Valley Profiles 2021

Profiles

Resilience

A look at the challenges of 2020 and the local people who persevered through them Wednesday & Thursday, March 24th & 25th, 2021 A special publication from the Le Sueur County News & St. Peter Herald

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VALLEY PROFILES

Profiles

An in depth look in to the Area Communities and the year 2020 A special project of Le Sueur County News and St. Peter Herald ©2021 311 S Minnesota Ave., St. Peter, MN 56082 507-333-3111 www.lesueurcountynews.com www.stpeterherald.com Regional President: STEVE FISHER Regional General Manager: CHAD HJELLMING Regional Managing Editor: SUZANNE ROOK Associate Editor: PHILIP WEYHE Regional Director of Sales: TOM KELLING Advertising: JENNIFER FLOWERS KATHLEEN DAVIES, BRITNEY MARR Designer: KATE MCGILLEN

March 2021

Resilience

Local students stay as optimistic as possible during difficult times ..............3 Local activities directors adjust to new tasks ..................................................4 MRVT teams with Meals on Wheels while keeping own business afloat ......5 European Roasterie keeps the coffee coming during pandemic ....................6 Workers in long-term care facility Benedictine keep vulnerable safe ...........7 Le Sueur resident, pharmacy battle unfair industry practices .......................9

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March 2021

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Local students stay as optimistic as possible during difficult times

By PAT BECK pat.beck@apgsomn.com

COVID-19 has affected high school students in every way possible, whether it be academics, arts, athletics or otherwise. They’ve had to adjust to many changes — distance learning, safety rules, schedule changes. It has been especially hard on seniors, who have lost out on some of the most significant events of their life.

But this group has shown great resilience to get through the toughest times, hoping to see a shred of normalcy at the end of their secondary experience.

We talked to seniors from TriCity United, St. Peter, Cleveland and Le Sueur-Henderson about this unusual year and how they’ve gotten by. The seniors represents a spectrum of interests, including academics, theater, speech, art, band, athletics and more.

antine rocketed up quickly. That’s the nature of this virus, and all Neubauer can do now is hope for a last couple months learning inperson.

She does enjoy distance learning for the most part, but there are some negatives.

school, though. One of the things I dislike about distance learning is not being able to see my classmates and friends every day. When you are in school, you are making memories each day with your classmates and peers. When you are distance learning, it can be bor-

“At this point, I am used to disappointment and sick of what COVID has taken away from us.”

- TRI-CITY UNITED’S ALEXIS NEUBAUER

“I know people may have dif- ing when you do not have human fering opinions, but for me, dis- interaction. We have missed out on tance learning was not that bad,” a lot this year. I had mixed feelings Neubauer said. “In the beginning, about coming back full-time. The I liked it, because it gave me the sad part is that when we came back freedom to do homework when I full-time, I saw classmates that I wanted, and still have time to hang had not seen since last March. Now out with my friends and family. I that we are going back to hybrid do not have to be at school to learn. learning, I do not know when or if I am lucky enough that I can learn I will see them again.”

Alexis Neubauer The virus also has affected Neuthrough a computer, but I know Tri-City United senior Alexis that is not the case for everyone.” bauer’s activities, including volleyNeubauer, a National Honor SoShe added, “I do think I learn ball, weightlifting, track and field, ciety member who has been on more and am more productive at student council and FFA. While the A+ honor roll her whole high school career, is disappointed that she missed out on major events, but she’s taken her final year in stride, despite studying mostly at home.

Starting with the 2020 school year, TCU conducted hybrid learning from September to midNovember, so Neubauer went to school Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday. From mid-November to mid-January, students were all online, due to a spike in COVID cases. From mid-January till about mid-February, they went hybrid. With the vaccinations going to teachers and the middle schoolers going back to school, the TCU high school decided to let their students come back full-time Feb. 16 to Feb. 26.

But they were quickly back to hybrid starting March 1, as some Tri-City United senior Alexis Neubauer has adjusted well to COVID-19, students were exposed to COVID but it hasn’t been easy for the At student. (Photo courtesy of Alexis and the number needing to quar- Neubauer)

Neubauer has adjusted to the situation, she still is sad that things aren’t the same as normal.

“COVID is hard for me, because it has taken away everything I have looked forward to,” Neubauer said. “My senior year of high school was supposed to be this great thing that I had been waiting for since freshman year, but it turns out it is the one that has brought on the most chaos. When this had all started in the spring of my junior year, I thought for sure that over the summer we could get everything controlled. Boy, was I far from right. When COVID hit, I, like most other students, was excited for two weeks off of school.

No one ever thought that it would make it this far.

At times, it’s been crushing.

“Let’s start with the disappointments,” Neubauer said. “My junior track season was canceled. This would have been my first year as a captain. I felt terrible for the seniors, because they were not able to have a normal graduation. Now thinking about it, my senior class has not been able to have a normal senior year at all.”

She continued, “The next disappointment came with the prom.

Luckily, I was able to attend a normal prom my sophomore year of high school, and it was the highlight of that school year for me. I had so much fun and could not wait to do it with even more of my friends. When I was told that prom

STUDENTS STAY OPTIMISTIC Alexis Neubauer of TCU: “I hope that COVID does not have a lasting effect on schools. I hope that school will soon feel normal again. I am hoping that by next school year, students can come to school mask-free and with their friends. I also hope that students will not take school for granted in the future. I know the pandemic is hard on the school administrators, so I hope they can learn and grow from this experience too.”

Eva Kracht of St. Peter said she has “tried to find the silver lining in this situation. I no longer have to get up super early to catch a bus over to another school for a meet. That has been really nice. I keep trying to remind myself that at least I still have the opportunity to compete and participate in the activity I love. I hope that students will always have the opportunity to stand up and speak about what is important or compelling to them. Additionally, I hope that students are able to still have fun in this activity, even though it has changed so much.”

Halle McCabe of Cleveland: “I hope that in the next few months or so, sports and bands will go back to normal, and hopefully the mask mandate will end soon, so we can get back to how it was before this pandemic.”

Anna Pavlo of LS-H: “I just hope that everybody can stay healthy so that nothing has to be canceled and everyone, especially seniors, get to play even if there are restrictions.” likely would not happen because of COVID, I was disappointed and confused, but knew I had my senior year prom to look forward to. Now, there has been no talk of my senior prom, and I don’t even know if it will happen. If it is planned, I have the additional worry of possible COVID exposures through school and being quarantined during that time. As summer went on, things

got worse, and there was talk about us staying distance learning or going hybrid. I was so lost, I didn’t even know what to think.”

Her favorite activity is volleyball, and that, too, was nearly canceled or moved to the spring. It did

LOCAL STUDENTS

Continued on page 14

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March 2021

Local activities directors adjust to new tasks

By PAT BECK pat.beck@apgsomn.com

High school activities directors have had to adjust on the fly since the COVID-19 pandemic hit a year ago.

It has not always been easy, but they have made those adjustments, and their efforts have helped prevent the virus from spreading as rapidly as it could, keeping students in school (when possible) and participating in extracurriculars. Activities directors take their positions because they believe in giving students more than just an academic education while in school, and that belief has remained steadfast during an unprecedented year.

Job changes

In addition to their regular duties, local activities directors have had a plethora of new duties added to their plates.

“Everything we normally did in this role has continued on,” St. Peter Activities Director Jordan Paula said. “It’s the additional pieces of contact tracing, implementing protocols, changing protocols, adjusting schedules for the second and third times, that is what has been challenging. Enforcing mask and social distancing policies isn’t something we want to do, particularly when some spectators or students aren’t compliant or don’t agree with the protocols and will tell you as such. The most important piece is giving kids the opportunity to do what they love to do and keep everyone safe.”

Paula added, “What has helped immensely has been having Kristi Davis, our activities secretary, working on everything from passes to helping assign workers to events. We couldn’t have gotten any of it lined up without her. She’s been a rock star.”

Cleveland Activities Director Rich Kern said the show had to go on.

“Like everyone else we’ve set

everything else aside this past year to adjust to the new COVID-19 guidelines and try to make a season happen for all the students for fall, winter and spring sports,” he said.

Le Sueur-Henderson Activities Director Jeff Christ echoed those sentiments, talking about what made that goal so difficult.

“I think the biggest challenge has been to keep up with all of the changes that occur on a weekly and/or daily basis. Between the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Education, and the Minnesota State High School League, we are constantly getting updates on health guidelines which affect how we can and cannot run our activities.”

He continued, “The other challenge has been that we did not know if we would even have athletic seasons. We found out in late July we would have cross country and tennis. Then football and volleyball were added late October, which was about the time we found out about winter sports. Then the governor put a pause on everything until Jan. 4, so we basically had to start all over again.”

