Herald Sauk Centre
NUMBER 10 • VOLUME 157
Meet the new assistant principal
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2023
WWW.STAR-PUB.COM
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Fair play
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Aker eager to work with public schools students BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
As Lucas Kosters steps down from the assistant principal position at Sauk Centre Public Schools, one of his mentors, Matthew Aker, will take his place. With the 202324 school year approaching, he looks forward to working with students to guide them on their way to fulfilling lives and careers. “I think I’m a good fit for Sauk Centre, and Sauk Centre is a good fit for me,” Aker said. “Where Sauk Centre’s going, I can add to that journey a bit and get our kids where the community wants them to be.” Aker grew up in Wheaton and graduated from Wheaton High School in 1986. He had a sister, a brother and three uncles who were all working in education, and so that field interested Aker as well. “I really enjoyed sitting and listening to them talking about teaching and what they got to do,” Aker said. “They all just seemed to really enjoy it, and when I was getting to be 16-17, one of my uncles I hung out with a lot said, ‘You know, you should consider teaching. I think you’re really good at it; you’re good with kids,’ and that’s what punched my ticket into education.”
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PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Dylan Messer (left) is rammed by Benjamin Duchene in the July 27 demolition derby at the Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre. Stearns County Fair demolition derbies were held every evening July 27-29.
SC Tobacco Ngo enjoys simpler business in Sauk Centre BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
SC Tobacco has come to Sauk Centre, filling the former Moonshine Shoppe building at 1161 Highway 71. The owner, Tuyetmai Ngo, is eager to help their customers while also learning more about the business in order to improve the experience they offer. “This is my first tobacco business,” Ngo said. “I still have a lot of things to learn.” Previously, Ngo owned the Chinese Dragon in Detroit Lakes and was in the restaurant business for 40 years. As she is getting into her mid-60s, she wanted to find a less demanding line of work. “With the restaurant, you have
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to be on your feet 10 or 12 hours a day,” Ngo said. “It was a lot of work, so I planned to try a new tobacco business to see if it’s easier for me.” Ngo did not have experience in the tobacco industry, but her brother had a tobacco store near her restaurant, and Ngo saw how his business did not need as much staffing or hours. She wanted to give it a try, and so, with assistance from her brothers, she set up in the former Moonshine Shoppe building. SC Tobacco offers all kinds of tobacco products, including cigars, pipes, cigarettes, chews PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK and accessories, such as glass. Tuyetmai Ngo welcomes visitors to the front desk of SC Tobacco July 17 in
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Sauk Centre. Ngo, who previously worked in the restaurant business for 40 years, started SC Tobacco as a lower-maintenance source of income.
ry o l G d l O from old timber
Nelson makes flag from former fair beer garden wood
BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
The former beer garden building at the Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre has been demolished, but its century-old timbers still watch over fairgoers in the form of an American flag that hangs in the beer garden’s new space at the fairgrounds’ Activity Center. The flag was made by Sauk Centre resident Gavin Nelson, who has made several such flags before but never one with such unique material. Gavin started woodworking by making a flag for his father, Lee Nelson, as a Christmas present about two years ago.
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Gavin Nelson views the flag he made for the beer garden July 27 in the Activity Center at the Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre. The flag is made out of wood from the fairgrounds’ former beer garden building.
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“(Lee) was in the military for 20 years,” Gavin said. “Then, I made another one for a family friend. I have a Facebook page, and (through it), some friends have asked, and I’ve made some for them.” Gavin got the hang of woodworking through his family. They recently built a new house, handling a lot of the work themselves, and Gavin learned a lot from Lee. For the flag pattern itself, he learned how to make it through a YouTube video.
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PUBLIC NOTICES • Mortgage Foreclosures (2) - pg. 7 • U-Lock It Storage Notice - pg. 7 • Sauk River Watershed Budget Hearing Notice - pg. 7 • North Fork Crow River Watershed Budget Hearing Notice - pg. 7
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