7th Annual Hope Tractor Pull June 3

The 7th Annual Hope Tractor Pull is set for Sunday, June 3 north of the elevator. It’s sponsored by First Lutheran Church of Hope.

Scheduled weight classes:

3500# farm stock, stock open; 4500# farm stock, stock open; 5500# farm stock, stock open; 6500# farm stock, stock open; 7500# farm stock, stock open; 8500# farm stock, stock open; 9500# farm stock, stock open; 10500#, stock open; 11500# stock open; 12500# stock open; 14000# stock; 16500# stock.

Pulling starts at 10 am. Food and drink available by First Lutheran Church. Contact Mike Hartle for information at 451-0812 or 456-8521; fax: 455-0486.

Ellendale Area VBS June 4-8

Ellendale area churches will be hosting Vacation Bible School starting Monday, June 4 at 6:30 p.m.

Registration is open to students kindergarten through 6th grade.

Registration forms are available at area churches. Supper will be served each evening at Vibrant Life Assembly of God Church.

Child care is available to those working at VBS.

Bloodmobile to be at Waldorf June 5

The American Red Cross Bloodmobile will be at the Waldorf Community Center Tuesday, June 5, from 1-7 p.m. For an appointment call 239-2461.

RECORD-SETTING DAY — NRHEG sophomore T.J. Schiltz clears the high jump bar during last week’s Section 2A True Team Meet. Schiltz was also successful on the track, winning the 3200 and setting a new NRHEG school record in the 1600. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)

The NRHEG track and field teams competed in the Section 2A True Team Meet May 10, with the girls placing fourth and the boys 12th among 13 schools.

Sophomore T.J. Schiltz provided the NRHEG highlights, setting a new school record in the 1600 with a time of 4:41.79, good for third place. It broke the old record set by Keith Berg in 1996.

But Schiltz wasn’t done there. He won the 3200 in 10:14.83 and added a 15th place in the high jump.

Mankato Loyola/Cleveland won the boys’ meet with 683 points, followed by Maple River with 649.5. The Panthers had 273.5.

NRHEG rallies past Nicollet, tops LCWM in eight innings

The spring success continues for the NRHEG baseball team, which improved its record to 9-1 in the Gopher Conference and 15-2 overall with a pair of wins in the past week.

On Monday, the Panthers traveled to Nicollet and came home with an 8-3 nonconference triumph.

Tyler Sorenson sparked the Panthers at Nicollet with a two-run triple in the top of the second after the home team scored three in the first.

Mitch Akemann settled down on the mound after that, finishing with a complete-game four-hitter. He allowed three earned runs, struck out eight and walked four.

The NRHEG softball team made it close in the late innings, but continued its winning ways with a 6-4 Gopher Conference victory over United South Central at New Richland’s Legion Field last Thursday.

The Panthers, behind the strong arm of Jade Schultz, were never really threatened in the game. They took a 2-0 lead in the bottom first inning, added three in the fifth and one in the sixth. Errors in the top of the seventh led to USC’s four runs.

Schultz finished with a five-hitter, striking out 12 and walking two while allowing two earned runs. USC’s Cassidy Latusek gave up six earned runs on eight hits, with four strikeouts and five walks.

Schultz led the NRHEG offense going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Tori Raimann was 2-for-2 with two runs and two stolen bases. Tara Simon doubled and scored. Hannah Lundberg, Mandy Deml and Anna Stork contributed one hit apiece.

“It was a good team win,” said Panthers coach Wendy Schultz. “Jade pitched well.”

Janesville’s Prairie Ridge Golf Course was the sight of this year’s Gopher Conference meet. The Panther boys, who have struggled most of the year, did more of the same Friday, April 27. They finished fifth out of a five-team field. USC won the tournament with a 345 team total. The Rebels’ Ryan Pederson (81) and Nick Neubauer (85) finished first and second, respectively.

The Panthers’ Spencer Hanna (91) finished tied for ninth place and was All-Conference Honorable Mention. Sam Grothem (99,) Macoy Schwierjohann (101) and Cole Lenort (103) figured in the team score of 394. Sam Nafe had a 106, Jake Langlie was disqualified for a rules infraction.

