Memorial Day 2017 MONDAY, MAY 29, 2017 Baseball Team on a Roll
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR
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BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, may 24, 2017
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School Board OKs Facility Upgrades, Swaps Land With City
From the murals in the city hall council chambers and the most recent endeavor is painting the logos on the helicopter in school board meeting room, Belle Plaine native Lana Beck Veterans’ Memorial Park. The city hopes to return the helihas again shared her artistic talents with the community. Her copter to the park this week in time for Memorial Day.
Helping Chopper Make Its Way Home an ‘Honor’ for Artist
She has painted on a variety of materials – sheetrock, plywood, metal, even a motorcycle. Lana Beck can now add the nose of a helicopter to the list of surfaces she has worked on. Beck recently completed painting the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment emblem on the nose of the UH1H helicopter mounted on a concrete post in Veterans Memorial Park along South Meridian Street. The helicopter is a tribute to the military service of veterans. The 49-year-old helicopter was removed from its post for refurbishing last September. With the work completed, Belle Plaine veterans decided to update the regiment’s “blackhorse” logo on the nose of the helicopter. Rather than use a decal, which isn’t expected to stand up to the elements for a long period of time, Belle Plaine Veterans of Foreign Wars Post Commander Larry Ruehling called Beck.
“We’ve seen her work before. We were confident Lana would do a good job,” Ruehling said. Beck worked on the helicopter in the city’s public works garage. She realizes it has great value to veterans. “It’s something I’ve never done,” Beck said of painting a helicopter. “That they trust me with this precious piece is quite an honor.” Selecting the right paint was critical to the job. She selected a paint that will adhere to the helicopter’s exterior surface and stand up to the elements -- sunshine, rain, snow, wind, heat, and cold. Having worked on surfaces that spend most of their time outdoors – Beck has painted figures in the community Nativity scene – she knows the importance of durability against the elements. The “blackhorse” logo is a horse, rearing up on its hind legs. Beck used “a common
eye” and close attention to detail to make sure she has the logo’s details just right. “It’s just paint. If I mess up, I’ll paint over it,” she said. Beck, who grew up in Belle Plaine and lives in Le Sueur, is familiar with the helicopter. Her children and grandchildren have taken note of its absence from the park the past few months during visits to Belle Plaine. Knowing how important the helicopter is to veterans and people of the community, she was honored to accept the request to work on the logo on the chopper’s nose and the emblems on the sides of the helicopter. “It’s going to be appreciated by most vets. They gave up part of their being for it. Anybody that has served, I have to believe it touches a part of them. If anything, it lets them know we remember,” Beck said. “If I get one smile, that’s worth
B.P. School Dist. Teacher Charged With Criminal Sexual Conduct He’s Also Charged With Giving Girls Alcohol, Marijuana
A Belle Plaine High School teacher is off the job after being charged in Scott County District Court with fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and child endangerment. Michael Vernon Reynolds is charged with inappropriate contact with a girl who was living at his house. He is also charged with illegally allowing children living at his house to partake in the consumption of alcohol and marijuana. Reynolds was taken into custody Friday morning (May 12) at his home in Belle Plaine. He was released on $10,000 bail Tuesday (May 16), with conditions that include no contact with the victims. Reynolds, 32, is due in Scott County District Court for an omnibus hearing June 7, 8:30 a.m. His attorney, Tom Shiah, said the criminal complaint sets forth allegations which need to be properly heard in a court of law and not in the media.
who were living with Reynolds and his wife for the school year, were at the house on O’Brien Parkway indicating “they no longer felt safe at their host home,” according to the criminal complaint. The allegations against Reynolds include providing the girls, ages 16 and 17, alcohol on multiple occasions at his house. He also allegedly provided one of the foreign-exchange students homemade peanut butter cups laced with marijuana at the house. Reynolds admitted he purchased the marijuana from a friend, according to the crimiMichael Vernon Reynolds nal complaint. The charge says “Mr. Reynolds vigorously de- he admitted he mixed about 5 nies the allegations and looks milligrams of marijuana with forward to his day in court,” olive oil when he made the chocolate bars. Shiah said. Reynolds is currently on paid Taste Testing administrative leave from his job with the Belle Plaine School On April 9, one of the girls District, according to Superin- watched Reynolds eating a tendent Ryan Laager. Monday, homemade peanut butter bar. the school board voted not to She asked if she could have renew his contract for the 2017- one. The criminal complaint 18 school year as a probation- said Reynolds told her she could “but that she should only ary teacher. According to the criminal eat half because they contained complaint, police were called marijuana and a whole one to the home of a Reynolds fam- would be too strong for her.” ily friend on the 700 block of She admitted consuming half of O’Brien Parkway Friday mornTeacher Charged ing at 1:25 a.m. Two girls, both foreign-exchange students, (continued on page 4)
more than a million dollars. That’s everything to me.” The completion of Beck’s work sets the stage for the helicopter’s return to Veterans Memorial Park, hopefully in time for Memorial Day. Ruehling is hoping the recent heavy rains won’t prevent a crane from returning the helicopter to its post in time the holiday. “It’s all done,” he said. “She did a beautiful job.”
