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Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Number 36 • Volume 134
Freeport council The Rev. David Steege (front, from left), pauses Julie Blank and the Rev. Fred Kutter; (back, from left) Yvonne Bardson, Art cannabis Thober and Carol Thober gather Aug. 23 inside Immanuel Lutheran Church in rural Farming Township. The Missouri Synod businesses ATKINSON TO TALK church is celebrating 150 years this year. PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
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
ABOUT SPACE MISSIONS BOOK AT MELROSE LIBRARY
Will abide by pg. 6 county ordinance for public use BY CAROL MOORMAN STAFF WRITER
400 Block update
Freeport City Council members put a pause on cannabis businesses in town. They approved a moratorium on potential businesses during their Aug. 29 meeting at Freeport City Hall so they can update their zoning ordinance or until the January 2025 deadline the state has imposed. When it comes to use of cannabis COMMUNITY COVERAGE 127 YEARS on Freeport public properties, the council directed city staff to follow Stearns County’s newly passed ordinance outlawing the use of marijuana in public spaces. The county ordinance was updated Aug. 23 to include banning smoking or vaping any cannabis substance in restaurants and bars, parking lots, sidewalks or county land and parks. On May 30, Gov. Tim Walz signed an expansive cannabis legalization bill into law, allowing the recreational use of cannabis for adults 21 and older starting Aug. 1. In 2022, Minnesota legalized the sale and consumption of edibles containing small amounts of hemp-derived THC. “We will, no doubt, be talking about cannabis until congregation since 1873. you are tired of it,” city attorThober recalls Sunday serney Scott Dymoke told council vices in English and German. members. “I think I could still say the The state statute, he said, Lord’s Prayer in German,” he does not give cities a lot of said. discretion when it comes to cannabis. “You can’t say, ‘No we don’t want it,’” Dymoke said.
Sowing seeds of faith
150 years
As the sun was starting to rise Monday, Commercial Contractors Company workers from Melrose were inside the Lisa’s On Main building working on securing the west wall. PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
Many memories made at Immanuel Lutheran Church-Farming Township BY CAROL MOORMAN STAFF WRITER
A
rt “Buddy” Thober still has his confirmation book he received when he was confirmed with 12 classmates in 1940 at Immanuel Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Farming Township.
This 96-year-old Albany resident has many memories of a church of which he has been a life-long member, along with his parents and nine siblings. Like the early years when women sat on one side of the church and men worshiped on the other side. “I sat with mom on one side of the church until I was con-
A career behind
the wheel
firmed and then I sat with Dad,” he said Aug. 23 sitting around a table in the church narthex with his wife, Carol; Julie Blank and Yvonne Bardson, of Albany; the Rev. Fred Kutter, former pastor from 1998 to 2020; and the Rev. David Steege, current pastor. Kutter and Steege are two of the 15 pastors who have served the
Church page 3
Cannabis page 3
Alma mater amenity Gilk completes Eagle Scout project at Greenwald playground BY HERMAN LENSING STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY HANS LAMMEMAN
Rodney Ebnet stands with a Holdingford Public Schools bus Aug. 24 in Holdingford. Ebnet has worked as the district’s transportation director since 1995.
Ebnet earns 2023 transportation award BY HANS LAMMEMAN | STAFF WRITER
Rodney Ebnet has spent most days over the past 28 years behind the wheel of a Holdingford school bus, transporting students to school as the sun rises and back home after a day of learning.
Ebnet page 3
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Isaiah Gilk, 14, of Greenwald, saw a need at his grade school alma mater, St. John’s-St. Andrew Catholic School, and addressed it. The result is a gaga ball pit and two new benches at the Greenwald playground as his Eagle Scout project. “They were popping up everywhere,” Isaiah said Aug. 15 looking over the pit. “Sacred Heart (Catholic school in Freeport), St. Mary’s (Catholic school in Melrose) and Melrose elementary all have one, so I thought St. Johns’-St. Andrew’s should have one.” The idea of a pit at the school appealed to him. His brothers, Jackson and Andrew, attend SJ’sSA’s school.
Gilk page 4
PUBLIC NOTICES City of Freeport Ord. No. 2023-03 ........................................... pg. 8 Melrose School Reg. Board Meeting, July 24 .......................... pg. 8 City of Avon Hearings (2)........................................................ pg. 8
PHOTO BY HERMAN LENSING
Isaiah Gilk kneels beside the plaque commemorating his organizing the building of this gaga ball pit Aug. 15 at St. John’s-St. Andrew’s Catholic School Greenwald. The pit was built for the use of children in the community and school.
BIRTHS page 3 Lydia Katherine Schwieters
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