Tri-City United Activities Director Chad Johnson noted that it feels like he’s been working in a different position over the last year.

“The focus of my job has changed to safety precautions, social distancing and exposure,” he said. “It is necessary, but it was never the most significant part of the job before.”

Event scheduling

Some of the biggest changes have been in constantly changing schedules.

“This has been a challenge, but thankfully, as a conference, we were able to adapt quickly, which allowed us to fill our schedules and still allow for non-conference competition in some activities,” Paula said. “Additionally, working through the two-game-per-week guidelines limits some opportuni-

HOW ARE COVID SAFETY RULES GOING? Schools have been required by the state to follow a number of COVID-19 safety rules to prevent spreading of the virus. That includes taking temperatures on a daily basis, cleaning equipment and uniforms, masking, social distancing, limiting crowds, practice and game protocols.

Coaches, players, spectators and people in general have been willing to follow the rules, although there have been some exceptions.

“They do what it takes to play so wear the mask and social distance,” Cleveland Activities Director Rich Kern said.

Tri-City United Activities Director Chad Johnson said the majority of people have followed the rules.

Cleveland Activities Director Rich Kern does play-by-play and video of Clipper games on youtube. (Pat Beck/southernminn.com) ties and makes rescheduling as the season is going even more difficult, but again, it’s worth the additional effort to get the kids out there competing.”

Kern said, “Most of us have done our schedules three times before the season starts, where normally schedules are always set a year in advance. We are changing them days before the season starts and during the season.”

Christ said, “The guidelines have generally limited the length of our seasons, the number of contests we are allowed, and how far we are able to travel for games. In general, we have been allowed no more than two contests per week.

We have basically had to ‘scrap’ all of our schedules we had coming into the year and start from scratch at the beginning of each season. In the Minnesota River Conference, we developed schedules that kept most of our contests within the conference. For hockey, the Bulldogs are in the Big South and they basically did a ‘conference only’ schedule with only a few nonconference games. Being allowed only two contests per week makes it hard to reschedule if a game has to be canceled or postponed due to weather, COVID, etc. We are still

waiting for final guidance for this spring.”

Johnson said, “Games generally are still not hard to find. It is more about limiting of everything.

Students and parents want to be involved and limiting that has been tough.”

Spring sports

Wiping out last year’s spring schedule was a big blow.

“Losing spring last year was a crushing blow for our students, coaches and advisers,” Paula said.

“They missed out on so many impactful events, like a typical graduation, prom, let alone the regular activities. The focus all along has been to provide as normal of a year as possible for 2021, and I believe we’ll be able to do that in terms of activities with a full schedule and state tournaments planned.

Now we just need to keep our kids healthy.”

Kern said, “You really feel for the players that missed out on the spring season last year. Hopefully, this coming spring season, with outdoor events, we’ll see a big im-

DIRECTORS

Continued on page 11

“We ask ours to sit on a yellow dot as we have measured out for distancing,” Johnson said. “Majority of home and away fans do it.

Some just need to make a point and refuse. It is what it is.

“Cleaning is just time consuming but very doable. The fights and arguments about masks and sitting have been the hardest parts.

You are always the bad guy to some people.”

St. Peter Activities Director Jordan Paula said, “99.9% of fans and kids have been great and very understanding. It’s not what anyone wants, but those are the protocols put in place that are largely out of our control at the local level. It’s up to us, however, as a district to enforce them. Fortunately as a conference we have made decisions together, and we can remain as consistent as possible.

“For the most part, students and spectators have been great within our facilities. There are constant reminders and there was certainly a learning curve, but we’ve gotten this far and I know our kids and spectators will do what they need to do. We have the ability to remove people from the venue or pause they event to comply, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that. We all want the same thing and that’s to see our kids do what they love whether it’s an athletic event or a musical performance.

Le Sueur-Henderson Activities Director Jeff Christ said, “I think the MDH, MDE, MSHSL, and our local school districts have done a great job in implementing the COVID protocols to keep our athletes, coaches and communities as safe as possible. Wearing masks and limiting crowd sizes simply reduces the chance for the virus to spread and give our kids a better chance to have a season and, more importantly gives us a better chance to keep our kids on inperson learning and in our school buildings.

“It’s like anything else that affects small communities.....people come together and do what is best for the community. It’s why I chose to work and live in a smaller community. Everyone has different opinions and views when it comes to COVID-19, but my experience has been that everyone has been able to put those aside and do what is best for our kids!”

March 2021

VALLEY PROFILES

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MRVT teams with Meals on Wheels while keeping own business afloat

By CARSON HUGHES carson.hughes@apgsomn.com When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, businesses, community organizations and volunteer networks saw engagement hit a new low. But between the many closures and cancellations, some have found a way to turn the limitations of the pandemic into a new opportunity.

Like many services, the Minnesota River Valley Transit saw a dramatic decline in customers.

The transportation service typically provides bus rides between St. Peter, Kasota and Le Sueur. But as the coronavirus made waves across the state, more people were staying at home and few were taking bus rides. The MRVT’s ridership nosedived by 80%, leaving the organization with empty buses in the garage and part-time drivers fall-

the day, we were able to take on Meals on Wheels delivery,” said Albers. “Our business is — we pick people up and drop people off at the curb wherever they want to go, whether it’s home, whether it’s to a business or wherever. So we just did what came naturally.”

VOLUNTEER Anyone interested in volunteering for Meals on Wheels St. Peter can contact volunteer coordinator Tracy Bishop at 507-317-5514 or at bishop. tracy59@gmail.com. The meal deliveries generally take place late morning to early afternoons on weekdays. ing off.

Over at Parkview Manor, the Meals on Wheels program had some transportation issues of their own. In a normal year, the program would have 16 volunteer drivers on hand to deliver prepared meals to housebound St. Peter residents.

But many of the program’s regular volunteers are older residents themselves who worried about

Efficient

Wayne Albers, Complaince Manager of MRVT, helped deliver Meals on Wheels during the pandemic while ridership was low. (Carson Hughes/sothernminn.com) traveling around the city during a pandemic. The number of volunteers was cut in half while the need for home-delivered meals was as large as ever.

It was a match waiting to happen, so when MRVT Compliance

Manager Wayne Albers heard from Community Center Director Jerry Schugel about the need for drivers, he jumped at the chance to get the bus service involved.

“Since the buses were sitting and the drivers were idle part of

the weekend.

“It was rewarding,” said Albers.

“Most of our drivers realized how badly needed the meals were for people, and in some cases, that contact at the door might be the only person-to-person contact the residents had on a regular basis, as short as it was.”

Through it all, MRVT was able to provide the Meals on Wheels service cost-free, even as local revenues plummeted. Thanks to funds from the CARES Act, the transportation services’ day-to-day expenses were covered at 100% cost.

Those funds not only allowed MRVT to pay drivers to assist Meals on Wheels, they also let the service install new safety precautions on the buses, including sneeze shields. It also allowed the

The joint effort was a success.

MRVT drivers took an hour and a half out of their normal schedule to fill their buses with meals and transport them around St. Peter to service around 28-30 people daily.

A volunteer with Meals on Wheels would hop on the bus and join the driver to bring the orders to people in need.

Each day, MRVT transported roughly 17 to 28 meals. On Fridays, the buses were carrying as many as 70 orders. These shipments carried extra frozen meals to be eaten over Continued on page 13

MRVT

Superintendent – Brian Phillips phillips.brian@isd391.org Principal – Scott Lusk lusk.scott@isd391.org

Cleveland Public School 400 Sixth Street, Cleveland, MN 56017 507-931-5953

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March 2021

European Roasterie keeps the coffee coming during pandemic

By CARSON HUGHES carson.hughes@apgsomn.com For almost 30 years, the European Roasterie has been a mainstay industry of Le Center. Producing 3.5 million pounds of coffee annually with the help of 55 employees, the coffee producer is one of the town’s largest employers. But since its founding, 2020 and 2021 will go go down as some of the most challenging years for the business, as managers and employees learned to adapt to the changing demands.

As an essential business, the European Roasterie has remained open to produce their many blends and flavors of coffee throughout the pandemic. But the same can’t be said for their customers. Offices, restaurants, coffee shops and hotels make some of the Roasterie’s largest clients and when they began to shut down, business began to drop.

The most affected products were the Roasterie’s coffee pods and portion packs. These are often sold to workplaces and would be packaged with automated machinery. But with offices closing their doors and tightening their budgets, sales of coffee pods totally shut down and sales shifted toward their handpacked products. Current employees were needed more than ever to handle the load of hand-packed orders, even as revenues declined.

On top of that, the European Roasterie had to navigate ways to produce a safe environment for a 50-person factory in a changing pandemic. The Roasterie was facing a challenge to say the least. A lot of weight fell on the shoulders of a few managers tasked with keeping the company afloat.