With an eye on improving its grounds and facilities, the Belle Plaine School Board set a variety of processes in motion Monday (May 22) designed to make the district more attractive and functional. The board unanimously approved its share of a land swap with the city. The school district will give the city the old tennis courts on South Market and West Prairie streets. In exchange, the city will give the school district the pleasure skating rink and warming house at the intersection of West Park and South Market streets. Because the ice hockey rink/ off-leash dog park and tennis courts are a single 1.39-acre parcel, an administrative land split was required. The board, like the city council the week before, OK’d the land split. The second part of the action was trading the tennis courts for the parcel on which the pleasure skating rink and warming house sit. It was also approved with no discussion. Superintendent Ryan Laager noted the tennis courts have become overgrown by weeds and are an eyesore. In the city’s control, the courts can potentially be used for an expansion of the community pool, through the city council has not yet committed to the proposal. The city has also not yet identified funding to remove the dilapidated tennis courts and fencing. The district currently has no plans for removing the pleasure rink and warming house in favor of any other use. It will be managed under the terms of the facilities agreement the city and school board have jointly approved.
Softball Complex
The board accepted the bid of Steve Eischens Construction of Belle Plaine to serve as the general contractor for the construction of a building housing restrooms, a ticket booth, storage space and a second-level observation area at the softball complex at Oak Crest Elementary School. The two-story building will be 32-by-32 feet and located amidst the four fields at the
School Board
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Rain – Lots of It – Sets Planting Back a Few Weeks
Nearly 4 inches of rain since Mother’s Day has farmers with crops to plant sitting on the sidelines looking at saturated fields. And waiting. The Belle Plaine area has received 3.97 inches of rain since May 15, according to Adella Gruetzmacher. May 17 saw the heaviest downpour, 1.48 inches. Ewald Gruetzmacher said the area needs warm temperatures to help fields dry out. “It’ll take three, four days to dry out,” he said. “But they’re talking about more rain Friday (May 26) so we’ll see.” Gruetzmacher notes farmers with soybean crops yet to plant are likely two weeks behind thanks to excess rainfall.
Nagorski Wants People to Know Why Memorial Day is Special birthday parties and special events when dad wasn’t home yet and his children had to settle for their dad via Facetime, an inconsistent Internet connection, an AT&T line or a Defense Information Systems DSN line routed from Iraq through Germany to Minnesota. “Being away from home, that’s the toughest,” Nagorski said. He hopes one day to take his wife and children to Hawaii to see the Pearl Harbor Memorial. He figures anyone who visits it truly understands what Memorial Day is all about.
B.P. Resident Will Bring Vet’s Perspective to Ceremony
Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Nagorski (Ret.) has never addressed a group larger than a platoon before. He expects to be a little nervous when he looks over a sea of faces attending Belle Plaine’s Memorial Day ceremony Monday (May 29, 11 a.m.) in Veterans Memorial Park. Nagorski retired earlier this spring from the Minnesota Army National Guard. He served for 24 years. His resume with the Army National Guard includes three deployments – 2003-‘04 and 2007-‘08 to Iraq and 2015-‘16 to Kuwait. The bricklayer who grew up in Little Falls, Minn. served in engineering companies. He joined the Minnesota National Guard because it offered money for college. In his civilian life, Nagorski is a foreman for Hollenbeck and Nelson, a Twin Cities-based construction firm. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children – Pierce, 10; Hoyt, 6; and Scarlette, 4. Dressed in red, white and blue, all three children have welcomed their father home from deployments. Nagorski wants people to know Memorial Day is not just a day for them to clog highways heading out of town to lakes and vacation spots. It’s a time when, he hopes, people reflect on the sacrifices of others so people can live in freedom, clogging highways heading out of town to the lake and vacation spots. “Now that I’ve been talking to vets, and am one myself, it’s important to remember those
Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Nagorski (Ret.) who made our country true, to remember fallen comrades,” Nagorski said. He joined the Belle Plaine Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post and enjoys talking with those who served, like him, in faraway places many people had never heard of. He enjoys their memories and appreciates what they’ve been through. “They’ve got some good stories. They’re funny,” Nagorski said. “They don’t get too deep into it.” He’s practiced his speech for Memorial Day several times and will continue to do so until he delivers it Monday. The best part of his service was spending time with his fellow soldiers doing their job. His platoon had 40 soldiers in it. He is pleased they all made it home safely from their deployments. “I knew them all,” he said. “You know they had your back.” The toughest parts of service were the missed holidays, the
Memorial Day Ceremony
Veterans Memorial Park
Warren Wolf will open the ceremony at 11 a.m. with an introduction. The introduction will be followed by the “Pledge of Allegiance.” Elissa Moonen will read “Flanders Field.” Havyn Moonen will sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” The invocation will be provided by Fr. Brian Lynch of Our Lady of the Prairie Catholic Church. VFW Auxiliary President Tricia Burmeister and American Legion Auxiliary President Molly Moonen will place a wreath at a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Belle Plaine Veterans Club President and VFW Commander Larry Ruehling, VFW Auxiliary President Tricia Burmeister, American Legion
Nagorski
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