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RESCUE MISSION: Falconer saves baby eagle in distress PAGE 17
Happy trails: Police chief to retire this summer BY NOELLE OLSON EDITOR
Sailing School. Yes, more things can go wrong and the exhilarating E requires an adept crew that can react quickly to shifting winds, but that is what attracts sailors with a need for speed. “There is a thin margin for error on E boats,” Dunsworth pointed out. “Any little movement of the tiller makes the boat react quickly. It can throw the crew off balance and even cause the boat to tip over. It happens all the time.” The E was designed to handle flat water really well, so it’s fast on inland lakes, Dunsworth continued. “The basic hull design has not changed much in 100 years. The biggest changes are in materials. The mast and boom are aluminum, the hull is fiber reenforced polymer instead of wood, and the sails are no longer cotton. In 2008, the spinnaker design changed to asymmetrical. “It’s a testament to the speed and design of the boat that the only changes have been in technology for strength and safety,” he said.
White Bear Lake Police Chief Julie Swanson will be hanging up her badge on Aug. 25. “My husband is retired and the plan always was when I could retire, I would,” Swanson said. “It was a hard decision to make because I still love my job and I love the people I work with. They do such a great job and I’m CONTRIBUTED really proud of them.” White Bear Lake Chief Swanson has served as of Police Julie Swanson the chief of police since 2014 will retire on Aug. 25. and the White Bear Lake community for the past 23 years. During her tenure, she has served as a DARE instructor, field training officer, school resource officer, sergeant and captain. Swanson started her career as a Ramsey County Sheriff’s deputy. She worked there for three years and then wanted to be a patrol officer. “Back then you worked in the jail so I looked at some agencies and White Bear was hiring,” Swanson said. “I was hired but I never thought I would become the chief.” Swanson went on to get her master’s degree in public administration and leadership and during that time, she began to think maybe she could become the chief of police someday. “I always thought the captain would become the chief and he left and became a chief somewhere else and when I got promoted to captain to replace him, I’m like, well, maybe I can do this,” she said. And so I didn’t really think about it until that timeframe.” When Swanson became the chief of police, she had ideas on how the department could thrive. “I learned a lot from the former chief and how I wanted the department to be,” she said. “It was just fun to become chief and be the person that could make changes so the department could thrive.” Swanson said the hardest thing about being the chief of police is the public perception of law enforcement. “We don’t feel it here, but we feel the effects of when something bad happens,” She said. “When there’s a very egregious thing that happens that a police officer does we all feel responsible for that. The reality is there’s 12,000 cops in Minnesota and you’re only hearing about one. I think that’s been the biggest challenge for me is just to remain positive through that and try to help
SEE E-SCOW, PAGE 18
SEE POLICE CHIEF, PAGE 2
JAY RENDALL
Inland Lakes Yachting Association is hosting the 2023 E Invitational with the White Bear Yacht Club this weekend, July 7-9, that is expected to draw more than 200 sailors from across the region. The historic event celebrates the “birth” of the E scow on White Bear Lake.
Born on White Bear Lake, E scow celebrates 100 years BY DEBRA NEUTKENS STAFF WRITER
A subtle mistake can turn into catastrophe. That’s how sailor Mark Dunsworth describes the sensitivity of the flat-bottomed E scow; a boat he compares to a Formula One race car. “They are the fastest, most exciting boat I’ve ever raced,” said Dunsworth, who is chairing the E Invitational regatta this weekend on White Bear Lake. The event coincides with the celebration of the 100th year since the Inland Lakes Yachting Association (ILYA) planted the seed in 1923 for the design and building of E scows. Norwegian immigrant and White Bear boat builder, John O. Johnson, designed and built the first E-scow prototype in 1924. It was selected as ILYA’s choice to start its new class of sailboat. “Historians wrote that the E prototype was a ‘beautifully crafted reduction’ of Johnson’s A-scow of that era,” noted Jay Rendall, who is just finishing a book on area boat builders. Johnson’s grandson, Steve
Johnson, said the sailing community is “honored to host an event that brings home one of the best boats ever designed on White Bear Lake.” As the story goes, J.O. submitted a prototype design to ILYA in a competition with other boat builders and won, building the first E-scow in 1924. The White Bear Yacht Club’s E fleet of five boats was established a few years later in 1928. Dunsworth recalled early on learning about the history of Johnson Boat Works and how much the national E-scow class was influenced by White Bear boat builders. “It was a point of pride for kids growing up at the sailing school and part of our local identity,” he recalled. A third-generation sailor, he’s learned to appreciate the high-performance scow. His mother Karen Alnes and his uncle Lee Alnes are siblings and both prominent sailors on the lake who grew up sailing with their father Steve. Mark’s cousin Andy Kruse (son of a third sibling, Judy), has also raced E scows for years. The cousins are products of the White Bear
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