Fourth birthday
Pyrotechnic flair
Local man waves the flag on July 4th
Local business does bang-up job
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CHANHASSEN
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011
$1
www.chanvillager.com
Villager Water use wanes with abundant rains
PHOTO BY FORREST ADAMS
Nicole Meiers, 20, and her father, Marty, 49, are seen last week outside the Meiers residence in Chanhassen after talking about life when Marty was deployed overseas for the U.S. Army.
Daughter recounts life while dad was deployed Plans to walk in Fourth of July parade for American Legion BY FORREST ADAMS fadams@swpub.com
Nicole Meiers was 13 years old the fi rst time her father, Marty, was sent
overseas. It was then, as a seventh-grader, she began to despise the airport. That’s where she left Dad for an uncertain future. “The airport is the worst place ever, in my mind,” she said. “That’s where you leave your parent, watch them walk off, and hope they come back some day.” With the United States engaged in
MORE CHANHASSEN JULY 3 & 4 INFORMATION ON PAGE 7. multiple overseas conflicts during the past decade, it’s a scenario that has played out countless times. The Department of Defense (DoD) reports
Deployed to page 2 ®
City reports 33 percent decline from last year
City water use April
May
June
BY FORREST ADAMS fadams@swpub.com
2011:
57.0
67.3
85.5*
2010:
68.0
103.4
111.8
Most lawns in Chanhassen are lush with green grass, and water use in the city is down this year compared to last. You can thank Mother Nature for that. City officials say water use during the summer typically is heavy with much of that water going to sprinkle lawns. But when nature does the job, people don’t feel the need to substitute with city water. So far this spring and early summer that has been the case. The number of gallons pumped this year is about 33 percent lower than at this time last year, according to the city. The amount of city water pumped this year through June 23 was a 85.5 million gallons, which puts the city on track to match by the end of the month last year’s June total of 111.8 million gallons pumped, according to Craig Carlson, the city’s water production technician. “Overall we’re using a lot less water,” he said. In the absence of recent rainfall toward the end of June, the number of gallons pumped is moving higher, but it is still nowhere near the June 2009 total of 170 million gallons. Carlson pointed out that’s good news on multiple fronts — one of them environmental and the others economic. The Department of Natural Resources, which regulates groundwater, requires cities to have a
* June 2011 is through June 23 All values are in millions of gallons Source: City of Chanhassen
Precipitation April
May
June
2011:
2.85
6.51
3.98*
2010:
2.99
3.03
3.59
* June 2011 is through June 23 All values are in inches Source: Minnesota Climatology Working Group
water conservation plan in place to guard against a gradual depletion of aquifer water storage during the summer. Twin Cities suburban communities, including Chanhassen, remove water from the Prairie du Chien-Jordan Aquifer. Water in the Prairie du Chien is typically lowered 10 to 15 feet every summer in response to peak pumping. Last year, a DNR official said that while the aquifer isn’t in danger of going dry anytime soon, there’s a distinct possibility that sustained periods of peak summer water demand could be gradually depleting the aquifer. In theory, a rainy season, like this one and last, should result in fewer people sprinkling their lawns and less water removal from the aquifer. On t he economic front, less pumping results in less money the city must spend to maintain its
Water to page 2 ®
Gold Award in the bag — and local youngsters benefit BY UNSIE ZUEGE uzuege@swpub.com
It was on a visit to her grandmother’s home when Nicole Bailey hit on her Gold Award project. Bailey, 18, is a lifelong Girl Scout, and recently graduated from Chanhassen High School. Among her senior year projects was completing her Gold Award. In Girl Scouts, the highest honor a scout can achieve is the Gold Award, the equivalent to Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. The Gold Award is awarded to only 5 percent of all Girl Scouts. The award is so prestigious, indicating a level of skills, knowledge, proficiency, and responsibility that any Gold Award recipient entering the U.S. Armed Forces automatically rises one rank. Previously, Bailey built a prairie flower garden for her Silver Award. “But I wanted to do something that had more community impact,” she said. While visiting her grandmother Louvica Nash, who spends winters in Tucson, Ariz., Bailey accompanied her to a sewing club. There, she saw
the women creating large cloth tote bags for children in need. The idea impressed Bailey, and when she returned home, she discussed it with her Girl Scout Gold Award advisor Cindy Brownwell. Brownwell’s husband works in the Car ver County Sheri f f ’s Of fice. Through Brownwell’s contacts, Bailey presented her idea to the Sheriff’s Office and to Carver County Social Services. Bailey learned there was a need.
BUILDING NEW SKILLS After conducting research and drawing up a plan of action, Bailey approached the Sheriff’s Office and social services with her proposal. She received a warm welcome and encouragement. The next step was actually sewing the Bags for Kids, as she came to call the project. “When I started the project, I didn’t know how to sew at all,” Bailey said. “But my mom and dad both sew and they helped me. My mom does projects like curtains and pillows. My dad started sewing when he was younger,
making duffel bags, tents and camping gear. It was fun for me to learn to do something new and challenging.” Bailey got the pattern from her grandmother’s sewing group, tweaked it and came up with her own design. She sewed 21 bags, then had 20 more bags made by a local sewing group called Material Girls. According to Kristin Henak, a member of Material Girls, she overheard Bailey’s mom asking if there was a local sewing group at a local fabric store. “The Sampler was closing and I was in the store,” Henak recalled. “I heard her asking about clubs, and the woman at the counter pointed to me and said, ‘Ask Kristin.’ “There’s a lot of sewing projects — the pillowcase dresses and the neck cooling scarves for soldiers — but we wanted something that was more local that would make a difference in our community,” Henak said. “So we got together, and fi nished 20.” W hen Bai ley heads of f to the University of Minnesota-Morris this
Award to page 2 ®
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Nicole Bailey learned to sew to fulfill her Girl Scout Gold Award.
INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 JULY 4TH /7 SPORTS/9 CALENDAR/14 CLASSIFIEDS/18 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 345-6471 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@CHANVILLAGER.COM.
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