A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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The Minnesota School Boards Association deemed the past week as Minnesota School Board Recognition Week to build awareness and understanding of the vital function elected school board members play in our society. Cloquet joined other school districts from across the state to celebrate and honor board members for their commitment to students. “Strong schools help build strong communities — and school board members devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child lea...
NDSU Solomon Hartung of Cloquet was named to the fall semester dean’s list in the college of engineering at North Dakota State University. Bethel Brielle Christensen of Cloquet has been named to the fall dean’s list at Bethel University in St. Paul. North Texas Barnum graduate Reece Parks was named to the fall semester dean’s list at the University of North Texas. He is majoring in sports management. Southeast Missouri Ellie Gamradt of Wrenshall was named to Southeast Missouri State University’s president’s list for the fall semester....
In English, we have the term bookworm to describe someone who is always reading. According to historian Nick Kapur, most every other language has a similar phrase. In Spanish and French there is book rat, in Finnish there is chapter maggot, and in Norwegian there is reading horse. All describe animals consuming and devouring books, something that some of us can relate to, especially given the relentless subzero temperatures and increased time in isolation. Wrenshall library media assistant...
The Knights of Columbus puts faith into action by service and helping the poor and people in need. In December, 10 Knights councils in the region conducted a drive to raise funds for the Union Gospel Mission of Duluth, which was in desperate needs of money to serve a growing number of hungry in Duluth due to the lack of regular donations during the ongoing pandemic. Led by district deputies Paul Sever, Jeff Nelson and Bob Spehar, the order raised $7,000. A check was presented to Sue...
When Florian Chmielewski carries his accordion into the VFW in Cloquet, he can't help but smile. "I told someone that I have been doing that for 76 years, bringing my accordion into a place and setting the case down," he said. "I have to do it. I am there to make people happy. I bring joy to their lives." Chmielewski celebrated his 94th birthday Wednesday in true Florian style: by playing at the VFW's senior dance. "Someone asked me who was going to play for me on my birthday," Florian said. "I...
When Sunday school students see beyond the superficial details of the story of Adam and Eve, they begin to reflect on the reality of sin. A typical response appeals to their sense of justice. “Well, that’s not fair,” they will say. They understand the presence of so much violence, selfishness, corruption, stupidity and cruelty in the world, but they are not satisfied with the cause. After all, we weren’t the ones in the garden disobeying God, why do we have to suffer the consequences? In trying to find a solution to the problem, the questio...
When I was young I remember my mom telling me a story about a guy whose car had broken down on a country road with a flat tire. It was late at night and bitter cold. He had helped his wife with a blowout the week before so he was left on the side of the road with no jack and no sign of help. This was before cell phones so his only option was to start walking. He could see a light on in the distance so he pulled his coat tight and set out. As he trudged along he started to worry. Surely he would...
David Bellert has a question about his own back yard. He wants to know if anyone has information on the Evergreen Hites supper club that once sat on the southwest corner of Minnesota Highway 23 and Carlton County Road 18 east of Wrenshall. "Local lore has it that Tim and Nellie Pappelis were the proprietors and former owners of the property which we now occupy," David wrote. "A cement slab may be evidence of the former business although no plumbing or other visible clues remain. It was said to...
Cloquet resident Anthony "Tony" Jurek, 88, died Dec. 31, 70 years and one month after he was captured during the Korean War. The Army veteran and Kettle River native spent nearly three years as a prisoner of war. A career firefighter who also owned Jurek Siding, he was an active and engaged community member, and was involved in everything from the Cloquet Hockey Association to the Knights of Columbus and nearly every veterans organization in the area. He was only 17 when he enlisted in the Army...
It was a cold morning at the edge of the Old Holy Family Cemetery. This is where LeRoy DeFoe was put to rest on Dec. 28. It's important to note that fact, since DeFoe spent many years discovering long-forgotten gravesites and cemeteries on the Fond du Lac Reservation. DeFoe died Dec. 20, a day after his 72nd birthday and just a few months after a cancer diagnosis. "It was an honor knowing him," said Christine Carlson, who regarded him as a historical "cohort" when it came to preserving the...
Have you ever had a conversation with someone so intelligent that 10 minutes into the exchange, you start to feel inferior? That maybe you should have accomplished more in your lifetime? That is how my interview went with Luke Heine. After our two-hour talk, I needed two Tylenol to soothe my aching brain. I looked up his name online just to see if I had missed anything. I found multiple stories of Luke's accomplishments. Did I mention he is only 26? Just out of curiosity I searched for my name....
For 39 years my family and I have been engaged in this area. I am blessed to have had the good fortune to have wonderful opportunities to engage with thousands of area people over the years. My involvement included restaurants - Perkins and Black Woods - operating a small business, Northern Kawasaki, and pastoring a small church, River of Life. My appreciation for living in this area continues to grow with each passing year, and I look forward to the coming year, 2021. A community is known by ho...
