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A look back at what made news in 2007
Pope County Tribune - Starbuck Times
Written by Chad Koenen - Starbuck Times New Editor   
Tuesday, 08 January 2008 01:00
July
  • The city of Lowry celebrated the first annual Lowry Days from August 24-26.
  • Kyle Schiefelbein, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ken Schiefelbein of Starbuck, received his Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary on Sunday, May 27, at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.
  • A benefit was held in Cyrus for Ally Benzer, infant daughter of Josh and Laurie Benzer of Montrose, who was diagnosed with an extremely rare disease known as  cutaneoviseral angiometatstis with thrombocytopenia.
  • Alexa Lagred, daughter of Marlon and Kay Lagred of Starbuck was crowned the new Miss Minnewaska at  the Starbuck Heritage Days festivities at the Lakeshore Park Sunday, July 8. Crowned Miss Minnewaska Princesses were Shannon Bosek and Krista Kremin.
  • Courtney and Carol Engebretson of Starbuck were selected as the 2007 Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota.
  • Jay Pieske was located nearly seven hours after being injured a motorcycle accident near home in rural Cyrus Wednesday, July 4.  The motorcycle he was driving hit a deer, and he became incoherent and was unsure of his whereabouts when he called for help.
  • A new sign was  placed on the west wall of the “Touch of Class” building June 29, showing pictures of the community during each of the four seasons of the year.
  • Brad Munson was appointed to the Lowry City Council after former member, Bruce Larson, took over as the Mayor of Lowry.
  • Jeremy Guhlke founded a new  Lowry business, Minnewaska Heating and Cooling on June 4.
  • A dollar for dollar match program ran through the Starbuck Economic Development Authority aimed at beautifying and enhancing the look of downtown Starbuck was born. The new program funded things such as flower baskets and awnings. The first two participants in the Building Exterior Grant Program were Samuelson’s Drug and A Touch of Class.
  • Neva Sands, a resident at Minnewaska Lutheran Home, celebrated her 104th birthday July 25.
August
  • Construction of the Friends of Glacial Lakes State Park cabin was completed and is now being rented out to campers of the state park.
  • Lake Minnewaska’s water level was at some of its lowest levels in years due to the summer’s drought.
  • Beverly (Norby) Melde of Starbuck, who just began painting in 2000, had her artwork on display at Central Square in Glenwood.
  • John’s Auto Shop of Starbuck held its Grand Opening on August 11 with a  car show, sponsored in conjunction with Franny’s.
  • Andy Rode of Starbuck returned home after spending a 16 month tour of Iraq with the Minnesota National Guard.
  • Due to the drought conditions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Pope County as one of 24 primary natural disaster areas in the state.
  • The Starbuck City Council approved a new housing and occupancy ordinance at their regular meeting that will help them get a  better handle on the increasing problem of buildings not being up to code.
  • Bobby Bare. winner of the 1963 Grammy for song of the year, “Detroit City” visited Starbuck and enjoyed fishing on Lake Minnewaska. He was a guest entertainer at the Stone Creek’s Annual Potluck and Jamboree at Montevideo that weekend.
September
  • The Cozy Cafe in  Cyrus played host on September 15 to the Travel Channel Show “Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern” who came to Cyrus to film an episode of their show.
  • The school staff at the Glacial Hills Elementary School are: Director Dyanne Parsons; Business/Grant Manager Steve Dinsmore; Secretary Nancy Rapp; Kindergarten Teacher Mary Kay Fred-erickson; First grade teacher Mary Johnsrud; Second/third grade teacher Mary Giese; Fourth grade teacher Kaley Poegel; Fifth/sixth grade teacher Jason Van-Engen; music teacher Shari Opdahl; Special education teacher  Susan Gregersen; School nurse Vickie Bösl; Food service manager Elaine Kerkvliet; Physical education teacher Chris Schafer; and Custodian Jon Jordahl.
  • Glacial Lakes State Park celebrated the end of an 11-year project to remove Buckthorn from the park with a “Buckthorn Bash” Sunday, Sept. 9.
  • Prairie Lakes Coop completed a 400,000 bushel storage bin at their facility in Lowry.
  • Shannon  Bosek and Tyler Morrissey were crowned 2007 Homecoming Queen and King at Minnewaska Area High School.
  • Ann Berg retired after working at Tom’s Food Pride for 40 years.
  • Starbuck was hit by a severe storm on September 30, dumping over three inches of rain in some areas, and even a  little bit of hail. With strong winds blowing over some tree branches and lightning strikes in the area, the storm left Starbuck residents in the dark for most of the day. Power went out about 11:30 a.m. and returned around 10 p.m. for most of the area.
October
  • Starbuck Depot Society held its 17th annual Eple Tiden on Saturday, October 6.
  • On September 20, the Gladys Ness Brang Foundation met for the second time this year to approve $80,140 worth of donations for 22 applicants.
  • Seventy-nine students were enrolled in the new Glacial Hills Elementary School on its opening day.
  • Arnold and Lorraine Naig celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary at the Minnewaska Lutheran Home on September 17. Arnold is a resident there.
  • Construction began on the new Lowry Manufacturing building and the new building will cover 125 feet of its current building, to create more work space.
