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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2025
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VOL. 130 NO. 16 www.whitebearpress.com $1.00
ARTS & CULTURE: It’s the time of year to attend a play PAGE 11
‘She Kills Monsters’ poised to slay competition important because it helps us bring these more authentic stories to the world.” Lydia Jersak, a junior who plays this production’s Tilly, has appreciated that authenticity. Remarked Jersak, “I relate a lot with Tilly—not even the fact that she’s a lesbian and I am too… There’s just this feeling of isolation. And so, I think that I can really embody Tilly with that, understand it and can get into the character while still being happy and upbeat like Tilly is.” One area with which the cast
but was scared to come out to her family. Only in fantasy did she feel she could be herself. While past White Bear Lake shows have featured LGBTQ+ characters, “She Kills Monsters” will be the first show that is explicitly about a character’s experience navigating sexual orientation. “I think when you set out to do the One Act, you’re committing to some harder work…” said Ben McMillen, whose character Chuck runs the campaign and narrates some of the fantasy action. “I think not straying away from that sensitive material is really
BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“I’ve had people say, ‘You should choose a different show, or we’re not going to support you…’” stated White Bear Lake Area High School competitive winter One-Act Director Braylon Lane. This year’s show, “She Kills Monsters,” is about Agnes, who, in an attempt to be closer to her recently deceased sister, Tilly, plays a fantasy roleplaying campaign that Tilly designed before her passing. While playing the campaign, Agnes discovers that Tilly identified as a lesbian,
SEE ONE ACT, PAGE 9
WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SCHOOLS | CONTRIBUTED
The cast of “She Kills Monsters,” White Bear Lake Area High School’s 2025 entry for the competitive one-act play. From left to right, Sora Graham, Conner MacDonald, Kaya Burback, Ben McMillen, Lydia Jersak, Calleigh Berman and Audrey Gallagher.
Mobile, wood-fired sauna creates ‘oasis’ in suburbs BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The BEAR’ly Open is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 1 at Ramsey County Beach. See more details on page 9.
‘Iconic event’ returns to the ice The ice is back. The 18th annual BEAR’ly Open will return to White Bear
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Lake this weekend after the golf-on-ice event was canceled last year due to lack of ice. “We are looking forward to getting back out on the ice and golfing again. Last year was
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The temperature is below zero in the dead of winter. You step inside a 14-by-7-foot mobile trailer and are greeted with a temperature of 160 degrees and the smell of fresh cedar. All you can hear is the occasional clinking of a stove. Looking out the window, you are greeted with the serene view of a nature center. This winter, Amy Ogren launched Driftwood Sauna, a mobile, wood-fired sauna that can seat up to eight people. “It’s a really restful experience. It is quiet, and the cedar smells so good,” Ogren explained. “It is a little oasis in the ‘burbs.” Ogren, who grew up in Shoreview, taught middle school and high school English for around 25 years but she was ready for a break. “I was just ready for a different pace,” Ogren shared. While listening to the radio one day, Ogren heard a story about “saunapreneurs,” a new trend happening on the North Shore and nationwide. Ogren and her husband own a small cabin on the south shore of Lake Superior. “I was driving to work, and I thought we need one of these in Cornucopia, Wisconsin,” she recalled. From May through October, Driftwood Sauna will be parked by the lake in Cornucopia. From November through March, the trailer will primarily be located at Tamarack Nature Center, but you may also find it at other pop-up events, including Franconia Sculpture Park.
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