Portraits in Steele 2020

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Portraits

in Steele 2020

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Inside these 48 pages you will find indepth stories that take you Behind the Scenes — stories about individuals, groups, organizations and events in Steele County that you may know and know well. But it is a glimpse, as it were, behind the curtain to allow you to see some aspects of those people, organizations and happenings that you may not know about. Those glimpses will allow you to understand better this place we love to call home, we love to live and work in.

Some of the faces and names that you see, or the organizations and events you read about will be familiar to you because of their prominence in Steele County. Others may be new to you because they may be relatively new to this place. Either way, they all share a common quality — of enriching our lives because of what they as individuals or groups have done or because of the nature of the events.

This annual publication is a product of the Owatonna People’s Press staff, covering weeks and months of photography, interviewing, writing, designing and creative advertising efforts.

We hope you enjoy Portraits in Steele for weeks and months to come as we take a look behind the scenes.

Page 1 | Portraits in Steele 2020

s t n e t e f l n o b o Ta C

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Next Level: A decade on, director Loren Dietz continues to grow Corky’s Early Bird ..................................................4 The backbone of the Steele County Free Fair ...............................................................................................................8 Getting in the game: The helpers who make athletics possible in the Owatonna Public Schools................................11 It takes a village to put together Straight River Days ....................................................................................................15 Divide and conquer: Board members each do their part to help Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival play on .......20 The Journey Down Highway 14 .....................................................................................................................................24 Unique situation informs coverage, outreach for Blooming Prairie Police Department ...............................................28 The extended arm of local law enforcement .................................................................................................................32 Day Of Giving: Community supports children and youth ..............................................................................................36 Bowl for Kids’ Sake helps BBBS roll toward success ......................................................................................................37 Young Life cake auction is not about cakes, but about kids ..........................................................................................41 Day concludes with Night of Knights .............................................................................................................................45

Portraits

in Steele 2020

is a special project of the Owatonna People’s Press.

Publisher Steve Fisher Managing Editor Jeffrey Jackson

Media Consultants Amber Casterton Sarah Escamilla Jennifer Flowers Crystal Hobart

Group Advertising Director Tom Kelling

Page & Cover Design Kate McGillen

Look for this section on

Contributing Writers/ Photographers Annie Granlund Jeffrey Jackson Bridget Kranz

Portraits in Steele 2020 is distributed to subscribers and readers of the Owatonna People’s Press at no additional charge and is available at the front counter of the Owatonna People’s Press. All rights reserved. @2020

g n i s i t r x e e v d d A In

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Ackerman Accounting & Tax Services .......................45

Owatonna Floor Covering.........................................17

American Legion post #77 ........................................21

Owatonna Foundation ................................................6

Cashwise – Coborns Inc ............................................13

Owatonna Heating & Cooling...................................27

Clifton Larson Allen LLP ............................................19

Owatonna Public Schools..........................................31

Cole Electric ..............................................................11

Owatonna Public Utilities ............... Inside Front Cover

Crystal Valley .............................................................41

Realife Cooperative of Owatonna.............................29

Cybex ........................................................................39

Riverland Community College ....................................5

Ellis Body Shop Inc. .....................................................9

Specialty Personnel Services .....................................29

Endres Window Cleaning ..........................................21

Steele County Free Fair ............................................25

Fireplace Connection ................................................23

Steele County Historical Society ...............................33

Holland Family Dental .................................................9

Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric .........................42

Jaguar Communications............................................35

Torey’s........................................................................16

Main Street Dental Clinic ..........................................15

TPS Insurance – Dave Effertz ....................................37

Northland Farm Systems .................Inside Back Cover

United Way of Steele County ...........Inside Back Cover

Noble RV Inc..............................................................47

VFW Hugo Matejcek Post #3723 of Owatonna ........17

Owatonna Arts Center ..............................................45

Wenger Corporation ...................... Inside Front Cover

Owatonna Bus Company ............................................7

Page 5 | Portraits in Steele 2020

I

“ t is a huge reunion of players, former players, umpires and fans. This is what makes Corky’s Early Bird one of the best events in the entire country. I look forward to seeing all the friends I have made over the past 30 years of playing softball. This is what it is all about for me. Everyone gets to have a great time, play a game that we all love, and we are proud that the proceeds of the event go towards a great cause.”

1940–2 020

— Loren Dietz Tournament director, Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic Dietz. “In August, I start promoting the event again.”

typically submits all of its permit applications in January. This is also when the board of directors holds its annual meeting.

Over the course of the fall and winter, Dietz estimated that on average he’ll spend roughly Three months out, organizers will also start 500 hours planning for Corky’s Early Bird recruiting umpires and trying to secure hotel Men’s Softball Classic year to year. sponsors. In February, waiting list teams find out if they’ve made it in and all participants “Although many vendors and teams are have to provide payment for their entry into the same, every year their contracts are the competition. renewed,” he noted. “Although I have worked to streamline things over the years, For competitors who help clean the up the the tournament continues to grow. When I fields and surrounding areas after games, took over the tournament, we had only 100 the tournament can take care of their league teams. This year we’ll have 204 teams.” entry fees. Dietz also helps sponsor local teams by paying their entry fee if they help After wrapping up last year’s event through out with the logistics of the event. the month of May, Dietz explained that he started promoting this spring’s tournament Finally, in the spring, it’s time for organizers as usual in August. On Sept. 1, he opened up to book entertainment groups and finalize the waiting list for any new teams wanting to the brackets — which Dietz said he typically join in on the action. does in April. Then, at the beginning of May, it’s tournament time. The director noted he’ll As early as October, Dietz explained that usually have around 50 volunteers helpers he’ll typically start talking to vendors and during the competition. sponsors in order to try and secure them for the upcoming year’s event. Then, it’s not until “The tournament pays the City of Owatonna, December and January that he will work on City of Waseca and City of Faribault for getting teams from the previous year entered their parks and recreation grounds crews to back into the system. help keep the fields in top shape,” added Dietz. “They do a great job in all weather Although the tournament is not until the conditions.” first weekend in May, Dietz noted that Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic

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A partner for progress serving the city of Owatonna and surrounding communities since 1940.

Portraits in Steele | Page 4

A decade on, director t x e N vel: Loren Dietz continues to le grow Corky’s Early Bird

During the 2019 Corky’s Early Bird Tournament, Carl Pegnatori (left) from Monsta Athletics out of California presented Loren Dietz with a commemorative bat featuring the tournament’s logo. Dietz, now in his 11th year as tournament director, has been planning for this spring’s annual competition since August. (Press file photo)

By BRIDGET KRANZ bkranz@owatonna.com

At the end of next month, hundreds of teams will gather in southern Minnesota for the 41st annual Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic. Always falling on the first weekend in May, tournament director Loren Dietz sees the “early” competition as the start to another softball season.

“I had played softball in Owatonna for 25 years, and looked forward to playing in the Corky’s Early Bird tournament every year,”

said Dietz. “[It] signaled the start of the new Although this year’s competition doesn’t softball season, and was always a great way to start until April 30, Dietz noted that he’s see old friends. “ been getting ready for the annual, multi-day event since last August — giving him only For 11 years now, Dietz has been helping June and July as a break from his role as not orchestrate the kick-off, taking over from only tournament director, but also events the competition’s founder — retired Parks coordinator and president of the board of and Recreation Director James Ebeling, directors. better known as “Corky,” who started the tournament back in 1979.

“I wrap up [last year’s event] through May, then I get June and July off,” explained

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Over 40 years in the making Although last year’s event brought in 200 teams and this year’s has a record-number 204 signed up, Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic started small. While Dietz took over running the event over a decade back, it was first started in 1979 by Ebeling, a parks and recreation director for the City of Owatonna who was also known as “Corky.”

time, play a game that we all love, and we are proud that the proceeds of the event go towards a great cause.”

It was that same year — the event’s 34th iteration — that organizers had to push Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic back a weekend when a May snowstorm dumped over a foot of snow on Steele County. That’s right. More than a foot of snow. In May. With the tournament then postponed and then falling on the same weekend as the fishing Initially, it was a 16-team slow-pitch tournament held in Owatonna and inspired by opener, Mother’s Day and the Owatonna High a similar event Ebeling had attended in Sioux School prom, only 66 teams ended up being Falls, South Dakota. He was only 20 years old able to make the rescheduled competition. at the time. Since its beginning, the annual However Dietz and his team successfully tournament has grown to bring in hundreds on hundreds of players from across the United rescheduled with the vendors involved — working around unseasonable weather States. conditions to keep the ball rolling on the annual tournament.

While in the beginning, Ebeling has said that scheduling could be difficult, as the classic’s quality and reputation grew, more and more Recognized for a decade requests came in from teams across the of service nation hoping to enter the competition.

Members of The Cutthroats, an Owatonna team, watch from the dugout during the 2016 Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic. Dietz said he tries to help subsidize tournament entry fees for local competitors who are able to help out with the event. (Press file photo)

Ebeling told the People’s Press in 2016 that he even began getting requests from umpires to come into town and work the tournament. “It was good training for their umpiring in state and national tournaments,” he explained.

Last year, the roughly 200 groups who competed in Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic came from as far away as 13 different states. In its 40th year, it brought over 1,000 individual players to fields not only in Owatonna, but in Faribault and Waseca, as well. Speaking in an interview before last year’s event, Dietz noted that the locally-based classic is the largest softball tournament in Minnesota and the fifth-largest in the world.

Although Ebeling has noted that things really took off for the tournament after its 25th anniversary, in a 2017 interview he added, “Loren has taken it to the next level.”

morethan than60 61years, years,the the Owatonna Owatonna Foundation Foundation has F Formore For Foundati has awarded awarded ded grants grants totalling over $12 million million for for projects totaling over $11.9 projects that that touch touchevery everyaspect aspectofofour ourlives lives the following following categories: categories: ininthe

• Community

• Recreation

• Arts

• Education

- People, Parks, Places - Musical,Visual, Cultural

■

preserving the past

■

- Sports, Leisure, Family fun - Literary, Scientific, Historic

building the present

■

funding the future

Mail donations to: Owatonna Foundation P.O. Box 642 • Owatonna, MN 55060

For more information call: Laura Resler at 507-455-2995

email: info@owatonnafoundation.org • website: www.owatonnafoundation.org

Weathering a few storms When asked why he agreed to step up and help run the annual event, Dietz noted that he’d been playing in it for years, and had strong connections to a lot of the people involved.

“It is a huge reunion of players, former players, umpires and fans,” Dietz explained while getting ready for his fourth tournament as director back in 2013. “This is what makes Corky’s Early Bird one of the best events in the entire country. I look forward to seeing all the friends I have made over the past 30 years of playing softball. This is what it is all about for me. Everyone gets to have a great

After 10 successful years as director, Dietz was recognized with a service appreciation award presented just after last spring’s tournament by the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism.

On the same night, Dietz was also presented with a custom bat from Monsta Athletics.

Based in Calimesa, California, the group has been sending a team to represent the company at Corky’s Early Bird Men’s Softball Classic since 2015.

In presenting the award, owner Carl Pegnatori noted that both the tournament and Dietz had always welcomed the out-of-town teams with open arms — making the southern California group feel at home even in the cold North.

With so many visitors to the region, tournament time always has a ripple effect on both local businesses and nonprofits.

According to a report from a May 2019 edition of the People’s Press, the weekendlong event has typically brought in roughly $300,000 a year to Owatonna-area businesses over the years that it’s been in operation.

In 2019, the tournament also donated over $50,000 to local charities — including the We All Play Inclusive Playground and Miracle Field project, the Owatonna Park and Recreation Youth Scholarship Fund and the Relight the Park project.

It takes a village Although Dietz helps head up the tournament, he had an entire team to thank after last year’s event. With last year marking

A T v a M

Page 7 | Portraits in Steele 2020 the tournament’s first in Waseca — as well as Owatonna and Faribault — he wrote into a May 2019 edition of the People’s Press to show his appreciation for the tournament and concessions crews out to the west.

He also thanked both groups in Owatonna and Faribault, noting off the bat that he had hundreds of people to show his appreciation to. Many of those on his list were the crews working concessions at each event, including the volunteer grillers who spend their tournament weekends feeding players and attendees. Also among the names was Dietz’s assistant director, Ebeling.

“Thank you to the core Owatonna crew!”

Dietz wrote, “Brad Tiedeken (UIC), Doug & Cherie Meier (Concessions), Owatonna Girls Fastpitch (Concessions), Mark Cunningham and the KC Hall crew, Owatonna Park and Recreation Grounds Crew, Dietz family (Sales), Jeff “Barnsey” Barnes (Honorary Captain), Corky Ebeling (Assistant Director), and all the Volunteer Grillers!!

“Thank you all! I couldn’t have done it without you all!” he added.

