Sauk Centre Herald 07-06-2023

hole in one Holy

A different

red, white and blue

Allen from England enjoys rural America

BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER

The Fourth of July is not as big of a holiday for Ashley Allen, but the native of England has only lived in Sauk Centre for the last nine years, obtaining his American citizenship last October. While adjusting to rural American life is a constant process, he has grown to like the friendliness of the small-town community and is glad to raise a family here.

The people Allen meets do tend to notice his accent, but for some reason, they usually assume he is Australian.

PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK

Paffel, Parishes on the Prairie pastor, get out some golf clubs June 28 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. The Priest, Deacon and Seminarian Golf Outing was held at the Old Course in Sauk Centre for 25 years until it moved to Lynx National Golf Course in 1998.

Priest golf outing celebrates its 50th year

BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER

Catholic clergy from all across the St. Cloud Diocese will soon be converging for the annual Priest, Deacon and Seminarian Golf Outing, July 17 at Lynx National Golf Course south of Sauk Centre. The event is in its 50th year and has been organized by the Sauk Centre Knights of Columbus since 1999, giving the religious time to catch up over some friendly competition.

The Rev. Greg Paffel, pastor of Parishes on the Prairie – the Area Catholic Community including Sauk Centre, West Union, Belgrade, Brooten and Elrosa – has been to 22 golf outings, and this will be the third outing for the Rev. Mark Botzet, ACC parochial vicar.

Golf page 2

Not alone

“The accent has probably changed a little,” Allen said. “If I call family back home, they’ll sometimes comment, ‘Man, you sound so American.’ Obviously not, because people here can tell. Maybe it’s a weird in-the-middle thing.”

Allen was raised in the county of Kent, England, born in Canterbury and raised for most of his childhood by the seaside in the town of Ramsgate. As a high school student, he attended Chatham House Grammar School.

“When I explain it to people here, they start thinking of Harry Potter,” Allen said. “They don’t realize it’s a real thing that we actually have houses (and) different colored ties for each house.”

In England, instead of getting an overall high school diploma, high school students receive a General Certificate of Secondary Education for individual subjects they pass, and Allen graduated at 16 years old with 10 GCSEs.

Allen would often visit his United States friends in the summers, staying in Princeton, Minnesota. There, he met Lisa Becker, from Long Prairie; they married Feb. 7, 2013, and Allen moved to Minnesota.

“We got married in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory in the south of Spain,” Allen said. “(Lisa) had a large family around here, based around Long Prairie, so we moved over here.” Centre

Dementia page 3

in April 2014.

Today, they have a 2-year-old son, Mylo, and Allen works for North American Software Associates in town. The Allens try to make a trip back to England every other year, and this summer, Allen has members of his family coming to visit Sauk Centre.

Before moving to the area, one of the best pieces of advice Allen received was from a friend from Michigan who now lives in England. He told Allen that it would be unpleasant moving to a new country at first because the differences would be obvious.

“It stands out and you start getting homesick and thinking, ‘Things aren’t done right,’ because it’s different than what you’re used to,” Allen said. “I was told, ‘You just stick with it, and eventually, that will become your new normal and it becomes home.’ That was definitely the case.”

As someone who had always lived in larger cities, it was a significant adjustment for Allen to live in rural America.

“As a kid growing up, there was always plenty to do,” Allen said. “You were always hanging out with friends outside of school, playing sport, going bowling, to the movies or to the beach because I always lived near the coast. You could do that, so at first, when I moved here to Sauk Centre, I was like, there’s nothing to do and no public transport.”

Being an area high school soccer referee, Allen has gotten fairly used to not calling the sport “football,” but he is also aware of how he sometimes changes his words depending on who he is talking to.

“If I’m talking to fam-

a grandparent for instance, I know I’d have to say, ‘I was walking down the path and had to throw this in the bin,’ whereas over here, I’d say, ‘I was walking down the sidewalk, had to throw something in the trash.’ You get used to the different phrases.”

Allen does sometimes find himself correcting his English friends’ perceptions of American culture they have picked up from TV.

“You’d think every American lives in a mini-mansion somewhere in the big city or by the beach,” Allen said. “It’s definitely not like that, and no, not everyone is enjoying a road trip every other week; they don’t have the time off work to do that.”

While there is also plenty to do in America, everything is spaced farther apart than it is in England, so without public transport, driving time has to be factored into excursions. America’s historical attractions also generally do not date back as far as England’s.

