The celebration of Easter

Pastor Bruce Mueller of Trinity Church, Hendricks, talks about Easter celebration.

By Violet Nelson

vanelson@yahoo.com

As we are nearing the end of the Lenten season and about to observe Easter Sunday, some may have heard the story about Jesus’ resurrection many times, some may have heard it and just brushed it aside and, sad to say, some don’t care if they hear it.

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. We all should be looking to the cross each and every day. The mes­sage of Jesus dying on the cross to wipe away our sins is an im­portant one. My prayer for you is that you will follow along the next several weeks as area spiri­tual leaders share with us the true message of Easter, the fin­ished work ofCalvary’s Cross. May it have an impact on your life for Christ.

This first message is from Pastor Bruce Mueller, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hendricks, entitled “No Surprise Ending.”

When my daughter was little, she wanted to watch the same Disney movies over and over again. It seemed that no matter how many times she saw them, they were just as enjoyable as when she watched them for the first time.”

This usually isn’t the case, however. More often, knowing how the story ends takes away something from the experience. That is why movie studios go to great lengths to reveal just enough details in the clips they release and the interviews the stars give to spark in­terest in a film without giving away too much.

For Jesus’ disciples, the events that unfolded in and aroundJerusalemsome 2,000 years ago came as a total shock. They were at a loss over what to make of their Master’s arrest, trial and conviction. They were totally devastated and some could not even bear to watch as Jesus was nailed to a cross, breathed his last and was placed in a tomb. They were equally caught off guard by what took place three days lat­er.

But none of what hap­pened should have been a surprise. Shortly before Je­sus rode intoJerusalemon a donkey’s colt to shouts from the crowd of “Ho­sanna!” Jesus took his dis­ciples aside and explained to them, “We are going up toJerusalemand the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:18-19 NIV).

Jesus wasn’t concerned that telling his disciples how the events of his Pas­sion were going to unfold would somehow ruin the experience for them. Rath­er, he realized that know­ing how it was going to end was crucial to understand­ing what was taking place. Without the resurrection, Jesus’ death would be seen as a defeat rather than a victory.

Soon we will be cel­ebrating once again Jesus’ suffering and death. But without Easter Sunday the events of Good Friday make no sense. Without the empty tomb, Jesus’ cross is a meaningless symbol. Christ’s suffering onCalvarypaid for the sins of the whole world. His resurrection was the ex­clamation point at the end of God’s “Not guilty!” pro­nouncement. As the apos­tle Paul explains, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25 NIV).

There is no surprise ending for us to Jesus’ Pas­sion. As the words “It is finished” (John 19:30 NIV) again ring in our ears, we know in just a few days we will hear the angels an­nounce, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:6 NIV).

Although we may have heard these words be­fore (perhaps even many times), knowing how things end doesn’t need to take away anything from our experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Rather, with childlike faith this message of sins forgiv­en can be just as enjoyable as when we heard it for the first time.

Principal Jensen takes new position

By Tammy Mathison

hendrickspioneer@gmail.com

Hendricks Public School Prin­cipal Shelly Jensen has tendered her resignation to the Hendricks School Board.

Jensen was hired by the Hen­dricks School Board in the fall of 2010 as principal to what was then Lincoln HI Elementary School. Following the split of Hendricks and Ivanhoe, Jensen was integral in setting up the new middle school and high school in Hendricks.

Born and raised inBrookings,S.D.and receiving her education there, Jensen said that although she has enjoyed her time in Hendricks, it has always been a professional goal of hers to be a school administrator in her hometown.

In this week’s Principal’s Cor­ner, Jensen said, “A few weeks ago, I was called by the Principal of Brookings High School to have an interview with them for the position of assistant principal at the high school in Brookings. I was ecstatic to even get an in­terview.”

On March 21 of this year, Jensen received word that out of if passed, would have dis­solved the school district. While the bill is essentially “dead,” it is still out there and could still be a threat in the future. Superintendent Houck mentioned that he had received calls from the chairmen of the Lynd and RTR School Boards saying that their boards planned to adopt resolutions stat­ing they support theHen­dricksSchooland send them to the legislature.

“And our own City Coun­cil can’t adopt one,” was a comment heard from a member of the public in attendance.

Also during the meet­ing, the board received two bids in the amounts of $6,700 and $8,100 for the removal of asbestos. The board voted to accept the lower bid.

The board also voted to accept the SW/WC con­tracts and to put the instal­lation of four univents out to bid.

