Cross Country Teams Gear Up for MRC Meet With Coed Win
Harvest Coin Hunt Enters Week Three
Football Team Falls to Crusaders Page 17
Page 15
Page 17
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, OCTOBER 10, 2012
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 41
Scenic Byway Races Saturday
Belle Plaine Seventh Grade Football Coach Ken Wick got the chance to thank some of the people who helped save his life after he collapsed with a cardiac ailment during football practice Sept. 11. The co-workers and emergency responders who rushed to his side include (from left) assistant football coach Joe Ploetz, Belle Plaine Police Officer Ben Pederson, football coach Jerold Stauffacher, B.P. Police Chief Tom Stolee, patrol
officer Matt Brandt, Ridgeview Ambulance Emergency Medical Technician Karen Niesche, firefighters Todd Otto, Travis Otto, Tyler Koonst and fire chief Randy Koepp. Several other EMTs and firefighters also assisted with the call for help when Wick collapsed. He returned to work at school on a part-time basis last week.
Happy to Be Back to Work, Wick Knows He Beat the Odds
B.P. Coach Thankful to Those Who Helped Save His Life
by John Mueller Little things don’t bother Ken Wick like they used one did. Kids horsing around outside his office at Belle Plaine Junior-Senior High School, a computer
network malfunctioning, slow traffic on his drive home. He’s just enjoying life in a new way. The doctors say the odds of him surviving the cardiac malfunction he suffered during football practice the afternoon of Sept. 11 are about 4 percent. Ken Wick knows he’s lucky to be alive. Unlike a heart attack – which hits people suffering heart disease – Wick had no symptoms, no personal history of heart disease. His workout regimen includes 15 miles of running a
Final Assessment Hearing for 2012 Street Work Next Monday The Belle Plaine City Council will hold the final assessment public hearing for this year’s street improvement project next Monday. It will begin shortly after 6 p.m. at the Belle Plaine Government Center, 218 North Meridian Street downtown. The area to be assessed for this year’s project includes: – North Elm Street between Church Street and Spring Street.
– Court Street from Meridian Street to Walnut Street. – Chestnut Street north of Court Street. – Ravine repair at the end of Chestnut Street. The total amount proposed to be assessed for this year’s project is $547,433, for which benefitting property owners will pay back in annual installments over a period of seven years.
week as well as three days in the weight room. Wick returned to work the Belle Plaine School District’s director of information technology (IT) last week. He’s only allowed to work mornings and is slowly regaining his strength. Monday, a group of police officers, firefighters, members of the Ridgeview Medical Center ambulance crew and the other football coaches gathered with him for a photo and a chance to receive his thanks. “If ever there is anything I can ever do for you . . .,” Wick told the group. A man of strong faith, Wick offered a prayer for the emergency responders and coaches and the work they do. He thanked God for their dedication and commitment to helping people in need. Wick believes God has a plan for people and his plan for the police officers, firefighters, paramedics and fellow coaches Sept. 11 included saving his life. “I’m very lucky,” he said last Friday, sitting in his office. “Very lucky.” He thinks about a song Jason
Gray sings, “Good to be Alive.” Its contemporary Christian lyrics speak of life as a gift and living life for God. The song was on his iPod playlist and he listened to it occasionally while running. “It really became my favorite song after Sept. 11,” Wick said. Wick owes his life to many people, including his fellow coaches – John Wellner, Jerold
Wick
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Nature has done its job by providing the fall backdrop along the scenic byway on both sides of the Minnesota River in Belle Plaine. On Saturday, hundreds of runners clad in colorful running attire will blend in with all the fall color as the second annual Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway Half-Marathon, 5K and Kids races will take place. According to Carrie Traxler of the Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce, as of Monday morning there were 199 runners registered for the 5K and 187 for the half-marathon. Last year’s inaugural races attracted some 500 runners, about 20 percent of whom registered on race day. The half-marathon will start at 9 a.m., the 5K at 9:20 a.m. and the Kids Run at 11:30 a.m. Award ceremonies will follow each race. Both the half-marathon and 5K courses are USATF certified and chip-timed. Last Friday was the last day to register for the races at discounted prices. Race-day registration, which will open at 7:30 a.m. at Court Square Park, will be $55 for the half-marathon and $35 for the 5K. The Kids Run will remain $7. The 5K race will have a new route that will wind through Belle Plaine. The half-marathon route will once again be run along the fall foliage of the Scenic Byway, including crossing the Minnesota River bridges in Belle Plaine and Blakeley. Both races will begin and end at Court Square Park (race headquarters) in Belle Plaine. Also at the park on Saturday will be a craft fair, concessions,
bounce house and Lollipop the Clown. At the Vets Club downtown there will be a freewill pancake breakfast. If the extended forecast holds out, temperatures at race time will be in the mid-40s to lower50s. Saturday’s forecast calls for a high of 60 degrees and a chance of rain. The chamber of commerce is still in need of volunteers to help operate the races. Call 952-873-4295 if you can help out.
