Progress Neighbors Saturday, February 23, 2019 • Albert Lea Tribune
With the closing of Albert Lea’s bowling alley last year, a number of Albert Lea leagues have transferred out to Trapper’s Lanes in New Richland. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune
Two area bowling alleys
KEEP SPORT ALIVE New Richland, Northwood businesses are remaining 2 in area; alleys appeal to bowlers from Albert Lea By Sam Wilmes
sam.wilmes@albertleatribune.com
B
owling alleys across the country are facing challenging times as the sport’s popularity has reportedly declined and bowling alleys close, including Holiday Lanes in Albert Lea last summer. Strike Zone in Northwood and Trapper’s Lanes in New Richland are staving off the trend and providing the sport to small communities.
small towns can be a rare source of entertainment. “Just seems like in the smaller town it can run to stay alive because there’s not a lot to do in a smaller town, and so it gives something for people to do and families to do without having to drive a long ways,” she said. Severson estimated she works about 55 hours per week between the bowling alley and Mason City-based Anytime Fitness, a center the couple also owns. Strike Zone owners set to “You don’t buy something without change, remain bowling alley Ryan and Jeri Severson, Strike wanting it to succeed,” she said. “So Zone owners, were expected to sell I think it’s good for the community. the building by the time this article We do give back to the community came to press to a new owner who for proms and booster club and a lot would keep the building, 1003 N. of organizations.” The couple has owned several busiEighth St., as a bowling alley. “It’s a dying commodity, and now nesses since high school, and they most of them are turning into enter- have extensive local backgrounds, tainment centers, so we have arcade both graduating from Northwoodgames, we have darts leagues, we Kensett High School. Severson spoke of the variety she have shuffleboard league tables, and we also have a full menu, so sees in her position. “I like the variety, and I like the that brings in a variety,” Jeri Severcommunity and the son said. “I don’t think friendships that we’ve you could solely rely acquired,” she said. on bowling.” “And it’s something Strike Zone is open new every day. It’s not at 4 p.m. Tuesdays always simple, and it’s through Sundays. not always predictable, League play takes but that’s the challenge place on Tuesdays, in owning businesses.” Thursdays, every She acknowledged it other Saturday and has been hard for the every Sunday. Darts couple to find workers, leagues take place and most who work there Tuesdays, Wednesdo so one night a week as days, Fridays and Sun— Jeri Severson they work different jobs days, and shuffleboard or attend school. play is on Tuesdays. Despite the challenges, she called Sand volleyball competition takes it “the most rewarding” business she place in the summer. Severson said bowling is “a good has owned. “It’s a good business for Northpastime, just like golfing.” “You gotta have something to do wood,” Severson said. “And it’s a good other than being in front of a TV or place for family and friends just to being on your video games,” she said. hang out. If you’re an entrepreneur, “It’s just more active.” To Severson, bowling alleys in See BOWLING, Page 2
“It gives something for people to do without having to drive a long ways.”
What’s inside?
Birds of a feather Hollandale couple builds town of birdhouses for tree ravaged by tornado. Page 5
‘Just love people’ Pastor at Victory Life Church in Geneva is getting involved in the community. Page 6
Transporting SomeWhere Else
‘Thinking outside the box’
Conger bar and grill broadens its horizons in the last year. Page 8
Kelly Gau studio moves from Albert Lea to Lake Mills. Page 9
Page 2 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2019 | neighbors | saturday, February 23, 2019
Strike Zone bowling alley is at 1003 Eighth St. N. in Northwood. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune
Bowling Continued from Front Page
it’s not always simple, but it’s challenging and it’s always something different.”
Trapper’s Lanes remains open with longtime owner
Trapper’s Lanes, open from September to May, hosts league play Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and weekends. Private bowling requests are
also granted. Since Holiday Lanes closed last year, owner Randy Dokken said 80 mainly Albert Lea seniors come for league play Mondays and Thursdays. He spoke of his willingness to rearrange his schedule to ensure Albert Lea bowlers can play Tuesday night at Trapper’s Lanes. Dokken, who has operated the bowling alley since 1994, noted how much of a decrease he has seen in bowlers in less than 10 years.
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“There’s no open bowling,” he said. “You can’t survive sitting here and watching maybe one or two people come in.” Dokken attributed the decrease to the rise in video games and questioned the future of bowling in New Richland once he steps away from the business. “I’m 64 years old,” he noted. “I don’t know if this building can ever be sold as a bowling alley.” There are long days for Dokken in his position. He noted he sometimes invests more than 13 hours a day overseeing the bowling alley. Dokken noted he remodeled the bowling alley after purchasing it and invested more than $100,000 in the building after one storm. “Once in a while, I get help,” Dokken said. “But if something breaks, I’m here.” He noted his favorite part of owning Trapper’s Lanes is the people who come in. Dokken lives southwest of Albert Lea and initially operated the bowling alley at night while being a construction worker seven days a week. The bowling alley is named after Dokken’s nickname, Trapper, a label he said has existed since the 1970s. “I was a big bow-andarrow hunter,” he said. “But I got the nickname,
Members of an Albert Lea league met up to bowl in late December at Trapper’s Lanes in New Richland.
“It’s just an in with people. We don’t care what our score is. We’re not out for blood. We just go for fun.” — Bowler Anita Wood
is older than 55. and then it stayed.” “It’s a good winter sport,” He spoke of his passion he said. “Like I said, you for the sport and noted he meet a lot of good people.” believes the average age of Dokken noted some bowlers at Trapper’s Lanes bowlers who used to play in Albert Lea took the year off while others now bowl in Austin or Owatonna. “What happens in my business, you quit bowling, put the bowling ball in the closet, you might never & Recycling, Inc. come back,” he said. Albert Lea residents Anita Wood, Gary EngelNew Richland, MN hart and Mike Jensen all PH. 507.465.3789 | FAX 507.465.3258 said they bowled in league www.pooleyscrapiron.com play in New Richland to socialize. Highest Price for Aluminum Cans “It’s just an in with
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people,” Wood said. “We don’t care what our score is. We’re not out for blood. We just go for fun.” Engelhart noted he enjoys the sport and ate breakfast at a local restaurant before bowling. Jensen, who used to lead three bowling leagues in Albert Lea, organized the group. “I wanted to come to a smaller place like this,” he said. Jensen spoke highly of the work Dokken undertook to ensure they can bowl. “I like the way he runs the business,” he said. “Nice person.”
