low to get users high. In fact, the state regulates THC levels in hemp testing every field, making farmers destroy any crops that contain over .3% THC. Marijuana, on the other hand, is still illegal to grow in many states and can contain between 10%-30% THC per plant while only producing trace levels of CBD. “Right now in Arizona, over 40% of SEE HEMP PAGE 70

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Progress 2020 69

HEMP

Continued from page Page 68

their hemp crop has had to be destroyed because the THC levels got too high because of the way their weather pattern was,” Tschakert said, adding that in Minnesota next year he’ll be able to buy crop insurance for his hemp fields because it’s a federally insured crop. So how did a rural farmer from Kent who’s used to grow corn, sugar beets and soybeans get started with hemp? In 2018 the farm bill passed making cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of hemp and hemp products legal in the U.S. Last winter Tschakert decided to give hemp growing a shot saying it “sounded fun” after being approached by area farmer Leigh Barry, owner of the only extractor to harvest the crop for oil in the area and only one of three in the state. In order for Tschakert to be allowed to grow hemp, he had to go through a licensing process through the state which required a federal background check complete with fingerprinting. In his first go-round, Tschakert planted about 6 acres of hemp from clones of plants he purchased from the mountains of North Carolina because the climate

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FIELD OF DREAMS: A field of River Bottom Hemp’s plants in Kent Minnesota. Each plant contains about a half pound of dry material when harvested.

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is relative to Minnesota’s versus going to northern California or Arizona to get plants to grow here. Hemp planting season in west-central Minnesota runs from the end of May to the beginning of June with harvest in late September. “Growing season is a ton of work, a ton of manual labor. … Most of your farmers aren’t going to grow it because they don’t want to work that hard,” Tschakert said. “The weeding and hoeing and all that manual labor is a lot to take on. We were in our hemp field at least every other day all summer checking for bugs and worms and making sure all the plants were female and picking weeds.” After the hemp is harvested the buds are stripped from the plant and dried before being taken to the extractor for extraction, which comes out as either crude oil — in need of further refinement depending on the end product — or finished product sold as retail. As for the spent material, as soon as it’s legal to use for cattle feed it’ll be pelletized while the stalks are shipped out to be used for fiber. Tschakert said that about half a pound of dry material comes from one plant. With plans to triple planting for next year using seedlings and clones Tschakert is going one step further to guarantee hemp growing catches on in the area by helping other farmers get their feet in the door. “We have land now available for somebody if they want to grow a couple- thousand plants or whatever the number is, we can supply them with the seed and the plants to plant and Leigh will do the extraction,” Tschakert said. “For a normal person if they want to grow 5,000 plants you had to buy the machinery just to strip the buds, to buck the buds off the plant and run it through a trimmer it’s over $30,000 just to get started and you don’t spend that amount of money on machines and not know what you’re doing.” For first-time buyers of CBD oil Tschakert recommends checking the bottle’s ingredients to see the CBD oil percentage. “You can go and buy this stuff at Walmart and there’s a reason it’s $30 a bottle there and everybody else is selling it for $60,” he said. Looking forward Tschakert says he and other hemp farmers from the area are entertaining the idea of forming a co-op. “The biggest reward so far is just building a solid group of friends to work through this endeavor with,” Tschakert said. “It’s definitely a learning experience that’s for sure.”

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CUT AND DRY: River Bottom Hemp Farms owner Myron Tschakert said he planted 6 acres of hemp his first go-round with plans to triple that next grow season.

Progress 2020 71

Blast from the past

The Daily Journal finds out what former Progress story subjects are doing now By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

ver the years, The Fergus Falls Daily Journal has covered some of the most unique stories in our area. Stories ranging from what a laboratory technician does, someone teaching overseas, work by those in law enforcement, new things in the medical field, what is happening in agriculture and more. The Daily Journal decided to take a look back at a few stories from past Progress/Profile editions and find out what those people are doing now and where they may be headed in the future.

72 Progress 2020

JESSE THORSTAD

n 2012, The Daily Journal spoke to three Fergus Falls Public School staff members that were leading the charge in technology. Technology specialist Jesse Thorstad was one of the staff that were featured in the story. While technology continues to improve, Thorstad stands to stay on the cusp of it as he helps teachers and staff improve their teaching methods with technology in the school district.

. A lot was spoken about Google and its many programs, how has ed tech changed in eight years? It’s largely what we expected. Services have gone “to the cloud,” so there are fewer servers in-house to maintain. Curriculum companies are doing the same, with DVDs and CDs going the way of the dinosaur. Subscriptions to services are now the norm. Hardware has become faster and cheaper, which was always the case. It’s very common for schools to provide devices to every student, es-

pecially in the upper grades.

. Where do you see it heading for the future? While I think hardware will continually get faster, better and cheaper, I think the next 10 years will see AI (artificial intelligence) developing for education, allowing for truly individualized learning for every student in every subject. The technology should learn about our learning styles, our areas of deficiency, and where we can accelerate.

. According to the quote from the article, it said you saw yourself as a teacher trainer for tech. Do you still see yourself in this role and what has changed about it? Yes, I still do! I feel it’s my job to vet new technologies that teachers may find useful in their classrooms, then present them in a clear and easy-to-learn manner, so they can get it off the ground as quickly as possible. It’s what I love

most about my job; things are always changing.

. Is there any tech that you used prior that has become completely obsolete or turned out to be a flash in the pan? There’s been hardware that’s come and gone...storage devices, mostly. No more CDs, DVDs, and rarely a hard drive or flash drive used any longer. Made a movie? Don’t burn it to DVD. Upload it! As for “flash in the pan” software: Flash. How ironic!

. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now if we write another article catching up with those featured in progress? In 10 years, I see myself continuing to help teachers get the most of the hardware and software in front of them. I think there will be a big boon in simulations, virtual reality, and augmented reality, allowing students to see and learn things in a way we can’t even imagine. Progress 2020 73

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GREG JACOBSON

n 1999, back when Progress was called Profile, The Daily Journal talked with Greg Jacobson superintendent of utilities in Elbow Lake about the city’s infrastructure and the addition of a new water tower. Over 20 years later, Jacobson has seen what years of improvement can provide.

. When we interviewed you for Progress in 1999, we discussed the city’s water tower and new underground distribution pipes, looking back was it a success? It was very much a success. We actually since the article completed the whole town with new infrastructure including water and sewer. We have lowered our water usage from over 60 million gallons a year to 34 million. I am sure we had leaks, and as we updated the number of gallons went down. We built the water tower with a higher water usage, which

we probably don’t need now. Because of that, the city can grow as big as they want.

