Kanabec County Times E-edition March 7, 2019

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KANABEC COUNTY

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 VOL. 136 NO. 10 www.moraminn.com $1.00

WRESTLING: Both Mora, Ogilvie teams represented at State Tournament. P10-11

Mom: ‘We wanted to be parents’ Through foster care, a Mora couple was able to have something they couldn’t have before: children BY KIRSTEN FAURIE EDITOR@MORAMINN.COM

“We wanted to be parents.” How Eric and Ashley Martin became foster parents was a simple as that. “We wanted to be parents and didn’t mind if we were parents of few or parents of many,” Ashley said. Ashley got her first taste of the foster care as a personal care attendant for a foster family when she was a teenager. That was the seed. As the Martins learned they were unable to have children of their own, they considered different adoption options. They also considered being foster parents to children in need of stable homes, whether or not that would mean adopting a foster child. “Our home was empty and we could offer them something,” Ashley said. The Martins fostered their first child in 2016 and have cared for five total since. Without any parenting experience, and interests in adopting, the Martins first requested to foster infants. At the time, they were told infants in need of foster care were rare, and they likely wouldn’t receive one for years. Then, growing rates of methamphetamine use among expectant mothers meant many newborns were in need of foster families. A baby boy soon landed in the Martin’s loving lap. After many months, it was determined the child wouldn’t

Nelson

Burkhardt

Nelson claims primary BY KIRSTEN FAURIE EDITOR@MORAMINN.COM

Nathan Nelson was the winner of the March 5 primary election in the Minnesota House of Representatives 11B race. The total results were: Republican Nathan Nelson 2,371 (88.4%) Ayrlahn Johnson 311 (11.6%) DFL Tim Burkhardt 399 (100%) KIRSTEN FAURIE | TIMES

Eric and Ashley Martin are a young couple living in Mora who chose to become foster parents when they learned they couldn’t have children of their own. They’ve since adopted one boy and hope to adopt another.

be reunified with his birth parents and the Martins were able to adopt him into their family. It’s a decision they knew was the right one, but other people they knew needed convincing. “The most frustrating thing we hear is, ‘These are just meth babies. These are drug babies, why would you want them?’ and that’s not true,” Eric said, but the tune changes once outsiders meet their

family in person. “The kids have a way of changing people’s views,” he said. The Martins are currently caring for a second foster child with hopes to adopt if the opportunity is available. ILL-EQUIPPED Like anything, being a foster parent comes with challenges.

‘It’s going to be hard. It’s going to break your heart, but if you provide one child with a safe place to stay, it’s worth it.’

SEE FAMILY, PAGE 9

Eric Martin Adoptive father and sheriff’s deputy

In Kanabec County alone: Republican Nathan Nelson 654 (87.4%) Ayrlahn Johnson 94 (12.6%) DFL Tim Burkhardt 71 (100%)

This means DFL candidate Tim Burkhardt will face republican candidate Nathan Nelson in the special election on March 19. The District 11B seat became vacant after Republican Jason Rarick resigned from the position effective Feb. 12 to be sworn in as state senator for District 11.

Ogilvie High brings fairy tales to life with Midwest premier BY MACKENZIE LUCKING NEWS@MORAMINN.COM

“Fairy Tale Ending -- The Big Bad Family Musical” by Kieren MacMillan and Jeremy Hutton makes its Midwest debut Thursday, March 14 on the Ogilvie High School auditorium stage. The road to the premier has been as topsy-turvy as the show itself. Between typical high school theater issues such as losing cast members, limited resources, and even more limited budgets, the 55 member strong cast and crew also lost a week of rehearsal due to the disastrous weather that has plagued the area recently. However, not a single cast

member seems disheartened. Dylan Walker, the show’s director and current chair of the Ogilvie High School Theater Department spoke passionately about the process even as they were hustling to make up for lost time. Costumes needed to be made and finalized. Set pieces were being painted and assembled and there was a lot of work to be done going into tech week. As kids from grades seven through 12 donned costumes, they consulted with the director, and perused the set. They shared their excitement, apprehension and favorite memories of the process, from wacky set interactions to the feeling of camaraderie amongst the cast itself. The NEWS 320-679-2661 editor@moraminn.com

students come from a variety of high school experiences, high school through junior high age and all levels of theater experience, a first production for some while others are community and school theater veterans. The most noticeable thing shared among them, though, is their enthusiasm for the upcoming show and their excitement for this Midwest debut. The musical itself follows Jill of ‘Jack and Jill’ fame on an investigation into why classic fairy tales such as ‘the Three Little Pigs,’ ‘the Three Billy Goats Gruff,’ and ‘Goldilocks’ are having their iconic and well-known endings go awry. The rights were acquired by a company out of Ontario,

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Show times: Thursday, March 14, 7 p.m. Friday, March 15, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. Sunday, March 17, 2 p.m. Canada called Righteous Coda Music following its 2010 debut at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Walker came upon the show while looking for alternatives to bigger-name musicals, hoping to spend less on royalties and more on the production of the show itself. SUBSCRIPTIONS 320-679-2661 subscriptions@moraminn.com

Billed as a musical comedy, the show features numbers such as ‘You Don’t Know Jack,’ all about Jack of ‘Jack and Jill,’ ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’ and innumerable other tales, ‘Villainy’ a trio between some well-known fairy tale antagonists and ‘Gruff Exterior™’ a jab at cosmetic advertisements with a barbershop trio twist. “Fairy Tale Ending – The Big Bad Family Musical” opens Thursday, March 14 at Ogilvie High School and runs through Sunday, March 17. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at www. showtix4u.com, and are $6 for students and $8 for adults.

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