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New Look. Same Local Coverage since 1854. Vol. 163, No. 23
Saturday, September 16, 2017
11 2nd Ave. N., Unit 103, Sauk Rapids, Benton County, MN 56379
District to celebrate homecoming week
PHOTOS BY ANNA SALDANA
Sue Paasch is in her first few weeks as the Rice Elementary School principal, but she has worked for the SRR school district for over 20 years in different capacities.
BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS — The Sauk Rapids-Rice High School has announced their 2017 homecoming court and underclassmen attendants. Seniors Ella Benoit, Beth Kobluk, Brindelyn Mastey, Summer Schmidt and Abby Swanson will be vying for the title of queen, while representatives nominated for king are Chainagubo Balo, Gage Donovan, Cody Landwehr, Jayden Schaap and Zac Spohn. Court attendants are juniors Morgan Weinand and Zach Storms; sophomores Makenzy Heder and Gavin Fuchs; and freshmen Justus Floren and Tayton Philavahn. Homecoming coronation will take place Monday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of the SRRHS, followed by a junior versus senior girls football game on Wednesday. On Friday, numerous events will include a parade before the homecoming football game. The parade will commence at the corner of Third Street South and Eighth Avenue South and will terminate at the corner of First Street South and Ninth Avenue South. The community is invited to join in the festivities by attending the parade before the homecoming football game against the Brainerd Warriors. The game will take place at the Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School football field, with a Storm End Zone Club tailgate party prior to the event. Ticket sales and gates will open at 5:30 p.m. The weeks’ events which are as follows: • Wednesday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. — Powder Puff Football Game (SRRHS). • Friday, Sept. 22, 5:30 p.m. — Homecoming Parade. • Friday, Sept. 22, 7 p.m. — Storm vs. Brainerd Warriors Homecoming Football Game (SRRMS). • Friday, Sept. 22, 9 p.m. — Alumni and Hall of Fame Social (Urban Lodge Brewery & Restaurant). • Friday, Sept. 22, 9 p.m. to midnight — Homecoming Dance (SRRHS). • Saturday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. — Hall of Fame Brunch and Induction Ceremony (SRRHS). Visit http://isd47.org/homecoming for more information.
Sauk Rapids begins fall water line flush
SAUK RAPIDS — Beginning Sept. 18, the Sauk Rapids Public Works Department will be flushing water lines within the city. Residents may experience low pressure from time to time during the flushing procedures. They should not be alarmed; the low pressure should not last longer than the period of an hour. If tap water becomes discolored during this time, let the tap run until it clears. It should not take more than 10 to 20 minutes. The discoloration is not a hazard, only an aesthetic nuisance. The discoloration is mineral deposits of manganese and iron and is one of the reasons we flush the water system. The flushing project should be completed in two to three weeks. Should you have any questions, please call Craig Nelson, director of utilities at (320) 258-5318.
A lifelong educator BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER
RICE – Walking through the halls of Rice Elementary School, the first thing many people will notice is the energy flowing from the students and staff alike. Teachers are excited to teach their young students new things, and the students are excited to be around their friends and have the opportunity to learn. Principal Sue Paasch has just as much energy as she joins her new school family this fall. “I just love the community here. My three kids all attended here as well,” Paasch said. “With having a smaller school to work with, I am really looking forward to being more hands on with the students and staff. I wasn’t surprised when the district administration asked me to come to Rice and I was excited. I knew Christina [Bemboom] was leaving and I had some conversations with administration about how to transition Rice into a new principal.” Paasch, although new to Rice Elementary, has been with the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District for over 20 years. She
was hired as the district’s lead special education teacher, which covered all three elementary schools. After a brief position as administrative assistant, Paasch became principal at Pleasantview Elementary. “I was principal there for eight years and then moved to be principal at Mississippi Heights, and I was there for seven years,” Paasch said. “Now I’m here and I’m very excited that I have had the opportunity to work in each of the three elementary schools again. Each school is unique in its size, atmosphere and camaraderie, but I can’t say I love one school any more than the others.” Paasch also prides herself on solely being a SRR employee – she has never worked anywhere else. “It is always fun to tell people that the Sauk RapidsRice School District has been my only employer,” Paasch said. “It might be a bigger district, but it has a small town feel and I really enjoy that.” One particular project Paasch is looking forward to working with is the International
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Sue Paasch enjoys being around the students and teachers, especially kindergartners. On Sept. 7, she caught up with a class learning about the P.A.T.H. of the Storm in the hallway near the school’s office.