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Saturday, February 23, 2019 | neighbors | Progress 2019 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 3
Neighbors by the numbers Emmons
2010 census: 391 Median age: 43.4 Households: 174 Housing units: 190 Square miles: 0.8 City hall address: 219 Main St. City hall phone: 297-5707 Railroads: none
Glenville
2010 census: 643 Median age: 44.2 Households: 278 Housing units: 290
Square miles: 2.2 City Hall address: 221 W. Main St. City Hall phone: 448-3916 Railroads: Union Pacific and Cedar River
Freeborn
2010 census: 297 Median age: 38.9 Households: 120 Housing units: 130 Square miles: 0.2 City hall address: 402 Park St. City hall phone: 863-2204
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Cold Snap has designed four different products with variations in models. It is also an Eagle snowplow dealer for ATVs and UTVs. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune
Former Glenville resident opens business in hometown
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GLENVILLE — What started out as an idea for an ice auger cover has since evolved into a fulltime business for Dan Houg, a former resident of Glenville. Houg started his business, Cold Snap, in 2002 and worked out of his parents’ house before starting to grow. “We had an idea for a snap-on ice auger cover and nobody had anything like it,” Houg said. “We started developing it and applied for a patent once we had it designed and prototyped. We started with one design, and little by little, each year we keep adding different products.” Selling mainly ice fishing items, Houg said the business currently sells four different products it has designed, with many different models coming from each product. Now a resident of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Houg recently purchased a building in Glenville to house the business that was previously run out of different garages and shops of people he knew in Glenville. “We had all our operations in Glenville before, but it was spread out between a couple different places,” he said. “Between my uncle’s shop, my mom’s garage and another guy’s garage, we had everything spread out in different spots. When
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4
By the numbers 2002 Year owner Dan Houg started the business with an idea
Unique products that Cold Snap developed. All have branched off into different models
this building became available, we bought it and just consolidated everything into one spot.” Apart from himself, Houg employs four part-time employees at his Glenville location. Houg was very
appreciative to the city of Glenville and Mayor Wes Webb for being so accommodating during his move into the new building and making it easy for him to start his business. Houg said the most
challenging part of owning the business was keeping all the loose ends tied up. He said working from a remote location isn’t too hard anymore because of the internet, but there are still many things to take care of and there’s a steep learning curve that comes with the job. However, the fact that he’s a part of a solution that makes people’s lives a little bit easier makes everything worth it. “Just seeing how happy people are when they find something that is a solution to their problem and makes ice fishing a little bit easier for them,” he said. “(Ice fishing) allows you to clear your head. I think most fisherman would tell you that no matter what happens during the week, when you go out fishing you forget about everything.”
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Saturday, February 23, 2019 | neighbors | Progress 2019 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 4
There are eight lots available at the new Wells business park. One of the lots has been sold and will be occupied in April. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune
Moving toward ‘a very bright future’
According to business owners, nearly 60 percent of their sales comes from local customers, but they also saw needs for additional businesses in town. Additional restaurants, day cares and a hotel were the most mentioned aspects of that part of the survey. Some of the biggest challenges faced by the owners were recruiting and retaining employees, the skill of beginning workers and out of town competition. The two biggest ways to improve Wells as a shopping destination were to bring up the number of goods and services available and to improve the aesthetics of the downtown and shopping areas. “When I first moved here with the family this summer, my sense of Wells and the area, was that they really wanted to move forward and get some things done and that’s been my experience so far,” Holl said. “Everything isn’t going to happen all at once — it’s going to take some time. We have to work on things in a planful way, but when we can get things pointed in a right direction, we can get things done. “Wells has a very bright future. We’ve got a couple of stalwart businesses here in town that are a good base to build on, and we’re ready to get some things done.”