“When you’re walking around London, you’ll have a 1,000-year-old castle across the street from a modern skyscraper that was built a couple of years ago,” Allen said. “You don’t have as much of the history that’s easily accessible over here.”

Allen has also noticed England to be more of a secular, liberal country while rural America tends to be more conservative and religious. Americans are broadly characterized as left- or right-leaning, but in his experience, it is not often so black and white.

“A lot more people might be somewhere in the middle,” Allen said. “Not that it doesn’t happen in England, and Brexit has definitely shown how divided people can be on certain issues in the U.K. too, but it’s a shame it’s gotten more divisive here over the

The Rev. Mark Botzet (left), Parishes on the Prairie parochial vicar, and the Rev. Greg

The Allen family – Lisa (from left), Mylo and Ashley – dress up for family photos June 27 in Sauk Centre. Ashley grew up in Ramsgate, England.

A photo shows Allen as a child in England. As a high school student, he attended Chatham House Grammar School. Allen page 3

PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK

Paula Bromenshenkel (left) and Lainie Berg, co-owners of Alternative Senior Care, hold pictures of their grandmothers who had dementia – Betty Schneider for Bromenshenkel and Sue Black for Berg – June 30 at Alternative Senior Care in Sauk Centre. A dementia support group from the Dementia Community Action Network of St. Cloud will be held at Alternative Senior Care at 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month, starting Aug. 1.

Karsyn Alexander Huston-Roehl

Alex and Kayla HustonRoehl, of Elrosa, are happy to announce the birth of their son, Karsyn Alexander Huston-Roehl, at 1:29 p.m., June 27, 2023, at CentraCare-Melrose Hospital.

He weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 19 inches long.

Welcoming him home is big brother Abel.

Grandparents are John and Aimee Huston of Elrosa and Linnae Lenz of Pennock.

Great-grandparents are Dorothy Huston and the late

Fun on the four th Fun on fourth

Elrosa.

Kortan on Mayville State’s dean’s list

MAYVILLE, NORTH DAKOTA – Dr. Brian Huschle, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Mayville State University, has announced the dean’s list for the university’s 2023 spring semester; included on the list is Sauk Centre student Nicole Kortan . In order to be named to the dean’s list, a student must earn a 3.50 GPA or higher while successfully completing a minimum of 12 graded credit hours of regular academic credit from Mayville State.

Sayovitz makes University of Wisconsin dean’s list

EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire extends congratulations to the 2,528 students named to the spring 2023 dean’s list, including Sauk Centre student Kayla Sayovitz in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The sentencing information provided for Maurice Joe Klaphake in the June 29 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald was unclear.

Klaphake was sentenced May 15 for a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction, stemming from incidents that took place over three months in 2021. He received three years of stayed prison time for the crime. Instead, he will serve 10 years’ probation and 10 years on conditional release. Klaphake will spend 90 days in jail, which may be served on electronic home monitoring. He must pay a $50 fine plus surcharges, complete individual counseling and follow recommendations, abstain from alcohol and non-prescribed mood altering substances, submit to random urinalysis testing, register as a predatory offender, not possess pornographic materials, attend a sex offender program and follow recommendations, submit to polygraph examinations and pay costs, allow random searches of residence, computer and electronic devices at the probation agent’s request, have no unsupervised contact with minors, provide a DNA sample, have no contact with victim(s) and sign releases of information.

Golf from front

“We enjoy getting together at the Lynx to swing some clubs and get some door prizes, and we usually have a nice meal,” Paffel said.

For Botzet, he usually meets up with the priests he was ordained with – the Rev. Rick Aubol and the Rev. Gregory Sauer – and they go to the outing together.

“It’s just a good time to be with our brothers and get away and talk about different things, not always regarding

the church things we do, like liturgy or planning,” Botzet said.

The golf outing was started in 1973 by Dick Polipnick and his brothers, Bob and Jim Polipnick. One of the outing’s major supporters today is Dick’s son, Phil Polipnick, who also owns his father’s business, Polipnick Insurance Agency in Sauk Centre.

Originally, the golf tournament was held at the Old Course in Sauk Centre and was named the Father Santos Tournament after an area pastor, the Rev. Vincent Santos, who retired after serving St. Anthony of Padua Church in Padua and who was an avid golfer. In the early years, golfers mostly walked and the Old Course only had a few golf carts, but Phil and his siblings helped by going around the neighborhood, borrowing carts from willing residents or asking them to lend their carts they left inside sheds on the Old Course’s property.