. What has changed the most about your job? There are certain regulations that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Department of Health and DNR, which regulates water usage, require. The upgrades we have done make it easier. Before, I have had five water main breaks in a week. Other than that, I would say the biggest change is technology.

. What are some new plans that the city of Elbow Lake has? Our treatment plant today is from 1988. The plant needs a lot of upgrading with its components, which you can’t buy anymore. We are looking at building a new treatment plant a block away. If you don’t keep up, technology

kind of gets you. We also have a lift station that is from 1982. It is the same — can hardly buy parts for it. They’re the two largest components. Water doesn’t quit flowing and neither does the sewer, but that is the way with every city.

. How has the city and citizens been to work with for these projects? The people have been good to work with on all the projects. We have received a $7.8 million grant since 1995 that helps with infrastructure. We have had great councils, a great engineer, and I think the future of the city is in very good shape. Some of our taxes were high years ago, but things are falling off because projects are getting paid for. I think you will see more people start to move to Elbow Lake. We are looking for more businesses to come to town. Progress 2020 75

HANNAH (DRAXTEN) CLARK

n 2008, The Daily Journal profiled several different people in an article titled “Faces of Fergus Falls.” Fergus Falls girls’ basketball player Hannah (Draxten) Clark was featured in the article for being an exceptional student-athlete. Now married with a family and coaching high school girls’ basketball at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, Clark looks back on her high school and college days, and what lies ahead.

. When you were in our 2008 edition, it was about your play on the court for the Otters what can you remember about your high school days? The one thing I remember most about high school basketball is the feeling of stepping onto the court with my best friends every game. We had played with each other since third grade and it really felt like a family. Another thing that made high school so special was the Fergus Falls community. Everyone was always so supportive of our basketball team and to be able to play in a packed gym almost every night was so much fun.

76 Progress 2020

. You went to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes after high school, how was your experience there? My time at Iowa was so memorable. Even though I dealt with an injury that ultimately ended my basketball career, I wouldn’t have changed it for anything. I played against some top level competition and I got to travel all around the world. Being a part of the NCAA tournament all four years was such a neat experience. I grew up watching March Madness and then the chance to get to be a part of it was really special. I got to play under one of the most successful women’s basketball coaching staff. Coach Lisa Bluder, and the other coaches, taught me so much about basketball, but they were also so supportive of my life outside of basketball and taught me what it was like to be a strong, confident, and successful woman.

. You are back in Fergus Falls, what made you return to your hometown? We had been living in Minneapolis for about three years. We wanted to eventually move closer to family and my husband, Derrick, had an

opportunity with his company to move to the area. It has been great to be back in Fergus Falls. It is such a wonderful town to raise a family and we’ve made a lot of great connections.

. You currently work at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy and coach the girls’ basketball team, what has it been like to be a head coach rather than a player? As a high school player, I really only measured success by the number of “W’s” in the win column. Now, as a coach, my favorite thing is watching the growth in both the team and players as individuals. Basketball can teach so many life lessons and I want to instill values that will stick with the girls long after basketball is over.

. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Do you believe you will still be coaching? Ten years is a long ways away! Basketball is a huge passion of mine and I could see myself coaching for a while. Hopefully, my daughter loves basketball as much as I do! I’d love to be able to coach her and her friends just like my mom did with me and my friends.

ERIC EWAN AND COATINGS UNLIMITED

n 2014, The Daily Journal took a look at the oil boom that was happening in North Dakota and the businesses that were finding success from this area. One of those businesses, Coatings Unlimited, with owner Eric Ewan, was interviewed for the story. The Journal caught up with Ewan to discuss what his business has been up to and if there is still work for Coatings Unlimited in the oil patch.

. According to the story, about 40% of your business came from the oil patch in 2014. Where is that percentage now? The oil patch work slowed quite a bit for us as drilling slowed down out West. We still do coat natural gas pipeline substations in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota quite regularly. It's a small percentage of our current operation.

. Your business painted pipelines and condominium decks. Did it expand? We actually have always mainly been a concrete coating business. We started doing mostly residential garage projects but we are now probably 80% commercial Ewan with quite a bit of work coming from schools, universities, commercial kitchens and manufacturing facilities.

. There was a slowdown for a while in oil production. How did that affect your business? Thankfully we were diversified enough to handle it and the use of our products became more widely used and spent on commercial projects.

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. Have you been able to add more employees to your business since the initial venture? Yes. We run 8-10 staff in the busy season with two crews out working.

. What is the company currently up to, both out there and in general? We continue to grow the commercial side of our business while still servicing the smaller residential projects. One of the more interesting projects this past year or so was the Medora Musical Stage in North Dakota. They had a unique problem to solve with installing a floor durable enough to perform on every night. It had to be anti-slip and also act as a waterproof roof for the offices and dressing rooms below it. We continue to serve a wide area as we grow our business. Progress 2020 77

AGRICULTURAL OPTIMISM

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

MORE WORK TO BE DONE: More tillage work than usual is in the offing this spring due to difficulties in bringing in the 2019 corn crop. Local farmers are hoping for a better 2020.

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l Mashek’s years at Elbow Lake Grain have taught him an undeniable truth about farmers. “They’re the most optimistic people in the world,” Mashek said. Optimism is badly needed in 2020. With a rough 2019 behind them, there

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A long, hard winter and late spring served up by Mother Nature delayed most fieldwork until May. Some farmers were not able to get their crops in until June. The Trump administration’s tariff on Chinese goods created another unwelcome burden - uncertainty. As the summer progressed the farming landscape turned green with the area’s two main crops - corn and soybeans. Poor prices for wheat kept most farmers from planting that summer crop, which is beneficial to the soil. With a good price for soybeans wanting for the second straight year, many farmers put their acres into corn - even though corn prices were in the $3 a bushel range. A wet fall slowed the bean harvest in many parts of west-central Minnesota, stopped the sugar beet harvest in its tracks and kept corn growers from bringing in the harvest. With a lot of wet corn to deal with along with an early home heating season the demand for liquid petroleum to run grain dryers became acute. Farmers were forced to delay their corn harvesting until enough LP could be obtained. “This was an expensive crop to take off,” Mashek said. Standing corn crops could still be found in the last weeks of 2019. It was not the way growers wanted to finish. “There is some disappointment out there no doubt,” Mashek said. Yet the 2019 corn crop was not a total failure. Some yields were higher than farmers expected according to Taylor Kemper, Ashby Equity’s lead agronomist. “Overall guys were pretty happy with their corn,” Kemper noted. “I’d say it was better than they expected.” Kemper said corn in west-central Minnesota, on the average, will run in