business park complete in wells; survey highlights areas for growth By Tyler Julson
tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com
WELLS — The city of Wells recently completed a business park addition on the northwest edge of town on the north side of highway 22. The park is complete with eight different lots available for purchase. “The business park was just finished this last fall,” said Wells City Administrator C.J. Holl. “We do have one pending sale for a lot this spring, so we’ll have our first tenant there hopefully this spring. As I’ve seen working in other communities, development begets development. When one thing happens, people see and think ‘Oh I should be out there, too.’” On top of the recent park completion, citizens and businesses completed a market area profile to gauge the community’s needs and if the town could support them. Two hundred seventyeight consumers and 44 businesses completed the The official plat of the new business park in Wells. Provided survey, bringing back results that included consumBRICELYN er suggestions, business owner insights, some of Support Local Business the challenges facing current businesses and ways to improve the town as a shopping destination. Generally, survey takers said there is a strong sense of supporting local businesses, but due to lack of choices or specific services, many are forced to turn to big box stores in the larger surrounding cities. Eightyfive to 92 percent of those surveyed said they shop in Mankato or Albert Lea at least once per week, as well as 30 percent saying they shop in Blue Earth once per month. Some of the most suggested items consumers mentioned in the profile included additional restaurant choices, clothing/ apparel stores and an auto parts store. A rendering of one of the proposed business ideas for Wells over the next year. Provided
By the numbers Bricelyn
City Hall email: bricty@ bevcomm.net 2010 census: 365 City Hall mailing address: Median age: 47.9 Bricelyn City Hall, P.O. Box Households: 168 338, Bricelyn, MN 56014 Housing units: 197 Railroads: both are Union Square miles: 0.3 Pacific City Hall address: 309 N. Highways: Minnesota Main St. City Hall phone: 653-4367 Highway 253
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Saturday, February 23, 2019 | neighbors | Progress 2019 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 5
Larry and Sylvia Zevenbergen stand with two birdhouses — one a post office, the other modeled after their barn — to be added to the tree in warmer weather. Larry Zevenbergen has added houses to the tree after it was damaged in the 2010 tornado headed through Hollandale. Kelly Wassenberg/Albert Lea Tribune
Birds of a feather
Couple turns tree into real estate after tornado causes irreversible damage By Sarah Kocher
sarah.kocher@albertleatribune.com
The first house Larry Zevenbergen built was actually a reconstruction of the one already standing on the property when he and his wife, Sylvia, moved there 44 years ago. The new one is a multi-story unfinished wood structure with doorless circular entries. It’s also over 15 feet up in the air, mounted on top of a thin but sturdy wood pole. This birdhouse is further in on a property where the main attraction visible from the road is a town of miniature homes, almost exclusively constructed by Larry Zevenbergen, all nestled into dark, smooth, bulky tree branches reminiscent of the flexed arm of a body builder. Before the tree was shaved smooth by an unforgiving wind in 2010, the
tree was without birdhouses but verdant, well-decorated with vibrant green leaves in the summer. Now, after the tornado, it is well-decorated by Larry Zevenbergen. Though both Larry and Sylvia Zevenbergen said others had it worse, the tornado moved between their property and the property to their west. “I thought it sounded like a tractor of a semi (groaning) up a hill,” Sylvia Zevenbergen said. They were located near the tornado’s start, about a half-mile in, Larry Zevenbergen said. They watched the tornado that would eventually hit near Clarks Grove pass by through the window. “He said, ‘I think we made it through the worst because we should be done now,’” Sylvia Zevenbergen said. “So I went back to the sink and started washing
dishes. And he said, ‘Oh, there’s a tornado.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ So I walked in, and it was like a pencil — it just bobbed up and down. I said, ‘That’s it. I’m going to the basement.” It was over in 30 seconds. “We had a lot of tree damage,” Sylvia Zevenbergen said. Over the course of a year or two, Larry Zevenbergen said he cut down 10 trees. Eight of these stood in a row in the northwest portion of their backyard, leaving a gap-toothed grin behind. Their barn, which stands behind the house, had moved 4 inches, Sylvia Zevenbergen said. They used three machines — one Caterpillar holding and two backhoes pushing and pulling — to straighten it back out again, and the barn was The plastic red barn feeder was a gift from the Zevenbergens’ daughter, a stark color conresheeted and resided. trast with the unfinished wood structures constructed out of scrap lumber and sprinkled See BIRDS, Page 7 around the remainder of the tree limbs. Sarah Kocher/Albert Lea Tribune
Addition, renovations coming for Hayward fire hall By Sarah Stultz
sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com
HAYWARD — More than 50 years after the creation of the Hayward fire hall, the building this year is on track to get a facelift and an addition. Fire Relief Association Secretary Jeff Nelson and building committee member Scott Eilertson said the addition and remodel are in the works as the Hayward Fire Department is looking to get a truck in the next two to three years that is both longer and taller than what the current building
will fit. In the current space, trucks are parked bumper to bumper, leaving little room for the department to acquire new trucks that are larger in size. Nelson said with the Blazing Star Trail expected to connect from Albert Lea to Hayward in the future, they are also hoping to have a utility vehicle that can be housed there. An 1,800-square-foot addition will be placed on the front of the building, essentially giving the fire department two long bays and two shorter bays. The building currently has two bays.
Hayward Fire Department firefighters Jeff Nelson, left, and Scott Eilertson said they are looking forward to the remodel and addition to the Hayward fire hall that are expected to be complete in October. Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune
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Along with the addition, there will be new flooring, sheetrock, doors, windows, roof and lighting installed, including in the community room, which is connected to the fire hall. The exterior of the building will be finished with stucco. The entire
facility will be ADA compliant, and the bathrooms will be upgraded. Eilertson and Nelson said the fire hall is owned by Hayward Township and the city of Hayward, and the $650,000 project is being See HALL, Page 7
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Page 6 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2019 | neighbors | saturday, February 23, 2019
Giving a loving home to be at during the day Woman is Freeborn’s only licensed day care provider By Sam Wilmes
sam.wilmes@albertleatribune.com
FREEBORN — The year was 1974. Mary Merritt had just given birth to her first daughter, Christy. The next year, Merritt started Mary’s Day Care, an operation she still runs. “After my first child, I decided to go into day care,” she said. “In fact, people in Freeborn asked me to.” The child care landscape has changed since Mer- Mary’s Day Care owner Mary Merritt poses with eight of her day care children in Decemritt began. Providers now ber. Merritt has operated the day care since 1975. Sam Wilmes/Albert Lea Tribune need to be licensed, and the number of regulations ruling the profession has increased. “There’s a lot more regulations,” she said. “They’re changing all the time.” “It’s a little difficult, beYear Mary’s Day Care Days a week Merritt is open Children Merritt oversees cause you try to follow evopened in Freeborn from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily in her home erything, but it’s kids, it’s day care. Kids are kids.” love the kids.” to eight children ranging in Through the changes, remains the same. “The kids,” she said. “I Merritt, who oversees six age from 3 months to 9 to 10 Merritt said her priority
By the numbers 1975 6-8
5
years, is the lone licensed day care provider in Freeborn and is open from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. She said she plans to continue in her profession. “I’ve got to help these guys out as long as I stay healthy and able to do it,” she said of the children. Merritt said she wants children to have fun and learn valuable lessons in her care. She noted she emphasizes to children the necessities of sharing, being kind and treating other children with respect. She sees the children of some of the parents she once presided over. She has been invited to weddings and graduations of people who once attended her day care. “I feel really rewarded when they bring their children to me,” she said. “That makes you feel really good.” The day care is intertwined with Merritt’s family, including her husband, Roger Merritt, and three adult children, Christy Ignaszewski, Cathy Elbeen and Corey Merritt. “They all call Roger ‘Papa,’ Mary Merritt
said. “Papa Roger. I’m Grandma.” She said she wants to provide a friendly atmosphere for the children, who have dedicated times for stories, music, crafts, snacks and naps. “I want to give them a loving home to be at during the day,” Merritt said. “Very family-oriented — everybody says that. It’s a family home.” She said she wants day care homes to “be around for a long time for children.” “It’s a good thing,” Merritt said. “Just a small group, and they get along. They learn to be friends. I’m hoping it will continue.” Rana Johannsen, who was assisting Merritt in December, spoke highly of the day care operator’s approach. Her husband, Robert Johannsen, attended the day care when he was a child. “The kids are very attached to her, so that shows a lot, as for the kind of love and kindness she shows to them,” she said. “So there’s a lot of care and giving that she provides, and I’ve heard a lot of good things on her day care for the last 40 years.”
