Progress 2020 Community

Progress Community

Albert Lea Tribune

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Brad Arends was selected as the 2020 Citizen of the Year. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

It’s a case of giving back for Albert Lea’s

CITIZEN OF THE W YEAR

Rod Schlader, president of MercyOne North Iowa, speaks in September at the Albert Lea American Legion.

Brad Arends has led local health care initiative, devoted long hours out of an effort to better the community

By Sarah Stultz

sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com

hen Albert Lean Brad Lea,” he said.

Those efforts have turned into Arends was asked by his father to lead countless hours of volunteer service, the grassroots Save starting with the Save Our Hospital Our Hospital organi- group and morphing into Save Our zation in 2017, he never imagined Healthcare and now the Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition. he would still be inFor this service to volved with it three the community, the years down the road.

Albert Lea Citizen of “Nobody thought it the Year Committee would be this long — selected Arends as maybe only a couple Albert Lea’s Citizen months,” Arends said. of the Year for 2020.

“But long before I got Mariah Lynne, who involved, the citizens nominated him for were really engaged.” the award, said she Arends said as a — Brad Arends has known Arends for businessman in the over a decade and has community, he felt a seen his passion for duty to be a good corporate citizen community in a multitude of ways, and to thank all of the people who helped his family and business over usually behind the scenes. But, none has been greater than his giving of the years.

“I felt a debt of gratitude to give See AWARD, Page 9 back to the community of Albert

“I felt a debt of gratitude to give back to the community of Albert Lea.”

What’s inside?

A strong partnership Humane Society has strong relationships with area veterinarians. Page 2

Capturing Lake Mills What started as a way to photograph family in sports turned into passion. Page 5

Junior Citizen of the Year High schooler involved in student council, school board, local politics. Page 13

The ‘heart’ of the Blue Zones Ten years after pilot project, Blue Zones philosophies still changing Albert Lea. Page 20

Page 2 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Humane Society has strong relationships with area veterinarians By the numbers

By Colleen Harrison

colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com

The goal of animal shelters is to help animals in need be safe and find good homes. But who helps the animal shelters themselves?

Christa DeBoer has been the director of the Humane Society of Freeborn County since June 2006, and had been fostering for the organization for 10 years at that point.

At the time she became the director, DeBoer was working part time at South Central Pet Care, a veterinary clinic that had opened in Albert Lea the year before. That relationship helped pave the way for a strong connection between local veterinarians and the animal shelter.

The Humane Society has had veterinarians from South Central as well as Clarks Grove Vet Clinic and Albert Lea Veterinary Clinic treat the animals the shelter cares for.

“All the vets in town work with us well,” DeBoer said. “… They all have a role to play in what we do down here.”

Dr. Don Larson, a veterinarian for 45 years, donates his time when not working at South Central to the Humane Society. He routinely performs spays at the clinic for shelter animals before heading over to the Humane Society to treat any animals who need to be neutered or are feeling under the weather.

The shelter pays for materials and medication used in the routine spays, neuters and checkups Larson performs when donating his time.

Larson said he is happy to provide the services to the shelter, especially when he can provide the same quality of care for a lower price due to donating his time. He said the Humane Society more than deserves the help.

“They go above and beyond and do a very good job,” Larson said of the shelter staff and volunteers.

85 Combined years of veterinary experience between Dr. David Wessling and Dr. Don Larson

2006 Year Christa DeBoer started as the director of the Humane Society of Freeborn County

2005 Year South Central Pet Care opened in Albert Lea

Dr. David Wessling of South Central Pet Care performs an emergency C-section on a cat from the Humae Society of Freeborn County in December 2018. Provided DeBoer said it’s a huge help to the shelter that Larson will come to them when possible, otherwise shelter volunteers would be dedicating even more of their time to transporting different animals back and forth to the clinic.

Clarks Grove has helped with an abundance of dog surgeries for the shelter, typically because it tends to have more veterinarians on staff at one time, DeBoer said.

Different clinics have helped when the Humane

Society has needed assistance with larger animals, too, such as horses.

“Everyone’s got their own kind of niche,” DeBoer said of the different ways the clinics all work with the shelter. “… As an all-encompassing

thing, they’re all very, very helpful to us.”

The area clinics have also helped shelter animals in times of emergencies.

“We all work together on that,” said Dr. David Wessling, a veterinarian at South Central with 40

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In December 2018, a pregnant cat ended up needing an emergency C-section when two of her five kittens would not come out naturally. Wessling met shelter staff at South Central late at night and successfully delivered the kittens, and eventually spayed the mother and the kittens once they were old enough. The clinic let the Humane Society fundraise to pay the outstanding bill from the unexpected procedure, and DeBoer said all three clinics have been great about billing the shelter when an unexpected visit comes up.

“They’re very accommodating,” DeBoer said.

“That whole, ‘Uh oh, it’s 10 o’clock at night,’ and they come in and help out. …

They honestly give back to the shelter in so many ways that people don’t even realize.”

Wessling said the majority of ways he has worked with animals from the shelter revolves around spays and neuters, but that he has also seen his fair share of broken legs, abscesses, lacerations and respiratory illnesses when

See CARE, Page 10

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 3

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Page 4 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Leo Holl and Jim Munyer, right, are two members of the group of former Albert Lea teachers who sit at the baseline of nearly every home basketball game. Former members include Jerry Kaphers, Jim Gustafson, Orrie Jirele, Dick Nielsen and Davis Gilbertson. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune

Members of an exclusive club It has been a longstanding tradition for former teachers to sit on baseline

By Tyler Julson

tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com

For anyone who has regularly attended home Albert Lea basketball games, one sight has become a staple of the events. A row of folding chairs reserved for a few former Albert Lea educators can always be found along the Tigers baseline.

The chairs have once been the seats of many former Albert Lea coaches, teachers and administrators, including Orrie Jirele, Jim Gustafson, Dick Nielsen, Jerry Kaphers, Davis Gilbertson, Leo Holl and Jim Munyer.

The tradition started in the mid-’80s when many of the school’s faculty were required to take shifts at basketball games checking tickets of spectators who entered. When the games were played at Southwest Middle School, before the construction of the current high school, Holl said some of the staff would pull up chairs to rest on where they would stay for the remainder of the games.

When the new gymnasium was built, although some of the staff did not have to work the events, Munyer said the tradition followed.

