A generous community works to put Hopkins schoolhouse back together again

BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER REGIONAL STAFF WRITER

If it takes a village to raise a child, it might take a village to restore a schoolhouse as well.

Luckily, the people of Hugo are up to the task as they set their sights on transforming the Hopkins Schoolhouse from dilapidated eyesore to treasured community space.

It will be a long road, but Hugo citizens are up for the challenge. Liz Cinqueonce is one of the Hugo residents working to establish a new nonprofit to manage the restoration of the property into what will eventually become the Hopkins Schoolhouse and Heritage Center. The timeline for the restoration is estimated at 6-8 years, hopefully pairing the 2028 centennial celebration of the building with its grand opening.

The committee envisions five major uses for the site: historical displays, education displays, community engagement and leadership programs, a meeting space and a significant stop along the Hardwood Creek Regional Trail.

But it takes more than a strong interest in history and community to get a big project like this one done. Doug Amundson and his son DJ Amundson are the owners of Precise Exteriors, a roofing and siding business that provided some much-needed repairs at Cinqueonce’s home. She asked whether the pair would have an interest in restoring the schoolhouse’s roof, and the answer was a resounding yes.

“It’s history, that’s why I want to get involved,” Amundson said. “This is my community. It’s very important to get that done, and the city agreed and allowed them to take the next steps. It shouldn’t be demolished. Originally the city was thinking it would take a million and a half dollars to get this done; I kind of laughed because I know what things cost.”

Amundson and his team got to work last fall to make the roof temporarily watertight using heavy-duty tarps. Their next project, once the winter weather has relented, will be to fully redo the roof, using materials that match the ones already existing on the schoolhouse as closely as possible. What’s more, they did the project at no cost other than materials, and have offered to do the same for the permanent roofing.

The schoolhouse also has a brick chimney that has seen better days—at some point, it was struck by lightning, scattering bricks everywhere. Amundson reached out to Rusty Pastorius, owner of Sealant Technicians, who would have the know-how to fix up the chimney. Pastorius and his son Zach, both long-

Community Brief

Master Gardeners host Plant Sale and Garden Expo

Upcoming Games

May 2-7 vs. Nashville Sounds

May 9- vs. Indianapolis Indians

May 23 – 28 vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

Washington County Master Gardeners present their annual Plant Sale and Garden Expo from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20, in Building A at the Washington County Fairgrounds, Highway 5 and Manning Avenue in Stillwater. This event is hosted by volunteers with the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program in Washington County. Bring a wagon or cart and shop from a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes, peppers and herbs along with annuals, perennials, prairie plants, grasses and shade plants. All plants are either nursery-grown or grown by volunteers from seed in soilless potting mix (with no insecticides) to avoid the possible spread of invasive jumping worms.

The Garden Expo features specially trained tree care advisers, home insect control specialists and

Church Brief

People’s 2nd annual May festival comes to Bayport

After a very successful first year, People’s Congregational Church is planning the second annual May Fest on Saturday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival is a community event supporting local artisans and musicians. It is held outdoors at People’s Park and Barkers Alps Park in Bayport. Approximately 25+ artisans and vendors and four local musicians/bands will play — the Liechtenstein Nein, Ray Gilman, Trandy Blue and Buster Phelan.

Highlights of the 2023 May Fest are as follows:

• Artisan sale — artists, crafters, vendors (including a renowned local knife sharpener!) and nonprofit exhibitors. Be sure to look for our young artists.

• Plant sale — annual flowers, perennials, houseplants and strawberry plants.

• Hands-on activities for all ages — games and fun for children and parents (including a Maypole).

• 50/50 raffle time residents of Hugo, have also offered their services free of labor charges.

Pastorius has previously worked for the city of Hugo, and remembers being called to board up the schoolhouse at times when mischievous kids would break in.

“It’s a cool old place, and I thought it would be really neat if they saved it,” he said. “It’s good to see somebody’s interested in preserving some of Hugo. All the old icon buildings I grew up with have disappeared off the map. There’s nothing left downtown anymore. It’s good to see something staying that we can preserve.”

Cinqueonce has also made connections with Northern Bedrock Group, an organization that trains youth in historic restoration and preservation. This organization will be doing an onsite assessment to choose a feature of the schoolhouse suitable for them to work on in the near future.