Pastor at Victory Life Church in Geneva’s main focus: loving people By Sarah Kocher
sarah.kocher@albertleatribune.com
GENEVA — Victory Life Assemblies of God Church started as a furniture donation. Seven years later, the small, one-story building in Geneva has about 30 people in its congregation, led by the Rev. Diane Butler. “God hasn’t called me to big,” Butler said. “He’s called me to love people. So if it’s one or 100, I guess it doesn’t matter.” In 2012, it was between six and eight; that was the number of worshipping members left in the Methodist church that owned the building before Victory Life. Diane Butler and her husband, Jim, used to take donations to St. Paul and Minneapolis. When the Methodist church knew it would sell, the Butlers were asked if they wanted to take any furniture to donate. According to the Rev. Patrick Stitt of Vibrant Life Assemblies of God Church, Jim Butler called him up and asked if he wanted to look for furniture, too, for the Ellendale church. “There wasn’t any furniture worth the taking, but I asked them, you know, ‘If you don’t mind me asking, what did the building sell for?’” he said. “And they said, ‘$1,000.’” It was a lower number than he expected, but there was just one bid submitted, he said. “Just looking at these poor people … I said, ‘Well, any chance you’d accept one more bid?’” Stitt said. Both church councils met that night at the same time: Vibrant Life, to approve a slightly higher bid than the standing offer, and the Methodist church, to accept a bid. They took the bid from Vibrant Life. “‘Are you out of your mind?’” Stitt said he thought. “‘You’re hardly here a year and you’re thinking of opening another church. Are you
Prizes for Santa Bingo are donated by a community member, and each child who attends walks away with something from the event. The Rev. Diane Butler of Victory Life Church coordinates Santa Bingo along with Geneva Bar & Grill. Provided
Diane Butler is the pastor at Victory Life Church in Geneva, where she leads a congregation of about 30. “God hasn’t called me to big,” Butler said. “He’s called me to love people. So if it’s one or 100, I guess it doesn’t matter.” Sarah Kocher/Albert Lea Tribune a bit stupid?’” Before putting in the bid, Stitt said he found a person willing to buy the building off them if he was just able to come up with the money up front to pay the Methodist church. The day after the sale, he also found a person willing to lead the congregation. “After 20 minutes of prayer and fasting, I called up Diane and said, had about a 30-second conversation,” he said. “... She said, ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Praise God’ … and that was it.” The church never missed a Sunday, Stitt said. When the couple were members of Stitt’s own congregation in Ellendale, there were fewer than 30 people who were members there, Stitt said. He asked people why they came. “People said they went to the church because Jim and Diane were here, ‘And they were really loving to me,’” Stitt said. At first, he was nervous to have Butler branch off into her own congregation because of that pull. “Can I afford to lose these
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incredible people?” he said. “But then I just prayed about it and God said, ‘... If you plant your best seed, you get the best offering.’ And so as tough as it was to lose them, it was a blessing.” Butler attended school online to meet Assemblies of God ministerial credentials and receive her license and ordination level. “Well I’m just a mom,” she said. “I’m just a grandma. ‘What do you want me to do, God, as a pastor?’ And he said, ‘Just love people. … So I just do what Mom does, and love people. What Grandma does. And that’s what we do.’” Those first six months, she said they worked hard to get people in the doors. But at a seminar, she remembers being told to go into the community and do what they were doing. “So I did,” she said. She walked into Geneva Bar & Grill, which, in December, led Santa Bingo, Butler said. Now, the church and the bar cooperate to put it on together. “The manager at the time said, ‘The church? And us?’” Butler said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’” Chelsea Hanson, co-owner of Geneva Bar & Grill, said when she took over the restaurant in 2014, Butler was already coordinating Santa Bingo with the previous owner. Hanson has cooperated in continuing it, but she said Butler is the driving force for the event. “For somebody to keep this going in the community
is fantastic,” Hanson said. The 2018 Santa Bingo had between 50 and 75 children attend at the Community Center in Geneva, Hanson estimated. “It spreads cheer,” she said. There’s also the chili
“We want to spend our money telling others about the Lord, not for the heat.” — The Rev. Diane Butler cookoff, this year on Feb. 2, where pastors, mayors and firefighters squared off while raising money. This year’s cookoff funds were set aside for supporting youth in Geneva. Additionally, the church is a point of contact for seniors who need nutrition assistance, which Butler said she’s looking to grow. Through her time as a pastor, Butler said she has seen several situations that made her realize something. “I just really have to love harder,” she said. And from what Stitt sees, that love is what impacts the church. “Pastor Diane and Jim love people so much that right away, people started to come,” he said. And while the church works to support the community, the community has
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been doing the same for the church, Butler said. When the building was first purchased, it got a new roof right away. It also has new carpet, and donated tables and chairs. “Everything has been donated,” Butler said of funds for the projects — and not by congregants. Thanks to the generosity they’ve been shown, the church doesn’t have debts or a mortgage to pay off, she said. In addition to paying her salary, the church’s overhead is just utilities — if Butler turns the heat on. Often, she’ll do her work at home to save on heating a building with only her in it. “We want to spend our money telling others about the Lord, not for the heat,” she said. In the frosty window near her desk, solar-powered dancing figures, each a few inches tall, bob on the window ledge. Cinderella, the Easter bunny, a turkey and an elf all do their own happy dances — gifts from various people who saw the flower, still dancing but close to dormant. Together, they tick softly, like a clock. A snowman in a red hat shimmies steadily. Butler married her husband in 1976. When they started dating, Jim Butler worked at a chicken farm. Diane Butler hated chickens. “My grandmother had chickens and she had these roosters that I swear were 6 feet tall, and they would jump on you,” she said. In 1978, the Butlers traded their house in Clarks Grove for a down-payment on a poultry farm just outside Hollandale, she said. For seven days a week, they were collecting eggs laid by 58,000 chickens. It taught her how to do hard work — or, rather, God taught her how to do hard work through the farm, Butler said. She said they lost that farm during the farm crisis in the 1980s, but got it back again less than a year later. Still, that time was a reminder that everybody has hurt and struggles in their past — Butler herself lost her mother when she was a teenager. But for Butler, God uses those times to shape people into better ones — people with compassion and love for others.
