2016 Sleepy Eye roundup

January

4 — St. Mary’s fourth-grader Jonathan Petermann finished second in the Punt, Pass & Kick national finals in Indianapolis. Petermann is the son of Jon and Jackie Petermann. More than 150,000 kids participated in Punt, Pass & Kick competition.

10 — National FFA Officers visited and talked at workshops at Sleepy Eye High School.

17 — Sub-zero weather produced more than a foot of ice on Sleepy Eye Lake, enough ice to convince anglers to put dozens of ice fishing houses and drive vehicles on the lake.

20 — Sleepy Eye Area Chamber of Commerce awards were given to three people at the annual chamber meeting at the Orchid Inn. Awardees were Kurt Kramer, Big Chief Ambassador; Rex Beech, Friend of Sleepy Eye, accepted the award for his late wife Judy; and Shari Hittesdorf, Shining Star Community Service.

22 — Randy Reinarts accepted the Sleepy Eye branch president position at SouthPoint Federal Credit Union.

26 — Minnesota Twins players Dan Gladden, Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar talked with fans, answered questions and gave away prizes as the Twins Winter Caravan visited Countryside Retirement Community. Gladden, now a Twins radio personality, gave game tickets to an older man who said he had never been to Target Field.

29 — Sleepy Eye native Linus Maurer, the inspiration for the “Peanuts” comic strip character Linus, long-time art teacher and cartoonist, died at age 90 in Sonoma, Calif. He visited Sleepy Eye on Sept. 23, 2003 to unveil a Linus statue in front of the Dyckman Free Library.

30 — Brown County Dairy Princesses Mariah Vogel, Bethany Seifert, Becca Rosenhammer, Sabrina Portner, Natalie Sellner, Crystal Portner, Isabella Portner and Courtney Dittbenner were crowned in New Ulm.

February

12 — Sleepy Eye Elementary School special education teacher Paulette Grausam received a Golden Apple Award from KEYC-TV. She said the best part of her job is building positive relationships with children, figuring out their needs and giving them the skills they need to be successful.

12 — Rosemary Riederer and Tom Scheibel were crowned Queen and King of Hearts at the Sleepy Eye Care Center’s Valentine’s Day Party. Residents and visitors were entertained by musician George Maha at the party.

15 — Sophia Hillesheim was named Resident of the Year at Divine Providence Community Home at the annual Valentine’s Day Dinner.

28 — Seven 2016 Miss Sleepy Eye candidates were announced at the Candidates Night Out at the Sleepy Eye Community Center. The candidates are Taylor Pelzel, Kaitlyn Krzmarzick, Josie Schieffert, Lauren Laffen, Alyssa Rubey, Jennifer Kotten and Emily Reinarts.

March

22 — Sleepy Eye artists Leo Derkowski and Peggy Tauer received grants from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council. Both artists are painters but Derkowski also does photography and is working on a series of paintings involving transparency, luminosity and color. Both of them said they enjoyed drawing as children.

April

8 — The Sleepy Eye City Council approved the purchase of a preformed stressed concrete shower and lavatory building for $169,375. The building will be moved to Sportsman’s Park in August. T

9 — Lauren Laffen was crowned Miss Sleepy Eye 2016 at the Orchid Inn. Princesses were Taylor Pelzel and Kaitlyn Krzmarzick.

13 — The District 84 Board of Education approved a Senior Class trip to Orlando and a band/choir trip to Chicago in 2017. Twenty-seven of 40 students paid class trip deposits. Choir director Kristina Iwan said the students asked to go to Chicago and some of them told her they would rather to on the band/choir trip to Chicago, where they will perform at a college or university. Iwan said about 50 students will make the trip.

18 — Keith Olson, 53, participated in the 120th Boston Marathon, running 26.2 miles in 3:37.48, placing 10,075th among 27,487 runners. Olson was happy with his finish, aided by a moderate 72 degree temperature and his son Bryce at the finish. He plans to qualify for the race again so he can return.