After a decade of helping run Corky’s Early Bird, Dietz was presented with an award from the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. The weekend-long event brings with it a significant amount of revenue for local businesses, as teams from across the United States venture in for the tournament. Pictured left to right are Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism President Brad Meier, Tournament Director Loren Dietz, James “Corky” Ebeling, Doug Meier and Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz. (Press file photo)

What started in 1979 as a 16-team tournament in Owatonna has now grown into an over 200-team event taking place in Owatonna, Faribault and Waseca. Pictured here, a player from team Kafka fires the ball back into the infield in a late-round game in the 2019 Corky’s Early Bird tournament in Faribault. (Daily News file photo)

Portraits in Steele | Page 8

The Fair Board of Directors meet throughout the year in order to put together the best fair possible for Steele County and all their guests. Front row, from left to right: Glen Meger, Scott Kozelka (fair manager), Roger Noble, Jim Linder, Mike Hamilton, Sandy Jirele, Tracy Igneszewski, Josh Prokopec, and Glen Fischer. Back row, from left to right: Bruce Busho, Mark Ditlveson, Jim Abbe, Brent Svenby, Tim Arlt (treasurer), Dan Deml (president), Rick Ellingson, Wayne Steele (vice president), and Doug Meier.

The backbone of the Steele County Free Fair

By ANNIE GRANLUND agranlund@owatonna.com

The Steele County Free Fair is one of the gems of southern Minnesota. Attended by more than 300,000 people each year, it is the largest county fair in the state and one of the largest free fairs in the country.

According to the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, the local fair brings in a roughly $10-million economic impact to Owatonna and that one-third of the fairgoers come from outside the immediate area. The

fair is popular, has a reputation, and always seems to be over in the blink of an eye.

But what makes the ferris wheel go around?

Figuratively speaking, of course. How does the biggest social event of the season come together and go off so effortlessly to the naked eye?

While it is no secret that the Steele County Free Fair relies heavily on their hundreds of volunteers that assist in a plethora of

capacities during the fair — from stage hands to manning the information desk to ticket booth attendees — the true oil to the machine is hidden away in a little office stuck near the corner of the Four Seasons Centre.

Inside the fair office, Fair Manager Scott Kozelka and the office staff — affectionately referred to as the “office ladies” — diligently tick away without missing a beat, often staying behind the scenes despite their crucial role in the success of the fair.

What many people may not be aware of, however, is that the office remains busy year round.

“At the end of 2018 we were already working on the 2020 fair,” said Vickie Deml, one of the office staffers who can be found on the fairgrounds any day of the year, going on her 20th year there. “Some acts you have to book one or two years in advance if you want them, so we have to think that far ahead.”

While booking acts in advance is undoubtedly a factor in how early staff has to begin planning for the upcoming fairs, office staffer Sharon Klein said that trying to figure out how to improve the next fair beginning the moment the fairgrounds is cleared on Sunday.

“Immediately after each fair we have a meeting with our superintendents to dissect any problems, offer new ideas, and talk about how they would like things to be handled in their areas,” Klein explained. “We bring all of that to the fair board in September.”

The SCFF Board of Directors are also volunteers of the fair, but they dedicate a significant amount of time throughout the year attending monthly board meetings, conventions, scouting talent, finding sponsors, brainstorming solutions to a variety of problems, and so much more. Each month, they meet in Mother’s Rest next to the fair office and go through their expenses, discuss the entertainment that is lined up, tackle the logistics of any upcoming or ongoing groundwork, and pitch their ideas on how to keep the Steele County Free Fair current and new.

“Having ‘The Largest County Fair’ next to our name isn’t as important as making sure everyone is having a good time,” stated Scott Kozelka, the fair manager. “That means changing things up, sometimes even just changing little things, to make people keep coming back. It’s all about keeping the experience high.”

While keeping an interesting array of food and merchandise vendors and finding free entertainment that appeals to the masses

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Page 9 | Portraits in Steele 2020

are certainly important factors to keeping the fair intriguing and exciting to both first time attendees and devoted patrons, one of the most important tasks the office staff and directors are faced with is finding sponsors.

“The smallest sponsorship is still a sponsorship,” Kozelka asserted.

“Sometimes small companies can’t give as much, but we always make sure we recognize them just the same,” Klein added.

Sponsorships can be seen sprinkled through the fair in a mixture of ways, from being a name on the side of a building to bringing a band into the beer garden. Sponsors also are what make the stages free, whether they help with the costs for the entire stage or are tied to a specific act either on a stage or somewhere else on the grounds.

Most importantly, sponsors are crucial to the equation in keeping the fair in Steele County free.

Fair Manager Scott Kozelka says that the work at the fair office is never over. From answering questions from vendors to accepting camping payments, the phones in the office are always “The great support we get from our sponsors, ringing. vendors, community, and volunteers is what keeps the fair free,” Kozelka explained.

“There are some ticketed fairs out there that I know have become free because it enhances their turnout and the experience for their guests. If you want to come to just look at stuff you can. You can come here and not spend any money. You can enjoy our stages, our barns, and view our vendors all for free.”

Meant to be free Every year, Kozelka and the rest of the fair organizers are questioned by random members of the public why they don’t consider eliminating the free element from the fair. The question usually comes when the fair has to undertake a large expense — such as replacing barns that have collapsed or moving electrical wires underground to meet state code — but the answer is always the same: the Steele County fair is meant to be free.

“It would cost us a lot of money to make our fair a paid gate,” Deml said, explaining that

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As the public address announcer for Owatonna boys and girls hockey games, Tony Schwichtenberg keeps the audience up to date on starting line-ups, goals and upcoming matches. Before getting on the microphone seven years ago, he had helped keep score at home games. A sales manager by day, Schwichtenberg is also involved with the Steele County Blades junior league team and supervises the parks and recreation hockey program. (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press)

’ : e m a g e h t n i Getting

The helpers who make athletics possible in the Owatonna Public Schools

By BRIDGET KRANZ bkranz@owatonna.com

Before students take the floor for a gymnastics meet or lace up their skates for hockey, a number of other moving pieces have to already be firmly in place to ensure the safety and success of each Owatonna Public Schools home game.

Continued on next page

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Tedious work is put into the layout of the fairgrounds come fair week, specifically what vendors will attend and where to place them in order to give the visitors the widest variety of food and products possible.

The devoted office staff — affectionately refered often as the “office ladies” — put in full-time work during the summer and even more during the fair week. Staffers Vickie Deml (third from left), Sharon Klein (third from right), and Rhonda Bennett (second from right), put in hours at the office year round. From left to right: Deb Mather, Angie Jenson, Deml, Klein, Bennett, and Denise Lage.

the cost to put up a fence around the entire fairgrounds would be astronomical. “And nobody wants that, not our community and not our vendors. When I talk to food vendors who have never been here before, I always tell them that there are people who come to the fair every night — some of them twice — for meals.”

“We also have a lot of people who come to our fair who can afford to come from out of town because it is free,” she continued, describing the variety of people who have shared stories over the years that drive down from the Twin Cities and attend the SCFF over the State Fair because of ticket costs alone.

Vendors — whether they be food or merchandise — take up a great deal of time outside of fair week as well. In January, a group of board members gathered in the Muckle Museum next to the fair office to stuff more than 450 envelopes that were then mailed out to vendors planning to attend the 2020 fair. The envelopes include everything that they need to know, including

information on camping, parking, the rules and regulations, the fire department codes, electrical codes, health department codes, animal health codes, insurance information and more. Some of the items include things that the fair office need back — such as the vendors insurance, sales tax forms, and licenses — which Deml says they typically have everything back by the beginning of June.

“If we don’t hear from them by the middle of April we start making calls,” Deml added.

“May is technically our deadline.”

With more than 300,000 people attending the Steele County Free Fair each year, the economic impact it brings to the area is roughly $10 million. While the fair week is the pride and joy of Steele County, it takes an army of people working hard all year long to put together the largest county fair.

their booths - Elmer (Reseland, the one-time manager of the fair) used to ask for their booth measurements to the inch from hitch to bumper — all the little things.”

“We are looking at a waiting list for inside vendors,” Klein added, noting that this is the first time that she can recall in her 19 years at the fair office that this event has occurred.

“We get called about it every day.”

Needless to say, from signing entertainment contracts to getting vendors situated to soliciting sponsorships, the office is the true backbone of the fair not only during fair The mailer process is just one of many week but during any week of the year. While motions the office staff and board members Kozelka is full time, Deml and Klein say they goes through when it comes to vendors, put in 20 to 25 hours a week at the office though. Kozelka said that they constantly are during the winter, moving to full time hours in considering the perfect equation to mix things May, and working a “minimum” of 40 hours a up throughout the grounds so that fairgoers week in August. will be exposed to different products.

“I enjoy working here because I get to see “Every other day we are going through new results that make people happy,” Deml said. vendor applications,” Kozelka said. “We “It’s fun, but we have our stress, too.” need to know about their products, about

“It doesn’t matter where you go in the U.S., people know about our fair,” Klein said with pride.

“We work all the time,” laughed Kozelka as the phone rang for the fifth time in less than an hour. “People are always coming into the office, whether it’s for information or to make a payment, and our phones are always ringing no matter what time of the year it is.”

“It’s everyone’s fair and everyone loves being a part of the fair,” he continued. “It gets in your blood and becomes your passion.”

The 2020 Steele County Free Fair is scheduled for Aug. 18 - 23.

Portraits in Steele | Page 12

Todd tosses the puck to wife Connie at an adapted floor hockey game. While officiating, the pair noted that they focus on player safety and communicating constantly with one another. “Whoever is dropping that puck, we’re making sure that we’re looking at the other one. We do a lot of head nods,” explained Connie. She and Todd have been married for 37 years. (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press)

In most cases, ticket sellers are set up at the entrance. Seated close to the action are announcers, scorekeepers and those responsible for running the clock. In some cases, even the officials are area residents who’ve come over straight from work to get the game started.

For adapted floor hockey, these local referees are Connie and Todd Schelling, who’ve been presiding over the court at Owatonna Middle School for years.

“I’ve been officiating lacrosse and floor hockey for about 15 years,” recalled Todd.

“I started when Owatonna was a club team in lacrosse and then got into doing adapted floor hockey with several different partners.

About five years ago, Connie got certified and has been doing it with me ever since.”

After 37 years of marriage, he added that they’ve become pretty dialed in and communicate across the floor with non-verbal signals. Connie joked that it’s a lot of head nods or shakes, and that whoever is dropping the puck is always making eye contact to see where their partner is at.

“You can have a really crazy, mixed-up day and rush out of here to get there on time, and you see the kids and they’re all smiling at you and it just makes it worthwhile. It’s a good feeling,” she explained.

In order to officiate the sport year to year, the Schellings have to take an annual test and are also expected to know all of the rules of ice hockey — which Todd said had a bit of a learning curve for someone who’d never played the sport.

At the same time that the Schellings are heading over to the middle school for adapted floor hockey, fellow game helper Tony Schwichtenberg is often on his way to the rink to get ready for ice hockey.

Announcing ... on ice

Then I’m usually taking notes or writing the starting line-ups or getting stuff prepared,” he explained. “I’ve got it down to about half an hour of prep time for a game, and I try to do it either the night before or early that morning. I have a day job and I don’t want to wait until 4 p.m. and then get a phone call and be trying to do two things at once.”

A lot of the preparation for Schwichtenberg involves getting his game script in order. This includes pre-game announcements, starting line-ups and information about upcoming matches, among other things. During play, Schwichtenberg serves as the in-arena he’s responsible for letting the audience know announcer for boys and girls home events, which player scored when there’s a goal, When it comes to getting to the 4:30 p.m. warming up with the JV match up and then information he gets in the box from officials games on time, Connie added that both of their daytime employers help make it possible staying on to present the starting line-ups and as they skate by. call the goals for each varsity game. and — despite the occasional double shifts Because he’s worked games now for roughly — seeing the players always makes for a “I’m pretty much in game mode until 9 p.m., a decade, starting with scoring and then rewarding evening. except for intermissions and things like that. moving in to announcing a few years later,

Portraits in Steele | Page 14 gymnastics, basketball, cross country and track and field — where she acts as site manager for both middle and high school events.

“Nobody can run a meet like she can. She can make a five-hour junior high meet take three hours,” laughed Jeff.

Sandy added that older students will often help run the middle school meets.

Additionally, when she and Jeff work the scoring table for basketball games, junior and varsity players will do the work for the B-squad game.

“That’s a good experience for them, and that’s a skill. When you go to college, you need a job. I always tell the gymnasts to take the test and get some judging jobs,” added Sandy, “and we talk to them if they have questions.”

In helping start up the gymnastics program 50 years ago, Sandy added she and her team had also needed help learning how to run competitions.

“No one knew how to officiate gymnastics, so I had four people that I trained in and taught them how to judge two events each so we could have our gymnastics meets at home,” she recalled. “The colleges were really good about providing opportunities for us to learn more about athletics and how to operate athletics and how to coach.”

Sandy noted that universities helping get girls’ high school athletics off the ground was a win-win, creating a better recruiting pool at the college level, as well. Today, she added that additional responsibilities have necessitated more people working each game.