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2019 is also likely to create more spring tillage work than farmers like to tackle according to Mashek. “A lot of it (tillage) got done but not all of it.” Kemper sees farmers once again favoring corn over soybeans. Planting corn on corn can be done with the right management according to the Ashby agronomist. Kemper believes that will begin with selecting the right SmartStax seed, a genetically-modified brand that offers more protection against insect damage and more herbicide tolerance. “I think overall guys are coming around on planting after seeing the

yields and getting it to the elevator,” Kemper said. Stueve and Mashek agreed that easing tariffs and restrictions would do the soybean market a lot of good in 2020. “There is a lot of room for upping the bean market,” Stueve said. The Farmers Elevator manager believes the market could turn around in a day with some help from Washington. Removing the uncertainty farmers dealt within 2019 would also be a blessing according to Mashek. “I think they could sure ease their tariffs and restrictions,” Mashek said.

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ROBERT UEHLIN / SUBMITTED

A PASSION FOR DANCE: A class at the annual DanceBARN Fesitival in Battle Lake. Battle Lake local Molly Everts-Johnston is the co-founder of the DanceBARN Collective, a group of coordinated dancers from around the area. Everts-Johnston combined her passion for dance and the need to bring that passion to her hometown.

Build, Aspire, Reinvent, Nurture Everts-Johnston brings passion back to hometown through DanceBARN Collective By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

here are many ways to bring community members together. Some communities host festivals, provide different programming at local businesses and public buildings or showcase the arts in plays and concerts. For Molly Everts-Johnston, finding a way to build her 80 Progress 2020

community and continue to do her passion helped create the DanceBARN Collective. Along with co-founder Ayumi Hori-Schafer, Everts-Johnston has created a group that has coordinated dancers from around the area. The two founders met at the University of Oregon while completing their Masters of Fine Arts. While Everts-Johnston was originally from Minnesota, Hori-Schafer was raised in Califor-

nia, graduating from San Francisco State University with her bachelor’s degree in dance. The two became close friends and saw life take them in different directions. But their paths would soon cross again as they both ended up residing in the Twin Cities. Everts-Johnson knew that with both being in the same location they would collaborate again. “We were already hanging out all the time. We had been working together on another project and thought ‘Let’s try to host a festival this summer,’ and then we started to meet more.” Bringing her idea back to the hometown and to her roots, Everts-Johnson

and Hori-Schafer held their first event for the collective in 2015. This would be the start of the group’s programming and they would go on to receive nonprofit status in 2017. “From the very beginning stages of dreaming up DanceBARN, we always imagined it being in Battle Lake,” Everts-Johnston said. “The beautiful lakes, the welcoming community, and the state support through the Legacy Amendment all made Battle Lake the perfect home to DanceBARN! Now we can't imagine DanceBARN being headquartered anywhere else.” The collective is based out of the Lakes

Area Community Center, 112 W. Main St., in Battle Lake, renting the space. The group also uses a renovated barn and two homes for practice space and to conduct business.“We are pretty happy with the spaces we use right now and we have good relationships with our partners,” Everts-Johnston said. Currently, the group is made up of eight professionally-trained local dancers and continues to work with others that are interested. “When we began to do stuff in the community, we would put it on our website. After that, we would start receiving messages on our website like ‘I’m a dancer and I live in ...Vergas and I would like to ….,” Everts-Johnston said. The co-owner says the group is ever-expanding as it continues to perform. The group hosts multiple events throughout the year. The DanceBARN Festival brings professional level dancers to Battle Lake for a week of dancing, creating and sharing. “We host between 20-25 professional dancers, teachers, & choreographers in Battle Lake and curate a week of classes for the attendees as well as events that share dance with our community,” Everts-Johnston said. This includes dance classes, films, performances, parade dances and collaborations with other artists. Also during the festival, DanceBARN hosts a screendance festival. The event takes place at the ArtSTREAM Alley in Battle Lake and showcases selections from all over the world. Everts-Johnston also mentioned that any screendances that are made during the festival also premiere during the showing. The collective also hosts a youth camp for dancers in grades 6-12. Now entering their third year, the five-day sleep-away camp allows dancers to learn from several professional dancers. This year, the

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CREATIVE COLLECTIVE: DanceBARN Collective founders Molly Everts-Johnston and Ayumi Hori-Shafer pose of a photo at a National Dance Education Organization event. The duo met in college at the University of Oregon and continued their friendship and working relationship as both landed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. group welcomes in SLO Dance from Minneapolis to teach, choreograph and perform with camp-goers. Everts-Johnston and Hori-Shafer have found success in their collective, but they couldn’t do it without help. A sponsorship with Springboard for the Arts in 2015-16 and continued support from the organization has helped in many ways.

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with DanceBARN, I leapt at the opportunity!” Pettit said. “Molly and Ayumi are doing work in rural Minnesota to enhance our region by facilitating dance and arts awareness. Through DanceBARN, they are bringing dance artists to this region to experience our culture here and to SEE BARN PAGE 82

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The DanceBARN also has a board of directors that include Mary Pettit, Michele Anderson, Julia DeMars, Reba Gilliand and Nicole Reinan. Pettit got involved with the collective because she wanted to support her former Fergus Falls School of Dance student Everts-Johnston in her endeavor. “When Molly asked me to be involved

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FUTURE DANCERS: Molly Everts-Johnston and Ayumi Hori-Shafer (far left) stand with the 2019 DanceBARN youth camp members. The youth camp is just one of several events and programs that the collective puts on each year.