“Pretty much everybody along the golf course owned golf carts,” Phil said. “People (usually) didn’t want to lend out their carts too much because you’ve got all your clubs on there, your balls and your money, but when it was the priests, everyone didn’t care … and we always had plenty of carts.”

The tournament was formerly quite competitive. Everyone played their own ball and were generally skilled at the sport.

“There was this guy, ‘Lefty’ Kramer,” Phil said. “He was a left-handed priest … and I remember that guy being really good, and the scores were good. You had to shoot right around par to win.”

Paffel was first invited to the golf outing as a seminarian, and he remembers having a wonderful time golfing with priests.

“Seeing how well some priests could play, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m not qualified to be a priest,’” Paffel said. “They used to serve prime rib dinner afterward to all of the priests, which was a pretty good treat.”

In recent years, the tournament has been more of a golf outing, less competitive and more informal. There have also been fewer priests in attendance, reflective of their declining numbers in the St. Cloud Diocese. The outing also moved from the Old Course to Lynx National Golf Course in 1998, soon after its opening.

Management of the tournament passed to Phil in 1999, who in turn asked the Sauk Centre Knights of Columbus if they could handle it, and they have ever since.

“In ’99, I would’ve had my second kid, and I’m trying to run the (insurance) business,” Polipnick said. “I’m just not keeping up, so I turned to these guys and said, ‘Hey, can you help me?’”

The golf outing has always been held the first Monday after the Fourth of July, but it has been changed to July 17 this year so the Rev. Patrick Neary, bishop of the St. Cloud Diocese, can attend.

Along with Phil and the Knights of Columbus councils in the St. Cloud Diocese, another major supporter of the golf outing is Ryan Boerboom, who supplies candles, wine, hosts and other items to local churches. An evening meal after the outing will be provided by Tutti Fruitti Restaurant and Market Farm. The outing is still in need of donors, though, financially and in terms of golfing supplies such as golf balls.

Paffel and Botzet, as well as the other priests of the diocese, are grateful to these volunteers and donors for giving them this recreational opportunity – for half a century.

“It’s a time to get away –not too far away – to be with my brother priests,” Botzet said. “It’s nice to get away and do something together.”

Karsyn Alexander Huston-Roehl Byron Huston of Sauk Centre and Stan and Evie Stalboerger of

PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK

Steve and Laurie Holman prepare a root beer float outside of Schaefer’s Market for the Scoops for Troops fundraiser June 30 in Sauk Centre. The event, sponsored by Sauk Centre’s United Methodist Church, was held June 30 and July 1, accepting donations for Eagle’s Healing Nest in Sauk Centre.

Sauk Centre

POLICE ACTIVITY

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN

that default has occurred in the conditions of the following described mortgage:

2020

PRINCIPAL

OF MORTGAGE: $191,369.00 MORTGAGOR(S): Drake Mudrow, a single man

Mortgage

Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for Broker Solutions, Inc. dba New American Funding, its successors and assigns DATE AND PLACE OF RECORDING:

Recorded: July 28, 2020, Stearns County Recorder Document Number: A1575562 LOAN MODIFICATION: Dated: February 20, 2021 Recorded: March 1, 2021 Document Number: A1595476 ASSIGNMENTS OF MORTGAGE: And assigned to: U.S. Bank National Association Dated: November 23, 2020 Recorded: November 25, 2020, Stearns County Recorder Document Number: A1586886 Transaction Agent: Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that default has occurred in the conditions of the following described mortgage:

DATE OF MORTGAGE: January 15, 2021

ORIGINAL PRINCIPAL

AMOUNT OF MORTGAGE:

$426,788.00

MORTGAGOR(S): James Whiley and Darcy Whiley, spouses married to each other MORTGAGEE: Mortgage

Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC, its successors and assigns

DATE AND PLACE OF RECORDING:

Recorded: March 10, 2021, Stearns County Recorder

Document Number: A1596445

assist on I-94, mile marker 129

01:19 hrs – Suspicious activity on 1100 block of Main St. S

07:45 hrs – Fingerprint on 300 block of Oak St. S

08:43 hrs – Suspicious activity on 200 block of 12th St. S

10:36 hrs – Found property on 1100 block of Main St. S

10:56 hrs – Park patrol on 100 block of Hickman Dr.