“How can that (bad time) make me love people more or differently?” she asks herself. “Because we need to love people where they are. And sometimes, that’s in a hurting place.” They moved away from the poultry farm to work with a ministry in Missouri for a year. They moved to Geneva, then to New Richland for 14 years, then back to Geneva when Butler — who grew up near Blooming Prairie — took the job as pastor at Victory Life. Together, the couple has eight children, two of whom are adopted. Butler’s husband invited a woman he met through his job to church. She was pregnant at the time, and when the child was still an infant, the Butlers adopted her, Diane Butler said. At the time, Diane Butler’s youngest child was already 15. “I talked to God and I said, ‘God, I don’t want to do it,’” Butler said. “He says, ‘Well, do you have any reason why you can’t do it?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’ Well, I think that’s the answer, then.” They found a private adoption attorney, and a year later, when the woman’s relative also had a child, they adopted their youngest son at 8 weeks old. “God supplied the energy and the need,” Butler said. Both help around the church. “God knew we needed them,” Butler said. In addition to work in the Geneva church, Butler said Victory Life is attempting to work outside its own community. In February she will return to Myanmar, where the church has already been twice. The congregation also supports a Rural Compassion missionary who travels to support pastors in rural U.S. congregations. “We’re trying to get all over the place,” she said. And as she considers how the church’s ministry grows and transforms both with time, she asks God what God wants her and the congregation to do next. She thinks of them as puzzle pieces. “We don’t know how we’re going to touch other people’s lives, but God has the cover,” Butler said. “He has the outside box. And he knows how we’re all fitting together. And maybe, someday, he’ll show us that.”
Saturday, February 23, 2019 | neighbors | Progress 2019 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Page 7
Ellendale food shelf available for any who need it By Tyler Julson
By the numbers 25-30
tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com
Since 2009, the Ellendale Area Food Shelf has been helping families and individuals in need. The shelf is open every week from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and stocks many necessities, including general groceries, dairy, meats and special meals during the holidays. Starting as a small room in the back of United Methodist Church in Ellendale, the food shelf has grown over the years to where it has now taken over the old library room. Cynthia Nelson, a volunteer with the food shelf, said she has volunteered for the shelf ever since its beginning. Nelson said she loves to do her part for the food shelf, and her favorite part is knowing she’s helping people who might be less fortunate get through their week a little easier. “I don’t think there’s any part of what I do that’s hard,” Nelson said. “I can’t say that anything is hard because I know how worthwhile it is. We serve a lot of families, not only adults, but young children as well.” Nelson said there are at least three people who volunteer on a consistent basis each week when the shelf is open, but there are oftentimes more. She said the sign-up sheets to volunteer always fill up fast with more people asking how they can help. “The community support that we have is great,” she said. “That is why we are
Families the food shelf serves each week
2009 Year the food shelf started
3+ Volunteers who show up on a weekly basis to help with the shelf
Cynthia Nelson has volunteered with the Ellendale Area Food Shelf since it began in 2009. She said she does it because she enjoys helping people who might be going through a tough time. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune able to have something like this. There’s people that come and say this is the best one around. We have people that come from all over the area, but no matter where they come from we won’t turn them away.” The food is provided through Channel One Food Bank and is stocked and rotated by the volunteers. Each food item is weighed in before it is put on the shelf and weighed out when being taken. The process can take a while, but Nelson said knowing she’s The food shelf averages 25 to 30 families each week and is located in the old library room helping makes everything at United Methodist Church. worth it.
On average, Nelson said the food shelf services around 25 to 30 families every week. She thinks the idea that there’s a bad image of being at a food shelf prevents more people from showing up. “Everybody needs support at some time or another,” Nelson said. “I don’t care who you are, where you’re from or where you’re headed, it’s nice to know there’s help out there when you need it. “There are so many people that are ashamed to ask, but if they just know that we’re here for them. That’s why we have it — we have it so we can give it away. We want people who need it to come and take it. It’s great for our community to have a service like this because not every community has it.”