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provide an "incubator" for those artists' creative process.” With over 40 years of teaching dance, Pettit believes that not only the collective but dance is vital to the community.“I truly believe that dance provides opportunities for body/mind/spirit con-

nections and it is vital to the health of us as individuals and as a community.” By working with several dancers and putting on multiple events Everts-Johnston and Pettit both hope to see expansion in the future. Pettit mentioned doing outreach to rural communities across the country, providing area workshops and events, finding a permanent space for the collective, and in their

“wildest dreams” having a state-of-theart dance space that will entice regional and national dance groups. “I think that eventually, many rural communities in the Midwest could have their own version of DanceBARN,” Pettit added. For Everts-Johnston, expanding their programming is one of her main focuses. “We would like to branch out to have weekly classes. Mostly project-based

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choreographic processes. I would love to see our dancers put on a couple of showings and be commissioned to do a couple of showings,” Everts-Johnston said. What she once thought was impossible has become a reality as Everts-Johnston was able to chase her dream of being a professional dancer and continue to work and perform in a community she knows and loves.

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A look into shift work in the community By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

T BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

SHIFT WORK: Jodi Swift loves her job at Vector Windows and Doors but she also has a husband, two sons and three dogs to look after at home. Sgt. Mike Kusnierek, Lauryn Christensen and Swift are just a few members of the community that have jobs that work in shifts.

he people who work jobs with different shifts often confound those who have a rigid idea of when work is done. Yet everyone knows there are professions that require different working hours. It was once determined that one-third of the people holding jobs in Otter Tail County worked nontypical hours. Three of these people are Jodi Swift, Mike Kusnierek and Lauryn Christensen.

Jodi Swift Swift loves working for Vector Windows and Doors in Fergus Falls but that does not mean her 84 Progress 2020

life is any bed of roses. Swift is married, the mother of two young boys and has to be content with a social life that only includes weekends in the summer. She works four 10-hour shifts during the week at Vector for part of the year but in the summer, when the plant kicks its production into high gear, Swift finds herself working five 10hour shifts. As a production lead on the night shiftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assembly line her job begins at 4 p.m. and ends at 2:30 a.m. Her commute home on Interstate 94 to Erdahl takes about 30 minutes giving her around three hours to sleep before getting up at 6:30 a.m. to help her boys get ready for school.

By the time her boys are off to school, her husband is already at work and Swift gets to hit the sack again. She is up again by noon to do housework and take care of the family’s three dogs. Around 3 p.m. she heads out the door on her way to work. Jodi’s husband, Justin, is coming home from his shift job in Garfield as she heads out and they often pass each other and exchange waves. Swift was a stay-at-home mom for the first five years of her married life and her husband’s income was enough to pay their bills. But one day opportunity came knocking. They had a chance to buy a piece of lake property near Millerville. They sat down and talked about it. They decided if they wanted the property they would have to be willing to make some sizable sacrifices. Swift said she knew something about sacrifice because she saw her own parents make them for her. Jodi went looking for a paying job. She landed one with Vector in 2018. "I love it," Swift said. "What makes it easier to leave my family is the thought I'm coming to work with my family." The benefits Vector offers go beyond dollars and cents. When she had an ac-

cident on her way to work last year it was her supervisor that gave her a ride home. If Swift is hard on anyone it's herself. Her husband and kids need some of her time too, even if she is tired. In the summer they have their lake place to visit. In the winter there can be snowmobiling. They have other interests too - old tractors and old cars. "Overall, we're happy," Swift said.

Mike Kusnierek Sgt. Mike Kusnierek works at one of those jobs that demands aroundthe-clock service seven days a week. The 25-year veteran of the Fergus Falls Police Department serves the Kusnierek people of his community in 12-hour shifts, rotating between daytime and nighttime hours. “Shift work is hard for anybody I think,” Kusnierek said. “You get used to it after awhile I guess. I tolerate it.” It is no secret that the type of duties police officers tackle demands a lot from them.

Building on our heritage Planning for our future

“Shift work is a necessary evil in this kind of work. We have to do coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In order to do that somebody has to be working at night,” Kusnierek said. “You can’t have the same people working straight nights for years. It wouldn’t be fair to them or their families, so rotating shift work is basically the best way to do it.” The members of the Fergus Falls Police Department rotate between day and night shifts every month. “If you’re working nights you are not going to see your family on those days when you are working,” Kusnierek said. Kusnierek is one of those people who cannot just flip his sleeping schedule so he keeps it the same. “You don’t get to see your family as much which is a difficult thing but my family has gotten used to the fact ‘OK, dad is on nights, you got to be quiet during the day when he is sleeping.’ ” According to Kusnierek, there have been studies done over the years that have found that it takes as much as five years off your life. “It’s very difficult physically, Kusnierek said. “You get more rundown rotating

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shifts so that makes you more at risk for getting colds and flus.” The job takes a toll in other ways too. “We deal with tragedy all the time, we deal with bad people all the time,” Kusnierek said. “We don’t get to deal with the nice people that much. When we do, they are in a state of crisis. Police officers get very cynical. We assume everyone is lying to us and we always see the dark side of life.” But there are also moments when the compensation Kusnierek receives goes beyond a paycheck. One is the annual “Shop with a Cop” event at Christmas. “We get to go and deal with these children that are just so wonderful, Kusnierek said. “Each child has money to spend. They can spend it on whoever they want. This little boy wanted to buy for his teacher because she did not have enough art supplies for her class. He spent all of his money to buy stuff for his teacher and his whole class. How wonderful is that? That he is thinking of everyone else but not himself. I was so happy to be able to shop with him.”

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He has also had people come up and thank him for things he has done - comforted a mother in distress after one of her children was hit by a car, or arrested a person heading for trouble with alcohol. “When those people come up to you and say ‘thanks, you made a difference,’ that’s why we do this job,” Kusnierek said.

Lauryn Christensen As a young farm wife Christensen has an appreciation for the things many rural families take pride in - family, work and a “pitch in and help out” attitude. When she married Jake Christensen she Christensen knew that she was going to get a chance to do her share. The Christensens have three small children and all the responsibilities that go with raising a family and running a farm. But there are others who need Lauryn as well. Christensen works straight night shifts in the Women’s and Children’s Health Center at Lake Region Healthcare. She is part of a small group of men and women at the hospital who go to work when darkness falls. “We’re a very close-knit group,” she said. Her night shifts on weekdays go from 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and on weekends from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. She works every third weekend of the month. That puts her at the hospital between 60 and 68 hours every pay period. She will work

PRODUCTION LEAD: Jodi Swift is a production lead working a night shift at Vector Windows and Doors in Fergus Falls. seven days in a row and then be off for six. Christensen has been a nurse for five years and she has worked the night shift for 3 ½. Being on the job when many

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others are getting their rest initially threw her for a loop. “At first it was more of a shock,” Christensen recalls. With a husband and three children ages 4 ½, 3 ½ and 1 to take care of Christensen has to make the family pieces of her life fit the best way she can into her career. “I’m sleeping during the day and working at night,” Christensen said. “I just live a backwards life.” Working nights at the hospital sees Christensen putting her kids to bed and then going to work. While it is often quiet in the hospital during her shift it can also be “crazy.” “At times we’re just as busy as the other shifts,” Christensen said. “It can

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

be just as exhausting.” Balancing family and career demands has its challenges according to Christensen. “It’s not always easy,” said Christensen who credits her husband, Jake, with being the kind of partner that carries his share of the load. Communicating with one another is the key to making it all work out. “We try to work together,” Christensen said. Because her kids are not above laying some “mom guilt” on her from time to time, Christensen also appreciates the help that other family members provide. “It would definitely be much harder without them,” she said.