12:47 hrs – Verbal dispute on 1200 block of Getty St.

14:36 hrs – Lift assist on 400 block of Birch St. S

17:33 hrs – Fraud on 300 block

ASSIGNMENTS OF MORTGAGE: And assigned to: CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC

Dated: May 4, 2023

Recorded: May 9, 2023, Stearns County Recorder

Document Number: A1652666

Transaction Agent: Mortgage

Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC, its successors and assigns

Transaction Agent Mortgage

Identification Number: 1007191-0000900693-1

Lender/Broker/Mortgage

Originator: CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC

Residential Mortgage Servicer:

Ave.

10:58 hrs – Harassment restraining order violation on Main St.

13:34 hrs – No pay customer on 1000 block of Centre St.

14:24 hrs – Property damage on 500 block of Sinclair Lewis Ave.

19:14 hrs – Personal assist on 500 block of Birch St. S

19:42 hrs – Loud music complaint on 500 block of 8th St. S

20:26 hrs – Park patrol in Sinclair Lewis Park

21:57 hrs – Fireworks on 7th St. S/Pine St. S

22:14 hrs – Matter of information on 1200 block of Getty St.

23:46

OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE

NOTICE

Transaction Agent Mortgage Identification Number: 1003763-0300354802-3 Lender/Broker/Mortgage

Originator: Broker Solutions, Inc. dba New American Funding Residential Mortgage Servicer: U.S. Bank National Association COUNTY IN WHICH PROPERTY IS LOCATED: Stearns Property Address: 413 5th Ave S, Sartell, MN 56377 Tax Parcel ID Number: 92.57074.0354

LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: Lot 2, Block 4, Sartell Heights South Plat Two, Stearns County, Minnesota AMOUNT DUE AND CLAIMED TO BE DUE AS OF DATE OF NOTICE: $200,793.89 THAT all pre-foreclosure requirements have been complied with; that no action or proceeding has been instituted at law or otherwise to recover the debt secured by said mortgage, or any part thereof; that this is registered property; PURSUANT to the power of sale contained in said mortgage, the above-described property will be sold by the Sheriff of said county as follows: DATE AND TIME OF SALE:

August 01, 2023, at 10:00 AM PLACE OF SALE: County Sheriff`s office, Law Enforcement Center, 807 Courthouse Square, St. Cloud, Minnesota to pay the debt secured by said mortgage and taxes, if any, on said premises and the costs and disbursements, including attorney fees allowed by law, subject to redemption within six (6) months from the date of said sale by the mortgagor(s), their personal representatives or assigns.

If the Mortgage is not reinstated under Minn. Stat. §580.30 or the property is not redeemed under Minn. Stat. §580.23, the Mortgagor must vacate the property on or before 11:59 p.m. on February 1, 2024, or the next business day if February 1, 2024, falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

Mortgagor(s) released from financial obligation: NONE THIS COMMUNICATION IS FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. THE RIGHT TO VERIFICATION OF THE DEBT AND IDENTITY OF

NOTICE OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE

CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC COUNTY IN WHICH

PROPERTY IS LOCATED: Stearns Property Address: 13001 Bayview Rd, South Haven, MN 55382

Tax Parcel ID Number: 09.05441.0000

LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: Part of Government Lot Four (4), in Section One (1), Township One Hundred Twenty-one (121) North, Range Twenty-eight (28), West, and also part of Southeast Quarter of Southeast Quarter (SE1/4 SE1/4) of Section Two (2), in Township 121 North, Range 28 West, described as follows: Beginning at Southeast Corner of Section 2, Township 121 North, Range 28 West, thence North 89°49` West on South line thereof, 187.0 feet, thence North 05°19` East 97.33 feet; thence South 86°03` East, 363 feet, more or less, to shoreline of Clearwater Lake; thence Southeasterly on said shoreline to South line of said Government Lot Four (4), thence South 89°07` West on said South line 264 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning, Stearns County, Minnesota AMOUNT DUE AND CLAIMED TO BE DUE

AS OF DATE OF NOTICE: $429,917.28

THAT all pre-foreclosure requirements have been complied with; that no action or proceeding has been instituted

at law or otherwise to recover the debt secured by said mortgage, or any part thereof; that this is registered property; PURSUANT to the power of sale contained in said mortgage, the above-described property will be sold by the Sheriff of said county as follows:

DATE AND TIME OF SALE:

August 08, 2023, at 10:00 AM

PLACE OF SALE: County Sheriff`s office, Law Enforcement Center, 807 Courthouse Square, St. Cloud, Minnesota to pay the debt secured by said mortgage and taxes, if any, on said premises and the costs and disbursements, including attorney fees allowed by law, subject to redemption within six (6) months from the date of said sale by the mortgagor(s), their personal representatives or assigns.

