WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2019
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 121 NO. 41 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Osceola track wins Amery Invitational. PAGE 12
‘Hilarious World of Depression’ host to join suicide awareness walk CONTRIBUTED POLK COUNTY MHTF
John Moe, host of the award-winning hit podcast “The Hilarious World of Depression,” will speak at the fourth annual Polk County Suicide Awareness Walk. The event, set for May 18 at Pine Park in Balsam Lake, is an opportunity to gather to remember loved ones lost to suicide, and to raise money in support of suicide prevention. The day includes a 5K walk and run, survivor memorials, mental health resources and a program featuring Moe. The event benefits the Mental Health Task Force of Polk County (MHTF), a nonprofit organization that works to improve mental health in Polk County through education and innovative programming. In addition to the podcast, Moe has authored three books: “Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth and Other Pop Culture
John Moe Correspondences,” “The Deleted Emails Of Hillary Clinton,” and “Conservatize Me.” His writing has appeared in numerous humor anthologies as well as The New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s, The Seattle Times, and other publications. He has hosted nationally distributed public radio programs such as Wits, Weekend America, and Marketplace Tech Report, and his radio work has been featured on Marketplace, All Things Considered, SEE WALK, PAGE 15
All Skills Career Day brings together 820 students, 60 employers CONTRIBUTED WORKFORCE RESOURCE
Approximately 820 students attended an All Skills Career Day, May 1. Part job fair, part interactive exhibit, the event included 60 area businesses including Monarch Paving, Berghammer Builders, Workforce Resource, the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, Brandtjen & Kluge foil stamping and die cutting, NEI Electric, Lake Country Dairy, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Pine Tech, Polk-Burnett Electric and Xcel Energy. At the exhibits, students laid bricks, watched demonstrations and donned firefighting gear before crawling through a maze to simulate a fire. Doing work at the site, Monarch gave students a behind-the-scenes glimpse of machinery at work while improving the Polk County Fairgrounds. “There were areas of concern that needed
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Students welded small flowers at All Skills Career Day, held at the Polk County Fairgrounds, May 1.
updating at the fair grounds,” explained Bonnie Fredrickson of Polk County Workforce Resource. “Monarch’s donation of labor, equipment and materials not only benefited the students seeing the work being performed first hand but also the
fairgrounds.” Berghammer had the students laying bricks and Workforce Resource offered students information about educational training and employment programs. North Valley Lutheran Church of Centuria served a meal to exhibi-
tors and staff. “We want this to be a community event that helps others as well as the students learning about the different careers,” Fredrickson said. “We had a number of volunteers to assist wherever needed.”
Meet your winged neighbors Events highlight regional avifauna BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Did you know more than 240 species of birds can be spotted along the St. Croix River? Home to flying fauna from the mighty bald eagle to the tiny ruby-throated hummingbird, the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers are what the National Park Service calls “ecological corridors” offering rich habitat for many kinds of birds. Some are drawn to the river itself as a home, others to the region’s prairies or forests. And for migratory species, the St. Croix’s northsouth orientation serves as a convenient landmark, one where water
and food are always near. As human development continues to alter oncewild spaces, encroaching on the habitat of birds and other wildlife, some landowners and property managers have begun to welcome birds to their property with houses and perches. The benefits, turns out, aren’t just for the birds. “I consider them workers,” said Drew Slevin, farm manager at Osceola’s Lily Springs Farm. The team at Lily Springs has taken on a proactive stance on inviting species that complement the work they do on the farm. “It’s a joy to see these birds land on your property, but you can also stage houses to clean up black flies and mosquitos,” Slevin said. “Once the tree swallows fill NEWS 715-294-2314 editor@osceolasun.com
will speak Friday at The Acreage and Saturday at Lily Springs Farm.
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A female killdeer guarding her eggs in a raspberry patch at Lily Springs Farm. Killdeer are ground nesters, and will defend their nests from predators by pretending they are injured in order to lure the threat away from the eggs.
up the houses near our orchard and start eating the flies, it’s easier for me to work.” Area residents interested in enhancing bird ADVERTISING 715-294-2314 ads@osceolasun.com
habitat where they live will have a chance this weekend to learn from Kim Grveles, a retired avian ecologist with the Wisconsin DNR. Grveles PUBLIC NOTICES 715-294-2314 office@osceolasun.com
Friday at The Acreage May 17 at the Horst Rechelbacher Foundation property, now known as The Acreage, Grveles will talk about the ecological significance of birds and how locals can restore and protect bird habitat. The property has been a sanctuary in many different forms throughout its history,” said Kiran Stordalen, Horst Rechelbacher’s wife before his death in 2014 and one of the foundation’s trustees. “It’s almost 350 acres comprised of woodland, river frontage, pasture and prairie. So when we’re thinking about wild places and an opportunity for migratory bird species to have a place of
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respite and refuge, that feels like it could be a really nice landing spot.” The presentation, hosted by the Horst Rechelbacher Foundation with help from Lily Springs Farm and the Osceola Community Health Foundation, is intended to build on existing efforts toward ecological restoration in the St. Croix Valley. “I think it folds into some of the ecological components of the community here in terms of sustainability,” Stordalen continued. “Osceola has an interesting progressive direction with a lot of cooperative farms and a lot of interest in organic farming. We’re on the banks of the St. Croix River, which is a national scenic byway. There are a SEE BIRDS, PAGE 15
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