Feature Stories from the Star Eagle pages.
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By TRISTAN GEHRING
Staff Writer
Michelle Peterson, owner of Sonshine Gardens greenhouse in Clarks Grove, says she is often asked about the business name. “It has a double meaning – we have three boys, and we also wanted it to be an expression of our faith in the Son of God.” The greenhouse is open every year from mid-April to mid-June. “It's not a long time. I feel like we're kind of a hidden secret,” says Peterson. “If you didn't know we were here, check us out. It's worth the drive.” Sonshine Gardens greenhouse is located at 200 First Ave SW, Clarks Grove. Beginning in May, hours are Monday-Friday from 9 to 5, Saturday from 9-3, and Sunday from 11-3.
Michelle is the daughter of Nancy and Ken Gordman; both she and her husband, Mike, grew up in Clarks Grove and attended Albert Lea High School, although they didn't meet until after both of them had graduated. Michelle's best friend married Mike's brother, she explained, and the two met at that wedding. About a year later, they had their own wedding. They raised their three boys together, who are now 27, 33, and 35 years old, and started the business together around the same time their first son was born. “We used to do hydroponic tomatoes.” In 1997, Mike decided to focus on his excavating business – Peterson Excavating – and Michelle took over the majority of the operations for Sonshine Gardens, leading to its evolution into what it is today. “I like flowers more than tomatoes,” she said.
Peterson's hobbies are gardening, going to wineries, reading, and travel. She's been to about 40 of the 50 U.S. states, she says, and attends mission trips in Honduras. Michelle and her husband live in rural Clarks Grove on his family's farm and attend First Baptist Church. They are very active there – in addition to missions, both serve on numerous boards. Michelle teaches the younger kids, and they help support a religious camp in Iowa. Faith is very important to them both, Michelle says. While she's only ever left the country to go to Honduras so far, Michelle says her “bucket list” includes a trip to Italy. Her reading list includes a wide range of books – but her one rule is that it must have a happy ending. Michelle's favorite thing to do, she added, is to care for her three grandbabies. Michelle lives by the old adage, “Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.”
“I love this,” she said, gesturing to the greenhouse. “My favorite part is the excitement of other people when they come in and want to talk flowers.”
Sonshine Gardens sells everything typically offered at a greenhouse – from hanging baskets and bedding plants to herb and vegetable starts, perennials and shrubs. Everything sold in the greenhouse is grown there; the building was recently remodeled and expanded to accommodate more plants. Peterson also offers custom planting: If customers bring in a pot’ she will fill it any way they like. “We consider ourselves to be the best local prices,” she also explained. And because both husband and wife are also locally grown - “You get a little extra hometown service.”
As a successful business owner, Michelle has this advice for young people: “Don't be afraid to try something you wouldn't have thought you could do – I didn't have any training or anything for this. I just decided I wanted to.
“And, I think, try to stay humble.”
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By TRISTAN GEHRING
Staff Writer
Area Emergency Medical Service (EMS) leaders met with staff from the office of U.S. Senator Tina Smith on April 9 at New Richland’s City Hall, to provide information about the status of emergency health care in south central Minnesota. Smith’s staff informed leaders she intends to use the information they share as she defends a new law she is co-sponsoring, the Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene Care and Support (EMS ROCS) Act.
Present at the meeting were three members of Smith's staff – Southern Minnesota Outreach Director Jeanne Poppe, Miranda Morgan Lilla, and Sara Silvernail; directors from three area ambulance services – Sarah Sundve of New Richland, AJ Gengler of Dodge Center, and Tyler Wilson of Blooming Prairie; Waseca County Sheriff Jay Dulas; Freeborn County Commissioner Bill Groskreutz; Waseca County Commissioners Brad Milbrath and Doug Christopherson; Blooming Prairie City Administrator Melanie Aeschliman; and EMS educator and volunteer member of New Richland Ambulance, Jennifer Lacey.
Currently, Medicare does not reimburse EMS providers for their services when the patient is not transported to a hospital, which Senator Smith's office posits leaves rural EMS providers, who are often called upon to provide care on the scene without transporting, “struggling to balance budgets and stay afloat.” This would change under the EMS ROCS Act, allowing for reimbursement in more cases, and, Smith claims, aiding struggling agencies and expanding access to care for Medicare patients who may hesitate to call for an ambulance under current billing and reimbursement structures.
The meeting began with a summary of the current state of EMS in the area. Reports provided the call and transport statistics for Wells, Blooming Prairie, and Dodge Center. All three agencies estimated that between one third and one fourth of their calls did not include a transport, with 40 to 70 percent of those calls being for Medicare patients. Ambulance directors estimated their average call took 2 to 2.5 hours.
As discussion continued, there was a clear consensus that EMS departments are not sufficiently funded. Staffing is one important way this shortage manifests itself. The ambulance services represented at the meeting are run largely on a volunteer basis – in some cases there are stipends paid or a few paid positions, but according to Sundve, “It doesn't add up.” Blooming Prairie would like to create a paid director position to help address its staffing issues, but doesn't have the funding to do so. Volunteer departments in general, it was said, help people get their start in EMS by supporting them through training, then lose those people in short order to full-time paid positions or higher hourly pay in better-funded departments. New Richland Ambulance is one such volunteer department, and asks that anyone interested in learning more about volunteering contact City Hall.
Gengler pointed out another financial shortfall follows from billing people who cannot pay; he said the Dodge Center ambulance service sent out about $1.5 million in bills for its services, but ended up writing off about $900,000 of that amount–the portion that Medicare would not cover. The remaining $600,000 represented most of the operating budget for the year in Dodge Center, a circumstance that was echoed by other ambulance staff at the meeting. Subsidizing through local government is also a complex issue – each of these rural ambulance services provides coverage for a multitude of small towns and townships, which leads to problems coordinating funding efforts. “We're trying to handle locally what is a state or federal issue,” one of the directors said in summary. “We operate and are funded like a business,” said Gengler, “and are viewed as a public service. And it should be.”
