Herald Sauk Centre
NUMBER 16 • VOLUME 157
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2023
Managing future traffic
WWW.STAR-PUB.COM
School starts with high enrollment
Two yield signs to be installed at Authors Addition intersection BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
With the Authors Addition residential expansion project wrapping up for the year and the intersection of Hendryx Street, Halfaday Drive and Hickman Drive being realigned, Sauk Centre will be regulating the intersection’s traffic flow with yield signs while keeping stop signs on the table for the future if they are needed. During their Sept. 6 meeting at Sauk Centre City Hall, the Sauk Centre City Council considered a number of signage options for the Hendryx-Halfaday-Hickman intersection while its realignment – and the construction of Halfaday Drive itself – nears completion. Options presented to the council included leaving the intersection uncontrolled, adding yield signs or stop signs on Halfaday Drive and Hendryx Street, making the intersection an all-way stop or making it a three-way stop with no sign on northeast-bound Hickman Drive. Initially, Sauk Centre Mayor Warren Stone was in favor of making the intersection an all-way stop. “If we go to the three-way stop … the minute they come to that stop, the (drivers) coming from the east are probably going to anticipate they’re going to turn right, and then they go straight and you’ve got a problem,” Stone said. “To me, a four-way stop would make more sense.” Councilmember Joe Fuechtmann believed an all-way stop was excessive for the intersection. “I don’t think the amount of housing and traffic through there will necessitate it,” Fuechtmann said. “I look at the other intersections in this community that don’t have four-way stops. … I think a two-way stop makes more sense there.” Stone and Fuechtmann have lived in the Hendryx Street area.
City council page 3
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Students return to the hallways of Sauk Centre High School for the first day of school for grades 5-12 Sept. 7 in Sauk Centre. Sauk Centre Public Schools and Holy Family School had a total enrollment of 1,380, their highest enrollment in at least a decade. School page 2
Developing poems and prose
Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference prepares for 33rd year BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
Conference attendees discuss “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis the evening of Oct. 7, 2022, at Babbitt’s Wine Bar in Sauk Centre. The 2023 Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference will be preceded by the fifth annual Cocktails and Conversations event Friday, Oct. 6, at Babbitt’s Wine Bar, and the book to be discussed is “Elmer Gantry” by Sinclair Lewis.
Writers of all stripes will be returning to Sauk Centre the first weekend of October, as the Sinclair Lewis Writers Conference returns for its 33rd year. The event, which can be attended virtually or in-person, has authors and poets share their tips and experience to make it a valuable, engaging time for any wordsmith who wants to improve their craft. “Our feedback has been consistently positive over the past 32 years,” said Jim Umhoefer, Sinclair Lewis Foundation president. “Many of our participants have been to more than one conference.
Writers Conference page 3
Pennsylvanian
pastor BY BEN SONNEK | STAFF WRITER
Matthew leads Faith Baptist Church
PHOTO BY BEN SONNEK
The Rev. Jared Matthew stands with one of the custom wooden signs Sept. 11 at Faith Baptist Church in Sauk Centre. Matthew, originally from Pennsylvania, has been the pastor of Faith Baptist Church since July.
Faith Baptist Church in Sauk Centre is welcoming their new pastor, the Rev. Jared Matthew, as the new leader of their church, and the Pennsylvania native is glad to not be leading the church on his own. As he and his family settle into the community, Matthew is ready to make Faith Baptist Church more visible while bringing Biblical counseling to those who are struggling. Born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Matthew was first interested in becoming a missionary when he was 8 years old. “I wanted to go to other countries and tell people about the Gospel,” Matthew said. “Our church had a missions conference, and they used to do a junior’s conference for kids, and a tiny, single missionary lady came and talked to us about giving our lives to the Lord for service, and I just felt God pulling on my heart.” Matthew met his wife, Emily, in Pennsylvania through church functions. They married in July 2010, right before Matthew entered Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Matthew page 4
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