"They are the reason I do what I do." - Principal Sue Paasch
Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees:
Reedstrom joins his heroes Landwehr lands amongst leading athletes, coaches BY VICKI IKEOGU CONTRIBUTING WRITER
BY VICKI IKEOGU CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SARTELL — As the old saying goes, age is just a number. For Sartell resident Don Reedstrom, the increasing number of candles on a birthday cake has not seemed to slow him down. Several times a week the 84-year-old can be found swimming laps at the local pool. In the evenings, he joins his wife Marcia on walks around their neighborhood. It’s a way, Reedstrom said, he can stay active. Even though he might not be as physically fit as he was 60 years ago, the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School alum still has fond memories of the school that helped shape his love for sports. Competing in football, basketball, baseball and track, Reedstrom was a force to be reckoned with during the late 1940s. “Track was my favorite sport,” Reedstrom said. “Because I went the furthest in that. I was all-state in track. I was never beaten in the two events I ran in.” It was the same sport that has now earned Reedstrom a spot in the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Reedstrom, along with fellow Sauk RapidsRice High School athletes Pam (Raetz) Benoit (’90) and Heidi (Mohs) Landwehr (‘89) and longtime Sauk RapidsRice coach Ben Miller, will be inducted into the hall of fame on Saturday, Sept. 23.
PHOTO BY VICKI IKEOGU
Don Reedstrom, 84, is one of four inductees to the 2017 Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
“It makes me proud to be a part of the hall of fame,” Reedstrom said. “Two of my role models and heroes in grade school, Don Wichmann (‘46 graduate and Hall of Fame class of 2013) and Eldon ‘Rip’ Repulski (‘46 graduate and Hall of Fame class of 2012) are up there. Those guys lived in my neighborhood. I saw them all the time.”
Reedstrom’s path to track success was very humble. “We didn’t have a track or anything,” Reedstrom said. “So, I just practiced on my own. We only had a few hurdles and we ran on cinders. And we didn’t have track shoes most of the time, we ran in tennis shoes, sneakers.”
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ST. CLOUD — Heidi (Mohs) Landwehr’s journey to basketball fame didn’t begin on the court. In fact, Landwehr, 47, got her introduction to basketball in her parent’s detached garage the summer before her freshman year in high school. “A coach in our district by the name of Phil Pederson was instrumental in kind of getting me into the sport,” Landwehr said. “He was the one that kind of came up to me and said, ‘You know what? If you want to be a good basketball player someday you need to get yourself a jump rope.’” That is just what Landwehr did. “I got myself a jump rope and went into my parent’s detached garage so nobody would see me,” she said. “And I jumped rope all summer before my ninth grade year of high school.” During her freshman year, the 6-foot-4 Landwehr made quite an entrance on the court. “I go out for the ninth grade team and I’m on the ninth grade team for about one game,” Landwehr said. “They moved me up to the JV [junior varsity]. I’m on that team for about one game. And then, I’m on varsity.” Landwehr played post (or center) for the team. While Landwehr said she still had a lot to learn, she attributes much of her success to her high school basketball coach, Ben Miller.
PHOTO BY VICKI IKEOGU
Heidi (Mohs) Landwehr, a 1989 Sauk Rapids-Rice High School graduate, will be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Landwehr was a post for the girls’ basketball team. She was the second female basketball player to score over 1,000 career points in the district.
“You know, Ben had a plan,” Landwehr said. On Sept. 23 Landwehr and Miller will reconnect as the two prepare to be inducted into the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Now in its sixth year, the two, along with 1950 SRRHS graduate Don Reedstrom and 1990 graduate Pam (Raetz) Benoit will be honored with a hall of fame brunch and will see their names join the list of 30 instrumental athletes and coaches in the district. “When I got the phone call from the athletic director saying that I was nominated, I thought it was an honor,”
Landwehr said. “And when I found out that I won, I said ‘Man, I feel old.’ Because it doesn’t feel like it’s been that many years.” Even though Landwehr’s team never did win a single game her freshman year, Landwehr’s height and ability on the court got her noticed. “By my tenth grade year, colleges were starting to contact me, they were starting to contact Ben,” Landwehr said. “And that pushed me to go to camps in the summer time.” L a n d w e h r ’ s
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