“When we went from Southwest to here it was just kind of a transition,” Munyer said. “We walked in before the first time, and

Albert Lea senior Chay Guen fights for position in the lane at a game against Winona. Guen had 16 points, including three big dunks in the 63-61 win over the Winhawks. the custodians already had the impact Gilbertson had, chairs set up for us, so we even when he was not in a traditional coaching role. sat there.”

Although the exclusive “Even when he wasn’t acclub had many memtually coaching, he bers sit in the chairs was coaching from in the past, the group that chair,” Munyer is now down to Holl said. “He would yell and Munyer. at the players to get Gilbertson, or over here or over there. He wasn’t the “Gilby” as he was coach. The school known within the wasn’t paying him community, was Davis always a face on Gilbertson anything, but he was the sidelines at the still trying to coach. basketball games before You couldn’t take that out his passing last fall. of him.”

Munyer talked about Holl added that

Senior JJ Mucha-Owens breaks past a Mankato West defender at home. Mucha-Owens scored 20 points in the 66-64 win.

Gilbertson kept a detailed record book of nearly every sporting record in Albert Lea. “He was a fanatic,” he said.

The group has seen nearly everything over the past 35 years. Many different players have passed through, and Holl and Munyer named Ben Woodside, Paul Woodside, Mark Neilsen, Jay Gustafson and Mike Peterson as just a few of their favorite players to watch.

They have also seen

teams struggle to win games in the past, which makes seeing the success this year’s team has had all the more enjoyable.

“You’ve got to support them, win or lose,” Munyer said. “You’ve got to be able to say ‘next game is another game, let’s go out and try it again.’ We’re just happy to see them doing well this year. But whether they win or lose, the important part is that they’re learning to play the game, they’re getting along with other people

and learning to become a better person.”

While they have their own reserved seating at the basketball game, Holl and Munyer said they like to attend other Albert Lea sporting events as well.

“We’re just a bunch of ex-teachers that like to come up and watch the kids play,” Holl said. “As a teacher, kids liked to see you at the games. We like sports, so we’ll come and watch. You get to know the kids and you want to support them.”

Albert Lea senior Connor Veldman tries to split two defenders during a game this season.

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 5

Capturing the Lake Mills community What started as a way to photograph family in sports has turned into a passion

By Colleen Harrison

colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com

LAKE MILLS — A Lake Mills woman has been recognized for her role in promoting her community.

At the Lake Mills Chamber Development Corporation’s annual meeting in January, Lory Groe was named Volunteer of the Year. The award came as a surprise to Groe, who was given the award during her work day at Farmers Trust & Savings Bank as she was going to miss the chamber meeting to photograph a Lake Mills game.

“There’s a lot of people in the community that I think do more than I do,” Groe said.

Originally from Nashua, Iowa, Groe moved to Lake Mills in the ’80s. She and her husband, Dave, have four adult children between them and have nine grandchildren.

Groe started photographing Lake Mills sporting events after two of her grandchildren, Luke and Lexi Groe, started getting involved in sports.

“It just kind of evolved,” Lory Groe said. “I like promoting the school.”

Those two grandchildren are now in college, but Groe has continued to photograph her younger grandchildren competing. While they’re set to graduate this spring, Lory Groe said her time photographing the Bulldogs is far from over.

While her grandchildren have participated in basketball and track and field, among other sports, over the years, Groe said she can’t pick a favorite one to photograph.

“Every time a new season comes around I think I like that one best,” she said. “I try to cover all of them because I enjoy them all.”

Groe said Lake Mills High School has a great tradition of being good at multiple sports, and she

Lory Groe has been a fixture at numerous high school sporting events photographing the action over the years, and was named Volunteer of the Year by the Lake Mills Chamber Development Corporation in January. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune has gotten to witness a number of achievements.

She photographed Slade Sifuentes winning backto-back wrestling championships in 2016 and 2017, building a 113-match win streak to cap off his high school career while also helping the Bulldogs wrestling team reach two straight state duals appearances.

Multiple state track and field appearances for Lake Mills, and for her grandchildren, also stick out for Groe, and in early February she suspected the boys’ basketball team and the wrestling team would be making strong postseason runs this year as well.

“I’ve grown to know so many of the kids,” she said.

“You get a connection with some of them.”

Groe first started trying her hand at photography when following her grandchildren in their different

activities when they were younger. In addition to her growing reputation as a Lake Mills sports photographer, Groe now also photographs senior and family portrait sessions, and goes out to local community events as well, such as Reese’s Run and different benefits in the area, among others.

In addition to her community photography, Groe is also a past member of the Lake Mills Chamber Development Corporation, and is a current member of the Lake Mills chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization for women. She also serves on the Lake Mills Scholarship Committee, which was formed three or four years ago to award scholarships to Lake Mills students. She credited the bank she works for with being supportive of its employees performing

The Bulldogs’ Summer Sterrenberg plays during an August 2019 game at West Hancock.

Lory Groe/For the Albert Lea Tribune

Lake Mills senior Grant Fjelstad crosses the finish line of the 110-meter hurdles in May 2018 at the Iowa high school state track and field meet. Fjelstad would be crowned the state champion with a time of 14.71. Lory Groe/For the Albert Lea Tribune community service, and news organizations such as the Tribune for building professional relationships

with her through freelance coverage of the Bulldogs.

Groe enjoys being an

active member of the community, and especially

See CAPTURE, Page 6

Lake Mills’ Granger Kingland shoots during a January 2016 game. Kingland broke the school’s scoring record his senior year, and was also named the most accurate threepoint shooter in Iowa during his high school career. Lory Groe/For the Albert Lea Tribune

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Page 6 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Capture Continued from Front Page

enjoys being able to photograph high school students as they live out their varsity accomplishments. So many parents of student athletes letting Groe know how much they appreciate her documentation is part of why she plans to continue following the teams after her own grandchildren graduate. The other reason is because she enjoys it herself.

“It’s really important to me to capture memories,” she said.

By the numbers

1980s When Lory Groe moved to the Lake Mills area

9 Grandchildren Groe has

20 Senior portrait sessions Groe did this year

Lake Mills wrestler Slade Sifuentes won his second straight state championship in February 2017, ending his high school career with a 113-match win streak. Lory Groe/For The Albert Lea Tribune

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saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 7

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Page 8 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Award Continued from Front Page

time and talent to the Save Our Hospital and Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition initiative.

“Over the past two years, he’s given a minimum average of 20 hours per week to the effort,” Lynne said.

“Why? Because he believes in our community, the health of our community members, the health of our economic viability and the right of a community to rally in laser focus for the achievement of its goals.”

Despite the work he has put into leading the initiative, Arends said the effort could not have been possible without the dozens, if not hundreds, of others in the community who each played a part.