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By TRISTAN GEHRING
Staff Writer
Darlene Abraham has been a resident of the New Richland Area nearly her entire life. Born in 1936 in Waseca, she spent her early childhood in the Lemond area. Her family moved to New Richland when she was in the middle of the seventh grade. “She has a caring soul, is well liked by all, and is proud of her community,” says her son Dennis.
“I had love from the very minute I was born,” Darlene says. While her mother, Dora, was pregnant with her, Dora lost her husband, father, and twenty-five-year-old brother to illness in the span of three months. Darlene describes the mid-1930s as “the Pneumonia era.” Her family stems from her mother, Dora (Palm) Lund and Albert Palm, the biological father she never knew. Throughout her childhood, she, an older brother named Roger, and younger sisters Judy and Natalie referred to Dora’s second husband, Art Lund, as “Dad.”
Darlene married Clarence Abraham in a small, intimate setting shortly after her high school graduation, and the two had two children – Dennis and Dawn Abraham. They were married nearly forty years before he died.
Today, Darlene has three grandchildren and one recently born great-grandchild. She also has nieces and nephews, and their families. Darlene's love for her family – both close and distant – echo in the photos that adorn her home and the passion in her voice when she speaks of the beauty of family.
Growing up in the 1940s was different from today, Darlene emphasized. The first house she remembers living in had no electricity or running water. Darlene and her siblings and friends always had something to do – whether work around the house, making and playing with homemade toys, or taking in free shows and entertainment. Her family didn't have much money, but Darlene says as kids they hardly knew that. Life was slower, and had less stress, she says. “That's not to say,” she emphasized, “that it was easy; our parents worked from morn until night, and us kids had jobs around the house too.” She describes her mother as a “superwoman,” who was not only a fastidious homemaker, but also worked outside the home while raising her children to be the best people they could be. She recalls doctors making prompt housecalls when she was young, and when her own children were young as well. “Now you can't even get in when you want to,” she comments.
As a child, Darlene attended two different country schools; both were one-room, mixed-age settings usually taught by a single teacher. For the first years of her education, Darlene attended the country school in Lemond. When she was approaching seventh grade, a rezoning meant she had to change to an area school just over the Steele County line. Then, during her seventh-grade year, her family moved to Bath. She attended New Richland High School, which she says was a dramatic change for her.
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By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Good food, conversations, and stories were shared during the annual Farm and City Luncheon March 21, hosted by the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce at the Mill in Waseca.
Following a lunch catered by the Pheasant Cafe and served by local FFA Chapters from Waseca, NRHEG, and Waseca, the following families, all from rural Waseca, were honored with awards: Farm Family of the year (FFOY); Sommers Brothers Custom Baling, LLC, Brian & Kirsten Sommers and Matt & Nicole Sommers.
The FFOY award goes to a Waseca County food producer involved in the community. This family has made significant short-term progress and/or innovative contributions with their agricultural endeavors and has demonstrated a commitment to enhancing and supporting the fields of agriculture and production. The Sommers will be honored and recognized among farmers across the state at Farmfest this summer.
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NRHEG One Act Play to perform Feb. 8 in NR
By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
The NRHEG contest one-act play for 2024 is a comedy piece titled “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors.” In the play, NRHEG sophomore Winter Pederson is casting director for a community theater production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. She has promised to fill the cast by the end of the day, resting her hopes on the efficiency of her assistant Regina, played by freshman Caralee Koopal, and the talents of a roomful of actors waiting their turns to audition one by one.
Trouble is, Regina is not efficient–or even optimistic–and the actors are not talented.
While all this would be a disaster in real life, it makes for a hilarious play.
According to co-directors Solveig Sundblad and Holly Pederson, choosing the play was a joint decision made by a “process of elimination.” In addition to its humor, the piece is highly adaptable, with scenes which can be removed without harming the story line and with gender-flexible roles. The medium-sized cast list also fell into the right number range for the number of actors they expected.
The play was cast this past November, practices have been ongoing ever since. Performances will include a “festival” in which one act plays from the geographic region will compete, while also receiving valuable feedback from judges at United South Central on January 20. Minnesota State High School League subsection competition will be at Maple River on January 27.
The play will be performed on the NRHEG stage for the public at 7 p.m. on February 8.
During these presentations, audiences will be treated to auditions which range from “ridiculous” to “borderline psychotic,” to use the descriptions offered by participants. One actor is accompanied by her “coach” who calls out advice on everything from her handshake to her diction. Another is a prima donna who insists she must have “chocolate-covered Skittles” in her dressing room and expects to command a high salary–even though it’s a community theater production. A dancer can’t understand why her talents are being overlooked, and a nervous individual “just can’t figure out what to do with my hands.”
Directors Sundblad and Pederson say they are pleased with the number of younger students who have chosen to join the one-act play program this year. They are also impressed with the progression and improvement they have seen as the season has advanced, and state they are looking forward to the upcoming contests and performances.
Participants in one act play this year are Cooper Cords (grade 7), Jacob Karl (10) , Shayna Kress (9), Caralee Koopal (9), Jordis Kruger-Diaz (12), Madisyn Langfitt (11), Addison Loken (12), Winter Pederson (10), Caralee Koopal (9), Madeline Schlaak (9), Grace Starman (11), Olivia Wencl (11), and Georgia Zimprich (11), Stage crew members are Scarlett Chance (8), Jacquelyn Duryee (7), Rielly Weitzel (11).