Maneuvering new territory

Their first task was to learn how to safely keep the factory open.

European Roasterie Controller Liz Vlasak recalled going to meeting after meeting, speaking to Le

EUROPEAN ROASTERIE The European Roasterie is a family-run business in Le Center dating back to 1992. With 50 employees and 50,000 square feet, the coffee roaster produces 3.5 million pounds of coffee a year. Beans are collected from 30 different sources around the world and roasted into a variety of blends and over 50 flavors.

Through all the changes of the pandemic, one thing hasn’t changed for the European Roasterie: it’s coffee making process. Using a 500-pound roaster and a 250-pound roaster, the Le Center business roasts their coffee beans the week of shipment. The beans are sourced from all over the world, from Colombia to Central America and Indonesia. Once they reach the European Roasterie, the beans are roasted depending on the order, which may range from blends to flavored coffees, and decaf coffee.

Sueur County and attending state level talks to learn how to respond to the pandemic. Human Resources Manager Becky Lambrecht Continued on page 12 An employee at European Roasterie packages a box of coffee. The Roasterie has had to move to more said that their talks with Le Sueur handpackaging during the pandemic. (Carson Hughes/southernminn.com) County Public Health Director Cindy Shaughnessy helped lift the loads on the business.

“I know we would have made it through, but she made it so much easier,” said Lambrecht. “And she was so quick to answer any questions.”

“I think our county really, really was prepared for this,” said Vlasak.

“Everything just went so smooth.

They were ready for a pandemic, and they knew what they were going to do.”

From there, it was a matter of implementing safety measures, something that, as a food manufacturer, the European Roasterie was well acquainted with. The company has installed plexiglass barriers and a supervisor to run temperature checks on employees each morning. With the safety measures in place, Roasterie said they haven’t seen any spread within the building.

“Our employees really get a lot of credit for following all the procedures,” said Vlasak. “We had weekly meetings updating the employees on what’s going on and Liz Vlasak and Becky Lambrecht of European Roasterie stand before bags of unroasted coffee beans. (Carson Hughes/southernminn.com) what the government will say. Each

ROASTERIE

March 2021

VALLEY PROFILES

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Workers in long-term care facility Benedictine keep vulnerable safe

By HEATHER GORDON It was one year ago when our community and our world was forever changed and a pandemic way of living became an unrelenting reality across the globe.

For some, COVID brought loss. It represented the end of an era; where germs became a lethal enemy amidst weakness, and face masks became the newest trend.

For most, this past year has been challenging and its current outcome still remains unknown. The new way of living involves careful attention to detail and social boundaries. It means less public exposure and more social awareness.

Businesses, as well as educators, medical professionals, and personnel working in public settings have reevaluated their daily routines and made rapid changes to their business plans; incorporating global pandemic strategies and emergency preparedness tactics as normal daily procedures.

But for those who thrive and shine in the face of disaster, this year has brought forth those who have been needed most.

For Amy Eustis, director of nursing at St. Peter’s Benedictine Living Community and a retired Army nurse, putting out fires and answering questions in every direction all at once, were normal events on any given day of the week. And then, you add a global pandemic to the mix. As information regarding COVID started surfacing, a lot of information was being presented to the public and health care facilities. Eustis already understood the structure of a pandemic.

“Our health care team knew almost immediately that it would only be a matter of time before the virus would hit our community as well,” explained Eustis. ”Our main concern is always for the safety of

VACCINE There are currently a limited number of vaccine doses available to states from the federal government. Even once doses are promised (allocated) to states, it takes time before they actually arrive and before they can be given to people. Local county public health departments and private health care organizations are distributing doses as fast as possible.

The Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector is a tool that helps Minnesotans find out when, where, and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Follow the links to sign up, learn more, and get answers to frequently asked questions.

Start at mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/connector.

Times were tough at Benedictine during the heart of the pandemic, as they were at so many health care facilities across the state, nation and world. But the team at Benedictine worked hard to keep coronavirus out and patients safe. (Heather Gordon/ southernminn.com)

The team at Benedictine Living Community in St. Peter, like so many health care facilities, had to work tirelessly during the heart of the pandemic to ensure patient safety and family comfort. (Heather Gordon/southernminn.com)

tact. Except for essential staff, no one was allowed in from the outside world.

The staff prepared for the inevitable by conducting inventory of all their supplies and ordering as many extra supplies as they could manage. Finding space to securely store supplies was also a challenge they had to overcome. Because every health facility throughout the greater United States was also scrambling to find supplies, Eustis’ staff reached out to local businesses for help.

“We had to think beyond our normal means and discovered avenues for acquiring supplies we would never have thought to try

and combined with public health experience, Eustis, along with her administrator and boss, Teresa Hildebrandt, created a preparedness plan before the the state mandated implements. More than a week ahead of the statewide lockdown, Making a plan With a combat hospital back- the Benedictine community shut ground, two war deployments, its doors and severed outside con- Continued on page 8 our residents and staff, so implementing a preparedness plan as early as we did is definitely a major contributing factor in how long we kept the virus out of our facility.”

BENEDICTINE

Benedictine would like to thank ALL of our associates for going over and above during this past year to take care of our residents and their families!

BENEDICTINE LIVING COMMUNITY OF ST. PETER Heritage Meadows Independent Living 1302 W Traverse

(507) 931-8545

Benedictine Court Assisted Living 1906 N Sunrise Drive

(507) 934-8817

Benedictine Health Center Skilled Nursing, Rehab and Memory Care 1907 Klein Street

(507) 934-2203

www.blcstpeter.org

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Amy Eustis opens a drawer of supplies at Benedictine Living Community in St. Peter. Eusits, the director of nursing, led a response at the facility in the wake of COVID-19. (Heather Gordon/southernminn.com)

BENEDICTINE

Continued from page 7

before the pandemic,” Eustis said.

Once the team knew there would be personal protective equipment (PPE) used, Eustis contacted a New Ulm upholstery company to make more gowns.

For Eustis, her automatic response to a major emergency situation is to “just go.” When Eustis wasn’t spending hours at work in conference calls with the World Health Organization and the CDC, she was collecting hazardous waste from the facility. When Eustis had time at home, she spent endless hours on the phone calling every point of contact for every resident, every day. Sometimes more than once.

“When you have been cut off from the outside world, lives can be at stake in a living facility such as this,” Eustis stated. “Not only did we, as a team, have to be the life breath from the inside out, but we also wanted to notify our residents on the status of their families as well.”

This information was vital to the well-being of these elderly residents. Without social interaction and fellowship, some residents may pass away from lonely hearts and inactivity. And then we add this foreign virus to the list of life threatening factors.

“My responsibility was for the health and welfare of our residents and to their families,” said Eustis.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job as a director of our nursing staff, if I didn’t keep everyone updated on the health status of the residents.

After a few days, I finally turned to my staff to help make the calls.

Family members would wait for the calls around the same time every evening, just to know what the status of their loved ones was for the day.”

Team effort

Eustis wasn’t the only one putting in extra hours as the pandemic took hold.

“When the time came and the virus had infiltrated the facility, it hit so fast, nobody could be prepared for something so invasive,” said RN Lisa Helling, a staff nurse at the Benedictine facility. Helling was a critically important staff person in implementing and manning the emergency quarantine area in the building. Helling stepped up and shined in the midst of pandemic disaster by giving of her

March 2021

Lisa Helling, a staff nurse at Benedictine Living Community in St. Peter, puts on protective gear, helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus. (Heather Gordon/southernminn.com) time 110%.

“We kept COVID out of the building for a long time,” said Helling. “We had supplies and a sectioned off area in the facility ready for when the outbreak hit our community. But once the virus hit the building, it couldn’t be contained.”

Helling spent endless hours caring for COVID-positive patients in the first 48 hours in the facility. Several areas were set up throughout the facility, making supplies and PPE equipment more available and easy to access.

PPE visual reminders with black/ yellow gowns reminded staff to practice proper protocol. The innovative gowns from the New Ulm textile company kept the staff in check, providing visual reminders of positive versus negative COVID patients.

They fended off the disease for quite some time, but less than a week after the first exposure, there were 11 residents who tested positive. The first positive case tested positive on a Tuesday and passed from COVID related complications only two days later.

“Staff and residents were very proud of the fact that we kept the virus out of our building for as long as we did,” stated Eustis. “And without the superb team of nurses and staff at our Benedictine Living Community, none of our efforts would have been successful.”

From the very start, staff and families came together offering help in whatever way they could manage. The Benedictine community learned many lessons from things they never saw coming. The team also learned that, like a train out of control, the coronavirus was

as stealth as they come, and, with a vengeance, it did not discriminate.

Eustis received emergency staff from the state of Minnesota. Some still continue to work at the St. Peter facility. They have been there since October.