“It was the people who started this, and it was the people who kept it going,” he said. “We’re where we’re at today because of that grassroots movement that just was not going to let this happen in Albert Lea. They basically said, ‘Not in our town.’”

The effort began in June 2017 when Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea announced it would transition most inpatient services to its Austin campus. Concerned with the announcement, many stood up against the changes.

Arends said the biggest challenge at first was uniting all these people.

He said he agreed to be the chairman of the Save Our Hospital group only if he could pick his co-chair, who he chose to be Lynne of Good Steward Consulting. The two had worked together previously at Arends’ business, which is now called intellicents.

Arends said the most tenuous times were the first couple weeks, when everyone had to come together and set rules of engagement and the group’s core values — essentially how the group would act.

They knew it was critical to bring the citizens together and get the city of Albert Lea and Freeborn County involved. He credited former Albert Lea City Manager Chad Adams for being a strong supporter in the early months.

The group’s steering committee met generally at 4 p.m. Sundays, followed by the general meeting with the entire group. Arends said this happened every Sunday for months unless it was a major holiday such as Christmas.

In addition to the steering committee, there were also subcommittees that met during the week.

On top of the meetings, he and other leaders of the group were being inundated by the news media.

Various television stations, newspapers, even film crews out of Hollywood and senior advocacy organization AARP wanted to tell Albert Lea’s story.

He and other leaders met with political leaders, Minnesota’s secretary of state and lieutenant governor. He also flew out to Washington, D.C., to meet with other government entities there.

“We spent a lot of time on political avenues,” Arends said.

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 9

Citizen of the Year Award committee members • Crystal Miller • Sarah Stultz • Cindy Lunning • Rick Mummert • John Holt • Don Nolander • Tom Sorenson In a way, the organization of the group was similar to what you would find at a business, he said.

Every level played a part.

The people, he said, would not give up. They attended weekly meetings, vigils, bus rides to Mayo Clinic in Rochester and weekly protests in New Denmark Park.

“It took a group of people that came from diverse backgrounds, diverse political leanings, and it brought us together,” Arends said.

“We would have never met one another. We probably all had our visions in our minds — I’m sure people did of me, for example — but all the sudden, we came together and everyone worked as a team.”

He credited others who took leadership positions of subcommittee chairs.

“I think when you look back and say how did it happen, it started with all the people, and we put together a great group that stuck with it basically,” he said.

After a while under Save Our Hospital, he said it became clear that Mayo Clinic Health System did not want to negotiate on keeping services in Albert Lea, and the group morphed into Save Our Healthcare with the goal of bringing in another provider. The group hired an outside consultant, they put together a business plan and sent out a request for proposals to health systems nearby.

Arends said they ultimately interviewed two entities: MercyOne North Iowa and a consortium of care providers from the Mankato area.

The group moved forward with MercyOne, negotiated services and costs and then worked to find a building that could be purchased locally for a new clinic.

Then the group began fundraising, while others, again, stepped up to the plate to reach out to individuals and businesses.

Arends said the highlight of the journey was when he was able to announce that the group would partner with MercyOne and when the organization’s leaders signed the letter of intent to purchase the former Herberger’s building.

“That day that we announced that at the American Legion, it was magical,” he said. “It was like, ‘Wow, we’ve done this.’”

He said he thinks nothing, however, will surpass what he anticipates it will feel like when the clinic opens.

The Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition closed on the former Herberger’s building on Feb. 14, and trustees will meet weekly through the buildout with the goal of opening the first phase of the clinic Oct. 1. Various subcommittees are working on

Brad Arends, center, Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition trustee and president, signs the official closing papers for the former Herberger’s space while John Morrison, right, and a notary look on earlier this month. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Members of the Save Our Healthcare organization cross the bridge over the Fountain Lake dam on their walk from New Denmark Park to Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea in recognition of the last day of the medical and surgical care unit in Albert Lea in June 2019. Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea tribune different elements of the project.

He thanked the strong senior leadership of his business, who he said carried the business through the last few years.

He also thanked his wife, Tempest, for supporting him and the time commitment the effort required him to be away. Being empty nesters, the couple enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling up North.

“But it became so important that it was something that I just felt compelled I had to see it through,” he said.

As the journey has progressed, he said he has enjoyed seeing other business leaders stand up and become leaders not only for this effort but for the community.

“Hopefully all the businesses in town feel the need to be a good corporate citizen, in giving back,” he said.

He said he is excited about the future of the Albert Lea Health Care Coalition and the model that has been established to make it a self-sustaining entity. All money raised through the organization will go to

American Legion Post 56 was packed with a full house in September for the official announcement of MercyOne North Iowa’s plans to open in Albert Lea. Colleen Harrison/ Albert Lea Tribune

support expanding medical services and improving health care of the citizens of Albert Lea, he said.

With its ownership of the former Herberger’s space, the coalition has

64,000 square feet of leasable space, about 40,000 of which will be used for the clinic itself.

The remainder of the space will be leased to other complementary businesses.

“Over a period of time, that could grow to be tens of millions of dollars,” he said, noting all of which will be dedicated to the citizens of Albert Lea.

Page 10 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Care Continued from Page 2

treating animals the Humane Society has rescued. He said he routinely sees skin irritations or diseases from animals not having proper flea or tick prevention before being rescued, as well.

“We want to keep them healthy so they can be rehomed,” Wessling said.

Larson recalled a time last October when he came in after hours to treat an injured dog, who turned out to have had some kind of poison in its system. Larson said a shelter volunteer helped him as Larson did what he could for the dog, who ultimately passed away, but was cared for and without pain in its last moments.

“We did the best we could,” Larson said.

DeBoer remembered a time the Humane Society took in a dog who had been found full of puncture wounds inside a crate in a basement. The situation was a mess when the dog was brought in, DeBoer said, and shelter staff took it to the Clarks Grove clinic.

“Talk about fantastic,” she said. “They really poured themselves into his care.”

The veterinary services the shelter uses are not free and shouldn’t be, DeBoer said, and she hopes the shelter is giving the clinics something in return through the consistent business from the Humane Society as a result, because she appreciates their support.

“I appreciate all the vets in town,” DeBoer said. “We surely would be having a huge hardship, had they not all worked with us.”

Wessling said the shelter not only provides the clinics with business, but provides a much-needed service in the area itself.

“It’s giving an opportunity to all the pets to have a healthy start,” he said.

“They help the community by giving them a place to go with healthy pets.

“It is a vital service to the area.”

