PINE CITY
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2015 VOL. 130 NO. 22
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THANK YOU TEACHERS: Retiring teachers say farewell to Pine City Schools. P11
MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
Mulford spoke at a welcoming ceremony at PTCC on May 21.
Joe Mulford named new After nearly a century, hero PTCC president MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
We remember
A young man listens to speakers honor the veterans who fought and fell in defense of our country’s freedom. Despite misting rain, the crowds came out to watch the May 25 parade, and many also came to the Pine City Memorial Day ceremony at Birchwood Cemetery.
BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
awarded Purple Heart BY CJ GUSTAFSON NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
Pine City’s Kathy Marenchin has always had an interest in history, but she had no idea that her digging would lead to t he long-overdue honoring of a World War I hero with a Purple Heart. Researching her family tree was interesting to Marenchin, especially since online sites like Ancestry.com have made it easier to do. Her parents and grandparents never really talked about their relatives and where they came from, so she wasn’t sure what she would find when she first started looking into her family’s past. When she first started researching in 2009, Marenchin learned that a d istant cousin had already done a fairly thorough job of mapping the history on her father’s side, so she decided to f ocus on her mother’s side: the Millers and
Pine Technical and Community College’s next president, Joe Mulford, will start on July 1, but he spent May 21 meeting with community members and college staff in Pine City. Thomas Renier, chair of t he Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of T rustees, introduced Mulford, but first thanked outgoing PTCC President Robert Musgrove for his 17 years of service. “Those years have been a transformative time for Pine, and President Musgrove has led that transformation,” Renier said. “[PTCC has] earned a well-deserved reputation as a college that knows how to build partnerships, knows how to secure friends and knows how to create innovative programs. That’s an outstanding legacy.” Renier described how the college and the community got involved in the process at listening sessions and meetings with the candidates. “You helped us understand how you saw him as a president of t his very special college,” Renier said. “You told us that Joe is approachable, genuine and passionate about rural colleges. Your confidence in Joe Mulford gave us confidence.” Mulford said he hadn’t prepared any remarks. “I intentionally didn’t write a sp eech for this, because I just wanted to speak from the heart,” Mulford said. “I feel like the luckiest guy that there is.... to have
the Bells. Unfortunately, a 19 21 fire in the Commerce Department building in Washington, DC had destroyed many of t he census records pertaining to her mother’s family. Marenchin’s mother was getting on in years and didn’t remember many details, but together they were able to turn up a bit of information on Thomas Bell, a great uncle of M arenchin’s – h er grandmother’s brother. It turned out that Bell had served in the 43rd Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Corps Regiment during World War I a nd had lost his life at the infamous Battle of Belleau Wood. This confrontation, which took place approximately 60 miles outside of Pa ris, lasted for nearly a month and was one of the bloodiest battles in the war. It became legendary because of the PHOTO PROVIDED
SEE PURPLE HEART, PAGE 7
Thomas Bell in uniform.
SEE MULFORD, PAGE 7
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