If the Mortgage is not reinstated under Minn. Stat. §580.30 or the property is not redeemed under Minn. Stat. §580.23, the Mortgagor must vacate the property on or before 11:59 p.m. on February 8, 2024, or the next business day if February 8, 2024, falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

Mortgagor(s) released from financial obligation: NONE THIS COMMUNICATION IS FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT

NOTICE OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE

THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY LAW IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION. THE TIME ALLOWED BY LAW FOR REDEMPTION BY THE MORTGAGOR, THE MORTGAGOR’S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OR ASSIGNS, MAY BE REDUCED TO FIVE WEEKS IF A JUDICIAL ORDER IS ENTERED UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 582.032, DETERMINING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE MORTGAGED PREMISES ARE IMPROVED WITH A RESIDENTIAL DWELLING OF LESS THAN FIVE UNITS, ARE NOT PROPERTY USED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND ARE ABANDONED.

DATED: June 12, 2023

MORTGAGEE: U.S. Bank National Association Wilford, Geske & Cook, P.A. Attorneys for Mortgagee 7616 Currell Boulevard, Suite 200 Woodbury, MN 55125 (651) 209-3300 File Number: 051936-F5 H-24-6B

PURPOSE. THE RIGHT TO VERIFICATION OF THE DEBT AND IDENTITY OF THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY LAW IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION. THE TIME ALLOWED BY LAW FOR REDEMPTION BY THE MORTGAGOR, THE MORTGAGOR’S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OR ASSIGNS, MAY BE REDUCED TO FIVE WEEKS IF A JUDICIAL ORDER IS ENTERED UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 582.032, DETERMINING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE MORTGAGED PREMISES ARE IMPROVED WITH A RESIDENTIAL DWELLING OF LESS THAN FIVE UNITS, ARE NOT PROPERTY USED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND ARE ABANDONED.

DATED: June 16, 2023

MORTGAGEE: CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC Wilford, Geske & Cook, P.A. Attorneys for Mortgagee 7616 Currell Boulevard, Suite 200 Woodbury, MN 55125 (651) 209-3300 File Number: 052877-F1 H-25-6B

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that default has occurred in the conditions of the following described mortgage:

DATE OF MORTGAGE: April 28, 2005 ORIGINAL PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF MORTGAGE: $184,680.00

MORTGAGOR(S): Sara A. Balfanz and Chad S. Balfanz, Wife and Husband MORTGAGEE: Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for Marketplace Home Mortgage, LLC, its successors and assigns DATE AND PLACE OF RECORDING: Recorded: April 29, 2005, Stearns

Originator: Marketplace Home Mortgage, LLC Residential Mortgage Servicer: Nationstar Mortgage LLC COUNTY IN WHICH PROPERTY IS LOCATED: Stearns Property Address: 1761 Forest Glen Dr, Saint Augusta, MN 56301 Tax Parcel ID Number: 81.43168.0597

LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF

PROPERTY: Lot Two (2), Block Six (6), Blackberry Farms, according to the plat and survey thereof on file and of record in the office of the County Recorder in and for Stearns County, Minnesota

AMOUNT DUE AND CLAIMED TO BE DUE

AS OF DATE OF NOTICE:

$242,467.69

THAT all pre-foreclosure requirements have been complied with; that no action or proceeding has been instituted at law or otherwise to recover the debt secured by said mortgage, or any part thereof; that this is registered property;

Lender/Broker/Mortgage

PURSUANT to the power of sale contained in said mortgage, the above-described property will be sold by the Sheriff of said county as follows:

DATE AND TIME OF SALE:

July 25, 2023, at 10:00 AM

PLACE OF SALE: County Sheriff`s office, Law Enforcement Center, 807 Courthouse Square, St. Cloud, Minnesota to pay the debt secured by said mortgage and taxes, if any, on said premises and the costs and disbursements, including attorney fees allowed by law, subject to redemption within six (6) months from the date of said sale by the mortgagor(s), their personal representatives or assigns. If the Mortgage is not reinstated under Minn. Stat. §580.30 or the property is not redeemed under Minn. Stat.