28 — Ron Miller of Sleepy Eye began working as the new Springfield Post Office Postmaster. The move followed the retirement of postmaster Mary Larson a week ago. With 16 1/2 years in the U.S. Postal Service, Miller worked as a city letter carrier in Sleepy Eye. Miller grew up in Wabasso and attended Southwest State University in Marshall before working at Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratory in New Ulm before joining the postal service.

29 — A rural Gibbon native and 1998 Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School graduate closed on the purchase of the former Cafe Euro restaurant on Main Street in downtown Sleepy Eye. Dan Blaalid, owner of Jimmy’s Pizza of Fairfax, said he hopes to be open in mid-May. Featured food includes a buffet with pizza, broasted chicken, mashed potatoes, a vegetable and salad bar and dessert pizza, plus beer and wine.

May

10 — By a 4-1 vote, the Sleepy Eye City Council agreed to move forward with a proposal from a Plymouth hotel developer that would include the City buying the former Inn of Seven Gables hotel and building an event center adjacent to it. Ruhr Development would refurnish the hotel and manage the event center for up to five years before buying the hotel for what the City paid of it, which was estimated to be about $400,000.

28 — Thanks to donations raised at a dance and throughout town, Sleepy Eye firefighters bought $9,500 worth of new equipment. Items included a generator to power a positive pressure fan, a laptop computer for training, specialty flashlights and a new thermal imaging camera able to take video and snapshots.

June

7 — The Sleepy Eye United boys golf team won the Section 2A tournament, qualifying for the state meet as a team. Team members are Parker Landkammer, Ben Laffen Caleb Christiansen, Ryan Heinrichs, Andrew Neid and Logan Netzke. The Sleepy Eye United girls team was Section 2A runner-up. Girls qualifying for the state meet were Lauren Laffen and Ashtyn Tauer.

15 — Sleepy Eye Medical Center celebrated 75 years of existence with a celebration from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Sleepy Eye Arena. The event was originally scheduled to be held at Allison Park but the threat of inclement weather moved it indoors. The celebration included food and drink, live music by the Black Diamond Band, kids games, prizes and an historic display.

17 — A severe thunderstorm that caused the City of Sleepy Eye to operate its tornado siren several times and caused sewage to back up in Sleepy Eye Elementary School lavatories. Sewage and rainwater flooded hallway carpets, the media center, classrooms and a teacher’s workroom. New wax-free, vinyl flooring was installed to replace all the contaminated carpet. Insurance will cover the costs, according to Superintendent John Cselovszski.

21 — City Manager Mark Kober said a purchase agreement for the City of Sleepy Eye to buy the former Inn of Seven Gables hotel is being reviewed by Wells Fargo Bank. Kober said he expects the deal to be closed in a few weeks before plans to renovate the hotel into an AmericInn and begin building an adjoining event center would begin.

July

20 — Kibble Equipment, Inc. held an open house at its new building on east Highway 14. The Sleepy Eye Chamber Ambassadors joined Kibble employees in the event that included more than 1,000 people that were served a pork chop lunch at the business.

August

17 — Sleepy Eye Public Works Director Bob Elston was elected president of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) at the group’s summer convention. The MMUA represents interests of the state’s 125 city-owned electric and 33 city-owned natural gas utilities.

18 — Julia Coulson of Sleepy Eye received the District 84 Friend of Education Award. She was credited with involvement in many school activities including Math Masters, project requisition and chaperoning on field trips and assisting kindergarten teachers with daily activities.

23 — Sleepy Eye Mayor Jim Broich and City Manager Mark Kober signed closing papers on the sale of the former Inn of Seven Gables hotel to Jeff Ruhr and Ruhr Development, Inc. The City of Sleepy Eye sold the hotel for $400,000, which is what it paid for the building. The City also approved an agreement with Consolidated Construction to provide pre-construction services at 0.5 percent of the event center project cost, estimated at $3.97 million by Mankato Architect Eric Oleson.

Consolidated Construction will provide construction management at 4.9 percent of the event center cost. The event center would seat up to 576 people and include 15,900 square feet.

24 — Brown County Dairy Princess Sabrina Portner was one of three county dairy princesses to win a $500 scholarship at the Minnesota State Fair.