Dr. David Wessling, left, and Dr. Don Larson are veterinarians at South Central Pet Care who have worked a lot with animals from the Humane Society of Freeborn County. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

The veterinary clinic allowed the Humane Society to fundraise to pay the outstanding bill for the emergency surgery, plus spaying the mother and the five kittens once they were old enough. Provided

The cat Wessling performed the emergency C-section on in December 2018 was able to naturally give birth to three of her kittens, but two needed surgical help to come out.

Provided

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 11

Page 12 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

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saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 13

A.L. High School student named Trib.’s 1st Junior Citizen of the Year

By Tyler Julson

tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com

In the first year of the award, Albert Lea High School junior Aaron Farris has been named the 2020 Albert Lea Junior Citizen of the Year.

Farris has taken on many responsibilities, both at school and in his personal life. At school, Farris was elected to the student council and serves as the junior class school board representative.

As a school board representative, Farris said his role is to express his grade’s views and values to the school board, making sure he knows what his grade wants to see from the school board and relaying any messages or questions his classmates have for the school board and then getting answers back to them.

Farris is also heavily involved in political groups outside of school as the secretary for both the Freeborn County Republican Party and the 1st Congressional District Republican Party. Not only does Farris take notes and send out the agendas for all of the group’s meetings, he also helps organize caucus events and participates in many parades for various candidates throughout the district, which spans from the South Dakota to the Wisconsin border, and from the Iowa border and north about 80 miles.

Farris took an interest in politics from a young age and was elected as the youngest person to hold a position in either party in Minnesota’s history. He talked about what makes him so passionate about politics.

“One thing that I don’t like is just sitting there and complaining about things and not doing anything or feeling like you can’t do anything about it,” Farris said. “I’m very grateful I’ve been given the trust that I have. A lot of people might not really trust a 16-year-old — which is how old I was when elected — to do this kind of stuff. It is a fun job. It might sound boring at times, but

Albert Lea junior Aaron Farris is the 2020 recipient of the Junior Citizen of the Year Award. Farris is the secretary of the Freeborn County Republican Party and the 1st Congressional District Republican Party. At school, Farris is also a member of the student council and is the junior class school board representative. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune it is extremely fun. I get to meet some pretty incredible people.”

Farris said he was always intrigued by politics and enjoyed learning about all the different political processes. He first started getting involved by signing up to be a volunteer with the Freeborn County Republican Party and worked at a booth at the Freeborn County Fair. He said the experience at the fair is what got him into the idea of running for a position on the party board.

Farris said his favorite part about being involved with so many groups is his ability to talk with people. Even with people

“I love Albert Lea. It’s a nice distance from all the big cities. It has that smalltown feeling, even though you have about 18,000 people.”

— Aaron Farris who might not share his political views or who don’t talk politics at all, he enjoys having a good conversation with people.

While Farris takes on a number of responsibilities within his roles, according to Angie Hoffman, one of Farris’s nominators, he completes all his tasks remarkably well.

“Whatever task Aaron takes on, you can be guaranteed it will be done exceedingly well,” Hoffman said. “He truly is oneof-a-kind. … Our county party unit is viewed as one of the top Republican Party units in the state and that is largely due to Aaron’s leadership.”

In his free time, Farris likes

to read books and newspapers, especially works that are politics-related. He also recently finished watching “The West Wing” on Netflix. Farris enjoys writing and spending time with his dog, Remy.

As for Farris’s future, he is thinking about going to Minnesota State University-Mankato for marketing, but ultimately wants to return to Albert Lea. “I love Albert Lea,” Farris said. “It’s a nice distance from all the big cities. It has that smalltown feeling, even though you have about 18,000 people. I really like Albert Lea, and I want to live here.”

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Page 14 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Experiences of a World War II vet

96-year-old man, initially ineligible for draft, felt need to serve the country

By Colleen Harrison

colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com

While the 75th anniversary of V-J Day is later this year, that period in time is still as clear as yesterday for one Albert Lea veteran.

Allen Borkowski turned 18 on Dec. 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, leading to the United States’ entry into World War II. Borkowski worked for a farmer at the time and for a few years after, and said there was a point system he could renew to keep him ineligible for the draft while working.

When he turned 21, and it was time to renew, though, he decided not to, and purposely became eligible for the draft.

“I just felt I should go,” he said.

Borkowski, now 96, was drafted into the Army, going to Fort Snelling before completing basic training down in Texas at Fort Hood. Eventually, he boarded a train for California, before heading overseas for Leyte, an island in the Philippines. He would remain there until the war ended.

Even though he served as an Army rifleman, Borkowski said he never fired his weapon. Still, he saw the effects of war, seeing men he served with grazed by bullets, carrying other wounded men to safety and seeing others shellshocked.

There was a time where food rations weren’t coming through, so the soldiers Borkowski served with had to stretch what little they already had.

“Anything we had was on our backs,” he said.

Certain details stick out vividly for Borkowski.

He remembers the way the tall grass they would walk through and carry men out of would cut into

Allen Borkowski is a World War II Army veteran who now lives in Albert Lea after living and farming in Kiester. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

their arms.

At night, four men would share one hole dug 18 inches deep into the ground. Two of the men would be assigned to fill canteens with water — a tedious job, Borkowski said, as their water source was a trickle running down the side of a mountain they would have to hike along. The other two would be in charge of digging the hole before the men would take turns sleeping and keeping watch in twohour shifts.

When his unit finally found out the war was officially over, Borkowski said they had to walk two days to their next location, with their reward being their first hot meal

in months. He remembers being able to eat about one third of what he was served, as his stomach had gotten used to such small portions.

After Imperial Japan surrendered, Borkowski said he and the men he was stationed with found out just how close to catastrophe they almost came. Borkowski had been sleeping near a river toward the end of the war, and found out afterward that Japanese forces were grouped just on the other side of the same river.

“We were waiting for you,” he said a Japanese soldier later told them.

After the war officially ended, Borkowski was then assigned to transport

Borkowski served from 1944 to 1946 as an Army rifleman.

prisoners from an American GI prison camp to Manila.

Eventually Borkowski made his way back to the U.S., and finished his service in October 1946. He went back to farming, and said his first winter working on a dairy farm was a bit rough after not being exposed to Minnesota’s winter weather for two years.

“I felt like I would freeze to death,” he said with a laugh.

He lived in Kiester and spent decades farming corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle, Borkowski said, farming in Truman, Bricelyn and Kiester before eventually retiring.