Six degrees and sunny made for perfect sledding weather Monday morning, as Jill Brenner and her sister, Mary Jo Durkin, and their sons, Owen Brenner and Joseph Durkin, hit the hills at Pinehurst Park. Although the Durkins were visiting from California, they were not put off by the cold temperatures or the bumpy ride down the hill....
When Cloquet Community Ed director Ruth Reeves pictured retiring this year, in her mind she saw herself enjoying each activity one last time. "Each last whatever, I told myself I would really really take the time and enjoy it," Reeves said. "And then we just started canceling things in March. And we kept canceling things." She had planned to step down at the end of the fiscal year in June, but it was just too "weird" she said. So she figured maybe things would be better in December. "Of course,...
Residents at Cloquet's Aspen Arms got into the holiday spirit with a door decorating contest. Nearly 20 residents at the apartment building on 14th Street dressed up doors in creative ways, with everything from a beach scene to a snowman. A more traditional take on the Christian holiday, "Birth of Jesus" by Linda Johnson, took first prize, with Matt Manty's grinchy social commentary on 2020 "Stink, Stank, Stunk" snagging second. Third place, which showed Santa stuck in a chimney, went to Fay...
With so many folks missing their regular holiday gatherings this year, James Sheetz wanted to share one of his favorite traditions from his time at Wrenshall School. In the 1960s, home economics teacher Joan Urbanski worked with her students to put together a Christmas tea, complete with handmade recipe books. Urbanski still lives in the area. Sheetz asked Audrey (Olson Seboe) Kavanaugh, class of 1965, to reminisce: "I loved everything about it," she said. "Starting with baking and decorating...
World War II veteran Burt Wang found an unexpected silver lining in 2020, in part because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He found a new home and family with Theresa Bridge and her daughters, and a new lease on life with all the busyness of life in their Cloquet home this summer. And he got his first drive-by birthday party on Tuesday, when he turned 97 years old. Wang was alternately delighted and moved to tears to see old neighbors turn up on his birthday, then flabbergasted when a parade of cars...
With so many holiday traditions upended this year it's fun to be able to hold dearly to the ones we can enjoy safely together. Our family has always loved the lighting displays put out by Wrenshall area residents. The drive back from daycare always takes longer in December because we have to drive down Goad Drive on the way home. I was excited to see the community get into the spirit again this year with the fourth annual Deck the Wrens Halls lighting contest. My family did a drive through town...
Merry Christmas and God's blessing on you and your families. The Bible, in Isaiah 9:6, says "for to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, Mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of peace." What wonderful words to focus on during any time but especially during this Christmas season. Jesus is the reason we celebrate. He is the reason we live. Jesus is why we know the reality of our salvation. He...
Congratulations to Katy Hakala on the shot of a lifetime when she recently bagged a huge buck Nov. 14 near their home. Her husband Matt helped her track the deer and she was glad he was there when they found it. This was Katy’s fourth deer, and first buck. A full story can be found in the Nov. 24 issue of the Voyageur Press newspaper. Also bagging really nice-sized bucks this hunting season were the Hutar/Mattson siblings, and Siiena Anderson shot her first buck this fall. Clothing Depot n...
Like for plenty of other folks around the country, our Thanksgiving looked quite a bit different this year, but we still celebrated our immense blessings around a dinner of poultry and savory spices. This year I felt especially thankful for the health and safety of my family. My husband, Janaki, contracted Covid-19 sometime in early November and has since recovered, but the repercussions from even one mild case are a good reminder of the precautions we all should continue to take to keep each...
Like everything else in 2020, Thanksgiving looked a little different this year, especially for large community meals like the one organized by the Disabled American Vets in Cloquet. Instead of a sit down meal at a local church, this year all the meals were packaged individually for delivery or pickup. There were no guests to greet, and each volunteer had to sign in at the door, in case someone tested positive for Covid later and they needed to contact everyone. The food was the same: turkey,...
It took close to a year to find him, but the Cloquet Area Fire District has hired a new chief. Matthew Ashmore will start his new job full-time on Monday, Nov. 30. He comes to Cloquet from the Hibbing Fire Department, where he worked as a battalion chief and as emergency medical services (EMS) director. It was a long search process - actually two searches - but CAFD board member and succession planning committee chair, Linda Wey, said it was worth the extra time and effort. She explained that...
The cult horror film "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was Bela Lugosi's last film, and was shot without a script because director Ed Wood didn't really know what it was going to be about. This is the kind of important trivia that a puppet named Rentfield shares on a new horror movie TV show shot partially in a pole building in Wrenshall. Local resident Mike Sholtz is the puppeteer for Rentfield as well as the co-creator of "Uncle Clutch's Video Horror Shop." The show takes its inspiration from the...
Jane Willie and sewing have been acquainted for decades, but her show at Magnolia Café in Carlton is her first foray into exhibiting her fabric creations (aside from various fairs, that is). Growing up, Willie said she made her own clothes in high school, then she made some of her children's clothes when they were little. Although she made her first quilt in the 1970s, it took another 20 years, a community education class in Carlton, and the encouragement of two dear friends (Candy and Yvonne)...
