Schanil seeks new challenge at Vista
- Details
- Hits: 8772
New pastor comes to area from Northern Minnesota
WELCOME TO NEW RICHLAND — Brian Schanil is the new pastor at Vista Evangelical Covenant Church. (Star Eagle photo by Melanie Piltingsrud)
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Contributing Writer
Pastor Brian Schanil just started ministering at Vista Evangelical Covenant a few weeks ago.
One of Schanil’s impressions of the New Richland area so far is that it’s warmer than his previous pastoral call in Warren, MN, just 60 miles south of the Canadian border. He served as a pastor there for 21 years. Schanil says he accepted the call at Vista because he needed a different challenge.
Schanil is a second-career pastor with two Bachelor of Science degrees in microbiology and biochemistry. Does he find that useful in his sermons? “Not a bit,” laughs Schanil, who likes to joke that believers are called to “magnify the Lord.” Until 1986, Schanil sold microscopes for Leeds Precision Instruments, whose clientele consists of schools, industries, medical companies, etc. “It was the largest microscope dealer west of the Mississippi at the time.” Schanil made good money there, but he said after a while, it wasn’t fulfilling.
Boogie fever
- Details
- Hits: 7262
NREHG holds inaugural Daddy-Daughter Dance
A father boogies with his daughter during the inaugural Daddy-Daughter Dance for girls age 3-10 and their father figure at NRHEG High School Friday, Feb. 15. See the Feb. 21 edition of the Star Eagle for a photo page devoted to the Daddy-Daughter Dance. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
Snow Week royalty
- Details
- Hits: 5597
Jacob, Karenna wear crowns
NRHEG Snow Week royalty was crowned Friday, Feb. 15 in the high school gymnasium. From left: Devin Buendorf, Andre Hill, Spencer Tufte, Aaron Fleming, Jack Hogstad, King Jacob Schuller, Queen Karenna Strom, Sydney Schlinger, Darian Pearson, Caty Nelson, Caitlin Goette, Hannah Budach. See the Feb. 21 edition of the Star Eagle for coverage of the Snow Week talent show and coronation and a Snow Week photo page. ( Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
Truly the land of 10,000 Schlaaks
- Details
- Hits: 7479
NR youth wrestling tournament named after Harlan Schlaak
THE CREW — Members of the Schlaak family gathered for a photo during last month’s Harlan Schlaak Wrestling Tournament in New Richland. All last names are Schlaak unless otherwise noted. Front from left: Nathan, Carol, David and Nolan. Row two: Dustin, Loren, Aiden, Paul, Jack VanHal, Owen, Dakota, Ryan, Steve, Memphis, Brandon, Tony, Kelli, Justin and Gaven. Back: Keith, Chad and Gary. Not pictured: Eugene, Neil, Colton, Anna and Kordell. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
If there’s one thing you can say about the New Richland area, it’s that there are a lot of Schlaaks.
The Schlaak (rhymes with lake) family has brought numerous sports accolades to NRHEG, but its biggest contribution has been in wrestling.
Now, the wrestling community has given something back, with the New Richland Area Wrestling Club naming its annual mid-winter tournament after Harlan Schlaak.
Harlan, who died last April, and his wife Carol were founders of the NRAWC in 1967. Harlan and Carol had five children — Gary, Neil, Keith, Donna and Linda, producing 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, with another on the way.
As they said at the conlusion of a recent wrestling presentation in New Richland, that’s a lot of Schlaaks. The area has been referred to as the land of 10,000 Schlaaks.
NR Clinic welcomes new nurse practitioner
- Details
- Hits: 6417
PRACTITIONER - The New Richland clinic welcomed Wendy Trihus as the new nurse practioner back in November to replace Allison Berg-Heinemann. (Star Eagle photo by Melanie Piltingsrud)
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Contributing Writer
The New Richland Mayo Clinic has a new nurse practitioner. Wendy Trihus has been caring for patients there since November.
Trihus grew up in Northwood, Iowa, and now lives east of Geneva with her husband, John, who works as a custom farmer. Trihus was working at the Mayo Clinic branch in Wells when she was asked if she’d like to take the New Richland branch. “It was much closer to home,” she said.
Trihus started out studying general requirements at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa. Following that, she received a two-year nursing degree from Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, and finished her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa, a university with a Catholic Franciscan basis.
“In the beginning I was a nursing home nurse,” says Trihus, “and then I did some hospital nursing and home care nursing, and then I did public health visits.”
Having worked as a nurse for a number of years, Trihus decided it was time to work independently. She enrolled at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., working as a home health nurse in Council Bluffs, and then switching to hospital nursing until she finished her degree in 2004.