Todd Schelling keeps his eye on the puck at a recent adapted floor hockey game at Owatonna Middle School. Both Todd and his wife, Connie, have been officiating the team’s home games for years. After leaving work to get over to the 4:30 p.m. match-ups, Connie noted that the players’ greetings and enthusiasm for the game always make refereeing a nice way to spend an hour. (People’s Press file photo)

“I used to do it all — I’d do the scorebook, the clock and the announcing. Now we have a new scoreboard where we put up the statistics, like the aces and kills in volleyball.

Then, they started the libero — that’s a back row player that has to be tracked when they go in and out,” she explained. “Now, there are three of us that sit at the table, and I just do the scorebook and the announcing.”

Schwichtenberg had a similar story for how he initially got involved — in both cases, their kids had left the house and they had more free time. For Mundale, she said she also missed being around the school and attending home games, something she had done frequently when her own kids were in sports.

‘It’s something I missed being around’ One of Sandy’s newer helpers is Amy Mundale, who has taken over the role of keeping tabs on the libero at home games. Unlike many parents, who Sandy said volunteer often when their children are in sports but don’t always stay on after graduation, Mundale got started after her own kids had left the district.

“I missed going to all the events, and having those relationships with parents and coaches,” she explained. “I was an athlete when I was in high school, my kids were involved in sports,and it’s something I missed being around.”

As a graduate of Owatonna High School, Mundale added that it can be fun catching up with former classmates at the games, in addition to welcoming visitors who have never been to town before. She added that she’s even gotten some friends to start

helping out with her at events — especially selling tickets at football games, where there are usually a couple people working each table.

“With all sports, there’s a focus on any contact above the shoulders,” noted Todd.

“That’s one of the biggest things we look out for, making sure everybody’s playing safe.”

When she’s working admission, Mundale said she typically arrives an hour beforehand because that’s when attendees start showing up. When she’s helping with volleyball, or running the triple jump at track meets, she added that there will often be a meeting with referees before the game to get everyone on the same page.

Once everything is in place, the Schellings drop the puck, Schwichtenberg announces the starting line-up, Von Ruden takes up his position along the sidelines, Mundale keeps her eye on the libero and the Bosses get ready to host as efficient a track or crosscountry meet as possible — doing it all, everyone explained, for the love of the game.

“Everybody has a different way of doing things,” she explained.

For the Schellings, they said they’ll also meet with students before the game to go over safety precautions, with concussions being one of the primary focuses.

Page 13 | Portraits in Steele 2020 Schwichtenberg said referees know they can Shortly after starting, Von Ruden was also rattle off a string of numbers and he’ll be able able to get his two brothers involved. While to decipher it. his siblings left the game in the early 2000s, he added that now his nephew has taken “They know that we’ve got our stuff together. their place — making the chain gang a family They just do the signals, fly by the box and affair. give us whatever the call is,” he explained.

“My brothers and I always just enjoyed With so much going on, including not only being there. To us, it was the best seat in the announcing but also queuing up music and stadium. We were right there. You hear a lot, updating live scoring for those following you see a lot. You’re right there in the action,” along online, he added that the helpers he explained. “Although, I’ve always trained working in the box don’t actually watch much whoever comes on that we as the chain gang of the game. are a part of the officials. We can’t sit there and cheer on the home team.”

Although he said he’s gotten used to it now, when he was first starting out he recalled a Another occasional requirement of working vivid nightmare where he couldn’t find the the sideline is quick feet, as Von Ruden said right CD — when the players took the ice for he and his crew will often have to hustle down the lineup, the lights went down and he had to the other end of the field when a team no music or script. makes a long play.

“Now I still get energized, but I’d say it’s not as nerve-wracking,” he laughed.

In addition to himself, Schwichtenberg estimated that there are roughly a dozen adults total assisting at any given game.

“I’d say hockey is right in the middle, and I’d say basketball is pretty similar — I fill in there once in a while,” he added. “Football is the big one because you have multiple people in the press box, a clock operator, announcer, spotter, multiple ticket gates with two people each, three site managers. And football is in the spotlight, too — everybody goes to football games.”

Sixty years on the sidelines

“We get a good workout every once in a while,” he laughed. “If they take these long runs, we’ve got to hurry up and get down to the other end.”

He jokes that this is maybe one of the reasons the process had stayed pretty much the same since he started working on the chain gang all those years ago.

“It’s something that they haven’t been able to automate yet — unless they get robots going down the field! And that might take a little while,” he joked.

For now, Von Ruden plans on returning next fall. “All these years, I’ve really enjoyed it and hopefully I have some more years yet,” he explained.

Despite the crowd, longtime football volunteer Fred Von Ruden said he always gets ‘Nobody can run a meet the best seat in the house. The Owatonna like she can’ High School alum has been helping out at games for nearly 60 years, coming right back onto the field as a volunteer only a few years Like Von Ruden, Jeff and Sandy Boss have also been around the district for decades — after graduating in 1956. the pair started teaching in 1968 and 1969, respectively. Now, Sandy continues to help “I enjoyed going up there and giving back out with many of the sports that she helped to the school,” he explained. “I was in three launch for girls in the district following the different sports when I was in high school. I passage of Title IX. was in football, wrestling and baseball.”

Von Ruden added that he initially started helping out at games working the clock at wrestling matches in 1959, a couple years later then-Athletic Director Earl Bruhn put him on the football team’s chain gang.

“I was hired to be a gymnastics coach, and that was really the first girls sport. But right away we started some wheels turning and got more going,” she explained. “I also coached track, and actually the first state meet was in 1972 — that was the first state tournament for girls in track and field.”

For the nearly six decades since, Von Ruden has been helping mark first downs, holding up the posts and running the 10-yard chain up and down the field to help players and officials know where the ball needs to get.

Although Sandy retired from coaching and from her career as a middle school physical education teacher more than a decade ago, she continues to help with volleyball,

Continued on next page

Fred Von Ruden has been part of the chain gang at Owatonna High School football games for nearly 60 years. Initially marking downs with his two brothers, Von Ruden has more recently worked the sidelines with his nephew. Before graduating from OHS in 1956, Von Ruden was a three-sport athlete, competing in football, wrestling and baseball. On his reason for coming back to help out with games, he explained, “I enjoyed going up there and giving back to the school.” (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press)

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Straight River Days, from the parade to the street dance, is the one weekend a year where the streets of Medford truly come alive. Everyone in the small community participates, including Mayor Lois Nelson. (People’s Press file photo)

It takes a village to put together Straight River Days

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The Medford Straight River Days is the annual community celebration for the county’s oldest

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The Medford Fire Department 5K run/walk takes place on the Saturday morning of Straight River Days, always drawing a large crowd of both runners and walkers. Funds raised through the registration are used to give back to the community and to purchase new gear and equipment. (People’s Press file photo) town, always celebrated in June to help kick off the summer.

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The event was first celebrated in 1971, and due to its abundant resource was almost called “Gravel Days.” The first Straight River Days event served as the celebration of the opening of the new wastewater treatment facility and included a parade, a carnival, canoe derby, street dance, and the Miss Medford Beauty Pageant.

Historically, the local civic club and women’s group spearheaded Straight River Days. Over the years the landscape of this celebrated weekend changed due to several factors, including club membership decline, decrease in sponsorships, and the added complexity of successful implementation of such an event.

Eventually it finally dwindled down to feature only the parade.

In 2015, a small group exhibiting nostalgia for the “good ol’ days” decided to take action and joined the existing Civic Club to see how they could help regain the glory of Medford Straight River Days. With some trial and error, along with some extraordinary support from the community, Straight River Days now spans over the weekend and consists of more than 20 events appealing to all ages. The Civic Club has grown from just a handful of people to 20-plus full-time members and even more part-time supporters.

Come the weekend of the event, the streets of Medford fill and overflow with residents and visitors. The entire three days is packed with events from bean bag tournaments, medallion hunts, garage sales, live music, car shows, bingo, volleyball, and more. Straight River Days is always kicked off by the parade and is concluded with the Muni Street Dance.

Well-oiled machine Though thousands of people, including visitors from surrounding communities, take part and enjoy Straight River Days, few are aware of the practically year-round effort it takes to make the weekend a success. On a cold winter night in February, members of the Civic Club gathered in the corner of the Medford Muni, running an assembly line of stuffing envelopes to seek out donations, sponsorships, and parade entries.

“It is always on our minds,” said Erin Sammon, the president of the Civic Club.

“We are constantly trying to think of where we go next, how we can change it and what we can do new.”

Though the group is always trying to figure out their next move, including running a Facebook page for people to throw out ideas and ask questions, Sammon said that come January is when they really start to crack down on the planning.

P f

Page 17 | Portraits in Steele 2020

Pat Merritt, a former Medford mayor and Medford Civic Club member, rides on a kiddy tractor during a Mayor Challenge in the 1990s. The event is no longer part of Straight River Days in Medford for now. (People’s Press file photo) “It’s a well-oiled machine at this point,” she added.

“It’s not really stressful at all anymore,” laughed Tonya Miller, the club’s vice president.

The Civic Club currently has 21 members that put together all the events, including the Easter egg hunt, a chili feed, and a special

Santa event over the winter holidays, but it is all hands on deck when it comes to Straight River Days. Sammon stated that most of the members don’t actually live in Medford, but have ties back to the community.

Because they try to keep their events free — or as free as possible — the Civic Club depends entirely on donations. According to club members, though, that hasn’t been much

of a problem as the community of Medford is in full support of the events they host.

“Getting people to sign up for events is probably the most stressful part,” Sammon stated. “We put in a lot of time, so it makes it kind of a personal bummer when there isn’t any participation.”

“I don’t think people realize the amount of time that is spent volunteering, soliciting donations, picking up prizes,” she continued.

“Another hindrance is that we don’t have an inside location for large events, so if it’s storming, it’s cancelled. It’s just hard when you spend months of life on this and it doesn’t happen.”

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Bringing things back Because Straight River Days is the big weekend that everyone in Medford looks forward to each year, Sammon said that they try to shake things up and try new things.

Sometimes those things flop — like the year they tried a kickball tournament or the time they tried to do pool olympics — but other times they have found great success, such as the Medallion Hunt.

“It was meant to be this explore Medford, scavenger and selfie hunt,” Sammon explained. “It was very successful. We could do more things like that if we had more help.

We are spread pretty thin.”

The Miss Medford Pageant also appears to be a success in the community, but Miller states that it can be hard to pull off a pageant in a small town because the ages tend to be a bit uneven. Some years they are only able to feature a couple of the age groups, such as Little Miss or Tiny Miss, depending on the participation, but the pageant itself always draws a crowd.

The Miss Medford Pageant is going on it’s seventh consecutive year in 2020 - though technically it will be the eighth pageant. The first Miss Medford Pageant took place in 1972, where Marie Gallagher was crowned.

In 2014 the pageant was brought back, crowning Jessi Deering as Miss Medford and Bailey DuChene as Junior Miss Medford.

“Six years ago the only thing that happened was the parade,” Sammon said. “So we started small on deciding what to do and what to bring back. We started the car show, brought back the bean bag tournament and volleyball, and brought back Miss Medford.”

One of the most exciting new elements for the Civic Club this year — though most people will never notice or think twice about it — is that the 2020 Straight River Days will be the first big event the club can write off as a tax expense. In September 2019, the club officially became a 501(3)c non-profit organization, a process that has taken them more than six years to achieve.

“A lot of places won’t donate to you unless you are a non-profit,” Sammon explained.

“This makes a huge impact when it comes to getting candy from Walmart or getting a professional sports team to donate to an auction.”

Community involvement

The Miss Medford Pageant took a 42-year hiatus after crowning Marie Gallagher in 1972, but the current organizers of Straight River Days resurrected the event in 2014. Since then, it has been up and down in terms of participation numbers, but the 2019 pageant was able to crown a winner in every category. (People’s Press file photo) River Days a success, Sammon said that they rely heavily on volunteers. She joked that as most of the club members are women, they usually can reel in a couple husbands for some “literal man power.”

“Honestly, the closer we get the more we need volunteers and know what we need volunteers for,” said club member Andrea Jones.

Though it takes hours, days, weeks, months, and basically the entire year to plan this one quick weekend in Medford, Sammon and the rest of the Civic Club enveloping-stuffing crew all agreed that they wouldn’t have it any other way, simply because they believe in the purpose of Straight River Days.

“I have a 5-year-old daughter,” Sammon said. “I want her to have the same summer experiences I had in the ‘80s and ‘90s in Medford.”

“I didn’t want to see it just be done,” Miller added.

Royalty from the Miss Medford contest wave to the crowd during the 2019 Straight River Days Parade Not all the Civic Club members grew up in in Medford. The parade is the longest standing tradition for the town’s annual celebration, being the Medford, however.