26 — Registered Nurse Pattie Pelzel celebrated 48 years of working at Sleepy Eye Medical Center. She began as a Nurse’s Aide at age 16 and has worked in obstetrics, the emergency department, community and staff education, among others.

27 — The Sleepy Eye Baseball Association, local baseball and history buffs and the grandson of the little guy on the photo of Babe Ruth at Sleepy Eye Ballpark in October 1922 dedicated a greatly enlarged photo that was placed on the concession/media building at the ballpark. Joel Youngman of Cloquet, the grandson of Len Youngman, 105, of Virginia, who saw Ruth play in Sleepy Eye, attended the event. Len Youngman was not in Sleepy Eye but watched the ceremony via satellite.

September

1 — Luverne Krzmarzick celebrated 50 years working at Miller Sellner Implement. He said he’d stay at the business until his replacement begins working.

6 — Willard Romberg celebrated his 105th birthday at the Sleepy Eye Care Center by winning a game of black-out bingo, musical entertainment, party favors, a bubble machine and cake. Romberg also enjoys playing cards and reading at the Care Center.

22 — Volunteers gathered at Kiefer Park to install new playground equipment.

27 — The Sleepy Eye City Council approved a first bid packet for the construction of a $4 million event center project proposed to be built just north of the former Inn of Seven Gables hotel on the east edge of town.

October

15 — Leo and Marcia Derkowski entertained their final guests at the W.W. Smith Inn. The couple said they plan to move to Berthoud, Colorado to be closer to family. The Derkowskis operated the bed and breakfast in their home for a decade. They recently sold the residence to a couple that works for the U.S. State Department.

22 — Sabrina Portner received the National Dairy Production Proficiency Award at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. She received $1,000 in prize money. Harley Braun of Sleepy Eye was National Agriculture Communications Proficiency runner-up and received $500 in prize money.

November

8 — Eighty percent of registered voters, 1,831 out of 2,095 registered voters turned out for the General Election in Sleepy Eye. Wayne Pelzel received 1,546 votes for mayor. There were 19 write-ins. City Councilor Joann Schmidt got 577 Ward 1 votes. There were 15 write-ins.

In Ward 2, Larry Braun won with 461 votes. Following were Joe Schieffert 250, and Karl Weiss 226. There were three write-ins. Doug Pelzel won the Ward 1 Special Election with 260 votes. Following were Mary Lee Schotzko 211 and Mark Beito 193.

11 — Sleepy Eye accounts payable/payroll staffer Diane Stoks got a fond farewell after 27 years at Sleepy Eye Public School. Stoks began working at the school as a Title 1 Paraprofessional. Will accepted a position at Sleepy Eye Medical Center.

12 — The Sleepy Eye YES (Youth Energy Summit) team participated in the 10th annual YES! Fall Summit at St. John’s University.

December

1 — Sleepy Eye High School at teacher and FFA advisor Mary Hoffmann received the national Teacher Mentor Award at the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) convention in Las Vegas. Hoffmann was cited for mentoring students in the community and region through her 21 years of teaching.

8 — Slovankian foreign exchange student Tomas Babik is playing hockey for the New Ulm High School team. A senior at Sleepy Eye High School, he is living with he John and Darcy McGee family. He played on the defensive line for the Indians football team in the fall. He is the tallest and biggest player on the NUHS hockey team.

20 — The Brown County Rural Electrical Association selected Chief Operating Officer Michael Heidemann as the new chief executive officer as of Jan. 1, 2017. He succeeds REA General Manager Wade Hensel who will continue in that role until retiring in April.

2016 Springfield roundup

January

11 — Optometrist Dr. Gina Hendrickson joined Avera Medical Group with branch clinics in Springfield and Tracy. She will provide routine eye exams, eyeglass and contact lens fittings plus glaucoma and diabetic eye care management and pre and post-surgical specialty eye care treatment.

15 — Seventh-grader Libby Tonn won the annual Geography Bee at Springfield Elementary School. Runner-up was eighth-grader Miranda Groebner, followed by eight-grader Andrew Baumann.

