PINE CITY
THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017 VOL. 132 NO. 17 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
SWING AND A HIT: Baseball bats come to life as Dragons bash Braham. P7
County OKs $4.25m in construction expenses BY AILENE CROUP NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
JUDY WOLF | THE PIONEER
Super-daughters dance with their heroes
Pine County officials have taken their last step toward planning construction of a new county building by authorizing the sale of general obligation bonds for construction and improvements. With only four of the five commissioners present at last Tuesday’s regular county board meeting, the board voted 4-0 in favor of a resolution to sell bonds to finance a new Health and Human Services (HHS) building. The bond resolution authorizes a total of $4,250,000 to pay for construction of the Sandstone HHS facility and includes a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) to make repairs to existing county buildings. The first step was discussion and planning for the building. It began in the facilities committee meetings in 2016, said County Engineer Mark LeBrun. During board meetings, commissioners discussed the need for a new building and how it would be used. Then a public hearing was scheduled last month and published in the county’s official newspaper. The board listened to comments and answered questions about the proposed project at the public hearing before voting to approve the bond. Commissioner Steve Chaffee was absent.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in-training Jared and Annika Clementson joined a gym full of celebrants for a superhero-themed Father Daughter-Dance on April 22.
SEE COUNTY, PAGE 6
Local history group celebrates rural schools BY TANYA STARINETS NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
On April 23, the Pine City Area History Association (PCAHA) held a meeting titled “Remembering Rural Schools.” More than 50 people were in attendance, and a large number of them had attended rural schools themselves. This common heritage brought them together on this sunny Sunday afternoon to the Pine City Public Library to reminisce, to learn, and to savor shared moments of recognition with friends, neighbors and compatriots. The meeting started the same way that the morning would start at the schools: with the Pledge
of Allegiance and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner. The first school in Pine County was in the Chengwatana Village. It was established in 1869, and stood where the Pine Government Center is located. In 1894, the district was reorganized and the school was moved three miles to the Hustletown area. It was known as Chengwatana or Wanous School. The land was donated by Henry Kruse. It served the community for 25 years. The first teacher in Hustletown District Number 69 was Miss Agnes Glanville. District number 69 was organized in 1905. The building has been moved to Pine City on Aug. 4, 1971, and restored
as a Rural School Museum. In 1893 the Webster School was built on the present elementary school site. It housed the first high school in Pine County. By 1903 it was overcrowded, and two wings had to be added. In 1914 the first purpose built high school in the county was built in Pine City. At one time Pine County consisted of 125 districts, with individual rural schools. The reorganization act of 1947 set up procedures for consolidating districts within a county. At that time there were 7,601 districts. The mandatory dissolution act of 1967 forced districts TANYA STARINETS | THE PIONEER
SEE RURAL SCHOOLS, PAGE 11
The first school in Pine County was established in 1869.
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