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PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #861
Veterans Tab page 1B
New Look. Same Local Coverage since 1854. Vol. 163, No. 31
Saturday, November 11, 2017
11 2nd Ave. N., Unit 103, Sauk Rapids, Benton County, MN 56379
It all started with history class Maier serves in National Guard BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS – Mitchell Maier was an average middle school student not too many years ago, attending classes like physical education, language arts and science at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School. But it was history class that ended up changing his life. “We were learning about different wars, and I decided to branch off on my own and do extensive research on World War II,” Maier said. “Then, I researched other wars and became fascinated. Even as a kid, I always wanted to play army and play with toy guns. So from that point in history class, I knew I wanted to be in the service.” Now, he is living out the dreams of his middle school
self. Maier joined the National Guard before graduating high school in 2015. “I was in high school, and I just thought to myself that I should probably enlist, because it was something I wanted to do when I was younger,” Maier said. Maier enlisted in the 1st Combined Arms Battalion - 194th Armor Regiment between his junior and senior year of high school and was part of the Recruitment Sustainment Program at Camp Ripley during his senior year of high school. “That was a once a month, and I had to do it before I did basic training,” Maier said. “Up there, they drilled us like they would at basic. It was a year-round program. Because I got two friends enlisted, I actually got promoted twice.” Maier said it was an interesting experience
PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Mitchell Maier (right) is a member of the U.S. Army National Guard. He trained as part of the U.S. Army National Guard with one of his best friends, SPC Aaron Rhodes, in the Mojave Desert.
managing his military responsibilities with those of being a high school student. “Juggling homework and going to drill was challenging at times,” Maier said. “I actually chose early graduation from high school, since I had enough credits to do that. I stopped going to high school two or three months before actual graduation.” Five days after graduation, on June 1, Maier was shipped to basic training in Fort Benning, Ga. He was
there until Oct. 2. “When I got back, I switched jobs, and I’ve been working at Woodcraft [Industries Inc.] ever since,” Maier said. “I still do drill once a month.” In addition to reporting one weekend a month, Maier has completed a one-week drill with his unit, which was an extension of a weekend drill, and he spent a month during the summer of 2016 at the National Training Center in the Mojave Desert in Fort
Irwin, Calif. The training in the Mojave Desert is an annual occurrence. “While we were training there, it was treated like a deployment,” Maier said. “There were sensors on all of our vehicles and all of our weapons. It was pretty much a giant game of laser tag besides the fact that all of our weapons had blanks. If we needed food, water or supplies, we had to radio up to our supply people. If the enemy took out our supply
Rice Police Department begins joins data Dusosky quilting business sharing group BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
RICE — The Rice Police Department will have increased access to data following the city council’s decision to enter into a joint powers agreement with the Regional Criminal Tracking and Analysis Group Nov. 6. The decision came at the regularly scheduled meeting. According to Rice Police Chief Ross Hamann, the RCTAG was established by the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office a number of years ago as a resource to share data with other agencies to identify patterns in criminal activity. Over time, the number of agencies committed to the organization has increased to 17 with more coming on board this year. Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Sauk Rapids Police Department and the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force are all local affiliates with the group reaching as far as Isanti County. “The people who commit the crimes that we are dealing with are obviously committing them in the next city down or even a couple counties away,” Hamann said. Joining the group comes
Rice City Council page 2 PUBLIC NOTICES • Probate of Will Margaret E. Dirks: pg. 9 • Assumed Name - AAA/Able Drain Cleaning: pg. 9 • Sauk Rapids City Council: pg. 9 • City of Rice: pg. 9 • Public Storage: pg. 9 • Benton County Summary Financial Statement: pgs. 7-9
SAUK RAPIDS — Quilting has not always came easy for Destiny Dusosky. “We had just moved to St. Cloud and my husband was playing video games,” said Dusosky, of her initial experience with the fabric art. “I went to the craft store and purchased a bunch of supplies to make a quilt. The first time I used a rotary blade, I ended up cutting myself and in the emergency room.” After slicing open her wrist with the small fabric cutter, the then 18-yearold Dusosky packed up the materials and quit the quilting endeavor. Fast forward 20 years and another accident — a happy accident — has propelled the Sauk Rapids resident into a quilting frenzy. Following a request
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Destiny Dusosky stands in the basement of her home Nov. 1 where her new business, Bound to be Quilted, provides quilting services to others.
from her daughter to make a quilt, Dusosky has not only completed her first quilt, but has finished over 15 blankets, has started her own business, and is set to have a
pattern published in a national magazine. “This was kind of an accident,” said Dusosky, who is employed as a maintenance worker at St. Cloud State
University. “This wasn’t planned. I just decided to throw together a quilt one day. Now here I am nine months later, and in March [2018] I will have a pattern published
vehicles, we had to wait for supplies.” Maier recalls a period of time where he was eating less than two MREs [Meals Ready to Eat] a day and having to ration his water. “We still certainly train hard because we have to, but it’s a little bit more laid back than basic training was,” Maier said. “As long as you are where you are supposed to be on time, you usually don’t
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in Quilty.” The 37-year old has launched a longarm quilting business named Bound to be Quilted. Dusosky’s business operates from her home and grew out of necessity after Quilty accepted Dusosky’s design for print. “I was told by the magazine company that they had accepted the pattern, but that I needed to finish the quilt to ship it to them (for photos),” Dusosky said. “They need a finished quilt to picture with the pattern. The pattern was already written. That wasn’t a problem.” Dusosky’s dilemma was finding someone who could finish her quilt for her in a timely matter. “I needed to get somebody to put those three layers together,” Dusosky said. Quilts are comprised of three fabric sections — the backing, the batting [cotton,
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Earning the lead Hoeschen to play Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors” BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS – A cut on his finger and Jacob Hoeschen finds success. At least on stage. Hoeschen was cast in the lead role of Seymour for the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School’s fall musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” PHOTOS BY ANNA SALDANA Over the past several weeks Jacob Hoeschen, playing the role of Seymour, talks to a plant, of rehearsal, Hoeschen has one of many scenes in the SRRHS fall musical “Little Shop grown to love his character. of Horrors.”
“He’s kind of a loser and very poor and then he gets into this flower shop,” Hoeschen said. “I really like that he’s kind of a nerd with his plants and things, and he slowly builds up his confidence as the play progresses. He reminds me a lot of myself in that way.” As rehearsals progress into the first performances this weekend, Hoeschen is indeed building up his confidence. Playing the role of Seymour
is Hoeschen’s first major role in a play or musical. “I didn’t expect this role,” Hoeschen said. “I freaked out like a giddy school girl when I got the part. I immediately texted all of my family and was on cloud nine for two days straight. I was shocked but this has been a great experience.” Hoeschen has spent countless hours researching the role and getting into Seymour’s mind. “I went out and bought both versions of the movie,” he said. “The original version
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