Birds Continued from Page 5
People came over to help them wash windows and clean up — lots of people, Sylvia Zevenbergen said. They noticed spots on the glass. “It was pitted — it was damage in the glass itself from the nails and sticks and stones,” she said. The couple put new windows on their home, some due to the tornado but some of their own volition. “It took us a year just to get everything back to normal,” Larry Zevenbergen said. But when he looks at a northeasterly slant through the gap between the barn and the chicken house, he can see one of the properties in the distance that got hit harder. “So, we actually had it pretty good,” he said. The tree to the east of their driveway, now adorned with birdhouses, was spared from removal afterward because it still had branches on it, Larry Zevenbergen said. Eventually, it would have gone too, but Sylvia Zevenbergen read “Birds & Blooms,” and she had a different idea, she said.
Larry Zevenbergen made this birdhouse, at right, to honor Hollandale’s Dutch influence.
Larry Zevenbergen has a story for each of his birdhouses, which together represent a small town for birds. Sarah Kocher/Albert Lea Tribune She saw a feature on a man in Wisconsin who did the same thing with a dead apple tree. “That’s something we can do,” she said, applying air quotes to the ‘we’ that, in practice, meant Larry Zevenbergen. “We” meant “he.” Larry Zevenbergen makes the birdhouses out of scrap lumber. “It’s not much fun just
buying birdhouses,” he said. Since he started with four or five birdhouses right away, the tree has turned into its own town of 15 to 16 buildings for birds. There’s a church — “I was waiting for the cardinal to take residence” — and a fourplex that acts as the high-rent district, as well as residential housing Larry Zevenbergen considers the affordable housing area. Their daughter, Carla, gave him a red plastic barn
feeder he calls his cafe, and last year, he added the Pentagon — for law and order, he said. There’s a house out on a limb for the cliff-dwellers. After someone pointed out Hollandale’s Dutch influence, he built the birds a windmill. Although it takes a good 20 to 25 mph south wind, Larry Zevenbergen said, it does turn. “He’s got a creative mind,” Sylvia Zevenbergen said. Though he said the tree
is close to its limit of birdhouses, he has plans for three more: a post office made out of a mailbox and modeled after one his brother had, a replica of the barn that moved 4 inches and then moved back, and a replica of the Zevenbergens’ chicken house. Two of the three are made, waiting for warmer weather for installation. When he puts up a new birdhouse, it’s done with a combination of ladder use and good oldfashioned tree climbing, Larry Zevenbergen said. However, it’s a bit light on residents. The homes are occupied by sparrows, but not many, Larry
Zevenbergen said. Both are bird-watchers, keeping an eye on the visitors who make the trip to the birdfeeders stationed outside the east-facing dining room window in the human-sized house. “That we did notice after the tornado — the birds that we had did not come back right away,” Sylvia Zevenbergen said. But nine years later, they watch the chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches and woodpeckers who come to visit, and Larry Zevenbergen designs them homes in his mind. “It’s just been fun,” he said.
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Continued from Page 5
paid for with funds set aside from both entities, along with help from grants, fundraisers and a loan through the revolving loan fund at Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, which is used to inspire economic growth, retain jobs and grow jobs. Nelson said they continue to work on additional grants and will have a Deuces Wild Dueling Pianos fundraiser July 13. Bids for the construction went out Jan. 2 and were The community space connected to the fire hall will also slated to be opened Feb. 11. project. Sarah Stultz/Albert Lea Tribune The department hopes crews will break ground in early to be completed by October. which is staffed by volunspring, and work is expected The fire department, teers, serves the city of Hayward, Hayward Township, approximately onethird of Riceland Township
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2010 census: 57 Median age: 36.8 Households: 26 Housing units: 30 Square miles: 0.1 City hall address: 70830
255th St. City hall phone: 826-3483 Railroads: Union Pacific Highways: Minnesota Highway 13 Schools: none; is in Albert Lea school district
Page 8 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2019 | neighbors | saturday, February 23, 2019
Transporting customers SomeWhere Else By the numbers 9
By Colleen Harrison
colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com
CONGER — A lot can happen in a year. SomeWhere Else Bar and Grill in Conger is no exception. Machelle Steinke bought the bar in December 2017 and has been broadening horizons through the place ever since. The previous owners sold burgers at the bar, but Steinke said the menu has been added to since she took over. “We’ve expanded quite a bit,” she said. The bar opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at 10 a.m. Sunday. Closing time depends on how busy the bar is at night. In addition to burgers, SomeWhere Else is known for its pizzas and flatbreads, as well as different menu items such as gyros, Steinke said, and has an all-you-caneat breakfast buffet from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday for $7.95. Different specials are offered each weeknight: burgers on Monday, barbecue ribs Tuesday, wings Wednesday, tacos Thursday and shrimp and fish on Friday. Wednesdays are steak nights as well during the summer, and once a month during the winter. Different specials are also offered each week for noon lunches. There are specials for Minnesota Vikings game days, as well as bingo and meat bingo days. A previous owner of Berma’s in Kiester and ShellDan’s in Scarville, Iowa, Steinke said the Conger bar came up for sale after she sold Berma’s. Steinke and her partner, Dan Meyers, split their time between Kiester and Florida. They’ve been in Florida more recently for Meyers to undergo cancer treatment. In the meantime, Steinke’s
Years Mandy Fure has worked with her mother in the restaurant and bar business
40+ Hours Fure works each week at SomeWhere Else Bar and Grill
7 Days a week the bar and grill is open
SomeWhere Else Bar and Grill opened in December 2017 at 66918 180th St. in Conger. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune
What’s the best part about having the bar and grill in Conger? “The people are great,” said owner Machelle Steinke. “It’s a great little place.” daughter, Mandy Fure, has managed SomeWhere Else, as she has been working with her mother in their restaurant and bar endeavors for about nine years. “Mandy’s taken over for me, thank goodness,” Steinke said. How has it been in Conger the past year? “I love it there,” Steinke said. “The people are great; it’s a great little place. “Everyone has been incredible. I’m down here (in
Mandy Fure helps run SomeWhere Else Bar and Grill in Conger, which is owned by her mother, Machelle Steinke.