  • The Pope County Pheasant Restoration (PCPR) received tthe 2007 Pope County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Outstanding Conservationist Award.
  • Peter Flom, 34, was killed in a two vehicle accident two miles east of Starbuck on Highway 28 Friday evening, October 12. He was alone in his car at the time of the accident. Driver of the pickup was Mike Solmonson, 16, of Starbuck and his passenger, Michael Whittemore, 16 were taken to the Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood.
  • Discussion on a Regional Jail Center between Stevens and Pope Counties came to a halt when the Stevens County Commissioners voted to stop discussing the shared jail, courthouse, dispatch concept with Pope County.
  • Aylie Meisner and Melissa Shauer, student at Minnewaska Area High School, were named National Merit Scholars.
  • Myrtle Putnam, a resident at Minnewaska Lutheran Home celebrated her 100th birthday October 10.
  • Lori Vaadeland was named the new director of the Starbuck Chamber of Commerce. replacing Nancy Rapp, who resigned that position, but will remain as the chamber bookkeeper.
  • A new group called Minnewaska Laker Foundation was formed in an attempt to offset the high cost of students who wish to participate in extra-curricular activities. People on the board are Bob Mork, Paul Anderson, Karna Peters, Hannah Shirkey, Donna Braaten, Barb Ostrander, Bridget Gallagher, Chris Buckingham, Rick Ekstrand, Al Cooley and Sheila Pfenninger.
  • West Central Initiative (WCI) was ranked 11th on the Minnesota Council on Fondations newly released list by the state’s top community and public foundations.
  • Rebecca K. Peterson, 27, of Glenwood and Eric R. Hagen, 25, of Morris, were killed in a head-on crash near Cyrus on October 30.
November
  • Jennifer Nelson, a former Starbuck High School graduate donated four Phillips Heart-start Automated External Defibrillator’s to the Starbuck Community Center, Starbuck VFW, Glacial Hills Elementary School and Minnewaska Area High School. Nelson owns Rocky Mountain CPR and First Aid in the Denver, CO metro area.
  • Fifty pounds of marijuana was seized by the Pope County Sheriff’s Department at a rural Glenwood farm this fall. Mark James Olson, 52, was growing the marijuana at the farm site and now faces felony charges. He was not at home during the bust.
  • A benefit dinner was held for Dale and Joyce Anderson was held in Lowry November 10. The Andersons were injured in a car accident October 7.
  • Use of Glacial Lakes State Park was up over 14 percent in 2007.
  • Ivalene Cooley retired from the Minnewaska Area Schools this fall, after serving as an educator for 35-1/2 years.
  • Five Eagle Scouts - Chad and Ryan Gregersen,  Andrew Pederson, Bret Peterson and Tom Boutain - received their Eagle Scout Award in special ceremonies held at the Fron Church on November 4.
  • After nine years, the Gladys Ness Brang Foundation  has donated nearly $2 million to area organizations and the board members announced they have discussed some procedural changes in the awarding of scholarships and to re-affirm the board’s commitment to the long-term viability of the foundation.
  • Stephan and Kristi Carnazzo spent time in the United States, visiting her parents, Arlan and Hardi Erickson in Starbuck as well as other relatives. Steve and Kristi are missionaries to Romania where they have spent the past one-and-one-half year working with disabled people.
  • The Community Thanksgiving dinner was served at the Minnewaska Area High School on Thanksgiving Day with 265 people being served at the school and 143 home-delivered meals.
  • Lake Minnewaska froze over on November 27.
December
  • The former School District 12 and Minnewaska Town Hall building was moved from Minnewaska Township in rural Starbuck to the current site next to the Starbuck Depot on November 27.
  • Glenwood author, Deb Mercier released her new book, “The Captain’s Hat” on December 10.
  • Through a Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs grant, plus several local veterans organizations, and individual veterans donations, Pope County received a new Veteran’s Service van which will be used to transport veterans to and from medical appointments at the Veterans Administration Medical Centers in St. Cloud and Minneapolis.
  • The Minnewaska Jaycees, Starbuck VFW and Auxiliary hosted the 18th annual Christmas Care on Saturday, December 8, presenting gifts and food to local families in need during the holiday season.
  • The Pope County Commissioners voted 5-0 to make a negative declaration on the need for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) study on the proposed Hackberry Creek PV Park project on the south side of Lake Minnewaska. This now clears the way for Kevin and Bev Anderson of Glenwood to apply for a conditional use permit  to continue their plans to create a 21-unit RV park.
  • Data collected by the Department of Natural Resources of Waters showed that the drought of 2007 was virtually as severe as that in 1988. However the data also shows that in 2006 Pope County received less water during the April-August growing season than it did in 2007.
  • There was a tie for first place in the Christmas lighted house contest this year. The first place town home owners and winners of the $50 in Starbuck Bucks grand prize are Jackie Ranum, Dan and Marilyn Staples and Ben and Joan Machovsky. Second place and $30 went to Wilbur and Betty Olson and third place and $20 went to Bob and Becky Nelson.
  • Nick and Micala Danielson of rural Farwell are the parents of triplets, Mason (4 lbs. 15 oz.), Olivia (6 lbs. 13 oz.) and Luke (5 lbs. 8 oz.) born September 18.

 

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