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Online streaming of school board meetings debuts
2 Second Ave. S., Suite 135, Sauk Rapids, MN 56379 Same Local Coverage Since 1854.
Vol. 168, No. 47 PHOTOS BY NATASHA BARBER
(Right) Sandy Durant, who co-coordinates the Church of the Immaculate Conception fish fries with Pat Rauch, holds a container of golden-fried fish Feb. 24 at the church in Rice. The church has been hosting Lenten fish fries for 20 years.
Staff, community show interest in watching via internet BY TOM FENTON STAFF WRITER Those interested in following meetings of the Sauk Rapids-Rice Board of Education can now do so from the comfort of their own homes. The Feb. 27 board meeting was streamed using Zoom and was the first in a series of data testing to work out problems. Only regularly scheduled board meetings will be streamed. Emergency meetings, which were common during the coronavirus pandemic, and work sessions will not be streamed. Superintendent Bradley Bergstrom said there are several reasons for the board asking to have meetings available online, including community outreach, celebrating district accomplishments and staff safety. District staff have been pushing for streaming since the pandemic. Twenty-six people logged on to watch the initial broadcast. “Not all community members can attend in-person meetings, and this is an opportunity for those who want to know what is happening at board meetings,” Bergstrom said. “It also allows people who maybe are not feeling well the opportunity to still be able to ‘attend’ the meeting rather than showing up.”
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F RO M T H E
Church of the Immaculate Conception continues Lenten fish meals for 20 years
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BY NATASHA BARBER | STAFF WRITER
t 10 minutes past 5 o’clock Feb. 24, the fellowship hall at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rice was filled with people. The buzz of conversation was reminiscent of a family gathering during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. But rather than turkey or ham, community members gathered to share a fried fish meal on the first Friday of the Lenten season. “It’s so neat when you see all these people gathering together, and they visit among themselves,” said Pat Rauch, who co-coordinates the fish fries with Sandy Durant. “Sometimes they stay and stay and stay. It’s not like they eat and run. They see their neighbor or they might not even know the person, and they start visiting and actually stay a long time
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sometimes.” Lent in the Catholic religion is a 40-day liturgical season that consists of fasting, prayer and altruism. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown Holy Thursday. The period aims to prepare Catholic followers for the Lord’s resurrection at Easter. As part of Lenten fasting, many Catholics refrain from eating red and white meat on Fridays, nourishing instead through meals of eggs, fish, grains, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
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Gabriel Marschel, son of Michael and Ann Marschel of Rice, serves ice cream Feb. 24 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception fish fry in Rice. Proceeds from the meal go toward paying church expenses such as utility bills.
OBITUARIES David A. Bluhm | Maureen M. McNaughton PUBLIC NOTICES • Mortgage Foreclosure - pg. 7B • Langola Township Notice of Annual Meeting and Election - pg. 11 • City of Rice Notice of Public Hearing - pg. 11 • Benton County Notice of Expiration of Redemption - pg. 6B • City of Sauk Rapids Reg. Minutes, Feb. 13 - pg. 10 • Sauk Rapids-Rice School Reg. Board Meeting Minutes, Jan. 23 - pg. 10
• Sauk Rapids-Rice School Work Session Minutes, Feb. 6 - pg. 11 • Watab Township Notice of Election and Annual Meeting - pg. 11 • Benton County Board of Adjustment Public Hearing - pg. 7B • Benton County Public Notice of Omniballot Tablet Testing - pg. 7B • Sauk Rapids Township Notice of Election and Annual Meeting - pg. 10 • Mayhew Lake Township Notice of Election and Annual Meeting - pg. 11
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