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INVENTING A SOLUTION

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

TOOL CREATION: Tim Brennan is the designer and inventor of the T-Weeder, an aquatic rake which uses two rows of offset aluminum teeth to comb weeds off lake bottoms. Brennan’s invention has attracted the interest of customers all over the world.

T-Weeder has former police chief Brennan busy in retirement By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

hen Tim Brennan came to Fergus Falls in 2004 to run the city police department he already had plenty of experience in handling other people’s problems. He bought some property on a lake near Ottertail and parked a camper there in the summer months so his family could enjoy swimming and other water sports. One summer day Brennan decided to do something about a problem of his own. The lake where the family camper was set up had one drawback - weeds. 88 Progress 2020

His kids did not like swimming in weed-choked water so their dad decided to do something about it. A device called a weed roller was on the market but Brennan found the weed roller would not handle his problem. It did not take care of the weeds far from the shore. It was also on the spendy side. Brennan and his wife bought a weed cutter to deal with the problem and found they had actually made a lot of work for themselves. Cutting weeds is great but once cut they must be cleaned up – a two-step process that took a team effort and a lot of time. Brennan has always liked to tinker so he

sat down and designed a tool that would do the job for him. He took his design to Nordwall Machine and showed it to the owner. The two men talked it over, some aluminum and other material was bought and the T-Weeder prototype was born. “I started out using it for myself,” Brennan said. “Then I made it for a couple of neighbors.” In 2007 Brennan’s son put the T-Weeder on his YouTube channel. The popular website quickly made the T-Weeder popular as well. “Within days and weeks I was getting contacted by people from all over the country,” Brennan said.

Brennan was making T-Weeders for people all over the United States when he asked a fellow church member to design a website for him and his product. Brennan soon began to do business with people in other countries. Orders came in from England, Australia and Canada. Over the years he has made and sold several hundred of his tools. In 2010, after 31 years as a lawman, Brennan took off his badge. The T-Weeder has kept Brennan on the hop in his retirement years. “I’m retired, I wasn’t looking for a fulltime job,” Brennan said. “I didn’t expect it to take off.”

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FROM POLICE TO PITCHMAN: Tim Brennan, a retired chief of public safety for Fergus Falls, has found a second career in the T-weeder. The unique weeding tool consists of a 5-foot long handle and a 3-foot head connected to the end for a “T” shape. The head of the tool has two plates of solid aluminum. Both are a quarter inch thick, spaced 1-inch apart and firmly attached to the handle. The aquatic rake weighs only six pounds and comes with a 25-foot rope that attaches to the handle. The lightness of its construction allows most people to toss it the entire 30 feet length of its range. “I knew it was a good idea because I couldn’t find anything like it,” Brennan said. The inventor of the T-Weeder admits the tool has its limitations. “If you can grab the weeds and pull

them out then it’ll work but I don’t recommend it for cattails or lily pads. Some believe that removing weeds from lakes is against the law and they are partially right. People do need a permit to remove emergent weeds like cattails but submerged weeds are a different story. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will allow lakeshore owners to remove up to 2,500 square feet of submerged weeds without a permit. Over time Brennan would remove weeds in his lake beginning in late June or early July. He would then wait until fall to remove weeds a second time. “I like to get them out before they decompose and turn into muck,” Brennan said.

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Hometown hardware

Friedrichs have enjoyed the hardware business in Henning By Brian Hansel The Daily Journal

BRIAN HANSEL / DAILY JOURNAL

HARDWARE HELPERS: Phil and Nancy Friedrich have owned the hardware store in Henning for 39 years. They have their business up for sale as they anticipate retirement.

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ancy Friedrich knows what she will miss about the hardware business. It will not be the nuts and bolts, the tools, the appliances, the paint samples or the technology that has come along so far in the last 30 years. It will be something much more personal. “The most important thing I’ll miss is the people,” Nancy said. Nancy and her husband, Phil, put their Henning Trustworthy Hardware business up for sale last year. Both native to the Henning area, they know a great many people in the Otter Tail County community of 813 people. Henning is not sitting on a lake like the nearby community of Battle Lake so the resort trade is not a cornerstone. “We’ve always called our town a service town,” Nancy said. “There

for their customers. The lawn and garden section of their business has become more varied. They have put in more pet supplies. The bird feed area used to take up a couple feet of shelf space. Now it takes up 12. Like other couples in their 60s the Friedrichs want to spend more time with their kids as they enter the next chapter of their lives. But “the store” will always be a good chapter. Running a hardware store has its own charm. “It’s very interesting,” Nancy said. “It’s something new and different every day.”

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are a lot of services here and we’re service people.” Even people in the hardware business do not always have what their customers want but they do have one edge - if they don’t have it they can probably make it. Not only do they have access to the materials, they also have the tools to put it together. “That’s very true,” said Nancy, crediting her husband Phil as being one of those guys who can figure things out and give the customer what they are looking for. “It just takes a lot of common sense,” Nancy laughed. The three decades they have spent at the corner of Douglas Avenue and Second Street in downtown Henning have been good ones for the couple. “We’ve been here for 30 years so that tells you it’s been a good, strong business,” Nancy said. Nancy has actually been in the hardware store longer than her husband. “I worked here for a good six years for Larry and Lu Sweere,” Nancy said. While communities like Henning do not see the rapid changes larger ones do, the Friedrichs have been aware of the need to stock different merchandise

Along with providing high quality education for K-12 students, Henning Public School offers an Early Childhood Family Education and School Readiness (preschool) program during the school year. These two programs have proven to be a very vital piece of parent involvement and educational opportunities within the school district, as we see a high participation by the families.

