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Herald
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Sauk Centre
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2803 Clearwater Rd. • St. Cloud, MN
THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2023
NUMBER 1 • VOLUME 157
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Challenges and opportunities
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
The Rev. Jeremy Theis visits with parishioners after Mass May 30 at St. Paul’s Church in Sauk Centre. Theis is being reassigned to the Disciples of the Mission Area Catholic Community, and the Parishes on the Prairie Area Catholic Community will go down to two priests and seven weekend Masses.
Parishes on the Prairie to go down to two priests, seven Masses BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
As the number of Catholic priests has declined in the St. Cloud Diocese, the Parishes on the Prairie Area Catholic Community – consisting of Sauk Centre, West Union, Belgrade, Brooten and Elrosa – has known for months they would likely go from three priests to two. As of last weekend, the diocese made their official announcement: The Rev. Jeremy Theis would be reassigned to another ACC. Consequently, the parishes will have to decrease their weekend Masses from 10 to seven; after a year, the diocese may require that number to decrease to six.
Parishes on the Prairie page 3
Goodbye, beer garden
Under “Although Beilke made Memorial Day ceremony it out of Vietnam alive, he make the ultimate held at Greenwood Cemetery would sacrifice almost 28.5 years later BY HANS LAMMEMAN STAFF WRITER
American flags flapped in the wind and bugle notes filled the air as community members gathered to honor fallen soldiers and first responders at Greenwood Cemetery in Sauk Centre on May 29. American Legion Post 67 member Scott Kowski led the event, beginning his speech with a reference to a local Vietnam War veteran that lost his life many years after serving. “This year marks the 50th anniversary that the final com-
bat troops came home from the Vietnam War,” Kowski said. “On March 29th, 1973, the last American combat troops boarded a plane in Vietnam and returned home. One of the individuals on this plane was Master Sergeant Max J. Beilke, who was declared the ‘Last American Combat Soldier’ to leave Vietnam.” After graduating from high school in Alexandria, Beilke served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars with the U.S. Army. He spent the decades after retiring as an advocate for veterans in Washington D.C.
PHOTO BY HANS LAMMEMAN
when he was killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001,” Kowski said. “In tribute to Beilke, The V.A. the clinic in Alexandria, was renamed to the Max J. Beilke Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic on September 11, 2010.” Several dozen spectators watched as Kowski read the names of local veterans, Legion auxiliary members and first responders that lost their lives within the past year.
Scott Kowski (from left) speaks while John Lepowsky and Brent Henry stand at attention during the Memorial Day ceremony at Greenwood Cemetery in Sauk Centre May 29. The event was hosted by American Legion Post 67.
Memorial Day page 2
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Jackie Spoden-Bolz finds a memorial sticky note on the door of the old beer garden shelter May 24 at the Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre. The century-old building, which started as a carousel in the early 1900s, has gotten too expensive to repair and is being torn down.
Longtime Stearns County Fair building to be torn down BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
The beer garden building at the Sauk Centre’s Stearns County Fairgrounds has provided a refreshing shelter for fairgoers over the decades. However, as the structure has deteriorated, the Stearns County Fair Association is forced to take the building down and reallocate the space. “I fought for years to keep this, but I had to give in,” said Jackie Spoden-Bolz, Stearns County Fair manager. Wood rot has gotten into much of the beer garden, helped along by the leaking steel roof. The structure’s center beam also has an ominous bend close to the ceiling apex, and there are plenty of cosmetic mars with the paint and other surfaces.
Beer garden page 3
ST R
Publications The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
Tassels
to the left PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Sauk Centre Public Schools superintendent Don Peschel congratulates graduating senior Torry Kerfeld during the graduation ceremony May 27 at the Margaret Shelby Theatre in Sauk Centre. Sauk Centre High School graduated 72 seniors in their Class of 2023.
Graduation page 2
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