Chaska

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Seek refuge at refuge

Girl Scout has it in the bag

Wildlife tours every Sunday near Carver

Project helps local children in need

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www.chaskaherald.com

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011

CHASKA

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HERALD

SPECIAL PROJECT: DIGITAL DEMOCRACY

Jumping on the bandwidthwagon Unlimited web possibilities meet limited resources

FOR MORE ON THE HERALD’S DIGITAL DEMOCRACY SERIES, READ PAGES 8-9.

BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO mfrancisco@swpub.com

I

n this era of online shoppi ng a nd GPS, G oog le a ler t s a nd K i nd les, it seems there is little that technology can’t do for us. But when it comes to communication, a human component is still critical and that’s where cities, counties and school districts suffer.

While most see the benefits of having websites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, few have the budgets to hire staff to manage them. Chaska is no stranger to that conundrum. “The demand came at the same time as when we experienced no increase in resources,” said City Administrator Matt Podhradsky. That hasn’t meant that the city has ignored new technology and social media opportunities. Chaska developed its chaskamn.com website a decade ago. The city’s been represented on Facebook since 2010.

And Twitter? Well, they haven’t quite gotten to that yet. “I’d definitely like to see us doing more,” said Podhradsky, noting dreams of online utility billing among the upgrades they’d like to make. Last year, following much criticism of the city’s website, Chaska made room on the payroll to hire a part-time communications coordinator whose job duties include updating both the website and Facebook page.

Web to page 2 ®

Online government Carver Cty.

Carver

Chan

Chaska

E.P.

Victoria

Dist. 112

Dist. 272

Website started

1996

Late-90s

1996

2001

Mid-90s

90s

Late-90s

1998

Facebook*

No*

Yes/2011

Yes/2009

Yes/2010

Yes/2009

No

Yes/2010

No

Twitter

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes/2011

No

No

Yes/2003

Blogs**

No

No

No

No

No

PHOTO BY UNSIE ZUEGE

Bonnie Jean Pearson of rural Hamburg works on “Fannie’s Fan.” Behind her is “Crazy Quilt.”

No

Brushes, not needles, bring Hazeltine unveils its ‘Walking Man’ these quilts to life E-newsletters?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

* Carver County plans on launching a Facebook page. Other county entities have sites: Currently Sheriff’s Office, Parks and 4H. Park site uploads to Twitter. ** Carver mayor has personal blog. District 112 has no blog, but Chan High Principal Tim Dorway has one. E.P. school district used one for transformation taskforces.

Statue is final piece of club’s $15 million renovation project

First barn quilt to be unveiled on Aug. 6

BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO mfrancisco@swpub.com

BY UNSIE ZUEGE uzuege@swpub.com

JOIN THE CHAT SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Putting the ON WHO SERVED AS THE finishing touches “WALKING MAN” MODEL on its $15 million www.chaskaherald.com makeover, Chaska’s Hazeltine Nationa l G ol f Club unveiled a bronze statue last month that celebrates the club’s golfers. “Our intention for developing a new logo was to create an iconic image that would not only become nationally recognized, but also be profoundly symbolic of our club’s values,” said Club President Tim Rainey, in a press release. “This statue will live as a symbol of all that is good about golf at Hazeltine.” The 6-foot-tall bronze “Walking Man” statue was created by Minnesota-based relief sculptor Bill Mack. Hazeltine commissioned the statue for its private club in September 2010. It took eight months to complete and is now visible in front of the clubhouse entrance. Among his pieces, Mack most recently created bronze

Hazeltine to page 2 ®

PHOTO BY MARK W. OLSON

Hazeltine’s 6-foot-tall bronze “Walking Man” statue was unveiled to the public in late June. It stands at the entrance to the new Hazeltine clubhouse.

SEE ARTWORK THAT WILL BE DISPLAYED ON AREA BARNS

www.chaskaherald.com

Volunteers, standing in the driveway of Suzanne Thiesfeld’s Carver home, study the results of their morning quilting project. The volunteers – James Russell, Tim Mulcrone, Ginger Mulcrone, Bonnie Deardorff, Naomi Russell and Suzy Swanson – look at the “Blazing Star” quilt pattern, and discuss the color palette. Project leader Thiesfeld doesn’t like the medium blue they chose for the pattern. It doesn’t complement the other colors in the pattern. The quilters agree. After a discussion, the group agrees on a darker blue, and they begin to work on replacing the color. But, u n li ke reg u la r qui lters, there’s no seam ripping involved. Instead, they pour the dark blue paint

INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 LET’S GO/12 CALENDAR/13 SPORTS/17-18 CLASSIFIEDS/24-27 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6683 EDITOR: (952) 345-6574 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@CHASKAHERALD.COM.

PHOTOS ONLINE

Barn quilt to page 2 ®

ArtStock Who: Everyone who enjoys art, music Where: Parley Lake Winery and Deardorff Orchards, 8350 Parley Lake Road, Waconia. When: 2-7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 6. Admission is free. Highlight: Unveiling of first Barn Quilt, a countywide arts project, sponsored by the Arts Consortium of Carver County. More info: Barn Quilts of Carver County: www.barnquiltsofcarvercounty.com/ Art Stock at Parley Lake Winery: http://artsofcarvercounty.org/ artstock-2011/

OUR 149TH YEAR, NO. 46 © SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS

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