When Grace Bartlett, a While the members of the Civic Club do a lot only event that took place for a number of years. member of the Medford City Council, moved of the grunt work year-round to make Straight to town with her husband a few years back,

Page 19 | Portraits in Steele 2020

The Duck Pluck is one of the now-longstanding traditions of Straight River Days. In it’s height, 500 rubber duckies were dumped into the Straight River and people could “pluck a duck” for $5 a piece. Prizes were written on the bottom of the ducks, ranging anywhere from $20 to $300.

The Duck Pluck now takes place in the Medford Pool due to a variety of reasons, including safety.

(People’s Press file photo)

she joined the group as a way to connect to others in her new environment.

“It was a way to meet people at first,” Bartlett admits. “Now it continues to be a way for me to participate in community involvement.”

Jones echoed Bartlett on the community involvement piece, stating that she wanted to e set a positive example for her children.

“I want to give back to my community and have both my daughters see volunteering as a good thing,” she explained. “And they can see that you can have fun doing it.”

The 49th annual Straight River Days in Medford is scheduled for June 17-20, 2020.

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Portraits in Steele | Page 20

The Owatonna High School Marching Band performs exhibition at the 2016 Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival. Now in its 11th year, the parade brings in roughly a dozen schools from across the state to show off their routines. (Press file photo)

Board members each do their e d i v Dai nd part to help Harry Wenger conquer: Marching Band Festival play on

By BRIDGET KRANZ bkranz@owatonna.com

“I’m president,” explained Leslea Partridge, of her role with the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival, “and I’m in charge of all things related to food — and other ancillary duties as may be assigned.”

Laughing, she added, “Our titles don’t necessarily say what our job duties are.”

Fellow organizer John Degner, who’s in charge of fundraising for the event, nodded in agreement. On the seven-member board, everyone has at least one area of the marching band competition that they take the lead on, but — as Degner noted — something always comes up.

When it’s showtime for the festival in June, and nearly 1,400 participants arrive in town simultaneously, Partridge said it’s important to trust that these individual responsibilities have been looked after.

“Our jobs have to dovetail,” she noted.

“During the day, somebody’s working with

Page 21 | Portraits in Steele 2020 the judges to make sure that everything gets tabulated. Then, they take them over to the First Baptist Church where I’ve arranged for the ladies there to provide lunch.”

Under a tent close to the judges’ table, Partridge has also coordinated with corporate sponsor Hy-Vee to have over 1,000 sandwiches and bags of chips waiting for the high school performers once they’re done marching the parade route and getting graded on their routine.

After coordinating the food delivery, Partridge then relies on a team of volunteers from the Music Boosters of Owatonna to help set up and serve the participants’ lunch, just as she relies on the women at First Baptist to provide a meal for the judges.

“That’s a piece I don’t have to worry about it. I just have to say, ‘Are you on board?’

And they say, ‘Yep, we got it,’” Partridge explained.

Welcoming visitors Now in its 11th year, the competition filled up its dozen slots within minutes of opening registration to schools on Dec. 1. When it comes to how the festival has grown so popular, both Partridge and Degner credit the number of volunteers and the effort that the whole Owatonna community puts into making the guests feel at home.

In addition to sharing a meal, there are also volunteers passing out water, people walking with the marchers to ensure proper pacing and a number of band hosts that stay with visiting ensembles from the moment they get to town to the moment they leave.

Leslea Partridge, left, has been on the board of the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival since its inaugural run in 2010. In addition to acting as president, she is also in charge of coordinating food for donors, participants and judges, and other tasks as they arise. A more recent addition, John Degner heads up fundraising for the event, checking in with sponsors and patrons throughout the year to see who’s still on board and try to get new donors involved. (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press)

Checking in with last year’s donors

Before the sandwiches are served or the hosts meet with their charges for the day, Partridge, Degner and the entire board will have already been working for over nine months getting “That’s one of the things that has made our everything in place for the big day. As festival extra special,” noted Partridge. “We try to have two hosts per band. If a kid forgets overseer of fundraising for the event, Degner has the important job of checking in to see their instrument or they need a new reed, if last year’s sponsors and patrons are still on that host has contacts that we’ve set up for getting another instrument or getting a piece board, while also thinking outside of the box to try and get new funders involved. of equipment repaired right that minute. If there’s an emergency, that host is the one that “I’m working heavily with Tri M Graphics and asks questions and helps calm [participants’] the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce nerves.”

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and Tourism right now for the corporate sponsorship mailings,” he noted. “Then, in April we’ll start with the patrons — the general public that has supported us.”

Both Degner and Partridge explained that, even after 10 years, it’s important to take initiative and start checking in early on funders from the previous year.

Having granted approval for the use of Harry Wenger’s name in the festival’s title, the Wenger Foundation continues to be a significant donor to the competition — and one that the board is always sure to get in touch with by early fall.

“We get on that right away, because they only meet at certain times of year and they make their contribution decisions at a certain point. You have to get to them early,” said Partridge.

“They also expect us on our end to get patrons and business sponsors, because they want to see that this is a community thing.

Their own business, Wenger Corporation, has become a sponsor of the festival as well.”

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Portraits in Steele | Page 22

Dassel-Cokato band members take a knee during their 2017 performance of “Night on Bald Mountain.” Festival organizers typically try to assign two parade hosts for each visiting ensemble. These community volunteers help welcome students to Owatonna, and are able to quickly contact the right people in the event of a broken instrument, missing reed or emergency. (Press file photo) Degner added that the company typically donates a piece of equipment or similar inkind gift for one of the bands in the festival.

With music departments often running tight on money, Degner added that this can often make a significant impact on a program.

The festival also offers stipends as awards for participants based on performance — something they also have to secure funding for as soon as possible in the annual planning process.

Planning for continuation … and contingencies As board members prepare year to year, often starting in September, they’re able to rely on annual checklists and chronological guides

to help them stay on track throughout the planning process. Partridge, who was a board member when the event started in 2010, attributed these organizational foundations to the leadership of former festival director Kim Cosens.

“As we started figuring out all the things that had to be done, we started making flow charts and lists of job responsibilities. That has been a key piece in order for us to be able to continue what we’re doing as a board,” explained Partridge. “We’ve seen festivals go by the wayside because they haven’t put plans in place for continuation and how to do that.”

Now, the current president is the only remaining original board member. After nearly a decade of service helping organize the festival, Degner said it was time for many to step down. He added that he got involved in part because his children went through the band program in the Owatonna Public Schools. Partridge had similar reasons for coming on board.

“If I’m going to end my time on the board, I have to announce that I’m going to be done at our July meeting after this year’s festival.

Then, we would need to find somebody to replace me and the next year, I’d do my work with that replacement shadowing me,” explained Partridge. “Then the following year, I’d shadow that replacement as they do what I did.”

“I never thought I’d be a band parent geek, because I was an orchestra person,” she laughed. Degner added that he had been in choir.

Effectively, this means that old board members give two years’ notice and new board members get two years of training before starting on their own. While Partridge said a lot of what has to be done might be common sense, it’s still a complex process with a lot of moving parts — going by intuition alone, she noted, a ball would almost surely be dropped.

As Degner was getting trained on, he relied on another guideline aimed at continuity that had been put into the agreement when the board was founded.

Page 23 | Portraits in Steele 2020 Even with the best laid plans, Partridge added that it’s always important to have contingencies in place. With the marching band festival, back-up plans have also been passed down year-to-year. For example, the president already has the United Methodist Church rented out the day of the competition for the patron brunch.

If all goes according to plan, the community donors will be able to eat under a tent near the judges’ zone. However, if there’s a storm either before or during the event, it’ll be easy enough to get in touch with Hy-Vee and ask them to move the catering order into the church.

While Partridge noted that weather has never caused the festival to be cancelled, it has led to a couple close calls. One year, it was storming until 6 a.m., with the marchers scheduled to arrive just hours later. Another year, the thunder rolled in just as the Owatonna High School ensemble finished the parade route.

When there was lightning before the event, Partridge noted that the brunch still had to be moved indoors because it would have been impossible for people to safely set up the tent. Although she and her team organize and host the festival, she added that it’s ultimately the judges’ call whether or not to cancel the event.

“That’s the way the judges do it, it’s always their decision. They come from a judges’ organization called TriState Judging,” she explained. “They arrange which judges are going to come here. We don’t have to do anything about that.”

‘We’re going to do it well’

With over 1,000 participants arriving in Owatonna for the festival, organizers rely on community volunteers and each other to have the number of necessary moving parts in place. Hy-Vee provides lunch for marchers and patrons, while church groups help out with speciality brunches and other refreshments along the parade route. Pictured here, a member of the Owatonna High School Color Guard performs during the 2017 Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival. (Press file photo)

“Everybody takes responsibility for their area, and they do it. That’s why it’s been a very pleasurable experience to be on this board for 11-plus years,” she explained. “It’s a really fun board.”

She added that, although the group has seven members right now, it could comfortably get up to 10 organizers. Laughing, she and Degner noted that they could always find something for someone to do. While she noted that it takes a lot of volunteers and a dedicated board to make the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival happen year-to-year, she also added that the history of the city has contributed to making the event a success.

Once all participating bands have made their way down the parade route, running from near Trinity Lutheran Church into the heart of downtown, participants change out of their uniforms, have lunch in Owatonna and are ready to hit the road. With the marchers starting at 11 a.m., Partridge challenged anyone passing by to look around Central Park at around 3 p.m. on the day of the festival.

“Owatonna has a tradition of excellence in music. I saw it when I was growing up here,” “Watch what’s going on at 3 p.m. that day,” said Partridge. “Part of that is what makes she said. “Nothing. I would say usually by 3 or this work here in our town. We’re going to do 3:30 p.m. at the latest, all you’ll see is garbage music and we’re going to do it well.” cans in Central Park and maybe a few people sitting on the benches.”

A few months after one year’s festival is done, it’s time for the board to again start preparations for the next event. When asked what’s kept her involved for over a decade, Partridge explained that a large part of it has been her fellow organizers.

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State Sen. John Jasinski (third from left) is joined by Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, Minnesota state representatives, MnDOT personnel and members of the upcoming construction project for the Highway 14 expansion project groundbreaking ceremony. The event took place in Claremont in November. (People’s Press file photo)

The Journey Down Highway 14

By ANNIE GRANLUND agranlund@owatonna.com

It’s been more than 60 years in the works, but the people of southern Minnesota can finally celebrate their victory in the expansion of one of the last remaining two-lane sections of Highway 14.

In May 2018, a group of legislators largely from southern Minnesota gathered at AlCorn Clean Fuel in Claremont and sprayed champagne all over the conference room table as they laughed and cheered about the funding they recently secured to expand 13

miles of what many consider to be one of the deadliest roads in the state.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am and what this means for Highway 14 in District 24 and throughout southern Minnesota,”

Page 25 | Portraits in Steele 2020

said Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, whose district includes the stretch of highway from Owatonna to Dodge Center and who has been undoubtedly one of the loudest voices during the past two years in securing funding for the project. “I never knew if it was ever going to come to reality or not.”

While the expansion of Highway 14 from two lanes to four has been a hot topic for several decades, it was in the spring of 2018 that a new fire seemed to be lit under the feet of local legislators, residents, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The year prior, Jasinski authored a bill that provided more transparency to the selection process funded by Corridors of Commerce, as well as implementing scoring mechanisms and regional balance between the metro and outstate Minnesota.

Jasinski

Walz

A ‘kick in the teeth’ One month before the funding was secured for the 13-mile stretch of Highway 14 between Owatonna and Dodge Center, MnDOT awarded a total of $417 million to four projects as a part of the Corridors of Commerce program. While the sum of money seemed large enough to spread around, the announcement preceded disappointment heard throughout the state, specifically the areas along Highway 14. The locations of the four projects who received the Corridors of Commerce funding that year included Elk River, Albertville, and two other projects in the metro district, making all four projects selected within 40 miles of downtown Minneapolis.

“It’s a kick in the teeth for Greater Minnesota,” said Kevin Raney, the vice president of the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership and a member of Owatonna City Council, the day following MnDOT’s announcement in 2018. “I don’t know how MnDOT can spin it that this is good for Greater Minnesota.

Clearly Greater Minnesota lost today.”

Jasinski agreed with Raney’s statements, adding that MnDOT interpreted his bill that called for transparency and regional balance in a way that still heavily favored the metro area of the state. Other prominent leaders throughout Minnesota echoed Jasinski and Raney further in agreement.

The new four-lanes of Highway 14 will run parallel to the Canadian Pacific Railroad on the south side. (Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation) Raney

Jasinski made it well known, however, that what he considered to be a mistake by the Corridors of Commerce program wasn’t going to discourage him, reiterating that Highway 14 was his priority and would remain as such until the expansion to four-lanes was complete.

Steele County Free Fair August 18-23

Getting done because of collaboration He became one step closer to his goal less than a month later when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bonding bill which included complete funding for the expansion of Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center, a nearly $108 million construction project.