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Leading the charge

Pelican Rapids’ Petznick heads semi-pro football team in Fargo By Mathew Holding Eagle The Daily Journal

SUBMITTED

CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANIZATION: Matt Petznick hoists the 2019 Elite Bowl football championship trophy. Petznick is the president and co-founder of the Fargo Invaders semi-professional football team.

hat do Fargo Invaders president Matt Petznick and Dennis Rodman have in common? Both players went through a physical transformation after high school — Rodman grew 12 inches to a towering 6 foot 8 inches tall — and Petznick went from 5 foot 9, to 6 foot 3. What’s an athlete who’s hit their growth spurt after high school to do? Rodman chose a path to the NBA winning five championships with two different teams (Detroit and Chicago) and Petznick, who after cleaning house competing in NDSU intramural sports, wanted to take his new body out for a test drive to see what it could do. So he did what any motivated young man at peak physical fitness would do, he started his own football team from the ground up, but that’s only part of the story. SEE PETZNICK PAGE 94

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PETZNICK

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“At that time I was always thinking ‘Man, where was this three years ago? I could have done a lot for Pelican Rapids,’ “Petznick said about his physical development while in college. “Who knows maybe if I was doing what I was doing in college at the intramural level but in high school, if I was doing it there, I could’ve gotten the opportunity to play college somewhere?” In January of 2013 after dominating the local flag football scene at NDSU Petznick was looking for a different challenge and wanted to play tackle football, by chance while reading the local Fargo newspaper Petznick saw an ad for a semi-pro football team coming to town looking for players, the owner of the soon-to-be-formed F-M Lumberjacks also owned a team in Brainerd named the Lumberjacks. Through meeting the organization’s owner, Petznick was able to play summer football for Brainerd and then that fall play for the Fargo-Moorhead team logging 20 games but it turned out the Lumberjacks were living on borrowed time. Looking back Petznick said the owner of the organization didn’t make wise business decisions and that after starting numerous other teams at the same time including one

ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: Matt Petznick talks with Fargo Invaders players after practice about sponsorship opportunities and player fees. Although he enjoyed playing, Petznick turned his focus to the team operations side as he became president in 2015 and has been apart of three league championships since the formation of the organization in 2013.

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Invaders, using a Viking as a mascot but Invaders as a team name.” After deciding on team colors inspired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the ‘80s with the orange creamsicle jerseys and picking a team name, Petznick set out to overcome the team’s next hurdle. On Oct 20, 2013, the Invaders applied to join the Midwest Premier Football League (later renamed the Northern States Football League). “If we didn’t get accepted into the league we were just going to be like ‘We’re not going to have a team.’ Because we didn’t want to have to run around and find games or open dates,” Petznick said. By Nov. 10, 2013, the Fargo Invaders were accepted as members of the MPFL joining the Granite City Renegades, West Central Broncos, Midwest Nightmare, Great Lakes Wolfpack and Minnesota Silverbacks, prompting Petznick to “go full bore” ordering jerseys and recruiting players and coaches with Petznick acting as the team’s general manager and Stephenson as president of the board. In December of 2013, the Invaders kept the ball rolling by holding their first combine to scout prospective players and by

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in Bemidji, his attention was all over the place. On Oct. 12, 2013, while traveling to play the Minot Oilers as an F-M Lumberjack, Petznick and teammate Shane Stephenson finalized their decision to build a semi-pro football team in Fargo motivated by the owner’s lack of dedication. “We were like ‘OK, if this guy can have a team in Brainerd for five years and run a team there’s no reason the two of us can’t start a team in Fargo ourselves and run it.’” Petznick and Stephenson decided instead of one or two people running everything their team would be managed by a board and would be a nonprofit organization. That way no one would have ownership ties or sole responsibility, if a board member left the organization there’d be nothing to transfer, opting instead to elect someone to fill the position. Two days later they adopted the Fargo Invaders name and logo. “We wanted something to tie to the region, some sort of heritage to it,” Petznick said about deciding on a team name. Although he was keen on the idea of choosing the Vikings for a name, Petznick felt the area was oversaturated by teams calling themselves the Vikings. “Sticking with the Vikings theme we went through several iterations of names ultimately landing on the

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PETZNICK

Continued from page Page 95

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ing and focus on running the team.” Since becoming a team the Invaders have won three championships in 2014, 2016 and 2019. Today Petznick acts as the team’s

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giving semi-pro football with the Invaders a try Petznick says the most accessible way to reach the team is through Facebook or through the team’s website fargoinvaders.org.

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board president and is also president of the Northern Elite Football League — the premier semi-pro football league in the Upper Midwest. For prospective players interested in

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ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Despite being the Fargo Invaders’ president, Matt Petznick isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty as he helps players adjust helmets and find shoulder pads.

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May 10, 2014, the Invaders played their first game in franchise history defeating the Great Lakes Wolfpack 49-0 — a meteoric start for a team that went from planning to a full-fledged team in just seven months. Petznick continued playing for the Invaders as a tight end in 2014 — winning a league championship — while also acting as its general manager. In March of 2015, Stephenson, Petznick’s partner in the formation of the Invaders left the organization to move to Montana. Stephenson’s departure made Petznick the team’s president as he continued to play the 2015 season switching to defensive end. “After 2015 that summer I was just like ‘It’s too much on game days to wrangle up everything that needs to happen as far as concessions and tickets and the press box and just making sure everything’s ready but at the same time trying to do pregame warmups and prepare for the actual game that’s about to happen.’ … It left a lot of duties on my wife as well to kind of get things going,” Petznick said. “It was either play or be president but it’s just too much going on to try to do both so that’s where I decided to give up play-

A ‘New Age’ journey

Alnaji brings positivity in FF shop By Zach Stich

The Daily Journal

T ZACH STICH / DAILY JOURNAL

POSITIVE ENERGY: Joanne Alnaji, owner of Joanne New Age in Fergus Falls, began a journey that continues with the business that sells spiritual tools, informational books, incense and more.

