There will be a Community Work Day Saturday, April 16 at the building being renovated for the New Richland Area Food Shelf.

Work will begin at 9 a.m.  Work to be done: hanging, taping and mudding drywall. If this time won't work for you, but you would like to help, please call Larry Goehring at 463-3421. Thank you!

Lee Emerson Bass, 81, of Owatonna, formerly of Hope, passed away April 10, 2016, at his home surrounded by his family. Lee was born February 10, 1935, in Westbrook, MN. He was the son of Harrison and Dorothy (Berger) Bass.

Lee graduated from Westbrook High School in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. Lee was united in marriage to Marlys Leske on May 12, 1957, at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Buffalo Lake, MN. He managed the Hope Elevator from 1960 to 1976. He later worked at various grain companies and retired from Jennie-O-Turkey Store.

Terence Austin Leonard Dosh died of Parkinson’s Thursday, April 7, 2016, believing: “Whether in life or in death we belong to God.”

Terry was born in St Paul on Nov 22, 1930, the sixth of seven children born into the loving family of Charles M and Lilly Olson Dosh. 

He was nurtured in Catholic parishes and schools (St. Helena Mpls.) until he moved to St John’s in Collegeville (1944) for Prep School and University. An avid sportsman and curious, passionate student, he applied his scholarship as a social justice activist. He became a Benedictine Oblate Nov 21, 1945 (Gregory). On July 11, 1950 he joined the monastic community, receiving the name Leonard. He was ordained a priest June 1, 1957 and taught at St John’s Prep and University and St. Ben’s in St. Joseph, MN. He shared his enthusiasm and vast knowledge of history, geography and art with his students being mentored by Fr Walter Reger. He served as prefect, Oblate director and publisher of the Oblate newsletter.

The funeral service for Viola J. Klomp, 93, of New Richland, MN and formerly of Stewartville, MN, will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at Zion Lutheran Church in Stewartville with Rev. Byron Meline officiating. Burial  and a committal service will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery in Stewartville. Mrs. Klomp died on Friday, April 8, 2016 of natural causes at the New Richland Care Center, where she had resided since December of 2010.

Viola June Lange was born on June 16, 1922 in Harmony, MN, to Friebert and Sarah (Miller) Lange. She grew up on the family farm and attended country and Harmony schools. She helped on the family farm and was employed as a clerk at the Johnson Grocery Store in Harmony.

My earliest memories of Tink Larson Field go back to preschool, driving past in our old Rambler, my mom and sister gesturing toward the field and saying, “That’s where you’re going to go to kindergarten!”

They were, of course, referring to the brick building a couple blocks in the background, Hartley Elementary, but I saw only the baseball field and wooden bleacher structure and wondered why in the world anyone would go to school there. I never did, at least not until later years. I went to South Side for kindergarten and at some point realized Community Field is where you play baseball and Hartley is a school. At some much later point I realized both are places of higher learning.

The first game I attended at Community Field was in the late 1960s, when I convinced an adult friend to take me. I became a regular at the park after that, climbing the ladder to put numbers on the outfield scoreboard for a buck a game or shagging foul balls for 50 cents, if you didn't get there early enough.

We also trespassed at the ballpark on a regular basis, day and night, though we never did any damage. If you went to the top of the bleachers in either corner, you could grab the wire, climb on top and play in the press box. It was always a little scary climbing that wire, but that was half the fun.

Practices for our seventh-grade football team were held in the outfield grass. I played baseball games on the field, learned from Larson, and covered countless games for the newspaper.

An American Legion game from the late 1980s comes to mind. Brad Tramp hit a home run that went foul. Monte Dufault, standing on deck, said, “That’s what I’m going to do. Only fair.” Tramp hit a home run on the next pitch. Dufault followed with a home run. The clip of that article later helped me land a job at Sun Newspapers in the Cities.

It was about that time I approached Waseca Mayor Avery “Doc” Hall about changing the name of the ballpark from Community Field to Tink Larson Field. Doc agreed it was a grand idea. We started a petition. It didn’t fly.

They eventually did rename the field in honor of the man who spent decades manicuring it, traveling to the old Met Stadium for bleacher seats and other reclaimable items, and generally turning the place into one of the best ballparks in the state. He and his wife, Sharon, basically raised their kids there, and did a good job of it.

At one time, Larson coached the high school, Legion and VFW baseball teams and ran the park and recreation program. He was also a heck of a ballplayer, hitting home runs and throwing out baserunners as a catcher into his 60s for the Waseca town team.

Wednesday night, along with others, Larson watched with disbelief as the bleachers at his beloved field all but burned to the ground.

The fire, it is said, started in the middle of the bleachers. The state fire marshal was there Thursday investigating. Larson, reached at his home Thursday evening, said he’s hoping for a report Friday, though he knows it won’t really matter.

“It’s gone,” said Larson. “It won’t ever be the same, that’s for sure.”

The bleachers will be rebuilt, of course, but they never can or will be replaced. Laws won’t allow it anymore. Modern bleachers must be constructed of steel, concrete or some other non-flammable substance, not wood.

