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Where it started… how it’s going - 2021 growing season update
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KNEE HIGH - The soybeans above were photographed on June 23 and were already knee high.
By MARK BERNARD
Staff Writer
What a ride the cropping season has been! We started with great optimism after a relatively easy winter aside from a brutal February. Temperatures well below normal were the main culprit and, like most of the winter prior to that, it was relatively dry. March arrived showing signs that it might be an early spring. It started us out with soils thawing and talk of small grain being seeded when conditions were fit. There were even rumors that, as a result of 63-degree high temperatures, someone had planted radishes in their garden on March 9th. (“Unrewarding” might be an apt description of the results, but I digress). Snowfall accumulations in mid-March tempered that optimism somewhat. The snow disappeared rather rapidly however, and by Easter Sunday there had been corn planted in the area. Temperatures cooled and we had some light precipitation the week following Easter. These cooler temperatures would come back to haunt later.
Newest director, Sarah Sundve
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New Richland Ambulance Director Sarah Sundve served as the interhim director of the department for three months before she was hired as the department head in March.
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
Sarah Sundve, who grew up on the county line between New Richland and Hartland and graduated from NRHEG, has an important job to do in our communities; she is an EMT and, as of March 22 of this year, the director of the ambulance crew in New Richland.
Sundve, the daughter of Jim and Kathy Peterson, became a first responder in 2014, and has worked as an EMT since 2016.
Sundve doesn't like to let the grass grow under her feet. She is married and has three children, two step-children, and two grandchildren, yet she also finds time to work full-time at Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service out of Albert Lea/Austin, besides directing the ambulance crew in New Richland. How does she do it? She loves it.
“When I started as a first responder, I loved helping people and wanted to do more and learn more,” said Sundve of why she decided to become an EMT.
On May 20, the New Richland ambulance had an open house, where Sundve encouraged those interested in volunteering as a first responder or EMT to ask questions. She is eager to dispel doubts, saying, “You may not think it is something you can do, which is what I thought and now I do it full-time and love my job.”
Those wanting to apply to become an EMT in New Richland can stop in at city hall for an application, call Sara Jo Vulcan at 507-465-3514 or email Sarah Sundve at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. “We will be able to help you in the process,” said Sundve. “Each person that applies goes through a background check and city council approval before being officially hired.
Airwave solutions is top three nationwide
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TOP THREE - Airwave Solutions staff receiving its award, from left, Mikayla Besser, Trent Gunsolos, D.J. Borgia, and Jesus Gutierrez. Photo by Eli Lutgens
By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Airwave Solutions of New Richland was nominated for Dish Smart Home Retailer of the Year in 2021 and finished in the top three stores out of more than 3,200 stores nationwide.
The Smart Home Retailer of the Year category centered on product sales of Google Nest and other in-home products.
Airwave was nominated for the award because of their continued community support through different charity events, as well as customer service, retention, loyalty and sales. The award was announced during a watch party on May 20 and the staff gathered together on June 24 to receive the award in person. Airwave Solutions is owned by Trent Gunsolus, and its staff includes: Mikayla Besser (office support), Dennis “DJ” Borgia (technician), and Jesus Gutierrez (sales rep.).
Community Involvement
Giving back has always been part of Trent and Airwave Solutions’ business motto.
“We try and we want to be involved in the community to help out wherever we can,” said Gunsolus.
The staff participates in anywhere from 15-20 different events throughout the year, many of which are local.
Budget deficit extended - NRHEG June School Board 2021
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By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
On Monday, June 21 – the final board meeting for departing Superintendent Dale Carlson — the NRHEG Board of Education voted to extend the budget deficit to cover new purchases of 240 Chromebooks among other things.
Business manager Karla Christopherson explained that at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year, the district ended with a General Fund net increase of over $30,000 compared to February’s budget.
The causes? Mostly COVID. “Unfilled positions, very little travel, no sports, no field trips, less use of lights and water.”
Christopherson recommended that the district, despite the gain, move the planned deficit forward in order to take advantage of the savings from buying, rather than leasing, the school’s Chromebooks, whose leases are up.
By revising the 2021-22 proposed budget the district will have more money now, which will be useful in order to get the school system back up to speed.
“We still have those unfilled positions,” Christopherson reminded them.
“Online learning is not going to go away,” said Board Chair Rick Schultz. “We have to prove to the general public that we are the place to put their kids.”
The board approved the budget revisions, and the purchase of 240 chromebooks and licenses for $68,640.
COVID-19 Return Plan
To fulfill funding requirements, the District must develop and publish on its website a “COVID-19 Safe Return to In-Person Learning Plan.” The board approved a proposed plan, which will be published shortly and receiving public comments.
Some highlights are:
Masks: encouraged but not required except on buses per CDC requirement.
If you’re sick, stay home.
If you or your child has a fever 100.4 or higher, etc., they will be required to test for COVID-19 or alternate test in order to re-enter the school. If they test positive they must quarantine for 10 days.
Neighborhood Meats opens in New Richland
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
Dan Lewer and Chris Olson have not simply “taken over” the meat processing business located on South Ash Avenue in New Richland. They are in the process of transforming it.
Oh, it’s true that the business looks much the same, at least for now. It still offers the same long-standing services and products, and even has many of the same employees. Customers need have no concern their needs and interests are being met. But at the same time, bigger things are going on behind the scenes.
“We both have children who are devoted to agriculture,” observes Olson who, with Lewer, has been an owner and operator of Neighbor’s Meats since May 2021. “For the sake of our community and for the next generation, we want to be part of building a farm-to-table system that is sustainable for everybody.”
Both Olson and Lewer have close ties to the meat processing business: Lewer’s grandfather and uncle, Gerald and Keith Hullopeter, were owners of the business on South Ash Avenue in New Richland from the 1970s to the 1990s, and Olson’s grandparents worked for them.
Two generations later, the two families remain connected, with Olson and Lewer having been close friends and associates for more than 16 years, including most recently working together at the Hope Elevator. Both also continue to operate their respective family farms, one facet of which is raising beef cattle.
Both had long been aware that the current system of food distribution in the U.S. has too many “middle men.” Farmers would market their cattle to large processing plants, which, because they were buying in volume, paid a relatively low price for the animals. Farmers then paid to ship their cattle to the plants, where the large companies reportedly made significant profit for each pound returned to stores and distribution centers.