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2803 Clearwater Rd. • St. Cloud, MN Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Number 24 • Volume 134
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Melrose researching policing options ... pg. 3 Hiltner happy to carry on legacy ... pg. 7 ‘A Team’ has first baby boy in 2017 ... pg. 16 Gymnasts scoring with the best ... pg. 10
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Same story, different chapter
Kort Plantenberg served a nine-month deployment in 2018 with the Guard’s Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion in Kuwait. He will be honored posthumously June 17 as the 2023 Avon Spunktacular Days grand marshal.
A400 lifeBlock devoted to service, update family, friends, nature Plantenberg honored posthumously as Spunktacular Days grand marshal BY CAROL MOORMAN | STAFF WRITER
Kort Plantenberg spent his life doing what he was designed to do. “Kort lived a life devoted to service and filled with love for family, friends, animals and nature, and he had a passion for flying,” his father Steve Plantenberg said June 7 from his and wife Laura’s Avon home. As the starting rise Plantenberg, Monday, Commercial On sun Dec.was 5, 2019, Sgt.toKort 28, of Contractors Company workers from were inAvon, and fellow soldiers and friends Melrose Chief Warrant side the Lisa’s On Main building working on securing Officer 2 James Rogers, Jr., 28, of Winsted; and Chief the west Offi wall.cer 2 Charles PHOTO MOORMAN Warrant Nord,BY 30,CAROL of Perham, died in a Minnesota Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter crash, 10 minutes after it took off from St. Cloud during a mechanical test flight.
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COMMUNITY COVERAGE 127 YEARS
Caring takes on new meaning for Dr. Kurt BY CAROL MOORMAN | STAFF WRITER
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r. Kurt Schwieters’ story is in a new chapter. He treated patients at CentraCare-Melrose 23 years. For his caring ways and community interactions, he was awarded the CentraCare Foundation 2023 Caduceus Award May 18. “He would put his hand on the patients and, in true understanding, say ‘I understand how you feel’ or ‘I’m sorry for what you are going through,’” Leah Vornbrock, Schwieters’ long-time clinic nurse, said during a video at the May 18 La Gratitude event at The Park Center in St. Cloud, adding, “He will be missed for his tenderness and his compassion.”
Receiving the award was bittersweet. Schwieters is now taking care of himself. In January he retired after dealing with a brain injury and cognitive deficit caused by Lyme disease. It was not an easy decision for him and wife, Mary, also a physician, but something he knew he had to do for his patients and himself. “Sometimes the Holy Spirit takes over and that’s the way I accepted it,” he said May 30. “This is my life and I will adapt.” A faith-filled man, the Holy Spirit has had a hand in many aspects of Schwieters’ life. After graduating from St. John’s University in Collegeville, he searched for his dream job – a biology teacher.
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The Schwieters family – Dr. Kurt (front, from left), Caroline and Joseph; and (back, from left) Dr. Mary and John – enjoy an April 2023 day at their home on Little Birch Lake in rural Melrose. Dr. Kurt Schwieters retired from his medical practice Jan. 3, after 23 years caring for patients at the Melrose medical facility.
Albany city administrator Avon Police Department K-9 Maverick retiring after 35-plus years Plantenberg page 3
receives unique donation
Schneider’s last day is June 30 BY TIM HENNAGIR | STAFF WRITER
Rosen presents lemonade stand proceeds at city council meeting BY TIM HENNAGIR STAFF WRITER
Avon city leaders members welcomed a unique financial contribution during the public forum portion of their June 5 meeting at Avon City Hall in Avon. Parker Rosen, accompanied by her dad, Neil, presented a $260 cash donation to benefit the Avon Police Department’s K-9 program. Rosen raised the funds by hosting a lemonade stand to benefit K-9 Maverick. “Do you want to come up and show us?” said Mayor Jeff Manthe, referring to the wad of cash Rosen displayed when she walked up to the council dais. Manthe asked Officer Landon Gudim, K-9 Maverick’s handler, to come up and accept the donation on the city’s behalf. Gudim asked Rosen if she would like to meet Maverick. His suggestion brought smiles around the room and plenty of tail-wagging from the German Shepard. Dad Neil Rosen said Parker had her lemonade stand up and running during Avon’s city-wide garage sales. “People came up and didn’t care
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PHOTO BY TIM HENNAGIR
Parker Rosen (front, from left), Avon Police Officer Landon Gudim and K-9 Maverick gather together as Avon City Council members Katie Reiling (back, from left), Aaron Goebel and Mark Schulzetenberge smile during the June 5 council meeting at Avon City Hall in Avon. Rosen, accompanied by her dad, Neil, presented $260 to benefit the Avon Police Department’s K-9 program.
about getting their change back,” he said. “Parker started her lemonade stand fundraising last year during Heritage Day. That money went to the Albany Fire Department.” Parker did another lemonade stand collection during Albany’s Pioneer Days for the police department. Manthe praised Maverick for his
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service throughout Stearns County. “He really gets around,” he said. Councilor Katie Reiling asked when Parker’s lemonade stand would appear next. “More than likely, it’s going to be at the next Heritage Day,” Neil said, referring to the Aug. 5 event.
Albany city leadership will undergo a historic change June 30 when administrator Tom Schneider retires. Schneider announced he will be leaving 35-plus years of city service in a letter presented June 7 to the city council at Albany City Hall in Albany. The letter was also listed as an agenda item. “I began employment for the city in October 1987, never knowing how long I might stay, but after seeing so much opportunity ahead of me, I thought I may as well continue this journey,” his short letter stated. Fast forward 35-plus years. Schneider watched the city’s population increase from 1,500 to nearly 3,000. “After much deliberation, I have finally made the decision to retire from city employment on June 30, 2023,” he wrote, adding he was blessed to have worked with so many great individuals over the years. Those individuals have include mayors, council members, park board, economic development authority, fire board and planning commission members, Schneider stated in his letter, which he also read aloud during the council’s June 7 meeting. “I have also been extremely appreciative to have such great employers, past and present, who made my job a lot easier, for which I am grateful,” Schneider’s letter stated. “It has been a huge honor for me and my family to call Albany my home, having the privilege to live and work here my entire life.” He closed the letter by thanking the current council for its guidance and support over a number of years. “It has been a pleasure to have served you and the community of Albany,” Schneider wrote. Councilor Keith Heitzman made a motion, seconded by Councilor John Harlander, to accept Schneider’s letter. City leaders unanimously approved the motion, setting up June 21 as Schneider’s last council meeting.
Schneider page 3
PUBLIC NOTICES City of Melrose Public Hearing................................................ pg. 7 Albany School Invitation for Bids............................................ pg. 7 Albany School Advertisement for Bids.................................... pg. 7 Albany School Agenda, June 14 ............................................. pg. 7 Albany School Special Meeting, May 24 ................................. pg. 6 Albany School Work Session, May 24...................................... pg. 7 Assumed Name - Albany Fiber Communications .................... pg. 7 Mortgage Foreclosure Postponement .................................... pg. 7
BIRTHS page 3 Matthew Alejandro Rodriguez Pacheco
OBITUARIES page 4 Henry M. Pohlmann Steven J. Stoermann Thomas E. Voss Wayne R. Zenzen
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