“I’m not very emotional, but when the state employees came to help, I was simply awestruck. It was like watching angels walk through our doors,” said Eustis, tears in her eyes.

It was reflective of the inspiring work of so many — including Eustis, Helling and the rest of the team at Benedictine — during such difficult circumstances. Those who shine in darkness arrived as “angels in the night,” bringing hope and help where they were needed most.

a

March 2021

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Le Sueur resident, pharmacy battle unfair industry practices

By CARSON HUGHES carson.hughes@apgsomn.com As a member of a family of eight, Le Sueur resident Marcia Schaaf has to stay busy. But beyond just the regular duties of a mother, she has to make sure her house is stocked with life-saving medication and epipens for her two daughters who suffer from a rare combination of hemophilic disorders and low blood sugar.

For four years, Schaaf would regularly drive 150 miles round trip to the Twin Cities to a specific pharmacy to purchase that medication. Between the medication, the mileage and gas, her family was paying an average $5,000 a

CORRECTION This story first ran in the Le Sueur County News in the March 17 edition. However, the last name of one of the subjects was incorrect. The name has been corrected in this version.

insurance plan’s pharmacy benefit manager (PBM).

PBMs are a little known industry that acts as a third party prescription drug negotiator between pharmacies and private insurers, as well as Medicare Part D plans and state and federal employment plans. Through those negotiations, PBMs broker the amount the health plan will reimburse participating pharmacies for drug costs.

They also bargain for discounts from drug manufacturers.

Because of these drug discounts, PBMs say that they work as advocates to secure lower pre-

year on top of a $750/month premium and copays with an $8,000 deductible. But the real kicker for Schaaf was that the medication her daughters’ needed was available all along at the Corner Drug in Le Sueur.

So why not shop local? For Schaaf, the only way to avoid paying full cash price was traveling to three pharmacies in Minneapolis and St. Paul due to rules set by her Continued on page 10

BATTLE

Come Be a Part of Saints Nation - Where We Are Saints Strong & Everyone Belongs!

 North Elementary & South Elementary schools provide a strong emphasis on expanding and accelerating student learning in o the core areas as well as providing physical education, art, music s and STEM classes. This all happens in a caring, safe environment h where all students are welcomed. r

o s d .

A pharmacist at Corner Drug in Le Sueur removes a bottle of prescription medicine from the shelf. Pharmacy Manager Michelle Steiger has been outspoken in support of a state bill which would prevent PBMs from underpaying pharmacies for prescriptions. (Carson Hughes/southernminn.com)

Saint Peter Public Schools

ff e  St. Peter School's Early Childhood program is focused on all areas of early childhood development from birth to kindergarten entrance with the goal of having every child ready for Kindergarten.

g e

PAGE 9

 Saint Peter Middle School programming is academically focused with additional opportunities for exploring areas of interest. Our students participate in a multitude of activities.  Saint Peter High School students have many opportunities to expand their learning through core academics, high rigor courses offering college credits, career and technology programs, and more than 30 different academic, arts & athletic activities from which to choose!

For enrollment information please go to WWW.STPETERSCHOOLS.ORG

CONTACT US: South Elementary 507-934-2754 North Intermediate 507-934-3260 Middle School 507-934-4210 High School 507-934-4212 Early Childhood Center 507-934-4211 Community & Family Education 507-934-3048 District 508 Office 507-934-5703

PAGE 10

VALLEY PROFILES

Local Le Sueur family the Schaafs spent years paying thousands of dollars for life-saving medication while driving up to the Twin Cities due to restrictions by their insurers pharmacy benefit managers (PBM). (Photo submitted by Marcia Franek)

BATTLE

Continued from page 11 scription drug costs for patients, but the industry has come under increasing scrutiny. A 2020 report from the Minnesota Advisory Task Force on Pharmaceutical Drug Prices stated that PBMs often keep the savings to themselves rather than pass them along to consumers. This practice resulted in a 2019 state bill requiring licenses for PBMs and a host of new transparency requirements.

An extreme burden

Meeting all of the requirements was practically a full-time job for Schaaf. In addition to her regular trips to the cities, Schaaf recalled spending 96 hours on the phone in the first month and 120 hours every quarter just to get accounts set up, pick up written prescriptions from her clinic and mail them to the PBMs and ensure that their prescriptions came in a timely manner.

Once Schaaf was able to learn the process, the service fell short of what her kids needed. Her PBM only gave her family two oppor-

PBM FAST FACTS • Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are third party negotiators that broker drug pricing agreements between third health insurers and pharmacies. They also bargain for discounts from drug manufacturers.

• PBMs are a major industry. More than 266 million Americans have insurance plans managed by PBMs. • Around 78% of the PBM market share is controlled by three firms: ExpressScripts, CVS Caremark and Optum Rx. • Major sources of revenue for PBMs include spread pricing and rebates.

• Spread pricing is when PBMs bill insurers at a higher price than what they pass along to pharmacies. The difference, or “spread” between these payments may be kept by the PBM for profit.

• Rebates are the discounts PBMs receive from negotiating lower drug prices with manufacturers. These savings may be passed along to insurers and patients, but often PBMs may take some or all of the rebates for themselves. tunities to receive local refills per plan year on prescriptions to prevent diabetic shock, as well as for EpiPens needed to rescue her child from seizures.

“If she had more than two seizures, we would have to go locally and pay full cash price to get it or go to the emergency room, therefore driving up health care costs not only for us, but our entire employer’s plan,” said Schaaf. “For our child with seizures, we had to go to

the emergency room all the time.

It was repetitive, because she was having 10-15 seizures a day.”

The costs were so great that at one point, Schaaf found it was cheaper to pay full price locally.

“They forced us to take a generic, which in itself is not uncommon, but our child had an allergic reaction on that medication,” said Schaaf. “We tried to get a prior offer approved and still would not approve it. We found out it was

actually cheaper to go to the Walgreens pharmacy for the brand name and pay the cash price than the copays for the generic.”

The costs eventually became too great for the Schaaf family, and Marcia’s husband took a $20,000 pay cut and left his job of 18 years to take another position with a health plan that didn’t have a PBM. But when that employer’s insurer began working with a PBM a few years later, he left his job again to find work elsewhere.

Impact on local business

The Schaafs aren’t alone in their story. Many patients have been required by deals negotiated by PBMs to drive out of town to pick up prescriptions at a lower price.

That has many regional and independent pharmacists concerned that they’re losing business.

In Le Sueur, Corner Drug Pharmacy Manager Michelle Steiger criticized PBMs for what she called anti-competitive practices.

One of Steiger’s central concerns was under-reimbursement — when an insurance plan pays less than what the pharmacy pays for the medication. When that happens, pharmacies may be forced to

March 2021 choose between carrying the drug at a lower cost than what they paid or not stocking the drug and allowing a bigger pharmacy that can handle the loss to take that business.

“The pharmacy has to decide if they are willing to fill the prescription if it means they will lose over $20 and sometimes over $200 every time that prescription is filled,” said Steiger. “A large percentage of prescriptions that are filled here are reimbursed at less than what we pay for the drug for our wholesaler.”

At the same time, PBMs can offer different prices to different pharmacies, which can present a potential conflict of interest when a PBM owns a pharmacy or is co-owned by the same company, like with CVS Caremark and CVS Pharmacy. By restricting their eligible pharmacy networks, limiting other pharmacies’ ability to dispense medication and lowering drug costs for patients that use their own pharmacies, PBMs can steer patients away from independent pharmacies and toward their own preferred pharmacies.

Steiger also raised concerns that PBMs were too aggressive in auditing pharmacy drug prescriptions. These audits are performed to ensure pharmacies are accurately tracking prescription costs and supplies, but Steiger complained that minor errors ended up costing Corner Drug thousands of dollars.

“We once had an insulin prescription that was about $1,000 every 50 days, and we calculated the days supply at 45 days, maybe a day or two more or less than what they thought it should have been, and they came back and said they were going to take back the entire amount for every time we sold that prescription,” said Steiger. “We sold it seven times, filled it and refilled it seven times, so they took $7,000 from us on a lifesaving medication for one of their patients, because they didn’t think we had calculated the day’s supply correctly.”

Regulation

These issues have launched efforts in the Minnesota Legislature to regulate PBMs. Local Sen. Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake, is one of the original authors of a bill introduced in the Senate last month aiming to tighten the leash on

PBM practices.

The Pharmacy Fair Competition makes several significant changes to PBM business practices.

The bill would end the practice of under-reimbursement, requiring PBMs to reimburse pharmacies for the national average price of the drug acquisition at minimum.

PBMs would also be restricted from reimbursing pharmacies at a lower amount than their affiliates and subsidiaries for the same drug.

