ountry C cres A
A Supplement to the Star Shopper
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Friday, May 19, 2017 • Edition 7
Craig’s rock picking crew Classmates remember friend who loved family, farm, football By CAROL MOORMAN Staff Writer ST. ROSA – It was a perfect day for picking rocks on Saturday, May 6. Walking the blackened fields, under bright blue skies, on Mike and Brenda Wiechmann’s St. Rosa farm were more than a dozen of their son, Craig’s, classmates. Craig’s brother Adam drove tractor. Five years earlier the classmates, Melrose Area High School seniors at the time,
PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
Adam Wiechmann drives the tractor while rock pickers walk down a field just after 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 6. Classmates gathered to help in memory of their friend, Craig Wiechmann.
did the same thing, three short months after Craig passed away, on Feb. 11, 2012, after a silo incident. “We’re gonna pick some rocks, socialize and drink some beer,” said Tyler Schmidt, Craig’s close friend, who organized the rock picking event.
Mike and Brenda Wiechmann gave and received hugs from their son’s classmates as they chatted before picking rocks. Classmates also reminisced about their friend. Schmidt got to know Craig when they were in middle
school. He said sports and being active were a huge priority for Craig. “It was always go, go, go with Craig,” Schmidt said. “He was a guy that never judged or thought differently of anyone. I felt I could have had open discussions with Craig about any-
thing.” They played softball together. Their parents had cabins on the same lake, and they spent many weekends on the lake. Before Craig had his accident Tyler decided he was going to North Dakota State University in Fargo, and Craig was considering going to college in Fergus Falls, where he would also play football. “It was not official, but we were hoping it would happen, knowing Fargo and Fergus Falls were not that far apart,” Tyler said. Dustin Leukam said Craig was a “pick-me-up kind of guy and a hugger.” Brandon Kurtz agreed. Dustin Kalthoff said Craig “would bust his butt to get something done.” There were 116 students in the Melrose Area Class of 2012. “We were a tight-knit group, who always had fun during get-togethers,” Schmidt
WIECHMANN continued on page 4
PHOTO BY LAURA HINTZEN
A loon makes itself at home on a 6- by 6-foot raft, which Bud and Pat Moening made for the birds that fly back from the Gulf of Mexico after winter. The Moenings live on Little Birch Lake near Grey Eagle.
Loon-a-tics Moenings provide nesting rafts for state birds By LAURA HINTZEN Staff Writer GREY EAGLE – There are approximately 12,000 loons that make their homes for the
summer on nearly 13,000 lakes in Minnesota each year. In the continental U.S., Minnesota has more loons than any other state. Luckily, Bud and Pat Moening of Grey Eagle, reside on
Little Birch Lake where loons have nested on rafts the Moenings have made for more than 35 years. In fact, one loon pair has come back for the past 15 years. The reason they keep coming back to Little Birch Lake, year after year, is evident. When the loons arrive in early May, they are welcomed home to four, 6-by 6-foot nesting rafts which the Moenings have helped construct and help place in the water for them to
use. Neighbors even call the Moenings the, “loon-a-tics,” because of their love for loons. “Every bit of the loons is a pleasure and a treat for us, but seeing them up close is what we like most about loons on Little Birch,” Pat said. The rafts are made out of PVC pipe, along with fencing fastened around them and Styrofoam sheeting for insulation, and to help them float. The rafts are extremely light and reusable, and are anchored by
cement blocks. “We’ve known they like stuff on of the nest like cattails or straw, which works really well,” Pat said. “If we don’t put it on, they don’t use the nest. They also like the nest to be right where it was the year before.” Finding that correct placement has been a process of trial and error.
MOENING continued on page 6