apping into a spiritual life can have many paths. For Joanne Alnaji, she has found her path and is looking to help those find answers to their spiritual and health-related questions. That is why Alnaji opened Joanne New Age in Fergus Falls. As customers enter the shop, located at 643 W. Fir Ave., they will be greeted by a smile and the soft voice of Alnaji as she works throughout the shop. The business provides a variety of different items including informational books, spiritual tools like singing bowls, energy tuning chimes, other bells, candles, incense,

crystals and stones used for energy and chakra work/balancing, and meditation CDs. Joanne New Age traveled its own path to fruition as Alnaji’s passion turned into a business. “I've had a passion for years for the spiritual. I've been drawn first to Native American practice but then have been touched by many different beliefs. I've dreamed of working in this area, it's very fulfilling when I'm able to help someone heal naturally, whether physical illness or spiritually or lost and searching for a connection to source/God.” The store is also apart of the journey SEE SHOP PAGE 98

Progress 2020 97

SHOP

Continued from page Page 97

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new customers coming and telling me they just heard about me and how glad they are I’m here.” But this leaves an opportunity to grow and to meet new people, something that the business owner thoroughly enjoys. Other than her location in Fergus Falls, Alnaji also sells items on her website joannenewageinc.com. Alnaji says that she presents the online option for many of her current customers but hopes that it will grow in the future. Alnaji appreciates the support that she has been given in the community. The positive energy that has been displayed both in-person and online continues to make this passionate endeavor worthwhile to her. “I'm loving my life and feel I'm growing and becoming better and better every day,” Alnaji said.

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that Alnaji began over 25 years ago. According to Alnaji, she battled bipolar depression and anxiety disorder for years. “I didn't work for several years,” Alnaji said. “I had a spiritual awakening 25 years ago and God/source showed me the beauty of life and made me aware that I had power within, all humans have this power inside, it's given to us all by our creator.” After her spiritual awakening, Alnaji began to feel better. She began to read and study more about different beliefs. She had dreamed of working in this area for many years, helping others find healing, whether it be physical, spiritual or reconnecting to their beliefs. “My goal is to, No. 1, make a living surrounded by the things I love and I hope as I grow, I'll be able to serve/help my fellow humans,” Alnaji added. So, after work had slowed down at the Foxhome Station, a business she and her husband own, during the winter, Alnaji decided that she would finally create her own business. Partnering with her mother, the two were able to make the business possible in early 2019. “I believe if you don't take a chance on your dreams

Progress 2020 99

ADVERTISER INDEX A Center for the Arts............................... 56

Country Store ........................................ 57

Grant County Herald .............................. 79

Ag Country Farm Credit Services ............. 49

Crossroads Church ................................. 93

Grant County Lumber ............................. 74

American Federal................................... 25

Daily Journal ......................................... 55

Great Plains Natural Gas Co..................... 7

American Legion Post 30 ........................ 99

Dakota Smoke Shop ............................... 69

H & R Block ........................................... 19

AmericInn ............................................. 95

Design Intent Architects ........................... 83

H.A. Thompson & Sons ........................... 61

AMP Insurance ...................................... 15

Dorn & Co Inc. ................................ 15, 55

Habitat for Humanity .............................. 25

Anderson Land Survey ............................ 56

Double A Catering ................................. 99

Haley Oil Co. ........................................ 79

Apple Tree Dental .................................. 94

Ecowater............................................... 56

Hastings Law Firm .................................. 98

Area Lakes Party Rental .......................... 57

Edward Jones .......................................... 4

Henning Landmark Center ....................... 93

Arneson Agency Insurance Services ... 55, 98

Edward Jones-MacKenzie Barry ............... 82

Henning Public School ............................ 91

Ashby Living Center ............................... 39

Ellis Insurance Agency ............................ 36

Hilltop Lumber ................................. 10, 57

Auto Value Parts Stores ........................... 94

Everts Lumber .................................. 41, 55

Jaeger Furniture ..................................... 56

Bakken Insurance ............................. 57, 61

Farmers Agency, Inc. .............................. 74

Jayme Mace Family Dentistry................... 39

Barker Insurance Agency .................. 56, 99

Farmers Elevator - FF .............................. 55

JC’s Groceries & Harware....................... 78

Battle Lake Boathouse ............................. 82

Jewel Motel ........................................... 56

Battle Lake Liquor Store ........................... 62

Fergus Falls Area Chamber of Commerce .................. 55, 83

Bell Bank............................................... 19

Fergus Falls Area Family YMCA ............... 15

Kaddatz Galleries .................................. 57

Bethlehem Lutheran Church ..................... 37

Fergus Falls Community Food Shelf .......... 65

Keller Williams Mary Pettit ...................... 21

Beyer Body Shop and Towing ............ 56, 98

Fergus Falls HRA ........................ 56, 69, 75

Knutson Electric Rebuilding ...................... 99

Big Chief Cafe and Travel Plaza .............. 69

Fergus Falls Liquor Stores ........................ 15

Knutson Lawn Service, LLC ................ 57, 96

Bjorn’s Heating & Air Conditioning .......... 45

Fergus Falls Monument Company ............. 67

Kraning Jewelry ..................................... 56

Bobcat of Ottertail .................................. 57

Fergus Falls Optometric Center ................ 39

Krekelberg Law Firm ............................... 95

Bremer Bank .......................................... 27

Fergus Falls Public Library ....................... 83

Lake Region Association of Realtors.......... 55

Brian’s Repair and Tire Service .......... 57, 95

Fergus Fast Lane .................................... 62

Lake Region Electric Cooperative ....... 55, 70

Business Services of Fergus Falls .............. 95

Fergus Home and Hardware ................... 27

Lake Region Healthcare .......................... 31

BW Integrated Systems ........................... 59

Fergus Locker ........................................ 96

Lakeland General Store .......................... 89

Calla Lily............................................... 57

FF School of Dance ................................ 56

Lakeland Mental Health Center .......... 55, 91

Century 21 Vista Inc. ........................ 18, 56

Flamingo Glass ...................................... 57

Lakeside Lumber..................................... 74

CHI - St Francis Health ............................ 32

Foltz Buildings ...................................... 95

Larry’s Foods ......................................... 82

City of Ashby ........................................ 98

Frontier Marine & Powersports ................. 23

LifeSmiles .............................................. 57

City of Elbow Lake ................................. 74

Galloping Goose ................................... 62

Lillegard Inc........................................... 43

City of Fergus Falls and Port Authority ...... 85

Gate City Bank ...................................... 94

Luhnings Lawn Care, LLC ........................ 98

Compassion Care .................................. 30

Gateway Building Systems, Inc. ............... 70

Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC ........ 54

Cooper’s Office Supply ..................... 18, 55

Glende-Nilson Funeral Home & Cremation Services ............................................... 8