In addition, the bill would bar PBMs from knowingly permitting deceptive advertisements, charging pharmacies a fee related to processing a claim or participating in their network, and requires PBMs to provide an appeal and investigative process to resolve pricing disputes with pharmacies.

“We’ve had more closings in Minnesota of mom and pop independent pharmacies than anywhere else in the country, and for a lot of rural communities and inner city communities, poor neighborhoods, etc., their most used form of care is a pharmacy,” said Draheim. “They ask the pharmacist for advice and rely on them, and 90% of our country lives within five or 10 miles of a pharmacy. Part of the problem why we’ve closed so many of them is the actions taken by the PBMs and how they treat the small guy. They make them sign a contract without telling them what they’re selling drugs for.”

The bill was welcomed by both Steiger and Schaaf. Schaaf even went to the Capitol to testify in a Senate hearing about her experience.

“There are hundreds of families that are going through the same thing we are, and I am a firm believer that real change, real reform has to happen at the hill,” said Schaaf.

Draheim was optimistic about the bills’ chance of passing. The Senate bill has five authors attached, including two Republicans, two Democrats and an Independent. A parallel House bill has also netted bipartisan support with 12 authors, including Rep. Brian Pfarr, R-Le Sueur.

“I think this will help stabilize that small town pharmacy, the community pharmacist, and help save them,” said Draheim. “It will increase competition, which I think we all can agree helps lower the cost.”

March 2021

VALLEY PROFILES

f g

f .

s Le Sueur-Henderson Activities Director Jeff Christ has even more du. ties during the pandemic including doorman at Le Sueur Community r Center for Minnesota River Bulldogs hockey games. Only people g with passes, including parents such as Laurie Erickson, are allowed - to games. Her son, Tyler Erickson of Cleveland plays for the Bulldogs.

(Pat Beck/southernminn.com)

-

n

DIRECTORS

Continued from page 4

provement from last spring.”

Johnson said, “No season has been easy. Change is hard. Its been a year of planning, cancellation, reschedules, etc … Our kids have handled it very well.”

Lack of concessions

- The lack of concessions during r the virus has also affected fund% raising. r “Cleanup after the events has e certainly been much easier,” Paula joked. “However, it has greatly impacted our booster club’s abill ity to fundraise. It’s not ideal, but fortunately people have been understanding. It has also limited my Mountain Dew consumption, but h that’s a selfish reason on my part.”

Kern said, “It has really affected a the booster clubs. No concessions, no revenue. They are such a big part of all activities, and for them not to be able to help donate their e funds does take a toll on all programs.”

Christ said, “It obviously takes d away some of our revenue and also the ‘charm’ of attending high t school games, but overall, it hasn’t been an issue.”

- Johnson said there has been no affect on concessions. “People just bring stuff. The lack of the smell of o popcorn is depressing, though.”

Spectators limited

Crowd sizes have been limited, so schools have lost gate receipts and fan atmosphere. d Kern said, just like concessions, attendance “has really taken a hit.

Your main goal each night is to at least break even for each contest. I don’t think many realize what the

cost is to host a game in the fall or spring. Hopefully next fall we are close to getting back to at least 75 percent to help cover all the costs.”

Christ said, “Again, it obviously takes away some of the character of high school games by not having big crowds with students sections, pep bands, etc., but I think everyone has been willing to make that sacrifice in order to have a season.”

Johnson said, “Parents get to watch. I just wish we could get more kids to come and watch their teammates.”

“We made the choice this fall to not charge admission,” Paula said.

“Not collecting gate has certainly had an impact on our revenue for the district, but our district administration has been supportive and we haven’t had to limit budgets to this point because of it. We will charge admission for section events coming up, however.”

ball this past fall, as the weather wasn’t too bad until the last game where we had to plow the snow off the football field the day before.”

Christ said, “In the fall, we didn’t have any issues with cross country and tennis at LS-H. Unfortunately, our football and volleyball seasons were cut short, due to exposures and quarantine procedures. However, I don’t think those had as much to do with the activities themselves as much as it had to do with the NovemberDecember spike we had in COVID cases across the state and country.

It was simply bad timing for the football and volleyball seasons to be in session.

“I think the biggest factor has been our coaches, athletes, and fans following the health protocols.....wearing masks, washing hands, staying home when sick.

We have had no real issues across our conference since the winter season started.”

Johnson said, “Overall, our school has done a very good job of staying away from cancellations.

We got hit a little at the end of the fall season. But likely our situations are minor compared to some.”

Glad to be playing

Although there have been challenges, the activities directors are glad to have athletes on the fields of play.

“Seeing the kids competing makes it worthwhile,” Paula said.

“Certainly it has brought challenges, but this too shall pass. There is also some positive that can come from this such as live streaming and realizing we don’t have to sell popcorn in order to have a successful event. It’s all about attitude and our kids and coaches have shown great resiliency and a positive attitude.

Kern said, “Try to enjoy each day of practice and games, because at any moment you may be shut down for a few weeks.”

Christ said, “Like anything else, we control what we can and we all do our part to make this whole thing work. We have a great group of AD’s and coaches and we are all on the same page when it comes to keeping our communities healthy and our kids in school and participating in activities. We literally take it day to day and week to week.”

Virus spread limited

Even with all the new safety-related rules and precautions coming down from the state and the high school league, the virus has continued to impact activities and cause cancellations.

Local teams have been hit hard late in winter seasons with COVID outbreaks causing two-week cancellations of practices and games and teams quarantined in St. Peter girls basketball and Cleveland boys basketball, plus individual players quarantined in TCU girls basketball, TCU wrestling, and Minnesota River Bulldogs boys hockey.

Kern said, “We were pretty lucky in volleyball and not so much in football where some senior players had to miss a few games. That’s tough with the short football season already, then having to miss a few games. I’m glad they did foot-

St. Peter Activities Director Jordan Paula (standing) supervises during a boys basketball game this season. (Pat Beck/southernminn.com) Paula said, “We’ve certainly had to make adjustments as kids and teams have been impacted, both from our own school and being impacted by our competitors. Fortunately we’ve largely been able to find other contests to make up for it. It would’ve been great to finish our football and volleyball seasons on a high note, but our kids always kept a great attitude.

“You always hear rumors of kids withholding symptoms or telling their teammates to not tell anyone they may be sick. We try to address that as best we can and promote the healthy choices of being cautious, but we can only control so much.”

PAGE 11

Johnson said, “If your doing it for the kids. You will find a way. Every time we are on the field, court or mat it is a good day. So it was worth it.”

Hope for the future

“I hope the (students) realize they are a part of something bigger than themselves,” Paula said.

“They were a generation of kids who dealt with something really challenging and life changing and many families have been greatly impacted. Hopefully they realize it’s not about wins and loses, but the process and being with others.

That’s the message we always try to send, but maybe this will help em-

Tri-City United Activities Director Chad Johnson monitors a boys basketball game in Montgomery. (Carson Hughes/southernminn.com) phasize that a little bit more.

“It’s important to know we’re all on the same team looking to serve our kids. Some may disagree with decisions made by the district, or even within activities, but we all want what’s best for the kids and that’s keeping them safe and providing a great experience during their time at SPHS.” Kern said, “They are all going to adapt to the new norm. It just takes a while for all of us to learn the new protocols but we do learn as we grow. The main thing I have learned from all of this as an AD is that we don’t complain, we adjust

to make it better!”

Christ said, “I think, in the end, we will all come out of this COVID experience with a greater appreciation for the things we used to take for granted. I have been in education a long time, and I have learned that kids are resilient, especially our student-athletes and I have no doubt they will overcome this adversity.”

Johnson said, “I look forward to the day of a full crowd and not having to count numbers and watch where people sit. I am hopeful we are gaining ground on that every day.”

PAGE 12

VALLEY PROFILES

March 2021

Minnesota River Valley’s #1 Source for Breaking News, Local News, Sports and more.

LE SUEUR

COUNTY LOCAL Park Elementary s celebratewit h readingy Night Literac 2A

APG Published by

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NEWS

TCU boy s basketb all triumph s over Sibl ey East in

Sports/Outdo ors GIRLS

ws.com urcountyne MENT www.lesue EVELOP

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to worry about. Early on in the pandemic, the company laid off some employees and had to grapContinued from page 6 ple with the shutdown of two of its lines.

Thursday, the governor would Relief eventually came to Euspeak and we’d have a meeting after ropean Roasterie in the form of a that.”

