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Herald Sauk Centre
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023
NUMBER 11 • VOLUME 157
WWW.STAR-PUB.COM
New four-way stop coming City approves intersection realignment near Authors Addition BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
With the likelihood of increased traffic brought by a new residential area, the city of Sauk Centre will be adjusting the intersection of Hendryx Street, Halfaday Drive and Hickman Drive. At the request of the Sauk Centre City Council during their July 19 meeting, city engineer Keith Yapp brought plans and an estimated bid number for the realignment of the four-way intersection of Hendryx Street, Halfaday Drive and Hickman Drive, just south of the Authors Addition residential land. Yapp presented his findings at the council’s Aug. 2 meeting at Sauk Centre City Hall. “We’re staying within the city’s right of way,” Yapp said. “If you think about it, it was always intended this would be the way (the intersection) would eventually be, and now is a good time to do it.” The intersection will be a four-way stop with light posts. Because the project will take place inside the city’s right of way and will not add to it, there will be no assessments for the area residents. A roundabout was considered for the intersection but was ultimately rejected because it would require purchasing more land for an expanded right of way. The city does not expect to be cutting down any trees as part of its project. However, if it turns out to be necessary, they will consider providing a stipend to area residents to help them replant trees.
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Fun and family
Gamradt competes in tractor pulls for over 10 years
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PHOTO BY MARK KLAPHAKE
BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
Jacob Gamradt powers his tractor off the line during the Stearns County Fair’s July 22 tractor pull at the he Stearns County Fair is over, but there are Stearns County Fairgrounds in Sauk Centre. Gamradt has more fairs and summer events happening competed in tractor pulls since he was 13.
throughout the state, many of them featuring tractor pulls. It is in those competitions that Sauk Centre area resident Jacob Gamradt is in his element, keeping an eye on every detail of his tractor so its power can be leveraged for victory. “I’ve been driving tractors ever since I was tall enough and heavy enough to push the clutch down,” Jacob said. “I think I pulled the first time when I was about 13, and I’ve been pulling every year since (for about 11 years).” Many of Jacob’s cousins participate in the sport; he often does tractor pulls with his cousins Jeff, Connor and Logan Gamradt.
“It goes back a long ways,” Jacob said. “Our uncle Mark (Gamradt) has tractor pulled forever; my uncle Dave (Gamradt) has tractor pulled since all the way back in the ’60s, so it’s been in our family for a long time.” While sometimes competing against each other, the family will often help each other out. Recently, Logan was in a tractor pull in Cambridge when he damaged his engine; he worked through the night to replace a head gasket and a piston, and Jacob helped him with it. “I was still at home at the shop,” Jacob said.
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Almost back to school PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Caroline Porttiin gets out her riding lawnmower on a sunny July 31 at her home in Sauk Centre. Porttiin, 93, still uses her 1980s John Deere riding lawnmower to mow her lawn.
Still mowing
the lawn Porttiin maintains independence at 93 BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
On the farm, if you want something done right, you do it yourself, and 93-year-old Caroline Porttiin has been doing just that for decades. When the weather is nice and the grass is long, she can be found mowing the lawn with her lawn tractor from the 1980s. “I just love being outdoors,” Caroline said. “I love watching things grow, I love flowers, I even like mowing the lawn.” Caroline was born and raised on a farm two miles southeast of West Union, on the border between Todd and Stearns counties. Her sister, Norma Quistorff, was nine years older than her, and they were raised by their parents, Luey and Emma Quistorff.
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Some elementary students may temporarily be learning offsite BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
As renovations continue on the elementary school, Sauk Centre Public Schools may temporarily need to have some students learning offsite for a couple of weeks when the 202324 school year begins. During the school board’s Aug. 7 committee meeting in the school media center, the board received an elementary school renovation project update from consulting firm SitelogIQ. Following the report, Superintendent Don Peschel notified the board about how some classes would potentially need to be held offsite until the construction’s completion. An initial plan has been formed but has needed frequent adjustments as construction continues. The school intends to notify staff of their plans this week and then communicate with parents next week. “I don’t want to get to a situation where it’s continually changing, which it could,” Peschel said. “Right now, the goal is to keep as many grade levels on site as possible. Right now, we’re looking at maybe one being offsite, maybe a couple other
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
School Board chairperson Mike Bushard (left) and Sauk Centre Public Schools Superintendent Don Peschel go over planned school policy updates during the board’s committee meeting Aug. 7 in the school’s media center in Sauk Centre. With the ongoing elementary school renovations, some students may be learning offsite for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the upcoming school year.
sections of a grade level, but that’s in the works.” It is the school’s aim to not have any classes or sections offsite for more than two weeks. The new elementary addition will not be ready until January 2024, which means Kid Connection, preschool and early childhood education will be displaced until then, but that was part of the school’s original plan.
The location change may also mean a calendar adjustment for the early 2023-24 school year, which the board will be working on during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Aug. 14. “We’ve spent a lot of time on this,” Peschel said. “We will try to do what’s best for our students, families and staff.”
PUBLIC NOTICES OBITUARIES Jeffrey Meier Helen (Schmiesing) Miller Bryan E. Schlotfeldt
• Mortgage Foreclosures (3) - pg. 7 • Sauk River Watershed Budget Hearing Notice - pg. 8 • North Fork Crow River Watershed Budget Hearing Notice - pg. 8 • City of Sauk Centre 2022 Annual Financial Disclosure - pg. 8 • Sauk Centre Public Utilities Ad for Bids - pg. 7 • City of Sauk Centre Notice - pg. 8 • Probate Notice - Towler - pg. 7 • Probate Notice - Duevel - pg. 8
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