Marco .................................................. 69

Cora’s Closet ......................................... 39 100 Progress 2020

John’s Heating & A/C ............................ 98

Mark Zlotnick Construction ...................... 95

ADVERTISER INDEX Mauk Jewelers ....................................... 55

Park Gardens Senior Living ..................... 34

Stevelly’s Steak & Seafood ...................... 62

Mekalson Hyrdraulics ............................. 82

Park Region Co-op ................................. 91

StoneL .................................................. 23

Midwest Agri-Insurance........................... 78

Pebble Lake Auto Repair ................... 44, 56

Svaren Financial .............................. 57, 95

Midwest Bank-Dalton .............................. 99

Pelican Valley Senior Living Center ........... 93

Sverdrup Mutual Insurance ...................... 55

Midwest Insurance Agency, Inc ............... 25

Pemberton Law Firm ............................... 67

Midwest Machinery Co .......................... 61

Pickett & Demuth .................................... 15

Swenson Saurer Gerber Anderson & Co Ltd Elbow Lake ......................................... 79

Midwest Pest Control, Inc. ......................... 3

Pioneercare ..................................... 33, 55

Midwest Printing .................................... 14

Prairie Ridge Hospital & Health Services ... 40

Mill Street Residence .............................. 34

Preferred Auto Body Services................... 95

Synstelien Community Services .......... 41, 57

Minn-Dakota Coaches ...................... 14, 56

Premier Meats and Seafood .................... 21

Tag Up ................................................... 9

Minnesota Motor Company ..................... 55

Pro Floor & Tile ...................................... 65

The Bee Hive Tattoo Parlor....................... 99

Moore Engineering, Inc .................. 50 & 51

Productive Alternatives ............................ 24

The Market ...................................... 57, 96

MState Alumni Foundation .................... inside back cover

Quality Toyota ................................. 56, 63

The Rusty Nail Burger & Beer Bar ............. 41

Recover Health ...................................... 37

Thrifty White Pharmacy........................... 89

Nathan Seeger Law Office ...................... 45

Remax Signature Properties ..................... 36

Thrivent Financial - Nygaard ................... 63

NDSCS ................................................. 48

Ripley’s ................................................. 56

TNT Repair ............................................ 57

Nelson Auto Center ................................ 43

River Bottom Hemp ................................. 69

Transit Alternatives ................................. 13

Nelson Brothers Printing .......................... 55

Rothsay School District ............................ 87

Tri-County Health Care............................ 93

New Dimensions .............................. 57, 96

Rothsay Truck Stop ................................. 93

Underwood Insurance Agency ................. 62

Nootzi’s Cafe on Main ........................... 63

Rylander Insurance Agency ..................... 78

Underwood Municipal Liquor ............ 56, 91

Northern Aire Lanes ............................... 40

Salvation Army Thrift Store ................ 55, 91

Underwood Quik Stop & Cafe ........... 57, 63

Northern Contours ........................... 57, 87

Scott Buccholz Construction ..................... 13

Underwood School ................................ 49

Northwestern Bank ................................. 87

Security Insurance & Investments .............. 98

Union Pizza & Brewing Co ....................... 9

Oakland Boat Repair & Renovations......... 67

Security State Bank........................... 56, 61

Olson Funeral Home and Cremation Services ................... 5, 55

Seland’s Abbey Flooring Center ............... 17

United Way of Otter Tail and Wadena Counties ................... 55, 83

Service Food ........................55, back cover

VFW Post #612 ..................................... 34

Olson’s Furniture and Design Studio ......... 85

Shoreline Restaurant ............................... 81

Victor Lundeen Company .................. 55, 59

Otter Electric LLC .................................... 93

ShoreMaster .......................................... 56

Viking Bank ........................................... 91

Otter Tail County Solid Waste .................. 13

Signworks ............................................. 57

Viking Cafe ........................................... 56

Otter Tail Credit Union ............................ 24

Smith & Sem Ltd ..................................... 46

Vistad Chiropractic................................. 39

Otter Tail Power Company ...................... 11

St James Episcopal Church ...................... 37

Welander .............................................. 55

Otter Tail Telcom .................................... 40

State Representative Bud Nornes.............. 96

Wendell Pioneer Insurance ..................... 79

Outstate Brewing Company ....................... inside front cover

State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen ................. 74

West Central Area Schools ...................... 74

Stavanger Lutheran Church...................... 36

West Central Initiative ............................... 3

Pardy Painting ....................................... 57

Stella’s Bistro & Wine Bar ....................... 81

West Tool & Design ................................ 25

Swenson Saurer Gerber Anderson & Co Ltd Fergus Falls ........................................ 86

Progress 2020 101

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YOUR BEST

First Step to success Dreaming of a new career, a promotion, a four-year degree? M State is your best first step. At M State in Fergus Falls, we can help you achieve your goals, whatever those goals might be.

UNIVERSITY CENTER

Our Fergus Falls campus has always been a great place to earn a two-year degree or diploma, but now you can earn a four-year degree here, too. Our new University Center opens the door to a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in: • RN to BSN (Nursing) • Project Management BS • Business BS

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS

M State’s Workforce Development Solutions division has long provided workforce training throughout the region, but the new WDS classroom on our Fergus Falls campus makes jobs skills training even more accessible for local employers and workers. More than 6,000 workers are served annually by WDS and, whatever your training needs, we will work with you to meet them in our new Fergus Falls campus facility. Consider us when you need training in the areas of: • • • • • • • •

Business Technology Electrical Healthcare Leadership Development Mechanical/Technical Skills Safety and Compliance Specialized Skills Transportation

Learn more about our Fergus Falls campus at minnesota.edu/fergus-falls.

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Mrs swanson • Adams Elementary I 544 ........................................... $428,101 ISD Hillcrest Lutheran Academy ..............$64,707 H CClaire Ann Shover Nursery................ $17,034 TTrinity Lutheran ................................$51,655 CCleveland School ................................ $67,131 Our Lady of Victory ...........................$67,245 O A Adams School................................... $39,579 H Homeschool Group .............................$2,990 Underwood School ...........................$66,309 U

Morning Son Christian ..................... $62,555 Childrens Corner................................ $7,506 District 935 ......................................... $1,912 Destiny Academy Church.................... $2,393 Mckinley School ............................... $24,489 ECFE ................................................. $15,496 Alternative ED Center ........................$6,554 Head Start ......................................... $5,957 Other Area Schools .......................... $19,359

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