PPP loan. With the help of a comImplementing these safety and munity bank, the Roasterie colcommunication measures has been lected their loan in early spring to a learning experience, said Vlacover payroll costs. Eventually, the sak. Some of them will even stick business was able to bring back all around post-pandemic to improve of its employees. the cleanliness and communica“That was a lifesaver for the tion between management and company,” said Vlasak. “If we employees. didn’t have that, I think that would “I think we’ll keep the plexihave made it more difficult.” glass [post-pandemic] for sure,” Pushing through The Roasterie’s second savsaid Vlasak. “Because when you But even with all these safety ing grace came from their webthink about it, it’s one of those measures in place, the European site. Online sales of the European things that makes you rethink all Roasterie still had declining sales Roasterie’s coffee has doubled as those contaminated surfaces. And customers wanted to purchase the coffee they could no longer drink at their workplace.

“Some of the people that were drinking our coffee in the office setting did try reaching out to us to continue ordering our product, so our website sales increased,” said Lambrecht. “There were a lot of happy people taking orders over the phone.”

The coffee manufacturer still 700 North Minnesota Ave., St. Peter, MN to the end of the day had some challenging days ahead.

507-931-6554 As the year headed into November

ROASTERIE

keeping the sanitizer, I don’t think that will ever go away.”

European Roasterie also had to apply some of their own ingenuity to keep operations running smoothly. When the United States faced a mask shortage, Vlasak got to work at home sewing masks for the employees. Being a coffee manufacturer came in handy once again thanks to the tin ties that line the top of coffee bags. With some of her own fabric and cloth donated by employees, Vlasak sewed the tin ties into the mask as a nose pincher on top.

and December, European Roasterie entered their busy season. But with most of the sales coming off its hand packing line, employees were needed more than ever to get shipments out.

“We had a hard time getting employees to come in, so then we ended up going to overtime,” Lambrecht said. “You’re paying your employees, they were working 50 hours a week. At management, we felt bad to require that of them, but we really didn’t have a choice.”

The situation is looking a bit brighter for the Roasterie this year.

Business is not what it was before the pandemic, but it’s been ticking up, and the Roasterie has begun selling their coffee pods again.

Vaccine distributions are underway, and the company is helping schedule employees for vaccinations when they’re available.

game, 2B GIRLS BASKETBA Cleveland LL drops pair of home games 2B

©2021

standHOCKEY $2.00 News McCabe nets Bishop gets 100th point, 1st hockey 8-0 win in Bulldogs girls over Waseca

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Classifie ds, 4B-6 B

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March 10, 2021

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By PAT BECK

10, 2021

pat.beck@apgs omn.com

d takes its time School Boar cuts; new with proposed t officially hired superintenden

The European Roasterie uses a 500 pound roaster and a 250 pound roaster to roast their coffee beans the week of shipment. (Carson Hughes/southernminn.com)

last regu lar season

Le Sueur Coun ty News

Vol. 4, No.10

BIG

SOU In a game CONFERETH Minnesota of milestones, the NCE hockey teamRiver Bulldogs girls Team W LT Waseca (0-15) defeate d winles New Ulm PTS Overall s 10 1 0 20 for the third this season 122-0 time 8-0 Waseca Commuon Saturday night at Minnesota ES River 9 4 Senior left nity Center.

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CEO of a smallchallenge for the in unWaseca (11-15tils the for the best so far, new more than coming,” Sassenberg said. goals, as long as the hospital is last winner wrestle 136.6-127.975a fantastic meet, Peter coach Kris herald.com trust of its couple we The to expecte “Th stpeter gain e 400 doses were staff, then the years d this time, it out will be Check “We had score,” St. vaults, bar and p.m. can conside Paula Meskan so Wednesday.even that Meskan high team s are at 6 own r one shipments, challenging, but as we the 72-hour rule to get imagin our season “Everyone hit their of our connecwe’ll be more inary get more mass Meskan, whobox already checked results. herselfprelim Watert ed round all seeded . and 1 Allen to vaccine offi other more in No. Glidden said.s. We didn’t make any falls toward cially added, this the chief executi The sition,Hutchi prepared for nson. postarted as No. 8 Manka chipping in, “I think private health at though those.” floor routine but didn’t count Edge Hospita ve officer of River’s (22-5) meets Buffalo Lakevery often.”

Meskan Wednesday Lutheran. health. So if so it really helps when organizations are also “I really Mayer tions on beam, That doesn’t happengrader Trista ter Tuesda l and Clinic in St. (17-8).

Hutchinson/ never the it’ 5 s Mayer/ not vaccine No. United score. just y y, Pesaw and s are availabl March 9, is local public that path; our team has all season, eighth und, finishing (7-20)myself territor y, despite outhdown e, I can see No. 4 Tri-Cit in familia wasn’t Beck/s ) hosts end of May.” p.m. ch r ticipated itWest anythin As she in the all-aro t (14-11 8.75. worked at with anthe new(Pat g Ifollow happen an- at 7:15 state prelims will Stewar title. She led St. Peter Ulm junior Kayla Goblirs See VACC ing in my als will l bars the hospital Landsom 2AA manag career,” Paulaand paralle INATIONS as nursin Meskan said.The to New balance beam Meska Section er, nursing Butsemifin uneven Then’s when the championship tal lost primarand on 3A the its long-ti first on director, and g about second (34.15) won vault (9.25), and finished St. Peter. nally chief hospiThe section is to ensure noon y goal as the 13 atpital fi- Rohric me CEO Peter places s will be at thechamp to the crowd ay, March care g officer (35.85), whofloor exercises (9.175) facility contin new CEO at River’s m of St. . last 12 years.nursin George h in early spoke ionship Saturd in a rural n 2AA be 2020 champ(Philip ates also The 51-year for the aserved l bars (8.125) as third Trista Landso and 3AA Teamm (9.275) and p.m. (Sectiosetting. Meskan grewues to provide exceptEdge Hosentered Section -old, , who leadership transiti raised andon sev- and uneven parallebars (8.625), placed on ernminn.com) finals at 2 Weyhe/southernmin up on a . in Morristown ion health kan of inMolineborn period, m finished . seniors quarter be). second on a residen farm in Morris m won and fifth Mesto the state Makayla andyear becausestarted ment will n.com) t oftain 3AA champ understood Addison Landso beam (8.575) yearsCo-cap Waterv er. realize her capabil Trista Landsosixth on beam (8.1) town. ual tourna er this now and after things ownille, has her strengt rs manag versus Sectionities, experie Eighth-grader and fourth on 30 totaljust a manag didn’t 2AA individ 17 at Watert hs. class ncea in “I think tain and workSection (7.525) six alln said. “Senio on vault (8.75), March the more than the” hospital’s fi out with sday, The 12 years said. “Know . in the top enth on barsa fun meet,” Glidde Kenne dy really co-cap said Brenke “washealth caremodel. with thiswrestle Wedne rs fromateach thisMarch Rohrich, an rst replace p.m. for and role ing the history floor (8.625) Saints placed at 2ment y, facility, organiz . Four organiz ation, externagin “What ances juries, the best leader the Mankato Area GymAudre y Saturda I is can School and nd of ation, l someth a.m. candida u Two other perform this 9 bring their how ing how day at to the te, she theI’ve Klatt’s . She was n also thanked Mayer High fourth all-arou Kaylee Morea we can continuwe’ve grown and Saints to have us us. Anna the season e to final brought to . table, someth Glidde around.

Kennedy took fourth on bars ing, Friday allowing the through for were her best of e. Trista at Gustav e that.” will advanc od Valley High School the table,” will beMeskan School for this year instead of gym this ment Senior Audrey on vault (8.4), and sixth on came routin . The Redwo and floor bar nastics tourna at , the 20 her School beam meet state seventh up there on High AA (8.025) a fantastic (32.8) with Moline nailed home meets See CEO The Class Michael Albertville and 11 a.m. The .”

“They opened h on beam Makayla n Landsom both had on 7A us College. been a lost season Falls for a.m. at St. (7.825), sevent all-around od March 26 ment will be at 9 at 2 p.m.

(File photo/ , Peyton Adolph might have landed fifth (8.4), third and Addiso 12 g to Redwo southernminn start floor (8.55). year. This la Moline team tourna (Hannah Brenke are travelin on Friday, March in ment will .com) Junior Makaytie for eighth on vaultand 10th on as well.”Peter’s four seniors ) were honored after The Saints 19 ual tourna meet a individBy St. PHILIP crossover on March and Moreau WEYHE (30.975) with 10th on beam (6.875) conference have Section 2A Kennedy philip.weyhe@a energy a they reconsider on bars (8.0), on vault Theis, pgsomn.com of time and ce. “I’m and then . the request d fourth the meet. put in a lot audien operation to allow the floor (7.75).

New Prague Klatt finishe third on floor “The seniors Glidden told the of hives The St. Peter Grams and Junior Anna beam (9.05) and years,” One of the in city limits.

City Counci on approaching overs the the ordinan Zieman voted against residen l is (8.7), second ce change two discuss tedefforts sixth on vault very proud of them.” that has provena vote on an issue advocaed for the bees ts who in 2017.