§580.23, the Mortgagor must vacate the property on or before 11:59 p.m. on January 25, 2024, or the next business day if January 25, 2024, falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

Mortgagor(s) released from financial obligation: NONE THIS COMMUNICATION IS FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

THE RIGHT TO VERIFICATION OF THE DEBT AND IDENTITY OF THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY LAW IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION.

THE TIME ALLOWED BY LAW FOR REDEMPTION BY THE MORTGAGOR, THE MORTGAGOR’S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OR ASSIGNS, MAY BE REDUCED TO FIVE WEEKS IF A JUDICIAL ORDER IS ENTERED UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 582.032, DETERMINING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE MORTGAGED PREMISES ARE IMPROVED WITH A RESIDENTIAL DWELLING OF LESS THAN FIVE UNITS, ARE NOT PROPERTY USED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND ARE ABANDONED.

Death by dishes

Death by dishes. Could it really happen?

I know I’m being dramatic, but honestly, I feel like dishes, laundry and life have taken over.

I’m sending out an SOS. So, if you see me crying or sleeping somewhere please bring coffee.

Last week, I shared all that I love about summer; however, summer chaos brings more than just joy. Summer chaos brings busy schedules without much rest, unless you intentionally schedule some in. I would highly suggest doing just that. It is so important to rest and reset.

With all of the fun activities to do and places to visit, it isn’t hard to overcommit yourself. We really only get three to four months to fit it all in, here in Minnesota. I have learned that, when I overcommit, this leads to some serious burnout.

This is where my death by dishes, laundry and life comes in. The past few weeks have been a flurry of run here and do this, and I can certainly tell. Laundry and dishes have piled up. I feel like I’m cleaning dishes, counters and just about every space whenever I am home. And, when I’m not home, it’s go, go, go. This has led to some anxiety-filled evenings that have in turn snowballed into

too many sleepless nights.

Oh, and it doesn’t stop there. After several weeks of running on what seems like fumes, my body has gotten really good at telling me it’s time to slow down. It seems like the older I get, the more quickly my body and soul say, “Whoa, now wait a gosh darn minute.”

My chest feels tight, breathing seems short, I’m tired all of the time but still can’t sleep and nothing seems to go right.

I’ve struggled off and on with bouts of anxiety and depression for years. Some bouts have been easier to pull through than others, but I can honestly say I learn something new about myself each time.

I’m thankful for the great, God-given family, friends and medical professionals who help to bring perspective to so many of life’s challenges.

So, I guess for now, while my brain is trying to navigate some murky waters, I will try to give my troubles up to God and let go.

I cannot be everything to everyone all of the time, and that is OK. Remember what the flight crew said on your last flight? Put your oxygen mask on first in an emergency. You do no good to anyone else if you’re passed out.

around the county

It’s hard to believe the Fourth of July is upon us, and summer is in full swing. There have been many community events, church functions, graduation parties and anniversaries that have taken place in the past four weeks since school has recessed for the summer. It is enjoyable getting out and participating in the events throughout the county. As a county commissioner, it gets challenging to make it to all events I get invited to or that are happening, but I will continue to strive to join as many as possible.

At the beginning of June, I had the privilege of participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new poultry and rabbit barn at the Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre. This will be an awesome improvement the fair board has been working on for a few years. As you are reading this article, the exterior of the building should be finished, and the final touches will be put on before the 2023 fair opens at the end of July. There will also be a barn dance at the new facility from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, July 14, sponsored by the Stearns County Farm Bureau, with food, music and activities for all, including children. You can view the construction on the Stearns County website.

Commissioner’s Corner by Steve Notch

Fool’s gold

So, I’m sitting in this waiting room, doing exactly that: waiting. I have an interview with somebody who’s not yet done with a client, and they’re helping her with some paperwork at the front desk. I’m behind them – simultaneously daydreaming, book plotting, day planning and listening to my perpetual mental orchestra – when the client turns around and recognizes me.

“I read your stuff in the paper,” she said, no doubt referencing my columns. “Sometimes, it’s pretty silly. Don’t mean much to us, you know.”

If you’re reading this, dear client, know that you are one of the few forces in my life who has made my mental orchestra stop dead. In fact, as soon as you turned around again, I wrote down what you said, word for word, and here I am now, dedicating a whole column to it. In case you don’t want to suffer through this whole diatribe, I’ll summarize my main point here: Yes, I do tend to write silly things, but that’s exactly why it should mean something.