The Blossoms from Blooming Prairie (359) were second, followed by Faribault BA (363), JWP (381) and NRHEG. 

On the girls’ side, the Panthers faired somewhat better as they were third. Ali Wood, the standout from USC, shot an eight-over-par 80. NRHEG’s team score of 453 was led by Maddie Reed’s 106. Reed, who finished 8th, was selected All-Conference Honorable Mention. Teammate Brina Bergland was close behind in ninth place with 109. Lexi Wayne and Michaela Hansen shot matching 119s. Brenna Hagen (128) and Maddy Schwierjohann (150.)

USC won the event with a 395 total. BP (434,) NRHEG, JWP (488) and Faribault BA only had two golfers.

New Richland City Council

By JODY WYNNEMER

Staff Writer

At its Monday meeting, the New Richland City Council gave its approval for a request by the Girl Scouts to place placards on storm sewers around the city. The project is part of the Centennial Take Action Project, which will coincide with the centennial celebration of Girl Scouting on Saturday, October 13, 2012. The message plate will say, “This drain if for rain only. Flows to waterways.” It is designed to remind people not to dump anything in a storm drain that eventually ends up in the rivers and streams. Contaminants such as gasoline, antifreeze, oil and other chemicals are dumped into storm sewers. At last count, there are approximately 100 storm drains in the city, 25 of them considered major drains.

New Richland Fire Chief Jeremy Parpart approached the council with a request to purchase a trailer for the department. The trailer will house the grain bin rescue equipment and other items needed in an emergency. The cost is $11,210, which will be paid for with recently donated funds.

Police Chief Scott Eads was next on the agenda with his report of 73 calls for service and an additional 48 contacts during the month of April.

Last week in federal court in St. Paul, a 37-year-old Ellendale, Minn., man was sentenced on charges stemming from a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in losses of at least $18 million for mortgage lenders. On May 10, 2012, United States District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced Michael Anthony Prieskorn for orchestrating the scheme, which involved the purchase of approximately 70 residential properties in Florida and Minnesota between December 2006 and April 2007. Prieskorn was sentenced to 72 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of engaging in an illegal monetary transaction. Prieskorn was indicted on January 20, 2010, and pleaded guilty on March 23, 2010.

"Mortgage fraud creates so much harm to individuals, businesses, and our economy, but today's sentencing is a strong reminder how serious our courts consider this criminal activity," said Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, (IRS-CID), St. Paul Field Office Field office. "IRS-CID is committed to ‘following the money trail’ to ensure that those who engage in these illegal activities are vigorously investigated and brought to justice." 

It was not a day of sadness. It was a day of hope and pride and honor, a culmination of the lifetime of a loved one’s hopes and dreams. It was sharing the stunning complexity of the human body and an important lesson. We cannot limit our care to the mental body, but rather we must react to embrace the human spirit.

There are times one wonders about things to write. Some subjects may be too personal. But then, maybe someone else would like to know what we didn't until we experienced it.

As many people know it was always my father’s wish to donate his body to the Mayo Health System because he felt that if doctors could learn something, and if studying his body could help someone else, he wanted to donate it.

This is something both my mother and father decided they would do years ago, so they contacted Mayo.

Upon his death in July, we notified the Mayo Health System. They sent a hearse to take his body to Rochester. This spring our family received an invitation to a Convocation Memorial program, which honors those who donated their bodies for science or study during the past year. Students and staff join families and friends of the donors to acknowledge the immeasurable value and impact of the donor's gift. They respect and maintain the privacy and dignity of the donors and their families and friends throughout the ceremony.

The gathering was both an academic assembly of student and faculty to give thanks to the families for their loved ones’ generosity in donating their body, and closure for the family.

The program was dignified and serious. It wasn't sad. It gave us a good feeling of participation in a worthwhile program of helping to train future health professionals and of Dad’s final gift. The students who thanked us and explained what it meant to them gave meaning to the gift. They said there were things that cannot be learned from books. Some things need to be learned and practiced by hands-on experiences.

