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ARDEN HILLS 75TH ANNIVERSARY: A historical retrospective PAGES 14-15
Graduates recognize students’ ‘silent battles’
The first three of the following four speeches were given at Mounds View Area High School’s graduation ceremony. The fourth speech was given at Irondale High School’s graduation ceremony. Both events were held Thursday, May 28, at Lee and Penny Anderson Center, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul.
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
Kirk Possehl has been a sports announcer for Special Olympics Minnesota for 27 years. He will announce track and field events for the national games beginning June 20.
Olympics Minnesota for the past 27 years. The reason he keeps coming back, he said, is because of the people involved. “I’ve been honored to be in that tight-knit group,” Possehl said, adding that he has stayed in touch with many of the athletes,
Ana Maradiaga, Mounds View High School Hi everyone! I’m Ana Maradiaga, and I’m so honored to be getting to speak to you all today. Looking out into this crowd of many familiar and unfamiliar faces, I can assume that our emotions are all over the place. Goodbyes always tend to spring up on us quicker than we anticipate, and today is no different. Although, I do believe that today’s goodbye is especially Ana worth noting. Whether you feel thrilled Maradiaga to begin this new chapter, or terrified to be losing familiarity, we are all here to celebrate what we’ve learned and accomplished over the last 12 years: Our personal and academic successes, the many special memories we’ve made, and our growth into the version of ourselves that we’ll continue to
SEE SPECIAL OLYMPICS USA GAMES, PAGE 20
SEE HIGH SCHOOL GRAD SPEECHES, PAGE 7
Local sports announcer Kirk Possehl comments on 2026 Special Olympics USA Games gig BY LOGAN GION STAFF WRITER
After 39 years as a sports announcer for NHL, minor-league baseball and University of Minnesota games, Lino Lakes resident Kirk Possehl is preparing for what he considers to be the apex of his career: announcing
track and field events for the 2026 Special Olympics USA games. Special Olympics games mainly consist of individual or team sports with athletes who have intellectual disabilities. While this is Possehl’s first time announcing for Special Olympics USA, Possehl has been volunteering for Special
City to raise Shoreview Community Center membership rates in August BY LOGAN GION STAFF WRITER
On Aug. 1, membership rates for the Shoreview Community Center will increase by an average of two percent for residents and three percent for non-residents. That means an adult membership will now cost $45 per month for residents and $59 per month for non-residents. Shoreview Parks and Recreation Director Steve Benoit presented the reasons for the increase at a recent city council meeting. “The intent … is to simply cover typical increases in service costs that we experience, but philosophically, we want to remain affordable and competitive within the market,” said Benoit. “The term we use is ‘affordable excellence.’” The concept of affordable excellence becomes complicated in practice; the community center currently manages 43 different membership options, from youth to senior citizen and from single to family. Consequently, the Parks and Recreation Commission have
had two meetings earlier this year on the topic. “This is honestly a challenging discussion that we have on an annual basis,” Benoit said. “There’s a lot of strong feelings about meeting revenue-goal objectives but also remaining accessible.” One way the community center strives for accessibility is by offering three-month, seasonal memberships, which aims to serve summer family outings or college students home from break. Another way is by offering day-pass rates with special pricing for children who want to visit the indoor playground. Currently, a Shoreview family of two adults and two children could use full amenities of the community center for $42 per day. “It’s really quite the value,” said Council Member Shelly Myrland. “And there’s no time limit on how long they can be here.” “I appreciate that there is a difference with resident and non-resident rates,” commented Council Member John Doan, “particularly because residents do pay property tax.”
City Manager Brad Martens praised staff for their attention to cost management. “The finances are looked at significantly and managed well—not having to ask for additional levy funds since I’ve been here, almost five years now, is significant,” he said. Mayor Sue Denkinger stated that she appreciated the balance between maintenance costs and timely upkeep. “The locker room has upgrades to the flooring. The fitness equipment, (we don’t) wait ‘till it’s broken to be fixed, yet once it ages out, it’s proactive, so people don’t have to wait,” said Denkinger. “All the things we approve as costs have everything to do with safety before something happens.” One thing that likely will not be changing in the near future is the name Shoreview Community Center. Regarding corporate partnership naming rights, City Manager Brad Martens remarked, “This is our identity, who we are as a community … I don’t like the idea of the Reese’s Pieces Community Center, so we’ll keep that to the side for the time being.”
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