19 — First National Bank banker Lee Mammen retired on his 66th birthday. Mammen also was a district sales manager for Pioneer Hybrid International seeds. In recent years, he set up a loan production office in Worthington for Profinium Financial, developing an $11 million loan portfolio in three years. Mammen said things change in business but one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of trust between bankers and customers.

20 — Mechatronics, the integration of hydraulics, pneumatics and electronics with computers to automate manufacturing, is being studied with troubleshooting scenarios in Springfield High School Industrial Technology instructor T. J. Brown’s classes. A training system for the class was provided to the school by 3M of New Ulm. Brown said his students really enjoy studying mechanics, hydraulics, electric motors, circuit boards, sensing devices and mechatronics, which replaced a former welding unit, that was moved to a new metals class. Next semester, the class will study small engines and basic auto.

February

8 — Area residents reported receiving aggressive and threatening calls by people impersonating the Internal Revenue Service. Phone scam artists have threatened people with police arrest, deportation, license revocation, bogus tax bills, court action and other things.

22 — Springfield High School basketball player Vishe Raab scored her 1,000 career point against Windom.

27 — Redwood/River Valley wrestler Sam Baier won the 160-pound Minnesota Class AA State Wrestling Championship at the Xcel Energy Center. A Springfield High School senior, he is the son of Randy and Amy Baier and is the first Redwood-River Valley state champ. The wrestling cooperative is in its second year of existence.

The state tournament trip was Baier’s third in his career. He was the fourth Springfield wrestler to win a state title in eight years.

March

1 — Springfield Republicans favored Donald Trump, according to a “straw poll” taken at the Republican Caucus. Results were Trump 19, Marco Rubio 15, Ted Cruz 15, Ben Carson 11 and John Kasich 1.

9 — Tauer’s Super Valu celebrated its 75th year in business with a customer appreciation sale. Advertisements included color, facing pages in the Springfield Advance-Press. The newspaper featured color photographs on the front and back pages.

16 — Bob Cunningham, the son of Gordon and Anna (Wendt) Cunningham, and his wife Lynne of Lake Crystal, donated more than 200 acres of farmland to the St. John’s Circle of Care Foundation. Cunningham said he was a glad that St. John’s was still an independently owned and operated nursing home.

14 — Springfield Public School Superintendent Keith Kottke and Sleepy Eye Public School Supt. John Cselovszki testified to the Minnesota Legislature in support of Senate File 2291. The bill, chief authorized gy Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, would reduce the number of reports schools are required to submit to the Minnesota Department of Education.

21 — Sharon Sturm received the 2016 Spirit of Springfield award from the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. The award honors outstanding and often unrecognized efforts of community members. Sturm said in retirement, she has more time to volunteer, which gives her a warm, fuzzy feeling when she helps others.

22 — Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Brenda Cassellius visited Springfield Elementary School as it celebrated its “Reward School” status. The school is one of only 44 Minnesota schools to earn the title four times. Only 15 percent of schools receive Reward School status, based on MMR (Multiple Measurements Rating) given to all state schools annually. Schools are measured for proficiency, growth, achievement gap reduction and graduation rates.

22 — In an effort to reduce air pollution emissions and noise and meet new air emission regulations, catalytic converters were installed on Springfield Utilities diesel electric generators. The conversion means it is less likely the City will need to buy energy capacity from the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) transmission market.

23 — Acme Brick Company announced it would stop operations in Minnesota later in 2016 because the market has not recovered sufficiently to re-open the Springfield plant. The firm acquired the Springfield plant, Edina sales office and other assets from Ochs Brick Company in January 2008. Acme, the oldest American-owned brick company, dates back to April 17, 1891. The company suspended brick-making in Springfield in the fall of 2014.

April

8 — The River Valley Speech team advanced seven students to the Minnesota Class A state contest — Harley Braun, Brana Schmidt, Joe Pieschel, Hannah Johnson, Sarah Dunn, Kaitlyn Vogl and Anna Plotz.