Like the old hotel on Waseca’s Main St., which burned decades ago, the historic Tink Larson Field bleacher structure is now exactly that — history.

It wasn’t an easy opener for the NRHEG baseball team. But the Panthers kept it close.

The locals kicked off the season against one of the conference favorites, Faribault Academies, and fell 2-0 in a pitcher’s duel at Legion Field Monday, April 4.

Dempsey Tucker and Faribault’s Anthony VanThomme took turns putting goose eggs on the scoreboard, though the Panthers had baserunners and scoring chances in every inning. The visitors won it in the top of the seventh.

The NRHEG softball team lost its season opener to Faribault Academies 10-4 in nine innings Monday, April 4 at Legion Field.

The Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to send it to extra innings, but the Cardinals won it with six in the top of the ninth.

Torrie Stencel was 2-for-3 for the Panthers, Grace Johns 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Rachel Collins went 2-for-5 and scored twice. Natalie Aaseth, Gabi Muri, Anna Lundberg and Kylie Arndt added one hit each.

Lundberg took the pitching loss, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits, with seven strikeouts and five walks. The Panthers had

The NRHEG track and field teams opened the 2016 season indoors at Minnesota State-Mankato Saturday, April 2. Both squads were third among six schools.

Tri-City United won the girls’ meet with 151.5 points. The Panthers scored 90.

Firsts for NRHEG were by Hailey Schuller, 55-meter hurdles, and Sophia Fischer, shot put. Schuller was second in the 55 high hurdles and fourth in the long jump.

I had the opportunity to travel to St. Paul recently and chat with some of our local legislators regarding education issues. It was my first time doing this, but it was a great experience to have the people who create our laws take some time to listen to the people those laws affect.

An area of concern that I and other teachers from the area shared with the politicians was in regards to attracting teachers and teacher retention. There is a teacher shortage all over the state, especially in subjects like math, science, and special education.  NRHEG has had a difficult time filling some of these spots recently, and we are in the same boat as many other districts.

Part of the problem is money. People with a math or science degree can make more outside of education, so why would they want to teach?

Okay, I’ve heard it all before. Teachers get their summers off, they get other breaks during the year, and they work shorter days than other private-sector employees.

You’re right. We do work fewer days than many people, 186 contracted days here vs. an average person with four weeks of vacation working about 240 days. We get a week or so off at Christmas and usually a mini-break around Easter. If the weather terrorists don’t attack, there are some other scattered days to create three-day weekends, but not many. There are a number of days kids aren’t in school but teachers are.

We have an eight-hour workday with a half hour lunch. But we also take a lot home with us many nights. There are times I leave school when I’m able, but I’ve got some solid work ahead of me doing some correcting. There are times I prefer doing that at home, which is why I trade my desk at school for my kitchen table. That way I can do the laundry, cook supper, or other chores at the same time.

So are we overpaid? According to the National Education Association, the average starting teacher in Minnesota makes about $34,000. The average teacher overall brings in about $52,000. There’s been a big to-do made lately about St. Paul teachers averaging $75,000 yearly. I can tell you this much: there’s not a teacher in our area making anything close to that! Of course, we haven’t had nearly 50 teachers attacked by students this year either like the St. Paul district has. I’ll take less money for less of that, thank you very much.

I came into this profession with my eyes wide open. I never expected to become rich as a teacher. When I attained my Master’s degree, I moved over on our salary schedule to a point where I make a good wage. Not great, but not anything to be sour grapes about. This is an area where teachers have some control over their salaries; if we further our education, we get an increase in pay. It costs plenty to get those credits, but that change in salary is for the rest of our careers.

There are other issues though. When I started teaching 20 years ago, I got to do just that: teach. I had a nice level of freedom over my curriculum, taught my classes every day, went home to do some correcting some evenings, and that was that.

Today, however, the school has become more of a community resource center. I’m not just a teacher. Some days I have to be a counselor, a nurse, a police officer, and even a parent (not just to my own child!). How so?

We’re constantly on the look-out for the deteriorating mental health of so many students based on outside factors; we have to listen closely and try to keep track of which kids are having issues, but without knowing too much because of privacy concerns. I get to diagnose injuries at recess and when kids mess around in the halls and get hurt. Some teachers have to break up fights and deal with other illegal activities. And some kids just need someone to talk to because they receive either no attention or all negative attention at home and don’t have great parent figures in their lives.

Now throw the heightened expectations placed on teachers by the government in addition to all that. Who would want to do this job, even with all that supposed time off? If you’re starting college and thinking about teaching, would it be worth it? Many young people are saying no. They see what the state requires of teachers and what the salary is and say, “No, thank you.”

As we told our legislators, salary isn’t the only factor here. The state needs to take some of this burden off teachers and give money to schools to hire more support staff such as counselors, therapists, and nurses. That way the people who love to teach (like me) can go back to doing that and doing it well. Get rid of all the other items on our plates and the meat and potatoes that are left will be especially good. And that will be attractive to people entering the profession, which is what we need most of all.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is yerk, which means a sudden movement, as in, “The teacher spied a yerk in the hall during class, which meant another fight had erupted.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!