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WHAT’S HAPPENING: Community festivals, concerts, exhibits and summer fun PAGE 7
From Africa to Minnesota: 2 men find hope and faith in church partnership BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
Derick Ngu and Thomas Dowie are on a mission to spread faith from their home countries, Cameroon and Liberia, respectively. Now, they have found the perfect place to spread the word in White Bear Lake: St. Stephen Lutheran Church. “From our perspective, we see ourselves all as brothers in Christ,” said Church Council President Ted Field of Dowie and Ngu. “If we have a chance to help another Christian family, we want to do that, and we thought we could help these gentlemen by giving them a space.” Dowie has lived in White Bear Lake with his family for two years after moving from Liberia. Dowie is also the founder of Kingdom Restoration Ministries, and has served as its head pastor since creating it last year. Dowie has described the ministry as a new initiative from his previous one, Resurrection Power Ministries, having also been head pastor there for 30 years. “I felt it would be better to find a churchconnected facility rather than renting out a public one,” Dowie explained regarding how he discovered St. Stephen. “We went around scouting churches and got in touch with Ted. After we spoke, we found our conversation resonated deeply with each other. From there, I went to the board and made a formal request, and that’s how I got access to this building.
Vadnais Heights finds new ways to tackle invasive species CONTRIBUTED
BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
Buckthorn, beware! The Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization is making sure your days are numbered. According to Program Development Coordinator Dawn Tanner, buckthorn removal has been on the organization’s agenda since late 2019. The organization found the greatest buckthorn concentration in the wetlands behind City Hall. “We’re working on it because it’s a wooded wetland we want to restore,” said Tanner. “Our main office is located here, too, so the buckthorn removal is something we can do directly onsite. Then, we can use it to introduce native plant species where the buckthorn gets taken out.” The organization has also recruited volunteers from different schools, including the University of Minnesota
and AFSA Charter School, to assist in buckthorn removal. In the case of AFSA, students could volunteer through special school-run workdays in the spring and fall. For these workdays, the school has partnered with the organization to bring students to the wetlands to help in the removal. “The school really wants an educational opportunity for them to work with organizations in their community,” said Tanner. Tanner said that removing wild buckthorn starts with cutting down the plant before its sap runs actively throughout its structure. This is usually done in March to prevent the plants from growing leaves throughout the summer. Afterward, herbicide is applied to the stump, which seeps into its roots and leads to its death. However, Tanner says this process doesn’t always work on the first attempt. “With buckthorn, herbicide
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Press of the e Bear Lake Whit hts Vadnais Heig
doesn’t always completely kill it,” said Tanner. “Sometimes it’ll have a flush of new growth next year, so we try to treat those, too. It can also take a few years to fully remove them if it doesn’t happen within that first year.” Enter a special group of fourlegged helpers to tackle the remaining buckthorn. Last year, the organization worked with The Munch Bunch. The company lends goats in Minnesota and Wisconsin to clear out plants and assorted overgrowth. According to Tanner, these goats will remove the smaller buckthorn to plant native seeds in its place. “It’s a one-two punch,” said Tanner. “We get rid of the big plants and get in the first round of treatment. Then, we bring the goats to eat what’s regenerating to prepare it for seeding.” This year, the organization is working with ScapeGoats,
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CONTRIBUTED
The Presbyterian Church of Cameroon holds services at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake.
SEE GOATS, PAGE 24
Ryan & Nicole Podewils
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SEE CHURCH SERVICE, PAGE 21
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The Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization has been using goats to help remove wild buckthorn behind City Hall.
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