Rep. John Petersburg, R-Waseca, whose district also includes Owatonna and whom Jasinski credits for being his partner in the “Corridors of Commerce was clearly House in pushing Highway 14 forward, designed to be a statewide program aimed at stated that Highway 14 will become the connecting regional corridors to one another only four-lane corridor that will go between and to the metro area,” said Dave Smiglewski, metropolitan areas in the state that doesn’t the then-president of the Coalition of Greater also cross the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Minnesota Cities, in a statement. “There is making it all the more crucial for southern far more to Minnesota than a 40-mile radius Minnesota’s safety, infrastructure, and around U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, but economy. you certainly wouldn’t know that from looking at the 2018 awards.”

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a Plenty in

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Portraits in Steele | Page 26

More than a year after the funding was secured by the state, the ground was broken and the project of expanding the 13-miles of Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center from two-lanes to four officially began on Nov. 1. The ceremonial groundbreaking was attended by an elite mix of people who have long supported the campaign, including a wide variety of politicians such as Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, and Gov. Tim Walz. Walz represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District for 12 years before being elected as governor in 2018 and was a strong advocate from Washington, D.C. in the Highway 14 expansion efforts.

“Mayor Tom Kuntz and I were just reminiscing with Sen. Jasinski that it feels like we’ve raised our children since being on this issue,” Walz said during the groundbreaking ceremony in November, which took place in Claremont alongside the highway where the four lanes currently merge into two. “This has gone on for decades and it is a testament to the mayors along this corridor and the Highway 14 Coalition.”

“It speaks to the strong voice that southern Minnesota has, the importance of this part of this state to our state’s entire economy, and an understanding that this is economic growth, that the major employers who are supportive of this project have been there all the way,” Walz continued. “This highway is getting done and it’s getting done because of collaboration.”

Celebrating the funding for the Highway 14 expansion in May 2018 were, from left to right, Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester; Rep. John Petersburg, R-Waseca; Rep. Brian Daniels, R-Faribault; Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson; Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault; Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester; Kevin Raney, vice-chair of the Highway 14 Partnership and Owatonna City Councilor; and Rep. Dave Quam, R-Byron. (Press file photo)

Economic growth, safety The impact the expansion will have on area industries, businesses, and the overall economy was one of the main reasons many believed the project was a shoo-in for the 2018 Corridors of Commerce funding.

Raney stated that every time progress has been made on Highway 14 in the past that economic growth followed quickly.

“Owatonna and surrounding communities have seen industrial growth in recent years, but we’ve only just started to scratch at our potential,” Raney explained. “Highway 14’s dangerous, inefficient stretch has been one of the things holding us back.”

sections of Highway 14 took top priority for those advocating for the completion of the expansion.

“We need to remember the people we have lost on this highway - I think there are 190-some deaths and thousands of injuries,” said Jasinski. “It’s emotion for those families that have lost their loved ones and it’s very emotional to me. I went to a couple of those funerals. I wish we could have done this earlier, but I am super-excited to actually see it get underway.”

Since the announcement of the Highway 14 expansion, millions of dollars worth of capital The final piece investment projects have been approved in Owatonna. Some of the projects will bring big Though the Owatonna to Dodge Center stretch of road is a victory for Jasinski — with production companies to the city, including the Senator noting that it may very well Costco, Minimizer, and Rise Modular. become the legacy of his entire political career — he has acknowledged since the Aside from economic growth, the safety signing of the 2018 bonding bill that the issues revolving around the two-lane

job isn’t complete until all of Highway 14 is expanded to four-lanes. The last remaining portion of Highway 14 that is yet to have the expansion securely funded is the 12mile section from New Ulm to Nicollet. The estimated cost of that expansion is up to $117 million.

In February 2020, Walz and a collection of other decision-makers visited Nicollet to announce a plan to move forward for widening that last remaining stretch of the throughway.

“The issue goes far beyond just the economics or the theoretical about transportation,” Walz said during his announcement. “This dangerous, tragic stretch of road has impacted countless families.”

The plan, as announced, is to take out a loan for $36 million — equal to 49% of the

now-estimated $92.7 million project total — from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA). The remaining cost could be mostly funded by a separate Rebuilding American grant for up to $50 million. If the grants come through, MnDOT may reduce or rescind the federal loan.

The state is committed to funding the remainder of the loan regardless of being awarded the grant, according to MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Nicollet County has also committed to $3.5 million to the project to fill whatever gap is left after the federal loan.

The loan from the federal TIFIA program comes at a very low 1.2-1.3% interest rate.

Legislation will be needed to establish a separate special revenue account for nondedicated transportation funds. MnDOT is expecting to close on the federal loan in

Page 27 | Portraits in Steele 2020 six-to-nine months, which would enable the project to break ground in fall 2021 with construction following the next one or two years.

As legislators, advocates, and citizens wait to learn the fate of the remaining portion of Highway 14, MnDOT officially began the construction of the Owatonna to Dodge Center portion in January 2020. Despite the winter weather, construction crews began clearing brush and trees along what will be the new route of the soon-to-be-four-lane highway.

“In Minnesota, we never know when spring will finally be here and winter will be gone, so we usually have to play it a little by ear as to when weather will make it such so that the real construction can begin,” explained Mike Dougherty, the public affairs coordinator for MnDOT District 6. “This is one of those things where we can get everything prepped in advance that will eventually help us down the road.”

Shafer Contracting of Shafer, Minnesota, won the bidding and was ultimately awarded the $107,997,119 construction contract for the highway expansion project. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2022. Traffic on the new Highway 14 route is expected in 2021.

Gov. Tim Walz was joined by a number of local legislators, mayors, commissioners and advocates in announcing a plan to fund the four-lane expansion of Hwy. 14 from Nicollet to New Ulm in February at the Nicollet Fire Department hall. (People’s Press file photo)

Sen. John Jasinski (R-Faribault) celebrates the beginning of the Highway 14 expansion project after honoring all those who have died in accidents on the corridor throughout the years. (People’s Press file photo)

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Portraits in Steele | Page 28

Although that may not be Blooming Prairie in the background, it is the city’s 2019 police officers lined up in the front of a team photo slightly altered by the agency. From left: Chief Greg Skillestad, Rick Ellingson, Craig Helgeson, Corporal Jake Peterson, Sergeant Mark Lang, Matt Miller, Shane St. John, Aaron Friesen and Dan Peach. (Photo courtesy of the Blooming Prairie Police Department)

Unique situation informs coverage, outreach for Blooming Prairie Police Department

By BRIDGET KRANZ bkranz@owatonna.com

Around Christmastime, Blooming Prairie Police Department Chief Greg Skillestad takes on another role — Santa Claus. Holding court in the city council chambers, he and fellow officers help pass out sweets and meet with

area families during the agency’s Holiday Open House.

Having just celebrated its fourth year, the event used to take place within the

department itself before it outgrew the space — with decorations so dense they even became somewhat of a hazard to those on duty.

Page 29 | Portraits in Steele 2020 “I would walk through the door and, if I were working that night, I would literally run into things,” recalled Sgt. Mark Lang, who has been with the department now for 20 years.

“We’d have people come through the front door and want to make a report, and they’d be hitting their heads on paper streamers,” agreed Skillestad. “That was all because of Officer Dan Peach. He loves Christmas — I love Christmas, but he loves it more than anybody I know.”

During the warmer months, Skillestad said the agency also started up a National Night Out gathering four years back. Established by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984, the country-wide campaign has now become a recent tradition each August at Blooming Prairie’s Central Park.

Serving hot dogs and sandwiches to community members, Skillestad explained that the money for the event comes out of officers’ pockets, with staff chipping in to help fund the local get-together. Because of a recent rule change, he added that his department is now able to solicit for funds specifically for National Night Out, although so far the agency hasn’t opted to do so.

Like the annual Christmas gathering, Skillestad said being able to meet with residents for holidays and around town has helped make his job easier when there is a crisis to respond to. While he joked that many residents may not want to see him outside of these more celebratory gatherings, when they’re put in that situation, it can be nice to see a familiar face at the door.

Police Chief Greg Skillestad came to the department five years ago after working with the Steele County Sheriff’s Office. In the last few years, he and his officers have helped start up annual community events like the agency’s Holiday Open House and National Night Out in Central Park each August. (Bridget Kranz/People’s Press) Having a physical presence in town, with the department located inside the City Hall building, Skillestad said he’ll also often get visits in person from residents having issues.

nearly 2,000 people according to U.S. Census estimates. Medford is a somewhat close third, with roughly 1,300 residents according to the same data.

“When it comes to community policing, we are there … I went and had coffee with some people today and we were able to visit and talk,” said the chief. “When we’re actually going into a scene, we walk in and they can say, ‘Hey, Greg.’”

“For instance, if I were parked outside, if somebody had to talk to me about the dog barking next door — we would have the doorbell here ringing. People are more apt to stop in and see us,” said Skillestad.

When it comes to how or why the Blooming Prairie Police Department became its own entity, neither Lang nor Skillestad can remember. However, they noted that there was a Blooming Prairie police chief who was killed in the line of duty as far back as 1951.

According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, Chief Neil R. Johnson had served with the agency for three years prior.

“They’re more apt to open up and talk with you, even at their worst time,” he added.

Of the municipalities within Steele County, Blooming Prairie is the only one outside of Owatonna to have its own police force. It is also the second largest city in Steele, with

Assisting with mental health, medical calls Now, Skillestad said one of the department’s main focuses is mental health and related calls, adding that these can often overlap with instances of domestic abuse or medical emergencies — which has led the department to look into additional training for its officers.

“Mental illness is something that’s a factor, and we’re mandated by the state to do

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Blooming Prairie Police Officer Dan Peach assists 9-year-old Ashton Little in picking out a winter coat as part of the Salvation Army’s 2016 Shop with a Cop program. (Press file photo) [related] training,” he explained. “A big thing is communication, being able to talk somebody down. If we can go in there and talk to somebody and talk them into coming with us — it’s a whole lot better … it prevents injury to the officer, it prevents injury to the person. Ultimately, there might not be a crime there. They just need help.”

Skillestad added that mental health-related incidents can also often be linked to domestic situations or medical emergencies. “We find that we’re doing a lot of medical calls and assisting the ambulance.”

The prevalence of health-related calls has also led the agency to look into getting staff members certified as emergency medical

technicians. While Blooming Prairie also Maintaining coverage, receiving has an ambulance unit, it consists of strictly outside assistance volunteers. According to Skillestad, this means that on-duty police are still often the first to To this end, he explained that the department arrive on scene for a medical emergency. always has at least one officer on or available, even at night and on weekends.

In coordination with other first responders, Skillestad said his team’s job is also often to “Typically it’s one officer on duty per shift, but secure the scene and make it safe for medics we try to cover 24 hours,” the chief explained. to do their jobs.

“If the officer is not patrolling because that officer needs sleep, they go on call and “We’re in uniform all ready to go — we can they have to respond as fast as they can. be there sometimes within seconds, where it We’re also very thankful to be in this corner, might take minutes for the ambulance. Every where we do have that assistance from other second counts, at times,” said Skillestad. counties.”

Because of Blooming Prairie’s location at the edge of Dodge County, the municipal agency will occasionally get assistance from both the Steele and Dodge County sheriff’s offices.

Skillestad added that Mower and Freeborn counties will also sometimes come in — with the city being almost equidistant to both Owatonna and Austin. Having Highway 218 run right through town means Minnesota State Patrol is also often around.

“We’re very fortunate to be on that corner but, at the same time, we have officers that are working down here and it’s not uncommon for our back-up to be 10 to 15 minutes away.

We’re working alone down here,” added Skillestad.

Portraits in Steele | Page 32

The Steele County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse is featured in most, if not all, the parades throughout the county. Pictured here, Sheriff Lon Thiele rides front and center with his posse during the Ellendale Days Parade. (People’s Press file photo)

The extended arm of local law enforcement

By ANNIE GRANLUND agranlund@owatonna.com

The Steele County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the safety of more than 36,000 citizens across 432 square-miles. The deputies patrol country roads, investigate accidents and crimes, provide security, and do all they can to enhance the safety of the general public under the supervision of Sheriff Lon Thiele, the only elected member of law enforcement in the county.

Though the sheriff’s office is strong and continually improving, in a bustling area like Steele County even the deputies need a little extra help.

This is where the mounted posse and special deputies come into play. The two groups, both of which have been around for

decades, are often put into play during public events and civic functions to best serve the community and keep the public safe.

“We would never be able to provide all the security we need without the posse and special deputies,” Thiele asserted. “They’re an intricate part of our sheriff’s office where they are able to help out with parades,

Page 31 | Portraits in Steele 2020 He also noted that the department still handles its own calls, and for the most part heads up its own investigations — unless something severe like a shooting or death calls for resources from the county or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Unlike other small departments, Skillestad also explained that Blooming Prairie never puts the county or another agency on call which would otherwise mean that, for a period of time, all incidents in the community would be referred directly to the sheriff’s office or another outside department.

In addition to bringing state patrol and a number of traffic-related incidents to town, Blooming Prairie’s location along a busy freeway has contributed to another trend in recent years — an increase in the number of drug-related calls Skillestad said his department is encountering.