Spaghetti Dinner at Oak Crest Friday
The Belle Plaine High School cross country team, in conjunction with the Scenic Byway races, will host a spaghetti dinner from 4-7 p.m. Friday at Oak Crest Elementary School (not Chatfield as reported last week). The dinner is a freewill donation and $4 to $7 would be appreciated. Preregistered runners will be able to pickup their race packets at the dinner, which is open to the public. There will also be registration for Saturday’s Kids Run at this time. Proceeds from the dinner will go to the BPHS cross country program.
Sneaker Donations Sought
The Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce is teaming with GreenSneakers, a non-profit organization that recycles tennis shoes to provide affordable footwear to people in need around the world. Runners and spectators this Saturday are encouraged to bring sneakers to donate to this cause.
Practice Fires, Real Experience
After several days of squelching practice fires at Marion and Larry Entinger’s old house at 8025 Union Hill Boulevard, Belle Plaine firefighters burned down the house Saturday morning. The practice fires give firefighters real experience in an actual house compared to a simulated structure. It also makes removing the house easier and less expensive for the property owner.
Mike Schultz is Top Belle Plaine Runner in 2012 TC Marathon
Ready for the Race Workers from S.M. Hentges & Sons of Jordan will have the new bridge along Scott County Road 6/Union Trail (the Blakeley road) ready for the hundreds of runners in the Scenic Byway Half-Marathon Saturday. Scott County removed old culverts prone to wash-outs and replaced them with a bridge along the roadway. Across the river, construction on Sibley County Road 6/Scenic Byway began last week and runners will have to navigate their way around the construction area just west of Highway 25.
Mike Schultz logged the fastest time among the 14 Belle Plaine runners entered in the Twin Cities Marathon Sunday. Schultz, 27, finished the race in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 25 seconds. He was at 1:43.57 at the halfway point and was the 1,935th runner of the 8,779 runners who crossed the finish line on John Ireland Boulevard. Schultz was 1,497th of the 5,094 men who finished the 26.2-mile run. The other Belle Plaine runners who finished the marathon in-
clude Marjorie Tracy, 3:47.00; Andew Schroers, 3:57.19; Sue Schultz, 4:13.54; Quin Anderson, 4:13.59; Joan Brueggemeier, 4:14.24; James Barringer, 4:20.30; Karri Williamson, 4:23.10; Karee Koepp, 4:23.11; Jason Rahn, 4:23.11; Molly Shields, 4:36.24; Brad Schultz, 4:41.10.
4:22.39; Dana Cooper, 4:53.48. LeSueur: Hannah, Schroeder, 5:45.21. New Prague: Joe Block, 3:47.55; Mary Hallet, 3:56.00; Jacob Helgestad, 4:11.41; Michael Verhoeven, 4:21.05; Molly Tikalsky, 4:32.52; Bret Kitner, 4:38.06; Katie DeGross, 4:55.45; Jacki Tupy, 4:59.20; Janelle Tupy, 4:59.20; Becky Other area finishers in- Valek, 5:01.55; Debbie Gregor, cluded: Cologne: Scott 5:28.56. Knight, 3:53.32; Jerrad Sunde, 5:10.54. Jordan: Pam Beckman,