He and his wife, Gladys, have been married 59 years and now live at Oak Park Place in Albert Lea. They have one son, one daughter and two grandchildren.

Borkowski made friends in the Army he kept in touch with, and has been a member of the Kiester American Legion for about 73 years. He served as the sergeant at arms for 25 to 30 years.

He is also a member of Disabled American Veterans, and said the organization has helped him out with medical issues in the past. It’s something he wishes could have been done for other veterans in the past, especially those who served during the Vietnam War. “What irks me is the many vets who passed away from Agent Orange,” he said. “They should’ve had more help.”

When Borkowski looks back on his time serving, he said he thinks about the different experiences he had.

“It was a good experience,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it again … but there was a lot that needed to be done.”

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 15

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Page 16 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

well done, sister suffragette!

a centennial celebration of the freeborn county women who fought for their right to vote

By Ashley Ladlie

ashley.ladlie@albertleatribune.com

The women of Albert Lea were a vital organizing force for woman’s suffrage, first at home in Freeborn County and then in neighboring counties and beyond.

Enthusiastic warriors for fair representation under the law, their work was lauded by leaders at both the state and national level.

The most devoted suffragists went on to represent Minnesota in national political conventions.

The area’s most influential citizens led the way.

The women were educated and had experienced some measure of independence, whether through extensive career experience before marriage, or after being widowed or simply because their education and income level allowed them to participate in the mind-expanding, spine-building experience of world travel.

The women featured in this story were fortunate to have men in their lives who supported their

participation in the suffrage movement. These were Albert Lea’s esteemed gentlemen, the most engaged members of the community — successful businessmen, lawyers, judges and at least one mayor, those men whose names mark the buildings and streets of Albert Lea to this day.

Women could flourish

Part of the success for women’s suffrage in Albert Lea was due to an atmosphere that allowed women to participate, if not shine, in the business community. Women were encouraged to get an education, to pursue a career, to participate in civil affairs and even to get their own bank accounts.

Albert Lea College was a preparatory school that educated women in the traditional domestic arts but also science and sports, preparing them for a secondary education. The mere presence of such an institution made Albert Lea a friendly place for women who wanted to pursue ambitions beyond

the domestic sphere.

There were a handful of women-owned businesses such as Caroline Narveson’s Millinary Shop and Mrs. Evalyn Dame’s Common Sense Improvement Shop, as well as women employed by larger firms and praised in the papers for their accomplishments.

Women and the war

Women in business were still rare, but their energy and skill had always been welcome when it came to charity work. The massive citizen effort to support the country during World War I provided a national platform for women to show their fellow citizens just how well they could get things done.

Women were key to supporting the war effort at home. This was true across the country, and also very much so in Albert Lea, where their work for the local Red Cross was so effective, they temporarily ran themselves out of work.

There is a significant overlap between the leaders,

organizers and supporters of the Freeborn County Red Cross with those of women’s suffrage.

Spirit of citizenship

The suffragists in Freeborn County were practical, whip-smart, hard-working and fueled by optimism.

They believed in the value of participating in a democratic civil society, being involved in the process of governance, not only for the benefit of one’s own family, but for the good of the entire country.

The Freeborn County League of Women Voters that formed in the spring of 1920 was dedicated to providing a nonpartisan education about the privilege and responsibilities of participating in a democracy.

The group understood these ideas as existing outside of political party, and fundamental to freedom.

These are women who understood that people must participate in a democracy in order for it to stay a democracy, still relevant after all these years.

This 1913 bank advertisement encourages women to gain financial independence for the most practical of reasons. Image from Freeborn County Standard

M s p

Local career woman travels for glamorous fashion job Anna Marx, originally of Shakopee, arrived around the turn of the century in an Albert Lea that was swiftly growing from a country village to a bustling town.

She was, by all indications, a hustling businesswoman. In the span of seven years, she is mentioned in the Freeborn County Standard’s Curbside Chronicals section as having gone on at least six business trips.

As the millinery buyer for the local big four

department stores, she traveled to New York City, Chicago and St. Paul.

The first mention, in March 1901, is paired with the advertisement for Gage, Hayden & Co below, which features a letter from Marx to the ladies of Albert Lea. Marx was joined by a female colleague and the both store owners on her last retail buying trip to be written up in the Standard Feb. 12, 1908, quoted in full below.

This photo of students at Albert Lea College was taken in 1886. The school was a boarding preparatory school for young women whose families could afford a private high school education. A young Katherine Truesdell (who would become Katherine Morin and then Katherine Meighen) attended the academy not long after the photo.

Freeborn County newlyweds honeymoon at World’s Fair on lake michigan shore

august 1893

Future suffrage leader, Katherine Truesdell, 20, marries wealthy William A. Morin of Albert Lea. For their honeymoon, they travel to the World’s Fair in Chicago to take in such novel delights as Tesla’s City of Lights and the Japanese gardens. It was the biggest spectacle of its kind to date.

This trip was the first of their many travels around the world together.

Among the many modern marvels on display, the world’s first ferris wheel premiered on the midway.

1900

onward “Miss Anna Marx of the millinery department and Miss Bessie Olson of the readymade dress goods department of Skinner, Chamberlain & Co. have gone to New York City where they will soon be joined by President Bert Skinner and W.G. Chamberlain of the company in buying spring goods for the big store.”

women employed in lead roles at department store

a a t c t t M n a p l a i p t B H m

p w g y w D f w M w T q p p a

Photo courtesy Library of Congress

1890

1900

At right, Bert Skinner and one of his employees at work in his office.

The identity of the woman is unknown. She could be Bessie Olson or Anna Marx or someone else entirely.

F o h

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 17

!

Freeborn county suffrage leader helps Mower county organize league Suffrage leader Kather- County organize a women’s ine Meighen, 48, of Albert voting league of their own.

Lea travels to Austin to Freeborn County led help the women of Mower the organizational effort

Freeborn County League of Women Voters hold Citizenship School Citizenship school, the first outreach event organized by the newly-formed Freeborn County League of Women Voters, took place over two afternoons and evenings in the Business Men’s League rooms with the of purpose educating women on the processes of government, elections Business Men’s League and how to be an engaged rooms on the second floor.

citizen of a democracy.

As the league was strictly nonpartisan, it provided a platform for both major political parties to state their principles. Mrs. E. E. Dame spoke on why she was a Democrat. And Mrs. J.A. Fuller spoke on why she was a Republican. Child care was made available, and attendees were encouraged

oct 1921

in southern Minnesota, receiving statewide acclaim for their civility and competence.

august 1920

June 1920

to bring notepads so they could share what they learned.