Let’s rewind back to the mid-2000s, where I’m sitting somewhere else – this time, in a college auditorium for the annual recital for my piano teacher’s students. Being the untalented musician I am, I was placed early on the program; that’s great for my anxiety, sure, but then you’ve got to remain in your seat while everyone else performs in a spectacle that takes, by my preteen estimation, about three and a half weeks. My truly skilled classmates are belting out Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, any number of classic composers, and as far as I can tell, they all wrote the exact same piece.

In one of these concerts, listening with the same enthrallment as a businessman does to elevator music, I swear an oath to myself: I will never play a piece that puts somebody to sleep. That’s how I ended up selecting mostly jazz pieces for the rest of my piano career, and I’d be lying if I said that mentality didn’t leak into my oeuvre as a writer. In my opinion, jazz is to music what humor is to writing. Both take the established rhythm and riff on it in a new and unexpected way; after all, what is humor but turning something on its head to get a new, unexpected perspective? And, based on that definition, what is laughter if not the sound of someone’s mind expanding?

Another issue that has been of concern to landowners in my part of Stearns County has been the re-establishment of the original railroad corridor from Albany to Brooten. Part of this is currently an ag lime/gravel trail starting west of New Munich and concluding west of Elrosa, known as the Dairyland Trail. When the railroad vacated the property, the control of this corridor was turned over to the Stearns County Regional Railroad Authority and leased to the Stearns County Parks Department. Most of the corridor is 100 feet wide or 50 feet on either side of the center line of the trail.

Meetings were held earlier this spring with discus-

sions on what arrangements could be worked out between adjoining landowners who were either farming or using the rail corridor property. The compromise, for the most part, would be to allow some haying of the corridor but no row cropping as to maintain a grass or natural buffer on the corridor. Any farmland currently in hay can continue to be harvested until the landowner decides to take it out of production, at which time the county will mark the legal boundary. I appreciate everyone working together to resolve issues relating to this matter. Maybe one day, there will be a trail from Albany to Brooten so residents can meander out that way and see that part of Stearns County up close.

I will also be part of a new subcommittee that will look at reviewing the county’s accessory structures segment of the current Land Use and Zoning Ordinance. The goal is to have a subcommittee made up of township supervisors, a board of adjustment member, a planning commission member, two county commissioners and staff. Some of the issues we will be reviewing are the size of accessory structures, which are currently limited by the size of the lot or parcel, allowing residential accessory structures on lots with no residential building entitlement, limiting to no more than one story and prohibiting or allowing water using devices in the structures.

Requests have come forward to create small parcels that would be allowed to have an accessory structure for maybe boats, campers or other items that people would like stored inside without renting from a storage facility. If changes are proposed, the county will have a public hearing to garner input from residents before changes are adopted. If anyone has an idea or opinion, please reach out to me, and I will bring it forward during our committee discussion. Contact me at 320-248-3605 or steve.notch@stearnscountymn.gov. Have a safe and enjoyable summer.

Now, for those of you hoping for perpetually serious fare, it doesn’t help your cause that the entire world is an inherently silly place. This is a planet where the multispecies quilt that is the platypus exists, but the unicorn, a simple horse with a horn, does not. We can map outer space with more ease than we can the bottom of our own oceans.

And that’s just the natural stuff; human beings make things at least twice as weird, and we’re not even trying. G.K. Chesterton, in his essay “On Running After One’s Hat” – one of my favorite essays of all time – made the following observation: “Man is a very comic creature, and most of the things he does are comic – eating, for instance. And the most comic things of all are exactly the things that are most worth doing – such as making love. A man running after a hat is not half so ridiculous as a man running after a wife.”

Then, there’s the business of starting nations; we just celebrated the anniversary of a bunch of farmers and tradesmen who defied a global war machine. That’s about as silly as it gets.

In summary, when I use humor in writing, not only do I find it an efficient method of getting someone’s attention, but I also see it to be a more accurate representation of the world as a whole. I don’t demand everyone on earth become a comedian; serious people serve the important function of balancing out my insanity with practicality. However, I do ask for the serious to not dismiss the value of a little nonsense now and then. I make this request for your sake, mind you. If you don’t, you never know when an inoffensive remark of yours will become the basis of an entire column.

Life Hacks

By Missy Traeger

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