“We’re seeing more and more calls because of the drugs that travel to every city — we’re not exempt. We’ve got Highway 218 that parallels Interstate 35 going north and south,” he explained.

‘We’re a small city, but we’re different’ Last year, Skillestad noted that the agency saw roughly 2,500 incidents. Lang said that this number has been stable for the past four or five years and is managed now by four full-time and five part-time officers. For a community the size of Blooming Prairie, both Lang and Skillestad noted this number was unusual — but Lang added that the town is also in a unique situation.

“We’re a small city, but we’re different than a lot of small cities.We have a lot of industries.

We’re a working community — people live here, they work here, they go to school here. A lot of small communities, they don’t have the school system, they don’t have the manufacturing infrastructure, they don’t have the jobs — they’re more bedroom communities,” he explained.

Blooming Prairie Police Officer Dan Peach assists 9-year-old Ashton Little in picking out a winter coat as part of the Salvation Army’s 2016 Shop with a Cop program. (Press file photo) “I’d been here 17 years or so, and had never had a Fourth of July off,” recalled Lang.

“Greg and I were talking one day and he jokingly said, ‘Yeah, you can have the day off.’

I immediately booked an airline ticket to leave town, and I told him I was out of here and he was like, ‘Really? I was kind of kidding.’”

“He deserved it!” laughed Skillestad.

With two schools in town, the chief added that the department also has a working relationship with the district. During the winter, he’ll frequently be on hand to help watch over late starts and, on a more personal level, will “We’re fortunate to be able to bring additional sometimes stop by to eat in the cafeteria. people on so we can cover our vacation and sick days,” added Skillestad. “People look at “We all have kids in school, so it’s not us as a small department and a small city, but uncommon for us to go to school and have some small cities only have one full-time officer lunch and sit with the kids at lunchtime,” and the rest are part-time.” added Lang. “Granted, it may be that we’re sitting with our own kid.”

Again, the chief mentioned the freeway, adding that often, he’ll pull drivers over who “My boy says, ‘I’ll see you at home,’” laughed are commuting from the Twin Cities to Austin Skillestad, “so I’m talking to the other kids, or vice versa. Skillestad also noted that, for the having a cheeseburger.” town’s Independence Day celebration every summer, its population grows exponentially and his staff are all asked to be on duty.

Attendance for the “Old Fashioned Fourth of July” typically brings between 20,000 and 30,000 people to town.

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Page 33 | Portraits in Steele 2020 events, and anywhere that we need an extra eye.”

Mounted Posse The Steele County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse and Auxiliary was first organized in 1966 to assist the sheriff and the communities they serve by providing additional patrolling and mobility in areas of limited access. They represent the sheriff’s office in parades and local celebrations and are often called out by the sheriff to perform duties such as search and rescue, securing crime and accident scenes, and patrolling the Steele County Free Fair, among a variety of other situations.

Joe Schwering, the captain of the posse, has been a part of the group for the last 40 years.

He first was brought in by a friend, but finding that he loved utilizing his horse while serving the community he has stuck with it ever since.

When Sheriff Greg Ringhofer came along, Schwering started providing the horse that the sheriff would use for parades, the fair, and other public appearances — something that he has continued to do for Thiele.

“Focusing particularly on the fair, the posse is crucial,” Thiele added. “When everybody goes home at night they think the fairgrounds is empty, but it’s not. My posse is out there riding all night long preventing any kind of theft or problems from happening.”

There are some special requirements to becoming a member of a sheriff’s mounted posse: being at least 18 years of age, owning your own horse, and having the equipment to get yourself and your horse to where you need to be when called upon for assistance.

All volunteers, the mounted posse in Steele County is made of 25 active and five honorary members. They attend a variety of mandatory trainings, such as CPR and first aid, search and rescue scenarios, and use of force both on the ground and from horseback. Posse members also practice escorting a squad car and escorting a person out of an angry crowd.

Training and experience are important for the Posse’s equine partners as well. They participate in sensory training exercises where the horses are introduced to the unfamiliar obstacles and challenges that are part of the overall Posse experience. Being able to stand firm in the noise and commotion of a crowd or carefully moving one step sideways to avoid a baby stroller or small child is vital - the horses have to do it all. Some of the elements of the training include spraying the horses with a fire hose and learning the sounds of all the first responder and law enforcement vehicles.

“We’ve been on quite a few searches,” Schwering said about some of the situations he has helped with in his 40 years, mentioning widely known missing persons cases in Minnesota such as Jacob Wetterling and Sheri Osborn. “We also provided security at both airplane crashes in the Owatonna area, working 24-hour days for 10 days at the one at “The horses adapt really well to all the the airport providing security.” scenarios,” Schwering said. “It really helps a lot, even if we may run into something Crowd control with horses has proven to be that we don’t go through with the sensory one of the most effective forms, according training, exposing the them to different thing to the Minnesota Sheriff’s Mounted Posse is the whole idea of it. It helps the horses Association, which was established one year notice different things and expect different after the Steele County posse. The use of obstacles.” horses in a crowd also is known to elevate officer safety and be a peaceful way to deGetting the horses exposed to different things escalate tension in a large group of people. is invaluable. The more the horses are exposed to various situations, the better prepared both “You’re higher up, so you can see across the horse and rider will be. crowd and see if a problem arises easier,” Schwering explained. “You can get around The mounted posse is a non-profit quicker, too, and just move rather fast if you organization that maintain a sense of civic have to.” responsibility through local activities, such as wagon trains, directing traffic at the Schwering added that the horses seem Steele-Waseca Electric annual meeting, to naturally calm a large crowd of people, Shop with a Cop where they take a child perhaps because of their large size. He, however, believes it is because of the attention shopping for necessary back-to-school supplies, and participation in the children’s the animals get from the smallest people in safety camp where the goal is to promote a the crowd. positive presence of law enforcement in the community.

“The younger kids just really love the horse,” he laughed. “We make it available so if they The mounted posse hosts fundraising want to they can come up and pet the horse and talk to the horse, and the horses love that, activities, such as an annual pancake breakfast, too. They usually bend their heads down when the Minnesota Sheriff’s Mounted Posse Association wagon train, and the association’s a kid comes and approaches them.” annual convention. Some of the funds

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Posse members and special deputies go through mandatory training every year. Pictured about, members of the mounted posse participate in a defense tactics training. (People’s Press file photo)

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The horses in the mounted posse have to train just the same as their riders in order to be ready for action. Part of their training involves a sensory obstacle course, shown here. (People’s Press file photo) coordinator Les Abraham retired about five years ago. “She has been an absolute asset in making sure that the special deputies are at whatever event they need to be at.

Sometimes that can even mean sitting on a property until law enforcement can get things secured.”

The special deputies also assist the sheriff’s office in providing security in accident and crimes scenes until the investigations are complete. A perfect example of this assistance is the investigation of the 2008 jet plane crash at the Owatonna Airport, which resulted in the death of eight people. The investigation of the incident took many days, requiring special deputies to maintain long shifts for security at the crash site.

They also provide assistance guarding and transporting prisoners when needed, as well as assisting in providing bailiff and jury attendant services at the Steele County Courthouse. Special deputies are not armed, however they have direct radio communication with police officers and sheriff’s deputies if assistance from law enforcement is needed.

“When I have a deputy that needs a day off or is sick, I know that a special deputy is able to step up and help us out with that time off,” Thiele said as another important function the

Members of the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse and Auxiliary of Steele County were inducted into the Steele County Equine Hall of Fame during opening day of the 2016 Steele County Free Fair. The Mounted Posse helps provide security at the fair each year, with even Sheriff Lon Thiele mounting a horse for the week. (People’s Press file photo)

group serves. “It’s about making sure the public has that sense of security at all times.”

All special deputies are expected to work at least two civic functions in an unpaid capacity.

Their monthly meetings provide time for interaction and updating of information plus the necessary training that is required annually for the members to continue working.

Many of the special deputies go on to become licensed officers as the position is frequently used as a training period for students going to or just graduating from Law Enforcement School. This job provides helpful experience when trying to start their careers in law enforcement. Thiele said that in his time with Steele County he has been able to higher a couple of his former special deputies as full time deputies.

“I feel very fortunate to have both the special deputies and the mounted posse,” Thiele said. “Steele County should feel very fortunate, too, but they are such a large asset to our agency and another spoke on the wheel of the system.”

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Portraits in Steele | Page 34

Investigators examined the scene of a fatal airplane crash near Owatonna, Minn., Thursday, July 31, 2008. A small jet crashed in strong thunderstorms Thursday while preparing to land at a regional airport in Minnesota, killing at least eight people. The Steele County Special Deputies and Mounted Posse worked long shifts to provide security on the scene during the investigation. (AP) generated from these activities are donated to the Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota, scholarships, and donations to other local organizations.

The Posse boasts proudly that even in today’s high-tech, fast-paced society they can continue to demonstrate the uncompromising utility of the horse.

Special Deputies

The group started under the direction of Sheriff E. Ted Helgeson and then Sheriff Don Christianson. As the dance halls closed, community centers and private clubs began to fill the void. Special deputies could be seen at the VFW, Eagles, Elk’s, Knights of Columbus Halls of Owatonna and Medford, the Community Center in Ellendale, and the Servicemen’s Club in Blooming Prairie.

In the mid-1950s, Jim Kidd and Ed Holmen, along with the help of friends and fellow The special deputies were organized in the workers organized a group of citizens known late forties to service the many dance halls in as the Civil Defense. Their mission was to Steele County. They worked at the Monterey Ballroom, Zeiner’s Ballroom in Bixby, George’s provide assistance of national security to the Supper Club in Medford, and Kearney’s Night local area residents in case of any type of Club in Ellendale. Some of the early deputies emergency. They learned the identification of many airplanes in case of a possible invasion, were Myron Pirkl, Stan Wodarczak, Gordy Mollenhauer, Lawrence Christey, Bill Abraham, though most emergencies were weather related. This effort eventually morphed Kenny Hunt, and Al Steinbauer, to name a into the Weather Watch and Sky Warn few.

organization. Another aspect of the local Civil Defense unit was to provide for civic activities such as intersection security at parades and fairgrounds patrol during the Steele County Free Fair. Kidd at the time was a vicepresident at Federated Insurance and Holmen worked at Owatonna Canning Company.

Around 2005, the Civil Defense and the special deputies merged into one organization and are currently providing the same original services to Steele County.

Currently there are 22 special deputies working Steele County, providing thousands of hours in service and security each year.

Types of activities the special deputies provide service for include wedding dances, hotel security, fundraisers, sporting events, street dances, auctions, and city celebrations.

For Thiele, he said the vast experience that his different deputies brings to the table is both beneficial and vital.

“I have a former chief of police working for us,” Thiele said in reference to Gene Fisher, who was the Owatonna Chief of Police from 1997 to 2004 and was with the police department for a total of 36 years. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. He’s been just invaluable to us.”

Thiele stated that a lot of the younger special deputies have stepped up into central leadership roles as well, including Captain Mark Kreutter and sergeants Lewis Luedtke and Adam Miller.

“Another person who puts in a huge amount of work is Wyonne Priebe,” Thiele added. Preibe took over the role as the Special Deputies Coordinator after longtime

f O y Da : g n i v Gi

Portraits in Steele | Page 36

Community supports children and youth We’ve dubbed it the Day of Giving — a day in which Steele Countians show just how generous they can be when it comes to supporting youth-related organizations.

Once a year on a Saturday, generally in April, three organizations here in Owatonna host remarkable fundraising events one on top of the other. Each event by itself will raise tens of thousands of dollars. Collectively, that number will reach into the hundreds of thousands.

auctioned off or space to be used free of charge, like Spare Time Entertainment’s bowling lanes. We always knew that Owatonna and Steele County had a very generous business community. All we had to do was to look at the generosity of those businesses, both large and small, to prove how generous they truly are.

Then, of course, there are the people who attend the various events and open up their pocketbooks to support these organizations.

Two years ago, the three programs combined For any one organization to do as well as raised more than $290,000 in that single it does on that one single day is pretty day. Last year it was in the neighborhood of remarkable. For all three to collect as much as $295,000. This year they might break that they do on the same day is nothing short of $300,000 mark. And wouldn’t that be great. astounding.

But it takes those people in attendance at the events to raise that kind of money.

Of course, there’s a lot of hard work that goes into the planning of these events. Events What’s most amazing is that all three events like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern in their own way help support programs Minnesota’s Bowl for Kids’ Sake, the Young that support children and youth in Steele Life Cake Auction and the Night of Knights County — Big Brothers Big Sisters with its auctions don’t just happen. They take months youth-mentoring programs, Young Life with of planning and promoting by volunteers who its faith-based programing for youth and St. are giving of their time and energy to make Mary’s School, supported by the Night of the events seem flawless.

Knights auctions.

Then there are the businesses — and plenty of them — that donate merchandise to be

These are their stories…

Bowl for Kids’ Sake helps BBBS roll toward success

By JEFFREY JACKSON jjackson@owatonna.com OWATONNA — When faculty and staff from the Owatonna school district gathered on a Friday afternoon in mid-April last year at Spare Time Entertainment to participate in Bowl for Kids’ Sake — the annual fund-raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — they had a couple of goals in mind.