The school was such a success, it was written up in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, which reported that more than 200 women had attended.

june 1914

19th Amendment gives women the vote nationwide

1920

Mrs. E. E. Dame hosts suffragists, holds public address Mrs. E. E. Dame ran the Freeborn Hotel from 1912 until 1921. During her tenure, she frequently hosted meetings for political and civil groups, including the women’s movement. This meeting was particularly noteworthy, as suffrage leaders traveled from out of town to spread their message in Albert Lea. The public address was outside on Broadway Avenue where the crowd gathered to hear the traveling lecturer, Miss Hamm, speak. Mrs. Dame, true to character, offered some final thoughts before the meeting’s closed.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress

Hotel Freeborn circa 1910

January 1916 albert lea hosts minnesota women’s suffrage conference

1910

The conference was a big enough deal to be written up in The Duluth Herald, The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune and even the Swedish American Post. Mrs. Clyde Hayden seemed to be the organizing and publicizing force behind the quarterly conference being held in Albert Lea. Suffrage leaders, organiziers and activities from all over Minnesota and further arrived by car and the Rock

Carnegie Library

Island train to participate in the two-day event.

The bulk of the convention took place between The First Presbyterian Church and Carnegie Library. Students at the high school were also privy to a lecture about the movement from one of the visiting activists.

The conference happened a year and a half before the United States officially joined World War I. Most everyone’s energy would be taken up in supporting the nation’s war efforts until 1919 when the issue of woman’s suffrage again became a central issue in American politics.

The suffrage conference schedule, as published in the local newspapers.

september 1907 Albert Lea Corset Company Thrives with ace workforce of industrious women

Several incarnations of a corset company operated in Albert Lea during the late 19th and early 20th century. For much of this time, the man in charge of the whole affair was Mr. Martin Blacklin. Frequently named in the local papers as a man-about-town, informal photographs depict a sharply-dressed gent, hat cocked at a jaunty angle and cigar in hand. In the workroom photo at right, the man in the foreground looks like Blacklin, sans accesssories.

He is clearly in manager mode here.

Blacklin not only employed a large number of women to manufacture the garments, but for many years, his right-hand person was a woman. Miss Bessie Dame, daughter of local suffrage leader and businesswoman, Mrs. E. E. Dame.

Miss Bessie Dame (who would become Mrs. L. E. Tingley) also enjoyed frequent mentions in the local paper, both in the social pages and as management at the corset company.

This excerpt from the Freeborn County Standard on March 4, 1914 typifies her numerous mentions

over the years, “Miss Bessie Dame returned Thursday from a visit of three weeks to friends in New York City for the Luce Corset Co.” Even Mrs. E. E. Dame herself traveled on behalf of the corset company, once or twice.

Mr. Blacklin also put his wife to work traveling about the midwest, demonstrating the latest in corset fashions.

A brief typical of the time, from the Standard on Sept.

18, 1907, reports that, “Mrs. Martin Blacklin, who has been giving demonstrations for the Albert Lea Corset Co. in southwestern Minnesota and South Dakota, has returned home. The business of the company is increasing at such a surprising rate that they find it almost impossible to fill the orders without more help in their factory. They need nearly a score more of girls and are finding it almost impossible to obtain them.”

Although Mrs. Emily Blacklin’s entry in the 1905 census lists no occupation, she traveled extensively with her husband on business for Albert Lea Corset Co. well into the 1910s.

Photos for this story were courtesy of Freeborn County Historical Society, Library and Museum with assistance from Linda Evenson in the research library.

Pictured above is the F. E. Case Corset Manufactory at the eastern corner of Broadway & Clark. The photo was taken before 1909.

This exterior photo above shows The Albert Lea Corset Company as it looked, circa 1910. The interior shot below is most likely the second-floor sewing workroom.

Page 18 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

Change happens inside the voting booth the surprising power in using your own name

hat’s in a name? For American women W 100 years ago, just about

everything.

For one, if a woman had her portrait taken, it was for a rite of passage like graduation or marriage, and these weren’t usually printed in small town papers before 1920, which makes it a lot harder to uncover photographs of the women whose names dot the landscape of the

local newspaper pages.

Furthermore, women are filed by their husbands’ first and last name in most archives, with only the generic title of “Mrs.” to differentiate them from their spouse. So in some cases the first research hurdle is simply in figuring out these married ladies’ first names, a piece of identification that has seemed so basic for decades now. As such,

there is much that remains mysterious about the women in this piece.

The League of Women Voters, as part of their goal to educate the newly enfranchised on the voting process, found it necessary to address the convention of replacing one's own first name with that of her husband's.

Women were instructed to use their own first names at the polling place. When it came to voting, a woman’s title did not matter, her marriage status did not matter and her husband’s first name was absolutely

inconsequential. The only thing that mattered in the voting booth was her vote, and to access the ballot required her name alone.

Stating her age, however, was not required. The attorney general advised that age needed confirmation only if the prospective voter looked younger than the voting age of 21, which surely relieved the parties who feared that stating an exact age would keep masses of women from the polls. The League of Women Voters clarified this after receivings inquiries.

between, she raised two sons, buried her first husband at age 40, married her second at age 44 and traveled the globe at a time when most folks were lucky to venture a few hundred miles in a lifetime. With boys grown, rather than luxuriate lakeside between travels, Katherine set about serving her community and country.

The rapid expansion of the Red Cross during World War I gave her a worthy organization to join. J.F.D. Meighen, the man who was not yet her husband, was also heavily involved.

In July 1917, she is listed as an assistant to the Red Cross secretary under the name Katherine T. Morin.

(Widows used their first names, perhaps another indication of status via title.)

By the end of the year, atherine Meighen she has married highly was an extraordinary respected lawyer J. F. D. woman who lived a rich Meighen, and the following life full of service and spring her new name, Mrs. adventure.

J. F. D. Meighen, is on the The timeline accompa- list as head of the Salvage nying this story starts with Department for the local her first marriage at age 20 Red Cross. Mr. Meighen is to the much older and very listed as chairman, a posiwealthy William A. Morin tion he held for many years. and with her efforts to When the League of organize Mower County’s Women Voters sprang up League of Women Voters in 1920, she was elected in Austin. chairwoman During the 30 years in

for the Freeborn County chapter and swiftly set up committees to organize throughout the county, and pulled off a tremendously successful first attempt at voter education in the form of citizenship school. All of this happened in less than three months.