Florida) and I miss them.” “I love the people around here,” Fure said. The transition went over well for the business, and Steinke said it didn’t have to close at all during the change in ownership. In addition to an expanded menu, being open on Sundays and offering catering, SomeWhere Else has a different look since Steinke bought the place. The inside is now decorated with a tropical beach theme — the walls are painted with “friendly and happy colors” such as teal and baby blue, with different beach decorations adorning the walls. The floors were redone, and Steinke said they plan to add a patio this year, along with other surprises they have up their sleeves. The reason for the tropical decor? To give people somewhere to escape to, even if just for an hour at lunch. “It’s somewhere else,” Steinke said.
Alden Legion provides outlet for community fundraisers By Sarah Kocher
sarah.kocher@alberleatribune.com
ALDEN — For local groups in Alden, one way to their wallets is through others’ stomachs. Every Friday night, the Alden American Legion hosts burger basket nights. For $5 a burger, patrons can often support fellow community members who staff the grill and the till. If Alden American Legion Manager Dave Rasmussen had his way, there would be a group doing it every week. “It’s just a way of getting the community involved,” he said. Instead, if there is no group hosting the Legion’s family-friendly burger basket night, Rasmussen and his family staff it. He doesn’t always mind, even if it means grilling outside in the winter. “I’ve cooked when it was below zero out before,”
Rasmussen said. “You know, I love standing out there and cooking.” The burgers, made with meat Rasmussen purchases from Conger Meat Market, are served from 5 to 8 p.m. When groups sign up to serve, Rasmussen deducts the cost of food materials from the funds raised and then, once a year per group, the Legion will match up to $250 of the night’s profits. “Here, you do a little bit of work, and the people come to you,” he said. Rasmussen said he tries to pick times of the year he knows the Legion will be busy — especially the summer — for burger basket nights staffed by community groups. Several groups have participated, including the Alden-Conger music program, the Bayside Ski Team (a group technically based in Albert Lea but with several
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Alden members, Rasmussen said), the Boy Scouts and the Alden-Conger supermileage team. Burger basket fundraisers are a win-win for the Legion because in addition to supporting the community, they get people through the door, Rasmussen said. When the supermileage team ran a basket night, “There were people I’d never seen in here before,” he said. Those people tell their friends, and eventually, the patron base has the potential to grow and change. Hosting activities — and basket nights — helps keep the Legion going. “Without all the things we have going on, we wouldn’t be open,” RasOnce per year per group, the Legion will match up to $250 in funds raised by groups that mussen said. The Alden-Conger trap staff a burger basket Friday. Sarah Kocher/Albert Lea Tribune team also runs a few burger basket nights a year, coach Pam Koenen said. The money they raise through these evenings helps the team pay for expenses associated with traveling to state competitions. Koenen said the team was approached by the Legion after other groups staffed burger basket nights. “We just really appreciate that the Legion allows us to be part of those fundraisers and allows us an opportunity to … get exposure,” as well as to provide students a chance to attend state tournaments, she said. The trap team does other fundraisers, including selling barbecue meat and gun raffles through Pheasants Forever. But burger basket nights let community members see who’s on the team, and it Alden American Legion Manager Dave Rasmussen cooks burgers Friday nights for burger lets team members talk to basket nights when local groups are not running the event as a fundraiser. people about the sport they fundraisers), but it gives love, she said. Rasmussen enjoys burger chance to be around people. “It’s maybe small- the team some good vis- basket nights for a simi“The burger night — I er in scale (than other ibility,” Koenen said. lar reason — it’s another love it,” Rasmussen said.
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Page 9 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2019 | neighbors | saturday, February 23, 2019
Kelly Gau moved her studio from Albert Lea to Lake Mills in October. Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune
‘Thinking outside the box’
Kelly Gau Studio moves from A.L., opens in Lake Mills By Colleen Harrison
colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com
LAKE MILLS — It’s the start of a new chapter for an area artist and studio owner. Kelly Gau had her Kelly Gau Studio in Albert Lea for three or four years, before moving the studio to Lake Mills in October. The move came after Gau and her husband, Tony, had the opportunity to buy a building at 225 W. Main St. in Lake Mills, where Gau’s studio now resides. Kelly Gau was renting her Albert Lea location. While the Lake Mills native and resident said the move and purchase of the building presented an opportunity, the decision was still somewhat bittersweet. “I miss Albert Lea something fierce,” Gau said. Still, she’s happy to be in Lake Mills, which she said is a very supportive, tightknit community. Lake Mills people ventured to Albert Lea quite a bit when she was located there, and Gau said it has been “fun to honor that loyalty.” She has had Albert Lea visitors to her Lakes Mills location as well, and for that she is grateful. “I’m super appreciative of that. Without them, I’d be nothing,” Gau said of her customers and all
Since 1973
her supporters. “I love everybody.” Born and raised as the third generation of her family to be based in Lake Mills, Gau is happy to be home. “It means everything just to be able to give these people another option,” she said. “It’s an amazing community.” In addition to being closer to home, the move to Lake
“I’m just a mixed-media kind of girl. A jack of all trades and a master of none.” — Kelly Gau Mills gives Gau more time to focus on her art. She works in all kinds of mediums, from ink and paint, to fabric and stamping and beyond. “I’m just a mixed-media kind of girl,” Gau said. “A jack of all trades and a master of none.” One of her more popular sellers are unique note cards, in addition to personal commissions, she said. In addition to her own artwork, Gau sells some
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Gau hosts six-week after-school art programs at her studio.
Why does Kelly Gau like having her studio in Lake Mills? “It means everything just to be able to give these people another option,” Gau said. “It’s an amazing community. of her sister’s candles in her studio. Her sister-inlaw also runs a massage studio out of part of Gau’s building. Another major part of Gau’s studio, though, is the programs she offers for children and young artists. She offers a six-week after-school art program, as well as once-a-month mini-maker sessions for preschoolers. She also plans princess parties every so
During the after-school program, students get a snack an participate in a different art activity at Kelly Gau Studio.