They wanted to bring in more money than they did the previous year, and they definitely wanted to bring in more money than their counterparts in Faribault.

Nolan Erpelding of Hopkins, Minnesota, tries to pick up a spare in his first frame of bowling while his brother, Everett, watches Saturday morning, April 13, 2019, as part of the Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraiser. The boys were guests of their uncle, Dr. Brian Bunkers of Mayo Health System — Owatonna. Mayo brought a large group Saturday morning, filling all the lanes but two at SpareTime Entertainment. (People’s Press file photo)

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Not only did BBBS hit that goal, the organization surpassed it, raising more than $81,000 — close to $82,000 — through the two Bowl for Kids’ Sake events.

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The previous year, 2018, the Owatonna faculty and staff raised $6,900, and last year the Faribault educators brought in $6,200. Last year, the Owatonna educators easily met both of their goals, raising $14,300.

That is the goal of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota — often simply known as BBBS — when they are trying to match a volunteer mentor to a child who needs the support of a caring adult.

“How crazy is that?” said Michelle Redman, executive director of the Owatonna-based Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota at the time. “We didn’t have words, we were so excited.”

“It’s so very important to make that perfect match,” Redman has said.

The educators weren’t alone in not only meeting, but surpassing their goal. The organization as a whole surpassed its goal as

Page 37 | Portraits in Steele 2020

But to understand why that is so important and to understand further the significance of the success that the BBBS has had here, you need to take a step back.

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Portraits in Steele | Page 38

In 2018, an estimated $40,000 was raised for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota at the annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake in Owatonna. This contributed to the grand total of $75,000 between the two events held in Owatonna and Faribault. (Press file photo)

Helping the children Founded in 1904 by Ernest Kent Coulter, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has as its stated goal “to help all children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships with volunteer mentors.”

About the same time, the organization’s history recounts, a group called Ladies of Charities started working with girls who were coming through New York City’s court system.

Later, that group would become Catholic Big Sisters.

Then, in 1977, the two organizations merged, creating Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Coulter, a New York City court clerk, saw more but still tracing its beginnings back to Coulter and more boys coming through his courtroom more than 100 years ago. every day, according to BBBS history, and he “For more than a century, Big Brothers recognized the possibility that caring adults could help the children stay out trouble. That’s Big Sisters has been helping change kids’ when he set out to find volunteers who would perspectives and giving them the opportunity to reach their potential,” the organization says mentor the boys. on its website.

Locally, nowadays most referrals don’t come through the court system but through the schools and through the county’s social services network, said Redman.

“The schools see what a mentor does for a child,” Redman said, adding that because of the presence of a mentor in the life a child, the child will often undergo a noticeable “behavior switch” in school.

what that child really needs is an adult is his or her life who cares and is willing to give some time to that child.

“There is a lot of need in the communities we serve,” said Redman. “We’re very good at hiding the need. We don’t see the poverty.

We don’t see the need.”

But, she added, there is need in the four county region served by BBBS of Southern The children are often referred to Big Brothers Minnesota — Steele, Rice, Dodge and Waseca Big Sisters by the schools because teachers counties. Steele County has the most children in the schools see the children struggling served by BBBS with 329, followed by Rice socially, emotionally or academically. They with 205, Dodge with 123 and Waseca County may be having what Redman referred to as 39. There is homelessness in those counties, “issues” at home, with their peers or in their there are mental health issues, and there academic endeavors. And maybe, just maybe, is drug use. And according to Redman, 69

Page 39 | Portraits in Steele 2020 percent of the children served are eligible for free or reduced lunch, 61 percent from a nontwo-parent family, and 23 percent are children of prisoners.

If they find a potential match, then the match is proposed to the rest of the staff. Only when the staff agree unanimously, Redman said, is the match actually made.

“Children are affected by those issues,” said Redman. “Every child born to a parent should have a pathway. But when a parent is struggling with mental health issues or a parent is struggling with abuse — physical abuse, mental abuse, drug abuse — you see a parent struggle and you wonder, ‘What does the pathway look like for that child? How can we open up a pathway for a child?’”

The length and detailed procedure that the local BBBS goes through to make the matches — the “perfect matches,” Redman would say — is important in establishing a strong relationship between the Big and the Little.

And that, said Redman, is what Big Brothers Big Sisters tries to do.

In a passage gleaned from one of the local BBBS pamphlets, research from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is quoted: “All risk factors from adverse childhood experiences can be offset by one thing: a stable, caring adult.”

Making a match Of course, finding the right adult for a child is not as easy as it sounds. Nor is it simply a matter of “first-come, first-served.”

Whenever a child is referred to Big Brothers Big Sisters, that child is put on a waiting list, waiting, as it were, for not just adult, but for the right adult to come along to be that child’s mentor. “Bigs,” they are called, and the children “Littles.” Currently, there are about 180-plus children on that waiting list waiting for a Big. Whenever the next volunteer comes along, the organization does not simply pair up that volunteer with the next child on the list. It’s not that simple.

First of all, every volunteer has to go through screening, including a background to make sure that that volunteer doesn’t have anything untoward in his or her background.

“Child safety is a big issue, first and foremost for us,” Redman said, adding that BBBS doesn’t accept every volunteer who comes to the organization.

Once a volunteer is cleared to be a “Big,” then the process continues with a match support specialist in the organization.

The local BBBS has three such specialists employed, each with a four-year degree in either social work or child development. The specialist with conduct interviews with the volunteer as well as the child and with the child’s parent or parents.

One of the things that the specialists ask the children they interview is about their “dreams,” Redman said.

“What do you want to do?” she said.

“We want long-lasting relationships,” she said.

And one thing that the organization asks of its volunteers is commitment — a commitment of at least a year.

Then comes the big day — the day when the Big meets the Little and his or her parent for the very first time.

“Everybody’s always a little bit nervous,” Redman said.

They spend a little time getting to know each other and also planning the first time that the Big and Little will get together. Then, when their time is up and the child and the parent go home, the staff gets to hear the adult volunteer’s reaction.

“The best things are the comments from the volunteers,” said Redman. “They say, ‘How did you pick the perfect Little for me?’”

In this April 2016 file photo, bowlers participating in Bowl for Kids Sake line up and prepare to roll at SpareTime Entertainment in Owatonna. The event is an annual fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota. (People’s Press file photo)

But, Redman said, that’s what they have been striving for all along — the right adult with the right child.

Smashing success To say that Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota has been successful is an understatement. The organization was, in fact, named the 2017 Agency of the Year in the small to mid-size category by the national organization.

“We were number 1,” said Redman last year of the agency’s recognition by the national organization.

The local BBBS was recognized, she said, for its growth in number of children it served, for its quality of service, for the length of matches, for the retention of volunteers and for the growth in funding.

If that weren’t good enough, then Redman has even better news.

“2018 was even a better year,” she said.

How so? Take the number of children served by the program as an example. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota had set itself a goal of 625 children. The organization

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Portraits in Steele | Page 40 didn’t. It exceeded it. Considerably. In 2018, the local BBBS served 708 children, which is a 19 percent increase from the number it served in 2017. And, to put that into perspective, nationally, the number of children served by local BBBS organizations declined by 4 percent while the number here increased by 19 percent.

And in recognition for its stellar year in 2018, BBBS of Southern Minnesota was once again named the Agency of the Year in the small to mid-size category.

and important. Together, we are all defenders of potential.”

The southern Minnesota BBBS receives more than $400,000 each year from the Federated Challenge, which equals roughly 40 percent of And the reason that Big Brothers Big Sisters of its operating budget.

Southern Minnesota has been so successful?

Day of Giving Support from the community, said Redman.

“The reason why we can grow is all about financial support,” she said. “We couldn’t grow without support — financial and from our volunteers.”

One of the biggest — if not the biggest — supporters of BBBS is Federated Insurance, “We are honored and truly humbled to accept based in Owatonna. Since 2004, Federated this award for the second year in a row,” said has organized the two-day Federated Redman at the time of the award last year.

Challenge and has raised nearly $35 million “This award is not only a testament to the to support the three Big Brothers Big Sisters wonderful work our volunteers and staff, but agencies in Minnesota, including the one also to the outstanding communities we serve. based in Owatonna.

What Big Brothers Big Sisters does is urgent

On that Saturday morning, April 13, before most of the bowlers arrived for the Bowl for Kids Sake event in Owatonna, Mayo Health System — Owatonna brought several of its staff members along with their family members, 60 in all.

“This is our biggest staff participation ever,” Dr. Brian Bunkers, a family medicine physician and president of the clinic said at the time.

of Hopkins, who seemed to enjoy rolling the bowling balls down the lane.

Bunkers spoke of the Saturday morning event in the context of the day as a whole where at least three charitable events — Young Life Cake Auction and St. Mary’s Night of Knights, in addition to Bowl for Kids’ Sake — take place. Dubbed the “Day of Giving,” that one day will see hundreds of thousands of dollars raised, all to benefit organizations dedicated to children.

“The Day of Giving is truly one of the things that make Owatonna unique,” said Dr. Bunkers. “Our staff embraces it.”

And Bunkers wasn’t there to oversee the clinic staff. He was there to bowl, along with two of his nephews — Nolan and Everett Erpelding

In this April 2013 file photo, Amanda Hedberg helps 2-year-old Hunter Larson push the bowling ball down the lane Saturday morning at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Minnesota Bowl For Kids’ Sake fundraising event at Spare Time Entertainment in Owatonna. (People’s Press file photo)

Page 41 | Portraits in Steele 2020

Last year’s Young Life Cake Auction started with a cake-eating contest with some of the Young Life youth. Competing were, from left to right, Lilly Hunst, J.T. Henriksen, Jonny Wall and Candace Goodsell, with Lindsay Thompson, the area director of Young Life, doing the play-by-play. Jonny Wall was the eventual winner. (People’s Press file photo)

Young Life cake auction is not about cakes, but about kids

By JEFFREY JACKSON jjackson@owatonna.com OWATONNA — Make no mistake about, there was a lot of cake in the Owatonna High School gymnasium that Saturday.

A lot of cake.

How much? There were 90 cakes on the block for the 41st annual Young Life cake auction held last April, each cake with a prize

associated with it, and an additional 100 cakes that were up for sale.

When all was said and done, the auction had raised more than $81,000 in that one day, prompting Lindsay Thompson, the area director of Young Life in Owatonna, to call it a “big day” for the organization.

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Portraits in Steele | Page 42 That $81,000 raised on a single day represented a third of the organization’s annual budget. Still, despite how vital that day was to the organization, the annual cake auction — in its 42nd incarnation this year — isn’t about the money, Thompson said. And it isn’t about the cakes or even the prizes that accompany the cakes.

“We’re not about the cakes,” Thompson said last year in the aftermath of the auction.

“We’re about the kids.”

The mission

Take, for example, the one-phrase description of the Wyld Life program on the local Young Life website. Wyld Life is a program that is “walking with middle school kids as they ache for acceptance.” Anyone who has passed through adolescence and knows the struggle associated with growing up and maturing during those formative years certainly has had that experience of aching for acceptance. The Wyld Life program seeks to ease that ache.

by name, all of whom they try to establish relationships with.

More about that in a moment.

The last minute

“The donors do the work,” Thompson said of the cakes. “We just put it all together.”

Planning for the annual cake auction begins in all earnestness in January, Thompson said, as the committee starts to line up donors for the live auction items — the cakes, of course, as well as the “specials” that accompany them.

And that, she said, will continue “up until the last minute,” which this year will until 8:59 a.m. Saturday, April 18. The doors to the Owatonna High School gymnasium, where the auction will be held, open at 9 a.m. with

But Thompson says that Young Life, in its many iterations, is not “program heavy.” It’s about “relationships,” she says.

When Thompson talks about the work of the local chapter of Young Life, she, of course, can tell you about the different programs that the organization offers. There’s the Young Life program proper — a program geared toward high school students. And there’s Wyld Life, focused on middle school-aged youth. Real Life aims to reach out to kids in non-traditional or alternative school settings, providing “a safe place where all kids are welcome.” And for youth who prefer not be involved in a “club-like” setting there is Walk With Me, a program designed to offer a oneto-one relationship between a youth and an adult.

“It’s not having kids come to us,” she says.

“We go to the kids.”

Of course, the programs are not simply divided by age. There is a focus to each division.

“We go where the kids are,” she says.

And that, she says, is part of the mission — to put “positive adults in the life of kids.”

But there’s another integral part of that mission, a faith-based element — to “introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and keep them growing in faith.”

Because the organization is not, as Thompson says, “program heavy,” Young Life doesn’t keep track of exact numbers of youth that it reaches.