Katherine Meighen and j. f. d. meighen

mily Benson married Martin Blacklin in E June 1901. Their wedding

announcement in the Standard is full of praise, “one of Albert Lea’s best and most popular young men, and his charming bride was at one time a resident of this city and has many friends to welcome her here.”

Indeed, they remain a popular pair from the sounds of a 1908 Standard article that tells of the Blacklins leading a grand march of 120 couples at the hospital charity gala. Emily Blacklin was credited for the success of the event, which raised $200 for the hospital.

Her work on behalf of the hospital and community intensified during World War I, and continued on for the rest of her life. She is regularly mentioned in articles about the League of Women Voters, but left the leadership to others.

While Martin Blacklin was active in community affairs, he appeared to take a more casual approach.

For Registration Day committee assignments,

he is listed as a clubs and lodges representative under committees on marching. His former righthand gal in the corset business, Bess Tingley, happened to be on the same committee. Subsequent organization listings often show Emily Blacklin as one of the people in charge, and his name included among the regular volunteers.

Red Cross Appointments published in November 1917 list Emily Blacklin as superintendent of the Hospital Garment Department, a role for which she was highly commended.

The above photo was published in a hardcover book documenting the greatness of Freeborn County people during The Great War. It shows a woman who knows much more than the young lady who first came to Albert Lea as a trimmer for Caroline Narveson's millinery shop.

rs. Clyde Hayden reM ceived much acclaim for her leadership in the

“We should keep up the fight, no matter what the odds. Of course it is a hard fight. Of course we know the Minnesota constitution is difficult of amendment.

But let us keep on. Let us not label as lost labor our fight of years.”

K

Emily Blacklin and Martin Blacklin

Mrs. Clyde Hayden

E

Evalyn Eliza Dame

valyn Eliza Dame, was a force among women and integral to the local suffrage movement.

In spite of her oversized personality and active role in local civics and business, a photo has yet to make itself known. Fortunately, as a prolific writer, speaker and activist, her words are easily found, even if her visage is not. And so, she is represented here by quote in leiu of portrait.

Born in Minnesota around 1856, she grew up in Shakopee as Eva Brown, her attorney father active in local politics with a reputation for fierce independence — a trait she came by honestly.

Census data from 1900 places her in Chicago, widowed with a daughter, Bessie, born around 1886.

The details of her marriage remain a mystery, including her husband's first name. At the very least, her husband should be credited for supplying such an appropropriate last name, given her

great passion for women's suffrage.

To fairly tell of E. E. Dame and her ideas and adventures requires a booklength chapter, at least. As a supporter of woman's suffrage, she spoke all over the Midwest, wrote op-eds that display an impressive intelligence and wit and even traveled as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, with the elder Mary Meighen as her alternate.

Her interest in politics went far beyond suffrage, and she was a popular surrogate on the campaign trail for democratic candidates even before she could vote.

She left the area in 1921 at 65 to be with her daughter in Ann Arbor. But Michigan was far from her final resting place. She had another 20 years of living to do, and it included California. So far, the only image found of E.E. Dame is a modest gravestone in Los Angeles County; her epitaph simply reads Mother.

suffrage movement. The above photo of her was printed in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune, in an era when women’s portraits were seldom published in newspapers, especially regarding politics and business.

While she garnered the most media coverage for local suffragette activity, she also left the fewest tracks in Freeborn County. In spite of her press attention, it proved difficult to learn so much as Hayden’s first name, let alone details about her life before and after her time in Albert Lea, which by all accounts was a brief but bright chapter.

The first mention of her in the Freeborn County Standard is a social brief from April 1913. In July 1914, Mrs. Hayden is listed as secretary and librarian of the local Child Life chapter. She hit the big time in May 1915 when elected president of the Freeborn County Woman’s Suffrage Association, prompting the newspaper photo.

Only months later in October 1915, a going away party for Hayden is announced, but she stayed long enough for Albert Lea to host the Minnesota Women’s Suffrage Conference in January 1916. She also traveled in the spring to give suffrage talks throughout Minnesota and Iowa.

In July 1916, The Standard reported one last time on Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Hayden as they had reached their new Montana home.

Anna MARX Harm and Henry J. HARM

n 1908, when Anna Marx Imodern with the chic name and career turned 40,

she became Mrs. H. J. Harm and her new name stayed mostly in the social columns for several years, with the exception being reports of accompanying her husband on business trips.

H.J. Harm served a term as mayor of Albert Lea not long after they married, and in the early years of their marriage he is the more politically active of the two, but by the end of the decade, her civic zeal surpassed his.

His political leanings are less clear than his support for women's political participation. In June 1912, a letter published in the Standard thanks H. J. Harm for helping her procure a ticket to the Republican convention in Chicago where she found great inspiration in witnessing so many women engaged in the political process.

The Standard on Sept.

4, 1912, lists H.J. Harm as having just attended the Progressive Party's state committee meeting in St. Paul — this being Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose party, and the only major party during that year's presidential election to support women's suffrage.

Anna Harm, like many of her contemporaries, became involved in civic leadership during The Great War. For the big Registration Day preparations in June 1917, she's listed on the Ladies Auxiliary

Committee. In November she is listed as a member of the pressing committee for the Red Cross. A few months later in January 1918, she is elected vice president of the Woman's Hospital Auxiliary.

The following September, the Standard credits her in a front-page article for the successful execution of a flower sale that raised $402 for the Red Cross.

In April 1920, several months before she could vote, Anna Harm is listed as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention

in St. Paul, along with E.E. Dame, J.F.D. Meighen and the elder Mary Meighen.

By this point, the Democratic platform did support full suffrage for women.

Two years later, in March 1922, Anna Harm again serves as Freeborn County delegate at the Democratic state convention. Dame had moved to Michigan by this time, and thus is absent from the delegate list, as is J.F.D. Meighen; however, his mother, Mary Meighen, is among the Albert Lea delegates listed.

The photo source named it the Rock Ad for Harm's store but the couple go unnamed. It could be Henry and Anna Harm. The ages fit and the lower half of his face could easily belong to the man whose portrait is captioned H. J. Harm in a Standard article about one of his ventures.

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 19

A.l.’s new fire station

12

By the numbers

Months the building will have been under construction when completed.

By Sarah Stultz

sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com

Construction on Albert Lea’s new fire station off of Newton Avenue has been underway since May and is expected to be finished in mid-April.

2

Sets of washers and dryers in the station for cleaning firefighter gear. There will also be extractors for washing gear, along with hot, warm and cold zones for gear. Hot zones are for dirty gear and equipment, and warm zones are transition areas, including SCBA repair, maintenance areas and a negative pressure room for storage of firefighter gear. Cold zones are where no contaminated gear can enter.