15 — River Valley speakers Briana Schmidt placed third in original oratory, Sarah Dunn seventh in humous interpretation and Kate Vogel eighth in informative speaking at the Minnesota State High School League Class A Speech Contest at Lakeville North High School.

18 — After 75 years in business, the Tauer family announced they sold Tauer’s Grocery and Gas to Jim’s Market Enterprises, Inc., owned by Paul Huber of Canby. Huber owns grocery stores in Canby, Slayton, Zimmerman and Elbow Lake.

18 — Keith Olson, 53, participated in the 120th Boston Marathon, running 26.2 miles in 3:37.48, placing 10,075th among 27,487 runners. Olson was happy with his finish, aided by a moderate 72 degree temperature and his son Bryce at the finish. He plans to qualify for the race again so he can return. It was Olson’s 20th marathon. Last year, he completed six marathons.

28 — Ron Miller of Sleepy Eye began working as the new Springfield Post Office Postmaster. The move followed the retirement of postmaster Mary Larson a week ago. With 16 1/2 years in the U.S. Postal Service, Miller worked as a city letter carrier in Sleepy Eye. Miller grew up in Wabasso and attended Southwest State University in Marshall before working at Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratory in New Ulm before joining the postal service.

May

1 — Springfield High School and University of Wisconsin graduate Tyler Marz agreed to sign with the Tennessee Titans after going un-drafted in the NFL draft. Marz said several teams called him the final draft day, April 31 but he considered Tennessee a good place to go, since it’s a young team with good opportunities for him to complete for a spot. He played on the Badger’s offensive line for the past few years.

7 — Springfield High School FFA member Michael O’Callaghan won the State FFA Soil Judging Contest at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

9 — Fourth-grade teacher Bob Fink was named Springfield Public School Teacher of the Year. Fink said he talks about attitude and effort every day while teaching and coaching. A Melrose native, Fink said a sense of humor is an important tool for good health. He believes laughter is the best stress reliever. Fink said he was fortunate to have good mentors. He said he feels greatly rewarded when students tell him he made an impact on their lives.

12 — Retiring Springfield Public School administrative assistants Carolyn Wendt and Jan Elders were honored at a reception at the Springfield Golf Club. Wendt worked for 39 years as a bookkeeper and superintendent secretary. Elders worked 15 years as an elementary secretary.

18 — Chinese entrepreneurs spend a day in Springfield learning about American agriculture. A delegation representing Zonergy, a Chinese energy group centered on sustainable agriculture energy, visited Jack Larson seeds to learn about seed treatment, in hopes of building similar operations in Beijing. Jack Larson Seeds, located near Clements, is testing a treatment called Greenamax, a coating of pesticides and fungicides that goes on seeds.

16 — The National Honor Society at Springfield High School inducted new members–William Vanderwerf, Anna Plotz, Brandi Platz, Jena Roiger, Briana Schmidt, Katelyn Hauth, Haily Hovland, Daniel Wait, Callie Wersal, Eleanor Bartz, Kate Quesenberry, Natalie Timm, Joe Pieschel, Hannah Johnson, Kaelyn Platz, Ashley Larson and Bridget Fenger.

June

6 — The Springfield High School girls golf team won the Section 2A title, advancing to the state meet.

9 — The Springfield High School baseball team won the Section 2A title with a 4-0 win over Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

12 — Greg Hillesheim shot a hole-in-one at the Springfield Golf Course on hole No. 7, a par four hole.

15 — The Springfield High School girls golf team finished fifth in the state tournament. Callie Wersal finished in fourth place.

17 — Severe thunderstorms roared across southwestern Minnesota, pounding corn and soybean fields with hail. Electricity was knocked out in Clements was without power from Friday night until late Saturday.

19 — Taylor Wallace won the 56th Men’s Father’s Day Golf Invitational with rounds of 73 and 75 for a 148. Dillon Schultz and Phil Runck were second and third.

20 — The Tigers won the Class A State Baseball Championship with a 4-2, 11-inning win over Parkers Prairie at Target Field.