Still, they estimate that they reach about 500 kids a year, all of whom they try to know

Cakes took on unique and unusual shapes and forms for the Young Life Cake Auction in this April 2018 file photo. The event surpassed both the organization’s $70,000 goal and the event’s $74,000 record. (People’s Press file photo)

Cakes took on unique and unusual shapes and forms for the Young Life Cake Auction in this April 2018 file photo. The event surpassed both the organization’s $70,000 goal and the event’s $74,000 record. (People’s Press file photo)

Page 43 | Portraits in Steele 2020

Young Life Owatonna Area Director Lindsay Thompson said that 2018’s Cake Auction had more youth than ever before helping out in a variety of ways, from organizing the cakes to selling T-shirts to assisting in the Kids Club. (People’s Press file photo) the live auction starting at 10 a.m. Online bidding, however, will begin on Friday, April 17, Thompson said.

“It’s a lot of work for one day,” she said.

Thompson expects there to be at least as many cakes up for auction this year as there was last year, perhaps closer to 100, with an additional 100 cakes up for immediate sale.

And they expect the auction to bring in as much as it has in years past — $80,000 or more.

“It gets bigger every year,” Thompson said, all of which never ceases to amaze her.

“Our community is just amazing. I’m so thankful,” she said.

The auction begins It was back in the late 1970s that the Young Life cake auction began in Owatonna, a time in which the Young Life organization was still fairly new to Owatonna.

“They were running short in their budget by about $1,000,” said Thompson, recalling the history that has been passed down to her.

Todd Hale takes up the story.

“I can remember how this event originally began,” Hale wrote in his Around Town column.

A cake auction in town was the brain child, he said, of his radio partner “Pink” Allen.

Allen had heard of another community raising money through a cake auction to benefit

another charity and thought Owatonna would be receptive to a similar event here. Hale doesn’t recall the exact date, even the exact year, saying only it was back in the late 1960s or early `70s, and that the auction, sponsored

by KRFO radio, was originally done here to benefit the March of Dimes.

“We held the event at our studios, which were then located at Cedar and Pearl,” Hale recalls. “We asked listeners to donate homebaked cakes, and we displayed them in the windows of the station. The auction took place in the rear studio of KRFO, using only the station telephone to take bids.”

The original series of cake auctions that supported the March of Dimes lasted only a few years before it was discontinued, Hale said.

But then, a few years later, Kathy Muellerleile approached the radio station about reviving the auction. Muerllerleile was, Hale said, very active in Young Life and wanted the auction to benefit the organization, still very new to Owatonna.

“We were more than receptive to the idea,” Hale said. “A committee was formed and planning began.”

Larger crowds were anticipated, crowds that would be too big for the small studios of the radio station, so a new locale had to be found. Ken Wilcox, president of what was then Norwest Bank, now Wells Fargo, in downtown Owatonna, “was quick to answer the call and volunteered the lobby of the bank for the event,” Hale said.

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Portraits in Steele | Page 44

Roy Koenig acts as auctioneer with Julie Rethemeier as the color commentator at last year’s Young Life Cake Auction in the Owatonna High School gymnasium. (People’s Press file photo) For many years — until the auction grew too big for even that spacious building — the cake auction was held in the bank lobby.

With a goal of raising $1,000 to meet the budget shortfall, that first cake auction did better than the organizers hoped for and anticipating, raising $1,500. Pretty good for an auction that had, according to the tradition passed down to Thompson, just 10 cakes for sale.

Of course, it’s more than just cake that is being auctioned off. Those cakes on the auction block now include “specials,” as they are called — items that accompany each cake.

Todd Hale again takes up the story.

“That tradition [of offering specials] was started by Bill Kottke, owner of Kottke Jewelers,” Hales said. “Bill decided to offer

three cupcakes with one of them hiding a diamond bracelet. Bidders anxiously awaited until the bidding on the cupcakes began.”

Amazing fellowship

Another tradition of the cake auction — one that marks the start of the auction each year Over the years that tradition of having for the past several years and one that shows specials with the cakes has continued, with that the Young Life organization is more the prizes becoming bigger and bringing about kids than about cake — is the annual in even greater bids. In 2012, for example, cake-eating contest. In the contest, four tickets to a Madonna concert and a hotel Young Life participants are brought up on room in St. Paul went for $1,100. That same stage and, with their hands behind their back, year, a wine event for eight people was sold they plunge face-first into their individualfor $1,050. Both winning bids were more than sized cakes to see who could east the most in was the goal for that very first auction. the time allotted.

This year, Thompson said, there are already a few interesting specials lined up to go with cakes — tickets to the Tony Award-winning musical “Hamilton,” tickets to a Guns and Roses concert, and even a year’s supply of Cindy’s Nachos from Grace’s restaurant here in Owatonna, to name just a few.

“It’s a pretty cool history,” said Thompson.

Last year’s winner was Jonny Wall, who managed to eke out a close win over the others, though all four of the competitors were covered in cake and frosting by the time the clock had run out.

“I’m a pretty big eater,” Wall said of his victory.

But more than wanting to talk about the award he won — a plaque announcing him

to be the 2019 Cake Eating Champion — Wall wanted to talk about his participation in Young Life.

“I’ve been involved the past three years,” he said, noting especially his attendance at summer camps.

He called the experience — both the summer camp and Young Life as a whole — “amazing,” especially the fellowship — think “relationships” — he had with other youth and with the adults.

“It was heaven on earth,” he said.

Page 45 | Portraits in Steele 2020

Auction-goers brows the aisles at a past Night of Knights auction. The auction, held at St. Mary’s School, expects to raise over $150,000 to support the school that year. (Press file photo)

Day concludes with Night of Knights

By JEFFREY JACKSON jjackson@owatonna.com

OWATONNA — Last year’s new theme for the annual Night of Knights benefit auction for St. Mary’s School in Owatonna must have worked.

The fundraiser was the final fund-raising event of the day — along with Bowl for Kids’ Sake and Young Life Cake Auction — dubbed the Day of Giving. And, just as those two other fundraising, also dedicated to organizations dedicated to enhancing the life of children, so, too, did the Night of Knights break records in how much it raised.

Then in its 33rd edition, last year’s Night of Knights brought in $215,000 in a single night.

And that, said Marie Olinger, co-chair of last year’s auction, was profit, after expenses were taken out.

encouraged people to dress in western garb. Attendees at last year’s evening event — about 500 in all — seemed to get into the spirit of the outdoor theme, if the preponderance of flannel was any indication.

The new theme for last year — a theme that will be resurrected this year and next as part of the event’s three-year cycle for themes — was “Adventure Awaits” and focused on the great outdoors. As in years past, attendees to the event were encouraged to dress in clothes that fit the theme. One year, when the theme was “The Wild West,” organizers

But even more than getting into the spirit of the theme, what made last year’s event so successful was how those in attendance got into the spirit of generosity that permeated the evening.

Karen Spielman, the other co-chair for last year’s event, said it best last year when she

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Portraits in Steele | Page 46

Auction-goers at Saturday’s Night of Knights benefit auction at St. Mary’s School in Owatonna look over some of the 300 baskets available in the silent auction in the April 2019 event. (People’s Press file photo) said, “Our community is amazing — the businesses and the individuals. They’re so generous. It’s absolutely incredible.”

With barely a hitch But it wasn’t just the community at large that makes the evening so successful, Spielman said. She also pointed to the work of the volunteers who make the fundraiser come off with barely a hitch. Last year, the committee, comprised of 11 couples who did, in Spielman’s words, an “admirable job,” did a little work over the rest of spring and summer. Then comes autumn.

“Once fall hits, the committee meets regular and work begins hot and heavy,” she said.

The committee members generally make a three-year commitment to the auction.

And many, if not most, of the committee

members join the committee because they have children who attend St. Mary’s. They understand how important it is to support the school.

And it’s not just about making baskets to raise money for the school — 85% of the proceeds going to the school’s general fund, 15% going for the Home and School Association. The baskets themselves are a And it’s not just the committee members who part of the children’s education. get involved, she said.

Take, for example, some years back when “It’s far broader than that,” she said, “so two first-grade classes worked on a “penguin much support.” basket.” Sure, penguins are cute, but that wasn’t the reason the teacher selected that There were 300 silent auction items donated for the basket’s theme. Rather, the children and up for bid with 40 live auction items, spent most of January learning about Spielman said. different kinds of penguins. The penguin basket tied into the children’s curriculum.

And, of course, there are the children.

The other first-grade classroom that year Not only do the children benefit from the worked on a Curious George basket, funds raised, as the money that is taken in celebrating the stories about the curious goes directly and only to the school they monkey in children’s books. The children attend, but each class at St. Mary’s makes a wrote a story saying what they thought classroom basket for the auction.

Curious George was curious about — a

clever way in which the teacher, who said she encourages her students to be curious, discovered what the children were curious about, by allowing the children to express their own curiosities from the viewpoint of a children’s book monkey.

As one might expect, the baskets are a big draw during the event, with parents often trying to outbid one another and to drive the amount paid up for bragging rights.

Spirit of the Night In addition to the live and silent auctions, the evening offers many several raffles, a wall of wine and top-shelf liquor pull, good and beverages for purchase and a Spirit of the Night portion.

Each year, the school designates a special project which school officials hope to be

Page 47 | Portraits in Steele 2020

St. Mary’s Night of Knights Auction attendees browse through the live auction items early in the evening in 2013. (People’s Press file photo)

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Portraits in Steele | Page 48

Because of the harsh weather conditions one year, the Night of Knights Auction Committee made the last-minute decision to post the silent auction items online to allow those stuck at home a chance to bid on items. (People’s Press file photo) able to raise funds for during the Night of Knights. Last year, the special project was the replacement of the bleachers in the school’s gymnasium.

“The bleachers in our gym are unsafe and quite old,” said co-chair Olinger of last year’s designated project.

But replacing the old, unsafe bleachers came with a hefty price tag — $50,000, to be exact.

“They can’t be repaired without custom work,” Oliger said before last year’s auction.

“We’re hoping to raise at least $50,000 for a modern bleacher system.”

Apparently, attendees at last year’s event got into the spirit of the Spirit of the Night, raising $80,000 The extra $30,000 was to go paying off the school’s building loan.

Local business support As with other Day of Giving events — Bowl for Kids’ Sake and the Young Life Cake Auction — the Night of Knights auctions is supported heavily by the Owatonna business community. There was the year, for example that two HVAC systems, donated by Dave Lax of Central Heating and A/C of Owatonna — each system valued at $8,000 — sold for$10,000 apiece during the live auction — and that during a year when the event nearly didn’t happen.

But the local businesses not only support the event in terms of the items they donate for the auctions, silent and live, but also by the funds they supply to the event.

Take, for example, Federated Insurance.

A few years back, when the floors of the school were in disrepair and needed to be fixed and even replaced, the Owatonnabased insurance company stepped in with a $100,000 dollar-for-dollar match, with the matching funds going directly to the building loan that was used to fix the school’s floors.

The Night that almost wasn’t One year the members of the committee were worried. Terribly so.

Though on the calendar it said it was spring — April, of course — the day was filled with snow. Lots of snow. And as the weather that Saturday continued to worsen throughout the day, the committee members grew ever more anxious. The parking lot was plowed, and plowed again, still the committee members were concerned that few people — perhaps 70 at the most — would show up. Perhaps,

they thought, they would be the ones bidding on everything.

But the community put their fears to rest as more than 400 people showed up that night.

And the committee made the last-minute decision to open up the silent auction online, allowing people at home to bid.

The Night of Knights caps off the three-event day in Owatonna that raises money for youthrelated organizations.

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United Way of Steele County 2019 Most Generous Workplaces

2019 Most Generous Workplace Campaigns 1. Federated Insurance 2. Viracon 3. Wenger Corp 4. Mayo Clinic Health System Owatonna 5. Jostens 6. Owatonna Hospital 7. AmesburyTruth 8. ISD-761 Owatonna Public Schools 9. US Bank - Owatonna 10. NAPA Distribution Center

2019 Most Generous Small Business Gifts

11. Cybex 12. Owatonna Public Utilities 13. Gopher Sport 14. United Parcel Service (UPS) 15. CliftonLarsonAllen - Owatonna 16. Wells Fargo 17. Cash Wise Foods 18. West Bank - Owatonna 19. ERA Gillespie Real Estate 20. Daikin Applied

1. Owatonna Bus Company 2. Rush Creek Lumber 3. Smith, Tollefson, Rahrick & Cass 4. Gandy Company 4. LMK Accounting 4. Owatonna Shoe 4. Prairie Ridge Orthodontics 4. Spherion Staffing 4. State Farm – Plemel Agency 10. Holland Dental/Berkshire Hathaway 11. Climate by Design, Inc.

11. Main Street Dental Clinic 11. Noble RV 11. Terry’s Repair 11. The Becker Group 11. Walbran & Furness 17. Bosch Automotive Solutions 17. Dresser Family Dentistry 19. Eaton Law Office 20. Rossi Law Office

1850 Austin Road Suite 103, Owatonna, MN 55060 United Way 507-455-1180 or visit: unitedwaysteelecounty.org of Steele County

Calling this community home.

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