Grams and KEY Emily Brufl (8.975). in 2017, Moreau placed on floor (8.05). divisive for goalies, combin HOC not express ion in 2020. She did S Ziema beekeep Kaylee at, with ninth is coach years: n, along GIRL ing. And it g pair of now on the direct opposit and Senior Counci gs head seems the issue she has l and ahas City have Counc ilor Ed Johnso is still and amazin ion, on bars (7.6) Waseca,” Bulldo just fewadvocated for express lowing g elected (8.7), sixth Seaver splittin n, making indicated a concern but werebeekeep shut outoffi After a previo al- the measur ed a stance against ly the Beekee cials. this new excepti about wing EmmaWilson eachpingtois Blaido said. “These certaining; it us counci right brough topic but e, current 2017 that althoug animal t back to thee Senior was dicated on to city Tom Sofie lowed third l turned goal ly notthe /insect rules h Grams inwould’ve Machin council al-game, St. Peter defender the team’s in from a residen est counci when she has allowe on onedown ansophom Bulldot gsent city slimits, not ordinaore after beekeep he’d be willing to notable an attemp and on nce change a letter l has four points d beekee andas the Seaver is goals and t10to allow accept on heard from many constitu withrestart to everyon ping in an assist. gs team effort Creativ rs lastenight in ed conver had four goals was athe the matter. a the topic regulat ing if there were some seven was voted e image) She now on theoncouncil the Bulldo ents sations sea- onhadthe city, the with on alle cylinde down by thefiringpractic . Wilson tulated newthis scorer assists. only two . There Brufl ions in place. Counci stiff season the topic. was City Coun- to are cil in 2017.

“For me be congra leading council membe and three points this assists. for eight points need Counc at, Brad to vote But theallbuzz 17(Metro lors ance.”

BECK players ilor perform assists for three in 2020, as asnew Stephe Grams rs — Nowell have DeVos and Shanon would need to hear for this, I returneteam and five assists 42By PAT ding d Mayor , 9-4 andnsecpoints on somn.com also had the Bluejay has City Chuck outstan Counci (9-6 overall ence)— and some interestall expressed at least that support it,” shefrom people Zieman Anna Pavlo one as- has threeBulldogs out shotexpress pat.beck@apg l has gscouncil ed - son. willing , who Confer TheatBulldo on the council in changin said at the The now that Junior center two goals and CONTA nes, the Minne Amelia Messer a .911 ness to least the Big South we’rewith dewith on it the last dinance to allow honeyb g the or- impact meeting Aug. 31. of milesto goals and CT this week Junior goalie t average and her ond place in time the topic season “It 16.US Le s In a game gs girls hockey teamthird three points the team with 17 a editor@ at just was so ees. few; regular Counc broache agains career , earned up the d; both meanw ilor Keri Bulldo bigger positive I’m not seeing the days at home for the a 2.67 goals sist. She leads38 points. Pavlo has assists) . apgsom saves wrap n.com this season sota River hile, was undecidJohnso n, impact.”

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March 2021

MRVT

Continued from page 5 transit business to service riders at no charge to encourage them to come back.

“We’ve not charged a passenger for a ride since sometime back in April 2020,” said Albers. “And now it looks like that will extend into the end of 2021. So that will give us an opportunity to grow back our ridership to where it was pre-pandemic, and in effect, our budgeted expenses are covered through the end of 2021.”

VALLEY PROFILES

PAGE 13

MINNESOTA RIVER VALLEY TRANSIT Minnesota River Valley Transit provides transportation services in the cities of St. Peter, Le Sueur and Kasota. People of all ages and abilities ride the buses to work, school, shopping, medical appointments and other community services and activities.

Passengers should call 888-880-4696 for a same day ride or to schedule a ride. MRVT is offering free local bus rides until further notice.

Places to go.

Things to do.

All good things …

But increasing ridership means that MRVT’s arrangement with Meals on Wheels can’t go on much longer. Ridership is trickling back up as more COVID rates are falling and vaccination rates are on the rise. After a devastating drop in customers at the beginning of the pandemic, ridership is already back up to 80% of where it was prepandemic.

As a public transportations service, Albers said MRVT has to put its riders first and sending a bus out to help with Meals on Wheels is taking time away from its customers. MRVT is continuing its joint efforts with Meals on Wheels through the month of March, but starting in April, the business will be back to servicing riders full time.

“As our ridership has increased, as the number of people vaccinated has increased and people have gotten back to some sense of normal activity, we now find that we don’t have the capacity to take a driver for roughly an hour and a half of the day to do Meals on Wheels while our passengers don’t get rides,” said Albers.

Now, Meals on Wheels St. Peter is busy trying to boost volunteership to bring the program back up. MRVT was a major help to the organization, and without enough volunteers, Meals on Wheels volunteer coordinator Tracy Bishop feared that the service will be hurting next month.

Thankfully, the program is seeing some new interest. After an article in the St. Peter Herald highlighted Meals on Wheels’ volunteer shortage, Bishop said she received two new applications from drivers.

But the program still needs

St. Peter High School junior Lilly Ruffin volunteered for Meals on Wheels several times during the pandemic when the service was led by the city of St. Peter and Minnesota River Valley Transit. (Philip Weyhe/southernminn.com)

Trust the best to feel your best Minnesota River Valley Transit took advantage of low ridership during the pandemic to use the extra time to assist Meals on Wheels.

(Carson Hughes/sothernminn.com) more volunteers to keep local seniors fed. With the help of MRVT, the Meals on Wheels program was able to get by with one team of two people during the month of March, normally the program splits duties two teams every week. Volunteer rates have fallen well short of that; Meals on Wheels has just two

WINTERS

teams assigned to deliver meals for the entire month of April.

“Right now, with the new driver, we’re looking at eight drivers, and we’ve gone from 16 down to eight during COVID,” said Bishop.

“If we can get enough drivers and split the routes, it’s not so heavy a load.”

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PAGE 14

VALLEY PROFILES team aspect back into view.”

She continued, “We are required to wear masks and keep our distance from each other when we are not in our separate rooms.

LOCAL STUDENTS

Continued from page 2 take place in the fall, but it fell well short of expectations.

“People also started to talk about volleyball being moved to the spring, and that also was confusing to me, because I didn’t know what would happen to spring sports then,” Neubauer said. “My senior class had a lot of girls who played volleyball. I had high expectations for this season, because our team was made up of many talented players. When I heard we would have fewer games, I was devastated, but knew it would be OK. Throughout the season, we lost key players, due to them having to be quarantined. That took a toll on my teammates. Our season had to be cut short due to a rise in COVID numbers. Now, this is a sport I had been deeply passionate about since I was a kid. I never got to have the season we all deserved or wanted.”

Even the school’s annual fall celebration, Homecoming, just wasn’t the same.

“There was no dance, but there was a coronation that only seniors could attend,” Neubauer said. “I am thankful for the opportunities we had, but the feeling just was not the same as in past years. For football games, I was lucky enough to get tickets for most of them. The student section was so much smaller than in past years that the excitement just was not there. At this point, I am used to disappointment and sick of what COVID has taken away from us.”

Neubauer’s other extra-curricular activities have also changed over the last year.

“For NHS, there have been fewer volunteering opportunities, along with the student council,” Neubauer said. “My first year of

March 2021 of the Worlds.” But it was a unique experience to say the least.

“It was a much different experience than what you usually think of when you perform a play,”

“Performing live would always be my preference, but this experience is something I will remember forever.”

- ST. PETER’S EVA KRACHT

St. Peter junior Eva Kracht speaks in one of her online rounds in a school classroom. (Photo courtesy of Eva Kracht) FFA was last year, and my Dairy Foods team made it to state, but due to COVID, we were not able to go. It is also a lot harder for all of us to meet in person, because of the different school schedules.”

Through it all, the TCU senior has done everything she can to make the most of the situation.

“I have tried to not let COVID hinder my learning experience by staying involved and engaged during Google meets when we were distance learning,” Neubauer said.

“During distance learning, it was very easy to lack motivation and not do your homework. Many people struggled with this, but I tried to hold myself accountable in doing my school work and staying caught up.

She added, “I try not to take anything for granted, because I know how fast it can be taken away.

I also try not to have high expectations anymore, because I know how fast things can change and be taken away.”

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Eva Kracht

St. Peter junior Eva Kracht is active in extra-curriculars, and that’s putting it mildly. She is in speech, theater, National Honor Society (including the leadership team), Project 4 Teens, Integration and Leadership Team, Student Council and several choir ensembles, all of which have been affected by COVID-19.

“Speech has definitely changed since this pandemic arrived,” Kracht said. “The program is doing its best to continue to provide opportunities for students to participate in speech tournaments. All of our speech meets are online, so we do not travel anywhere to compete.

