Angie Hong
Guest Columnist
Late last year, snow glittered in the moonlight, and 5.4 million Minnesotans tried to decide whether they love or hate winter.broadstreet.zone(48036);
When the first round of snow came, my family flocked with others to the sledding hill at Stillwater Junior High, where we tumbled down the hill with dog in tow for nearly an hour. The next weekend, when temperatures hit minus 20 degrees, we holed up inside, baking dozens and dozens of cookies. If all goes according to plan, we’ll continue praising and cursing the winter in equal measure for the next three to four months.
Perhaps no aspect of winter is as tiresome and unfun as shoveling our driveways and sidewalks. I clearly recall the morning three years ago when I called my husband, sobbing hysterically, after I’d spent more than an hour trying to shovel my driveway clear while home alone with a 2-year old. That was
Category: The Latest From Forest Lake Times
Wyoming Library to offer winter reading bingo program
Youths and adults who enjoy both reading and playing bingo for prizes won’t want to miss what’s coming up at Wyoming Area Giese Memorial Library.
The 2017 Winter Reading Program runs Jan. 3 through Feb. 13 and features reading bingo games for kids, tweens, and teens, and adults. To play, pick up the bingo sheet that corresponds with the participant’s age group. Participants can read a book, listen to a book, or have someone read a book to them.broadstreet.zone(48036);
As books are completed, mark the squares off on the reading bingo sheet. A single book can be used for multiple squares. Read more books until you get a bingo, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Then, turn in your bingo sheet at the library and have your name entered in the prize drawings. Grab another card and fill in as many as you can by Feb. 13.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of
Past farmland owners faced hardship
Submitted photoMid-1800s banker Truman Smith was one of the former owners of the land now known as the Daninger farm.
When the Forest Lake Times reported on the long history of land ownership of the Pat and Sharlene Daninger farm (in the Nov. 25 story “Legacy of the Land”), little was known about two of the early land owners.
That mystery now has more clarity, thanks to new research by friends and family of the Daningers. It was uncertain this fall if bankers were involved in the ownership, but that fact has now been confirmed.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Two of the early owners, Truman M. Smith and Sanford McBrayer, were bankers who faced their share of hardship and, in the case of one, a tragic ending.
The Daninger property lies east of U.S. Highway 61 and north of 190th Street and has ownership roots that trace to bounty land claims for James Whedon, of New York. He
Hunter Charles Houle
Hunter Charles Houle, age 18, of Forest Lake, died on January 6, 2017 as a result of injuries sustained while testing for the upcoming snowmobile race.
Preceded in death by uncle, Larry Houle; grandfather, Charlie Lofton; great-grandparents, Andrew and Delores Marier, Prosper and Helen Houle, Robert and Irene Snow and great-great-grandmother, Elsie Olson.
Hunter is survived by his parents, Steve and Charlene; siblings, Lucas, Jeremy (Haylee), Larry (Maggie), Jennifer (Nick) Peterson; nieces and nephews, Hudson, Hayden, Rilynn, Brody, Colten, Lyric, Harleigh, Liam; grandparents, Cindy Lofton and Ken Omundson, Gary and Luana Houle; girlfriend, Amber Cron; aunts and uncles, Chad (Patti) Lofton, Mary (Mark) Brown, Mike (Lori) Houle, Laurie (Vern) Wicklander, Connie (Chris) Weinman, Chris (Rick) Robinson, Andy Houle, Mike and Jessica Omundson; several cousins, great aunts and uncles and many friends. Hunter will be missed by all those whose lives he touched with his quick wit and personality.
Funeral Services will be held
‘Stock’ing stuffer
Submitted photoMembers of the Minnesota State Academy senior investments class include, from left to right, teacher Steven Fuerst, John Fechter IV, Sehuam Bakari and Dawson Moder.
To credit one student as star quarterback, captain of the basketball team and active member of the student body government is impressive in its own right, but senior John Fechter can add one more feather to his cap as he is now known as a stock market savant.
Fechter, a Forest Lake resident attending the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault, recently placed fifth out of 584 in a statewide stock market competition sponsored by Wells Fargo.
The competition followed Minnesota high school students for 14 weeks with the premise that if they had $100,000, what would they do? The game mirrored real-world situations, and students were required to use their skills in math, English, economics, and social studies with the hope that they would
Claeys should be fired
As a father, grandfather, educator, taxpayer and University of Minnesota alumnus, I think it’s time for the University of Minnesota to fire its head football coach, Tracy Claeys, and conduct a thorough review of the football program to ensure in the future that standards are upheld and promoted.
Explaining my rationale will include an explicit discussion of sexual activity that some readers may find disturbing and distasteful.broadstreet.zone(48036);
My recommendations come in part from 22 years of teaching at the University of Minnesota and working on projects with the Athletic Department. This included teaching student athletes about leadership at the Athletic Department’s request. This gives me insight into what is and is not appropriate for hosting recruits as well as how some coaches guide and mentor athletes.
First, Claeys failed one of the major responsibilities of his contract: “Recruiting and managing the recruitment of student athletes.” The contract, obtained via a Minnesota Government Data
Wargo snow day
Come play in the snow for free as the Anoka County Parks and Recreation Department, in collaboration with the cities of Lino Lakes and Blaine parks and recreation departments, will offer the 17th annual Snow Day Event at the Wargo Nature Center. Participants of all ages will have a chance to partake in a variety of activities on Jan. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m., including snowshoeing, ice fishing, kick-sledding, cross-country skiing, winter crafts, live animal presentations, and more. This is a free event that is open to the public. For more information, call the Wargo Nature Center at 651-429-8007.
Edith R. Rasmussen
Edith R. Rasmussen, age 78, Laguna Vista, TX, joined the Choir of Angels in the Lord’s Mansion on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, at Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, TX. She had been admitted to the hospital in the early evening, Wednesday, Dec. 21, following an attempted radiation treatment of her left lung. Complications developed and she was later transferred to the MICU. She had survived two other battles with cancer and her family thought she would also survive this one. She was born Jan. 24, 1938, to parents Lloyd Dennis and Marion Young (Love) Wilkinson in Clearlake, SD. Her family was 10 children, eight daughters and two sons.
Her parents farmed near Clearlake, where she attended a one-room schoolhouse. When she was eight, her family moved to Soquel, CA. She recalled that the kids called them “Oakies” as from the book, Grapes of Wrath. Schools were taught in shifts, 6 to
Roy and Kathy Childers
Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary
to our parents – January 7th.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Love, Joe, Amy and Jason
Carolyn Marx
Loving “Momsie,” Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and Sister Carolyn Marx, age 80 of St. Paul and Pine City, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on January 5, 2017.