Selk acquired a picnic table from his grandfather, which also needed some work. He decided to build a fire pit, which he hoped would also bring folks closer together. He painted the well house too. Selk said the project cost him about $140, and he feels that after all of his hard work, the park area is looking pretty good. He plans to continue to mow the grass.
What had almost been a lost remembrance in this area across from the Pontoppidan Church has now been made into a place of pleasure and pride, not only to Selk, but to the people who pass by, as well as to those who have enjoyed using it this past summer. The parishioners were pleased and a suggestion was made to name the park. On Sunday, September 25th, the name the congregation selected was announced, Peace Park.
Selk recorded the history of the park and the work he had done. He took before and after pictures of and included it all in a notebook. He then entered it at the Steele County Fair as his 4-H project. Selk received a reserve champion ribbon at the county fair, and was later awarded a Champion Award of Excellence ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair.
Selk’s desire for a better world didn't start or end there. He modestly mentioned the various activities that have enriched this environment while it developing a citizen without compare.
Selk has been a major youth worker at his church with hopes of becoming an assistant to the pastor. He serves as an usher, and has often been called upon to ring the morning bell. He reads scripture lessons during worship services and participates in chime choir. He is a leader and has made a point of doing things to achieve leadership goals. He has worked hard to be able to participate in youth group trips. He worked at the Rose Bud Indian reservation in Martin, Sorth Dakota, in 2010.
In 2011, he took part in a youth group trip that took him to Cairo, Illinois, where he spent part of his trip helping paint the entire home of an older lady during the morning hours. He spent the afternoons in a sports camp for kids.
Selk’s experiences have helped him realize that there are differences in people, in their upbringing and in their cultures. He has worked soup kitchens, helped the homeless and experienced the effects the world has placed on different people. He understands that even the little things in life are the beginning of big things. He has developed an understanding of others.
Pontoppidan Church is a busy place, and the youth have also served as hosts for other youth groups from the cities and showed them what it is like to live in our little corner of the world, taking them on a trip to see some elevators in Ellendale and Hope, Panuska Goat Farm and Curt Johnson’s cattle farm.
Selk was also able to see a number of impressive sights during his trips, including a 100-foot cross in Kentucky and the St. Louis Arch.
Selk lives in Owatonna with his mother, Gena, who works at Viracon He’s fortunate to have his grandparents nearby who have helped develop him from a boy into a caring young man whose curiosity and abilities have given him insight into the eclectic world we live in. Funds are tight. He knows how to budget. Even sponsored volunteer trips cost money. He has learned to save and plan.
His neighbors, family and church family have expressed their admiration in watching his quiet nature develop into much more by the things he has accepted as challenges and later overcame.
Selk has served as Steele County 4-H Ambassador, was the club vice president, and later held the position of president. He helped set up and take down 4-H displays during the Steele County Fair this summer.
Selk, along with Tanner and Brandon Nelson, attended a Farm Bureau team leadership camp at St. Peter two years ago and also attended a Farm Bureau Camp in St. Cloud last year. He was also selected to speak at an annual Farm Bureau meeting.
He is also involved in FFA and earned his FFA jacket by being a winner in speaking the creed from memory and with conviction. Participating in an FFA General Livestock competition in September, he and his team placed ninth overall.
Selk was called upon to share information about the FFA and 4-H on KRFO radio during the Steele County Fair in August.
He is very dedicated to his education. He enjoys science, history and ag classes and hopes to take auto mechanics in college at MSU.
Selk’s teachers have been quick to realize he is leadership material. One of his high school teachers recently nominated him to be an ambassador and join other high school students from Dakota and Scott County to study in China, during a 17-day trip with the People To People organization in the summer of 2012. If chosen, he plans to hold a fundraiser to help raise the estimated $6,000 cost of the trip.