There is a specific website students go to find their link that will take them to their rounds. Each round is set in a website similar to Google Meet or Zoom.”

There have been some positives.

“Students have the opportunity to attend the speech meet at the high school, instead of competing by themselves at their own home,” Kracht said. “This way, they can meet with the team in between competing to socialize and keep the team spirit alive. Many of my teammates were excited to find out we could compete together at the high school, instead of by ourselves. It brought our team together in a new way during the pandemic and really brought the

However, once we are in our own room, we can take our mask off to compete in front of our computer screen. Before I knew we would not have to wear a mask to compete, I would practice with a mask on. In the beginning, it was strange, but you eventually get used to it. You have to learn how to increase your projection and increase your enunciation.”

Some parts of the speech experience have remained the same, but “On the other hand,” Kracht explained, “the social aspect of speech that you usually experience at meets has become non-existent.

You no longer are able to meet new people and interact with your competition, because everything is over a computer screen. That is something I really miss.”

Kracht said she “just had to get used to speaking in front of a computer screen. Luckily, most students and the judge turn on their camera, so you can see their faces and reactions. It was weird to be making eye contact with just a computer.”

Captain of the St. Peter High School Speech team, Kracht has placed at several tournaments in the past two years in the category of Original Oratory. She has lettered twice in speech and participated in section tournaments and placed in the top six. She hopes to attend a four-year university to possibly major in English.

“I like speech, because it gives students an opportunity to stand up in front of an audience and speak from their heart,” Kracht said. “I also love that it allows me to be a part of a team, even though I compete individually.”

Theater and choir also have also both been altered by the virus.

St. Peter’s theater program did put on a fall play and a one act in the midst of the pandemic, and Kracht participated in the fall play, “War

directors and the cast will make the best of the situation no matter what.”

Choir, meanwhile, has been similarly impacted.

“Our choir program has also been affected. I am in concert choir, women’s choir, and chambers choir,” Kracht said. “Concert choir is all of the juniors and seniors, whereas the women’s choir and chamber choir are just other smaller choir ensembles. I only actually sing in person with the concert choir on the days I go to school, which are Mondays and Wednesdays. We practice in the theater, staying socially distanced and wearing our masks.”

The pandemic has even changed a task as simple as singing.

B “The number of students inm each choir class has decreased significantly because of the pandemic, so practicing is somewhat difficult, because there are not that many voices in each section.

Then, of course, there is the difficulty of singing with a mask. Ins the beginning of the year it wasw very hard to sing with a mask. Ev-g ery time, I would try to breathe, It would end up breathing in somet of my mask, which was not pleasant. This is because when you sing, you take deeper breaths than you would normally. However, as theH year progressed, I got more andb more used to it. I hardly thinks twice about it now. It is harder to hear people sing when they wear at mask, but you just have to learn tos c project and sing loud.

“On the days we are not in per-w son, our choir director Mr. Her-s manson is teaching us theoriesw of music and some more music h terminology. In a normal year, we would not maybe be able to learn those aspects of music, because we would be too busy practicing for an upcoming concert. So that has been a fun, new addition to choir. We have not been able to have any concerts, due to the virus, but I think Mr. Hermanson is planning on something for the spring. I still have managed to learn pieces of music throughout the midst of the pandemic, so I think that is pretty cool. I do miss

Kracht said. “We were able to have practice in person with masks and social distancing, of course. We would practice in the theater, and it was a play that did not require hardly any movement. The play was performed on stage, but we had to record each scene and compile it into a ‘movie’ or a recording of the performance. We wore masks while performing, but they gave us microphones to help project. It was strange to have to record each scene because there was suddenly this pressure to get the perfect recording.”

She added, “Before the pandemic, you would of course perform live, and you would be nervous, but there was no pressure to be perfect, because you knew you were not being recorded. It was also weird to perform in front of no audience besides the directors.

However, in some ways, it felt the same, because when you look out into the theater from the stage, you can’t see anything, even if there were people there, because of the stage lights.”

Theater is continuing to push ahead this spring.

“I think our theater program tried its best to create an environment that still made the experience of being in a play fun and exciting.

I do miss getting ready with everybody in the dressing room before the performance. That was always fun. Performing live would always be my preference, but this experience is something I will remember forever,” Kracht said. “The program is putting on a spring musical, and I will also be participating in that. The musical is called “The Theory of Relativity.” It is a smaller cast size compared to cast sizes of the musical in the past. We just had our first practice in the choir room, just going over some of the music.

I am not sure what the end result will look like, but I am sure the Continued on page 15

LOCAL STUDENTS

March 2021

VALLEY PROFILES feel like the students have adjusted very well to this pandemic and are just trying to make the most out of this situation.”

As a senior in band, McCabe

PAGE 15 then again a few days later,” Pavlo explained. “It’s kind of nice, because you play them once and get a feel for what the team is like, then the next few days you practice

“We’re still able to play hockey, and that’s all we could really ask for.”

- LE SUEUR-HENDERSON’S ANNA PAVLO

Bulldogs wing Anna Pavolo scores a hat trick, defended by Waseca’s Whitnie Norton. (Pat Beck/southernminn.com)

in past years.

“I love music in general, so whenever we play songs I know, it makes band so much better,” McContinued from page 14 Cabe said. singing every day, but hopefully But band, like seemingly everywe will get back to that soon. I am thing else, has not been the same glad that I still get the opportunity to sing in a choir, even if it is just twice a week.”

LOCAL STUDENTS

Halle McCabe

around, we have had to put masks over our instruments and be seated 6 feet apart,” McCabe said. “For sports, we also have to wear our masks for the whole game, and it can be very stressful at times. We have to wear a mask over our faces

“I feel like the students have adjusted very well to this pandemic and are just trying to make the most out of this situation.”

Cleveland High School senior Halle McCabe participates in jazz band, volleyball, basketball and softball.

McCabe, who plans on at- CLEVELAND’S HALLE MCCABE tending Minnesota State University, Mankato, to become an occupational therapist or something over the past year. The sounds of until we play. It sucks having to adwithin that field, plays the tenor the instruments are literally being just to wearing masks constantly, saxophone in a band that has al- silenced. but we have been doing it for so ways been outstanding in the past, “Ever since COVID came long, so I am used to it by now. I hitting several high achievements

is sad about missing the opportunities to play music for her family and her community and providing support for her peers participating in sports. An athlete herself, she is also experiencing the changes on the court, field, etc.

“There have been several changes over the past year that we all have had to adjust to,” she said.

“I believe the crowds will continue to be very minimal, if anyone. It is sad thinking about not being able to play in front of our families, because we would always have an annual Mother’s Day concert, which we will not be able to participate in this year.”

It’s difficult for McCabe, and yet she is still leaning on the bright side.

“Every day, I come to band with a good attitude and excited to play some familiar songs,” she said. “I am just happy that we are getting some type of experience throughout this time.”

things that apply to playing against that team, and then you’re ready for the next game. As for having a small audience, it’s upsetting that my friends and family can’t come support and watch me, but having some fans is better than having none at all.”

It might not be ideal, but the team is committed to making a season work, whatever it takes.

“I believe that I, as well as my teammates, have made the most of the situation by just showing up to play, and being happy to be there each and every game or practice.

We’re still able to play hockey, and that’s all we could really ask for.

The situation is not ideal, but at

least we get a season. For the most part, I think everyone is following the rules because every team wants to finish out their season.”

In tennis, Pavlo has been allconference for the last two years, most improved player and lettered the last two years as well. For hockey, she received rookie of the year, hustle award and all-conference honorable mention, as well as being voted team captain.

Hockey is her favorite sport, “because I’ve always had a love for the game, and it has made me the person I am, as well as given me my best friends.”

She plans on attending a fouryear university to study exercise science, business management or interior design. “I also plan on possibly continuing my hockey career,” she said.

As for right now, she’s keeping an optimistic view: “I’m just thankful that we get to have a season and get the play the sport we love. Although COVID has affected our season, I think it has brought us closer as a team and made us better players and people.”

Anna Pavlo

Le Sueur-Henderson junior Anna Pavlo, who plays varsity tennis and hockey, said, “This hockey season has definitely been different because of COVID. Obviously we have to wear masks which is a challenge in itself; we are not allowed more than two fans per player; we are not allowed to hang out at rink before games or practice as we did in the past; and we are not allowed to have any off ice training inside the arena.”

It’s an unusual season for the Bulldogs hockey teams in many ways.

“This season is different from last season in many ways, but one big thing is that we play teams back to back, so we play them twice in a row. Usually we will play a team at the beginning of the season and Halle McCabe (center) plays the saxophone in a Cleveland jazz band concert last season. (Photo courtesy then again later in the season, but this year, we play them once and of Halle McCabe)

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