$8 million Cost of the new building

16

Number of full-time firefighters in the department

13

Number of part-time firefighters in the department

12

Apparatus bays at the fire station

26,000 Square feet of the new building (original plan called for 30,000 square feet)

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Page 20 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2020 | COMMUNITY | saturday, February 29, 2020

‘The Heart of the Blue Zones Project’

Top left: Albert Lea City Manager Chad Adams, center, points while riding a bicycle with transportation infrastructure expert Dan Burden in 2014. Top right: Surrounded by Southwest Middle school students and former Principal Steve Kovach, sixth grader Lydia Levi, center, cuts a ribbon during a ceremony celebrating the school as the first Blue Zones designated school in Albert Lea in 2015. Bottom left: Children with the Lakeview Locomotive walk with parents and teachers along Lakeview Boulevard. Bottom right: Community gardens in Albert Lea have flourished in recent years. Tribune file photos

10 years after pilot project, Blue Zones philosophies still changing community

By Sarah Stultz

sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com

It has been more than 10 years since the inception of the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, but long-lasting changes are still evident across Albert Lea. “It really has been an incredible journey,” said Ellen Kehr, organization lead with the Blue Zones Project. “It really has — and quite a leap of faith for Albert Lea.” Kehr said Albert Lea has a history of doing things that are innovative. The city started the Jobs Industrial Park — the first industrial park of its kind in the nation in the 1940s — and a community child care center in the late 1960s as women were going back into the workforce. So, it was no surprise that in 2009, at a time of growing obesity rates, critical illnesses and a broken health care system, that the city agreed to be a part of pilot project that aimed to implement lessons learned from the world’s longest-living people and, in turn, increase life expectancy and quality of life amongst residents.

“And Albert Lea did it,” Kehr said. “We said, ‘Yes, we’ll try,’” she said. “And we did — and then the metrics started coming in.”

Kehr said the first metric that moved the most was activity level.

As the Albert Lea City Council voted to start filling in sidewalk gaps around the city as road projects were slated, the Blue Zones Walkway was completed around Fountain Lake, bike lanes were implemented on two streets, and the downtown became more pedestrian-friendly after the streetscape project, it became easier for residents to move more.

Schools started implementing walkathons as fundraisers for their schools instead of selling other products.

After that was the smoking levels.

“We said, we’re not going to leave this up to brochures, up to the health care industry,” Kehr said.

“We’re going to do this as a community-wide project, where every sector has a responsibility.”

This included implementation of guidelines in schools, as well as tobacco-free policies in worksites, rental properties and city-owned properties. The Albert Lea City Council passed the tobacco 21 policy, where people

Members of a moai walk down the street during the first year of the AARP/Blue Zones Project.

The design of the downtown included many aspects encouraged by the Blue Zones Project, including wider sidewalks for pedestrians and shorter pedestrian crosswalks.

By the numbers

70.5

19.8

55.2

Percent who exercise at least 30 minutes, three days a week. This is up from 56.7% in 2014

Percent who smoked in 2019. This is down from 21.2% in 2014

Percent of people who say they are thriving in life. This is up from 44.6% in 2014

had to be 21 to purchase tobacco in the city limits.

Then came the implementation of more healthy foods.

Kehr said this one has come along a little slower, as it involves engaging people individually and

in larger sectors.

At the schools, they implemented healthy snack carts, took unhealthy things out of the vending machines and shut down the vending machines during the day.

Work also continued in

worksites and at restaurants. Kehr said though only five restaurants are Blue Zones-designated, many of the restaurants started offering healthy choices, and some are also offering half portions.

“Bigger is not always

better,” she said.

Though some of the changes have been easier than others, she said she and other community partners have focused on one step at a time, and are helping make the healthy choices the easy choice for people.

“We came into the pilot project with that spirit of innovation,” she said.

“That’s what led to our success. It’s a personality trait of an entire community. We just needed to focus it all working together.”

The success, she said, is attracting people to the community, both to learn

about it and to live here.

“We are the heart of the Blue Zones Project,” Kehr said. “Now it’s a nationwide movement with more than 40 communities involved. Millions of people are doing this and discovering that it works.

They want a healthy community and a great quality of life.”

Work is not done, Kehr said, as she and other community leaders continue to implement the strategies learned.

Though tobacco rates are starting to rise — Kehr attributed that to the increased vaping — she and others will continue to work on this issue at a local, state and federal level.

The city, she said, continues to include complete street philosophies when constructing or overlaying roads, which make the roads safe and comfortable for users regardless of their mode of transportation.

She referenced this summer’s Bridge Avenue reconstruction that will incorporate a shared user path when it is completed.

“As we move forward through the next decade, I anticipate that the community at large will hopefully continue to advocate for the complete streets livable designs we have adopted,” she said.

She referenced the renovations on both North and South Broadway and the positive changes that have started to take place amongst the business there now. She said she envisions the same thing happening with the homes on Bridge Avenue over the next decade once changes are made there this summer.

Kehr said she is proud of the city leaders who have made it a goal to address sidewalk gaps and make things more bicycle and pedestrian friendly when completing road projects throughout the city.

“Our biggest challenge still lies in access to healthy foods,” she said.

“That is the hardest habit to break.”

This will take effort from many angles, including concession stands, booster clubs, lunch rooms, vending machines, worksites and restaurants.

She encouraged people to support healthy food choices, and businesses, in turn, will want to provide those options to customers.

She said the philosophies See PROJECT, Page 22

saturday, February 29, 2020 | COMMUNITY | Progress 2020 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 21

Looking back at some changes in A.L. education from the last year

Halverson Elementary School students play a game of 10-pin during physical education class in December in the school’s new gym. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Nicky Severtson recently took on the role as head principal at Sibley Elementary after spending time in a handful of other positions in the school district. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune

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Blue Zones founder Dan Buettner leads the kickoff of the second phase of the AARP/ Blue Zones Vitality Project. Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

Project Continued from Page 20

of the Blue Zones Project have become the fabric of the community.

“I believe Albert Lea is really well on its way,” Kehr said. “I don’t see this community completely turning around, and turning their back on our built environment,

on our tobacco policy.

I believe that people live here for a reason, support the Blue Zones Project for a reason, and they will continue to do that.”

St. Theodore Catholic School students take part in a walking school bus to Edgewater Park. Once they reached the park, the students ate lunch, played and then walked back to the school. Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune

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