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often where children get to dress up as princesses and eat fancy cakes and work on a special craft. Initially wanting to be a preschool teacher, Gau started as a substitute preschool teacher. That turned into working at library story times and starting her own art programs for children that ran out of her house and places in Northwood, before bringing those lessons to her Albert Lea and Lake Mills studios once those opened, respectively. It’s where Gau has found her niche. “Just seeing them dream, their abilities, getting to see them think outside the box,” Gau said of her favorite parts about teaching children about creating art. “Each one of them is so special.”
By the numbers 4
Months Kelly Gau Studio has been in Lake Mills
3-4 Years the studio was in Albert Lea before the move to Lake Mills
6 Week-long after-school art program Gau offers through her studio
Page 10 | AlbertLeaTribune.com | Progress 2019 | neighbors | saturday, February 23, 2019
The new Clarks Grove fire station includes five bays.
Less than two years ago, Carl Anderson and Steven Thisius were in the former Clarks Grove fire station during a tornado that destroyed the facility and damaged other parts of town. Today, the two men look forward to a new station more than double the size of the former building. Sam Wilmes/Albert Lea Tribune
New Clarks Grove fire hall nearly complete By Sam Wilmes
sam.wilmes@albertleatribune.com
CLARKS GROVE — When the March 2017 tornado struck, causing substantial damage, five volunteer Clarks Grove Fire Department members were in the city’s fire station riding out the storm, including Carl Anderson and Fire Chief Steven Thisius. “It blew out all of the overhead doors, so the guys had to put chains around the doors and pull them away from the building with their pickups so we could get the trucks,” Anderson said. “Because we knew we had to go through the community to make sure everybody was safe and evaluate exactly what happened.” The tornado destroyed the fire station and damaged other places in the community, including the Thompson Sanitation facility, hardware store, CFS building and other places. On a December day less than two years later, Thisius and Anderson stood where the new, approximately 7,400-square-foot, prestressed concrete fire station was nearly complete. Anderson said he was “impressed” with how well construction has gone, particularly “the workmanship and how all the
estimated to be double the size of the old fire station and hold five trucks. The department has four trucks. Thisius described his excitement for the facility. “Excited — extremely excited,” he said. “Been told that this is kind of the lowest possible cost for this style of building, so it’s kind of nice to know that this might be a frontage for more volunteer departments to be able to afford something like this.” The building will have wider, taller doors than the former fire department building. Thisius said having more space will enable more training room. The department typically trains on the use of trucks, equipment, ladders, hoses, search and
rescue and for EMTs and first responders. “It’s definitely safer,” he said. “We have more space in-between our gear, so that’s safer. There’s just all-around more room. “It will be a quicker response.” The Clarks Grove Fire Department serves an approximately 30-square-mile radius in the Clarks Grove area and provides mutual aid for the 15 other fire departments in Freeborn County. Thisius estimated the Fire Department responds to approximately 100 calls per year. “I can’t wait to get in here,” Thisius said. “I think it would make every volunteer fireman proud to be a member of the Clarks Grove volunteer fire department.”
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Hartland U: ‘It’s a meeting spot for the town’ By Tyler Julson
tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com
HARTLAND — For over 20 years, Dan and Tara Harguth have owned Hartland University, the lone bar in Hartland. Since buying the bar in December 1997, many things have changed; however, Harguth’s passion for running the bar remains the same. Dan Harguth part-owned a supper club in Otisco for just over a year after graduating high school. Ultimately, he decided the restaurant wasn’t for him and moved to Hartland to buy the bar. “My wife (Tara) is from here, and I knew that the fine dining wasn’t what I was wanting to do,” Harguth said. “So we came down here, and I worked for about nine months under the previous owner with the intention of buying it. It took about nine months to get everything figured out.” Like many bars, Hartland University hosts pool and dart leagues throughout the year, but what sets them apart from many other bars in the area is the sand volleyball and bean bag leagues they host during the summer. Both nights normally draw in a large crowd, keeping the bar busy. Trisha Lestrud, Hartland University’s manager, has been employed at the bar since 1998. She said the customers and the town are the best part of the job. “It’s a meeting spot for the town, really,” Lestrud said. “If somebody needs something or wants to see someone, this is the place they come.” After owning the bar for just over 21 years, Dan Harguth said there aren’t many things he finds
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"MOORE" FOR LESS Interior & Exterior Deck Cleaning & Refinishing Hartland University owner Dan Harguth, left, and manager Trisha Lestrud have each been at the bar since since the late ’90s. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune difficult anymore. He cred- the only place where some- talk — this is the only place its the work of Lestrud and body can sit, stay a while, in town.” the rest of the employees for making running the bar Est. 1965 a relatively easy job. The one thing he finds a little difficult is putting together and scheduling big events. “We’re not like some of the other area towns bars — we don’t have a lot of big events,” Dan Har507.845.2440 507.383.2008 guth said. “There’s only 615 Broadway, Hartland MN, 56042 so many weekends in the year, so it’s hard to plan a Drain Tile Installation • Open Ditch Cleanouts lot of big events. We don’t Building Site Prep • Demolition want to take away from Rock & Gravel Hauling • Basement Water Proofing annual events that are already going on, so it can be tough.” With no other stores or restaurants in town, Hartland University is the only establishment where people come to meet in Hartland. Harguth talked about why it’s important HARTLAND OFFICE 601 N. Broadway 507-845-2233 the bar remains in the FREEBORN OFFICE 214 5th Avenue 507-863-2371 community. ALBERT LEA OFFICE 1452 W. Main 507-373-1945 “Unless they meet each www.fsbmn.bank Member FDIC other at the gas station or the bank, this is the only place to go,” he said. “This is
PETE MOORE (507) 256-8242
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