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2803 Clearwater Rd. • St. Cloud, MN
NUMBER 3 • VOLUME 157
Herald Sauk Centre
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2023 3 | WWW.STAR-PUB.COM
Family frozen food
Council reviews new Minnesota legislation
Zenzens transfer Harry’s Pizza ownership to children BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
Part of Father’s Day is the celebration of everything a father hands down to his children. For Harry and Carol Zenzen, of Elrosa, what they are handing down to their children, siblings Mike Zenzen and Kayla Medalen, is Harry’s Pizza, their 34year business that brings frozen food to customers across Minnesota and the Dakotas. For Harry, it is special that the business in remaining in the family.
“It was always part of the hope that we could do that,” Harry said. “Most everything that sells out today goes into a corporation of some sort, but this will remain as a family-owned business, and we’re happy to keep it in a small town, too.” Harry started Harry’s Pizza in 1989. He had previously tried helping someone else’s frozen pizza business in Clearwater, but it did not pan out, so Harry moved the operation to a former implement building in Elrosa, full of grease and junk cars.
BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
“ We started out from ground zero,” Harry said. The business began by making microwaveable sandwiches and garlic bread, known as Harry’s Hungerbusters, but it was not long before pizzas were on the menu. Medalen was about 5 years old when the company was founded. She would come to Harry’s Pizza be-
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
fore school and sit on a stool to help with the pizza boxes and take labels off cans. “I don’t remember a ton of it, but I remember when they bought the building,” Medalen said.
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The Harry’s Pizza family – Bennett (front, from left) and Emersyn Medalen; and (back, from left) Mike Zenzen, Kayla Medalen and Carol and Harry Zenzen – gather outside Harry’s Pizza June 9 in Elrosa. After 34 years, the Zenzens are transferring ownership of Harry’s Pizza to their children, Mike and Medalen.
From Lamont to Bagley Heritage Ride covered wagon passes through Sauk Centre BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Heritage Ride travelers – Dia (from left) and Calisse Nowak, Tom Christe Nass, Carlos Ford and James Campbell – make camp June 7 north of Sauk Centre. The Heritage Ride recreates the journey Nass’ mother took 90 years ago with her family.
Sometimes, to make the journey a little extra special, one needs to take it the old-fashioned way. Tom Christe Nass, Carlos Ford and James Campbell are reenacting a ride from 90 years ago, driving a mule-drawn covered wagon through Iowa and Minnesota, passing through Sauk Centre as they go to a birthday reunion for the birthday of Nass’ mother. This Heritage Ride not only recreates a piece of history, but it also gives the travelers new experiences from long-range wagon driving to the people and land itself. “I’ve never been north before,” Ford said. “This is my first time.” The origins of this journey date back to 1933, when Nass’ grandparents left Lamont, Iowa; they took their three children, the oldest of whom was 3-year-old Ann Strand, Nass’ future mother. The family traded their 1927 Ford for a covered wagon, a mule team, a wet sow and $66, and over the course of five weeks, they traveled over 450 miles from Lamont, Iowa, to Bagley, Minnesota, where the land was cheap, and they homesteaded there. Strand, who still lives in Bagley, will be 93 years old July 7, and so her cousins are holding a family reunion. Nass thought it would be a great way to commemorate the journey from her childhood by repeating it on the way to the celebration.
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PHOTO BY ALEX CHRISTEN
Dan (left) and Hunter Dickinson display their boat number as they head out to fish at the Sauk Centre Conservation Club’s fishing tournament June 10 in Sauk Centre. The Dickinson team was sponsored by Rhode Electric.
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From the state to the city
OBITUARIES
PUBLIC NOTICES
Bonnie L. Schloegl
• Mortgage Foreclosures (7) - pgs. 7 & 8 • City of Sauk Centre Public Hearing - pg. 7 • Probate Notice - Fairchild - pg. 7 • Probate Notice - Voss - pg. 8 • City of Sauk Centre Advertisement for Bids - pg. 8 • Assumed Name - Synergy Powerline Construction - pg. 8
Recent state Legislature items could impact the Sauk Centre community. City Administrator Vicki Willer updated the Sauk Centre City Council during their June 7 meeting at city hall in Sauk Centre. First on the list was the state’s paid family and medical leave law. Funded through a payroll tax deduction, the law mandates businesses provide 12 weeks of paid family leave and 12 weeks of paid medical leave, although the combined weeks off cannot exceed 20 in a calendar year. The legalization of adult use cannabis takes effect Aug. 1, allowing for the possession and growing of marijuana and the expungement of marijuana convictions, although an 18-month delay is expected for licensing for retail sales. “The state has created a new office of cannabis,” Willer said. “They expect to hire 400 employees to put this program together. Once they issue a license, then we have to register that.” Cities can establish legislation on the number, fees and permitted locations for dispensaries, and municipal dispensaries are allowed. Earlier in the meeting, the council heard from Nathan Smith, a veteran interested in opening a cannabis dispensary in Sauk Centre but was concerned about how other area businesses like day cares could move into his area and effectively shut him down. Later in the meeting, the council also approved a cannabinoid license for Winters Family Chiropractic for the sale of THC edibles. Another ordinance from the state expands early voting to two weeks prior to election day, including two Saturdays and one Sunday. Additionally, when people arrive at their polling locations for early voting all they will need to provide is a signature. In previous election years, they had to fill out an application similar to absentee voting. Sauk Centre is eligible for a one-time public safety aid payment from the state, meant for cities’ police, fire, ambulance, sirens and other safety needs.
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