26 — Tricia Mattson is the new pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church. She graduated from Duluth Central High School, earned a BA in business at the University of Minnesota Duluth and worked a variety of business jobs before attending Luther Seminary in St. Paul in 2013. She served Faith Lutheran Church in Bagley before coming to Springfield. She enjoys two Siamese cats, reading, walking, hiking, camping, photography and theological debates.

26 — Kendra Parks, daughter of Angel Clemon and Scott Rummel won the Springfield Sings contest Saturday at Riverside Days. Makenna Winkmann was runner-up.

29 — The Minnesota Association of Career and Technical Educators named Springfield High School agriculture instructor and FFA advisory T. J. Brown its 2016 Carl Perkins Community Service Award winner. Brown advanced to the national convention in the fall.

July

25 — After two decades of public service, Springfield Mayor Mark Brown said he will not seek re-election this fall. Brown said he misses his grandkids and many other things. He has been mayor for 16 years.

August

18 — A powerful thunderstorm with wind gusts of up to 70 mph in the Springfield area stripped corn, flattened soybeans, knocked out power for about 45 minutes and derailed several Canadian Pacific Railroad cars east of town.

September

4 — Springfield native Anne Goedtke won the 44th Minnesota State Fair Amateur Talent Contest, playing “Julie-O” on her cello. For her efforts, she won $10,000 and a year’s supply of pizza.

12 — The Springfield Community Wellness Team celebrated its 100th meeting since it was created in 2008.

19 — Springfield High School Homecoming royalty candidates were named. King candidates are Ben Runck, Joe Pieschel, Will Vanderwerf, Kale Meendering and Brett Berberich. Queen candidates are Alyssa Streich, Hana Anderson, Taylar Streich, Sydney Krueger and Jena Roiger.

30 — Gene Haas retired after 31 years with the City of Springfield Streets/Parks Department. He received a plaque for his outstanding and dedicated service.

October

3 — The Springfield High School Homecoming Court included freshman attendants Sydney Hauger and Ivan Hovland, junior attendants Arynzi Rabb and Andrew Beckman, Jena Roiger, Will Vanderwerf, Hana Anderson, Brett Berberich, Queen Taylar Streich, King Joe Pieschel, Alyssa Streich, Ben Runck, Sydney Krueger, Grady Meendering and sophomore attendants Sarah Dunn and Jake Veenstra.

14 — John Kaseforth caught a 29.5 inch long fish with a 19 inch girth and Joe Kaseforth caught a fish that was 21 inches long on a night lit by a full moon on the Big Cottonwood River. The men didn’t say where they caught the big fish that appeared to be northerns in a photo.

27 — Dennis and Lucy Potter received the 2016 Bridge Builder Award at the 13th Annual Bridging Brown County Networking dinner and program at Comfrey. The Potters have been very active in many activities in and around the community and beyond, for more than 40 years.

29 — The Minnesota State High School League named Springfield High School Baseball Coach Bob Fink Baseball Coach of the Year. Fink’s teams have a 9-3 record at the state tournament in four state tourney appearances in his 15 years as coach. The 2016 team was the first Springfield team to win the state title. Fink’s teams won 243 games and lost 113.

November

8 — Lowell Helget was elected mayor and Chett Bisel was re-elected Ward II councilor in the general election. District 85 voters elected incumbents Megan Quesenberry and Justin Roiger plus newcomers Michael Vogel and Eric Schwarzrock.

20 — Bobbi Love, battling melanoma, voiced her gratefulness for the support of family and friends during a very difficult time. A benefit for her was planned for Dec. 4 at the Springfield Area Community Center.

December

5 — Postal patrons had the chance to mail their Christmas cards and letters  postmarked with a philatelic cancellation from Springfield. The 2016 postal pictorial stamp of a dove was offered by the Springfield Area Nativity Theatre Association.

9, 10 — The 31st annual Springfield Nativity Pageant was held in cool weather at Riverside Park.

12 — Springfield native and Springfield High School teacher Alex Fink signed a contract to continue his pro baseball career with the Lake Eric Crushers of Avon, Ohio. Fink was not drafted in the major league baseball draft last season but broke many season and career records at Augustana College in Sioux Falls.