“There’s a really cool herringbone soffit underneath the roof, and it’s a unique pattern and that’s not work that Rusty or Doug does,” Cinqueonce said. “One of the roadblocks now is the snow. We need to get up there and continue working on the assessments for the next steps.”

At the same time, the group will be working on a fundraising effort, trying to increase awareness of the restoration and gather community support in whatever ways they can. There will be an outdoor community cleanup day coming up this spring, once the weather is a little nicer.

The project is meaningful to many in the community who want to see Hugo’s history preserved and protected.

“I think just in general in Hugo we don’t really have very much like history and heritage of the area,” Cinqueonce said. “Every community should have something reflects the past. It’s important and what we do today really does matter down the line. As soon as we can get actual improvements done at the site, it’ll make it more real for the community.”

She also expressed gratitude for the generous attitude of the community, and the resourcefulness of its people. “It's a snowball,” she said. “The only reason we connected with Rusty is because Doug knew Rusty. Everybody knows somebody. I know the figures that came out of the assessment were really large, but if we take a ‘stone soup’ approach to it, we can do it for a lot less than projected because of the generosity of businesses and community members.” others to answer questions. The public is encouraged to bring in plant or insect photos or samples along with their gardening questions to the “ask a Master Gardener” diagnostic clinic.

Learn more about the historic schoolhouse at https:// hopkinsschoolhouse.org.

The Garden Market features garden and nature-related crafts including trellises, bird feeders, duck houses, garden decor, tools and other implements.

Sale proceeds will be used to support Master Gardener educational activities and gardens in Washington County. Participants in the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Program are specially trained volunteers who are interested in horticulture and community service. Their mission is to educate the public with research-based information on the best practices in consumer horticulture and environmental stewardship. For more information, visit www.washingtoncountymg.org.

• Plinko game for children and adults

• Bake sale

• Food trucks and Lions Club booth

• New this year is a catered dinner for families from 4 to 6 p.m. — eat-in or take-out.

If you sleep better, you can certainly live better. It’s pretty clear,” says Raymonde Jean, MD, director of sleep medicine and associate director of critical care at St. Luke’sRoosevelt Hospital Center in New York City.

Improve Your Memory

If you’re trying to learn something new, you’ll perform better after sleeping. During sleep, you can strengthen memories or “practice” skills learned while you were awake (it’s a process called consolidation).

Live Longer

Too much or too little sleep can be associated with a shorter lifespan. This is because of sleep’s relationship to the rest of the body’s processes. According to the Sleep Foundation, oversleeping (sleeping longer than 9 hours within 24 hours) can result in chronic diseases or conditions like heart disease, obesity or diabetes. Some of those conditions can lead to early death, per the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Those who slept between seven to eight and a half hours—but not less than seven hours or more than nine hours—could expect to have one to three more years of longer, healthier lives

Decrease Inflammation

Inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and premature aging. People who get less sleep—six or fewer hours a night—have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more. In a September 2020 study published in Frontiers in Neurology, researchers noted that C-reactive protein (CRP), which increases whenever inflammation is present in the body, is linked to worse sleep. People who have sleep apnea or insomnia can have an improvement in blood pressure and inflammation with treatment of the sleep disorders.

Maintain a Healthier Weight

According to David Rapoport, MD, founder and president of the Foundation for Research in Sleep Disorders, “Sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same sectors of the brain. When you’re sleepy, certain hormones go up in your blood, and those same hormones drive appetite.” Researchers of an International Journal of Obesity study published in March 2021 found that the better the participants slept, the more weight and fat they lost.

Improve School Performance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that grade-age students could have poorer academic performance when they don’t get the sleep they need. For college students, sleeping for a sufficient amount of time, can improve GPA, while insufficient sleep could lead to, for example, a lower speed of cognitive processing—according to a January 2022 review published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

A lack of sleep can result in ADHDlike symptoms in kids, Dr. Rapaport said. The Sleep Foundation noted that children could switch from grumpiness to hyperactivity when they haven’t had enough sleep as well. Better sleep can improve their focus. It’s important they get the recommended amount of sleep for their age (which could range from eight to 13 hours), as noted in a June 2016 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine article.

Better sleep can also

• Boost creativity;

• Improve athletes’ physical performance;

• Lower stress;

• Reduce accidents; and

• Improve mood.

Ultimately, if you find that you’re having major problems with sleep, you’ll want to talk to your healthcare provider for advice and treatment options based on your situation.

This information was found on www. health.com.