The program was dignified. The speakers were short but informative. The faculty explained the need and purpose and went on to say the knowledge gained about body changes, surgical techniques, skeletal changes, muscle, bone, vessels, veins, replacements, carpal tunnel syndrome, and osteoporosis could only be researched in a hands-on situation. They told us the knowledge and skills learned through the research are shared with other physicians and anatomy labs around the world so others can also learn what is learned at Mayo.

The students spoke sincerely of the three-dimensional lessons they learned from the experience. They also explained that the knowledge  received could never be learned in the same way from books and lectures. In effect they said, “The donor bodies were silent teachers.” They explained that our loved one’s sacrifice gave insight into the efforts of their lives.

From speaker after speaker, we heard them give thanks to those who gave freely and quietly.

One student explained how meaningful and personal it made her feel about her chosen field of medicine. It helped her realize we are not all the same and that outlook on life can  change when you have in turn been touched. This is not only a life lesson but an emotional experience for the students. It puts their job in a different perspective.

Another student said, “There is determination and meaning when you've held someone’s heart in your hand. You know that through what you have learned and felt, and that you can make a difference in the lives of others.”

Talks during the convocation were interspersed with music and readings from the students. The students stood with lit candles as they read the first names of each of the 165 remembered. I am sure no one who was present will ever forget the singing of “Amazing Grace,” which was sung a capella by one of the students.

"What is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? And when the earth shall claim your limbs then shall you truly dance." — Kahlil Gibran.

A gift of long-stemmed white roses was given to those present for the convocation. Attached to the roses was this inscription, "For you who think of the world in your last days and who have thought beyond your life, we are grateful."

— — —

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, May 17th: Laura Caroline Deml, her 5th; Caitlyn Nelson, David Thompson, Dale DeRaad, Rhonda Lund Thevenot, Jerry Blouin, Robert Briggs, Dyne Thereneau, Kay Barclay, Darlyne Paulson, Luella Reiman, Judith Hatch, Thomas Shawback, Rose & Carl Glienke.

• Friday, May 18th: Blake Ihrke, Zachary Jacob Dau, Cory Bailey, David Farr, Arlene Busho, Arlene Cummins, Xan Johnson, Mandy Muri Johannsen, Charlie Hanson, Dan Schember, Hank Thompson, Carol Stohr, Roger Draayer, Kelly Krumwiede, Rod Serdahl, Dan & Val Schember, Sue & Dean Westrum, Ken & Pat Sable.

• Saturday, May 19th: Christina Hill Berry, Madison Schweirjohann, Summer Schember Schultz, Mike Rysavy, John Oolman, Dawn Parks, Tim & Tiffany Hanson.

• Sunday, May 20th: Oakley Baker, Kaye Schember Cady, Laureen Hohansee, Kathy Hanson, Hannah Ashton, Carrie Thorstenson, Penny Nordhorn, Haley Collins, Scott Stohr, Kevin Peterson, Kent Lageson, Josh Kelly, Virginia Jensen, Cynthia Butler, Jay & Marsha Neitzel, Ed & Camille Nelson, Hannah Ashton, Adam & Kristen Arends.

• Monday, May 21st: Tony Dodge, Christopher Flim, Tom Wilker, Joel Cooper, Ryan Parks, William & Marvel Beiser.

• Tuesday, May 22nd: David Eliason, Christine Thompson Krause, Lori Lembke, Scott Dirksen, Pat Horan, Mark Christensen, Jim Obermoller, Michael Sarver, Roger Thompson, Andrew Grunwald, Karla Hanson, Dick Swift, Chuck & Susan Grubish, Toni and James Perschbacker.

• Wednesday, May 23rd: Stephane Paul Martin, her 3rd; Will Richard Utpadel, his 5th: Ilsbeth Wayne, Jeanne Simonson, Melissa Shaunce, Burton Borchert, Orville Langlie, Karen Quam, Rodney & Peggy Sorenson, Duane & Janice Morreim, Jeff & Sara Miller, Rebecca & Tim Brekke.

Celebrating with you as you mark another year. Hoping your day is filled with family, friends and cheer!