WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 119 NO. 02 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Braves head to semis. PAGE 11
From source to confluence Osceola man paddles the St. Croix and Namekagon BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
MARTIN DOEGE | CREATIVE COMMONS
Plans for a new Apple Pumpkin Festival are underway in Dresser. Organizers hope to make the event an annual occasion.
Dresser gives OK for fall festival Fest will raise funds for People Loving People BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Organizers of the Dresser-based thrift store and food ministry
People Loving People are going forward with plans for a new Apple Pumpkin Festival after the Dresser Village Board approved closing part of Central Avenue to make way for the outdoor event. The festival will feaSEE FESTIVAL, PAGE 12
Osceola zoning map approved with little fanfare BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
The simmering matter of the potential Blue Rock Quarry fell to the background last week as the Osceola Town Board approved a zoning map without much flourish, save a thanks for the work that went into making the map and accompanying resolution. At the public hearing a week before, a representative of the Blue Rock Quarry families had protested the map, saying it was designed to prevent the group’s properties from potential future mining through zoning restrictions. Others at the hearing, including plan commission members and town residents, said the map had been created thoughtfully, taking into account a survey of resident input, projected future growth and compatibility between zones. At the board’s Aug. 2 meeting, prior to the board’s approval of the map, one plan commission member and one resident voiced support of the map. Haas asks to crush In an effort to clean up its site, the Haas Quarry has SEE MAP, PAGE 12
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July 18, Mark Swiontek embarked on a fiveday, 276-mile solo kayak journey, hoping to paddle the entire St. Croix and Namekagon rivers starting at their sources. “I have been on these rivers many times with family, Scouts, church groups and friends,” said Swiontek, “but have never completed the whole rivers.” An avid endurance athlete and outdoorsman, he made plans to run the St. Croix in 24 hours. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since my childhood, studying the National Park Service maps and dreaming of all secret corners I have never seen,” he said. He’d already made two attempts. During the first, a strong south wind outpaced the current and after fighting for two miles in a canoe, Swiontek stopped paddling and let the wind blow him back to his truck. He bought a kayak for his second attempt, knowing it would help him glide more easily through wind and water. But a record rainfall made for equally challenging conditions. “The third time proved to be the charm,” said Swiontek. “Outfitted with a super paddle from my friend Ed at Bending Branches (an Osceola-based manufacturer of canoe and kayak paddles) I finally sliced into the beginning of the incredible journey.”
SUBMITTED
Swiontek takes in construction of the massive St. Croix Crossing before paddling beneath.
St. Croix, Day 1 59 miles in 14 hours Swiontek packed his kayak to capacity in Solon Springs at Upper St. Croix Lake and launched. Though the weather was ideal, water was still high SEE SWIONTEK, PAGE 12
Raising funds for hungry vets, cyclist passes through Osceola BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Thermometers crept to 90 degrees last Wednesday, Aug. 3, as Michael Beattie cycled 75 miles from Milaca, Minn., to Osceola. He described the ride as “a little hot,” saying he’s been through worse. Beattie, a 67-year-old Navy veteran, is roughly 10,000 miles into a 12,000-mile ride circling the U.S. to raise awareness of hungry war veterans and an organization, Feed Our Vets, that aims to help them. “Nearly 3 million veterans and their family members don’t have enough food to last from month to month,” said Beattie, who sold his house to fund his journey. “Another 130,000 are homeless and on the streets hungry on any given night.” The trip has taken him down the East Coast to Florida’s panhandle, west across Louisiana and the desert SouthSEE CYCLIST, PAGE 12
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SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Michael Beattie, a 67-year-old Navy veteran, is cycling the U.S. to help feed hungry war veterans and their families.
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