Finally, before moving into closed session for ne­gotiations, the board ap­proved the contracts for the golf coaches, Tom Ol­son and Steve Holland.

Sawdust Days held at Lumber Co.

Hendricks Farmers Lumber Co. held their annual Sawdust Days on Thursday, March 22, serving a free lunch to their customers and holding a drawing for door prizes. Winners of the prizes were Myron Knoff, Harvey Koopman, Mark VanEck, Tom Davis, Laurie Pavek, Alan Rybinski, Glen Midtaune, Caroline Peterson, David Blees and Darla Buseth.

Monroe Crossing to perform at Lake Benton Opera House

Monroe Crossing will be appearing at the Lake Benton Opera House Friday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at First Security Bank of Lake Benton, Citizen’s State Bank in Tyler, Farmers and Merchant’s Bank in Pipestone and Hy-Vee in Marshall. For more information, go to www.monroecrossing.com.

World-class bluegrass enter­tainers Monroe Crossing will appear in concert at the Lake Benton Opera House on Friday March 30 at 7:30 p.m.

The Lake Benton Opera House is located at120 Benton Street in Lake Benton. Tickets are $13 in advance, $16 at the door and $10 for age 12 and under.

Tickets are now on sale at Citi­zens State Bank of Tyler, First Se­curity Bank of Lake Benton, First Farmers and Merchants Bank of Pipestone and Marshall HyVee.

Monroe Crossing dazzles audi­ences with an electrifying blend of classic bluegrass, bluegrass gospel and heartfelt originals. Their airtight harmonies, razor sharp arrangements and on-stage rapport make them audi­ence favorites across theUnited States,CanadaandEurope. They are touring in support of their brand new CD, “Joy Joy Joy.” This, their 11th CD and their third all-gospel release, features many audience favorites and original compositions. Named in honor of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe Crossing also recently released a tribute CD, “Monroe Crossing Plays the Songs of Bill Monroe,” which fea­tures 15 classic bluegrass songs made famous by the “Big Mon” himself.

In addition to releasing 11 in­die CDs and a live concert DVD, Monroe Crossing has made over 1,250 concert appearances throughout theUnited States,CanadaandEurope. The secret to the band’s longevity and suc­cess? According to fiddler and lead singer Lisa Fuglie, “It’s just plain hard work and dedication. We all share a love for bluegrass music and for performing on stage. We appreciate every audi­ence, large or small, and under­stand that we’re there for them, not the other way around.”

Mandolin player Matt Thomp­son adds, “We have learned the importance of entertaining audi­ences and not just playing top-quality music. We regularly hear people say that they didn’t think they liked bluegrass music until they saw us play!”

Hendricks reacts to proposed House bill to close school

By Tammy Mathison

hendrickspioneer@gmail.com

Community members in the Hendricks area were shocked to learn of a proposed bill in the House that called to dissolve the Hendricks School District.

Late last Wednesday after­noon, March 14, Hendricks School Board members received information from a community member that a bill had been pro­posed to dissolve the school dis­trict and, if passed, would take effect in July of 2012.

This information came as a surprise to School Board Chair­man Tom Olson, who said there had been no contact with the board from the bill’s author, Rep. Andrew Falk, D-Murdock, prior to his proposing the bill.

“…There was no contact with the district whatsoever and no research done on the district,” said Olson. “We are stable. It is financially tight, but stable. There is no reason to close this school.”

The information regarding the proposed bill quickly spread throughout the community through social networking site Facebook, e-mails and a grass­roots campaign to “kill the bill” was begun Wednesday evening and would continue throughout the week.

Members of the community were urged to contact Education Committee members and Falk.

“I did not vote on remodel­ing the Ivanhoe school building and I don’t want to pay their bills,” said Sharon Peterson, for­mer administrative assistant at the Hendricks school, when she heard about the proposed bill. “The bottom line as a senior citizen with a hus­band with health issues, we have no extra money.

“Falk visited the Ivan­hoe school not too long ago,” Peterson added. “He should have visited theHendricksPublic Schooltoo and told us what he is doing. He’s not thinking of the elderly people trying to live on Social Security. Hendricks Public School is doing very well, the staff is great, the students are great. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

On Friday afternoon Rep. Falk sent a letter of response to several com­munity members and the Hendricks Pioneer explain­ing his actions. This letter is printed in this week’s Pioneer opinion page.

“The town of Hendricks can breath again,” said Fred Schmidt, who was one of the people behind the grassroots campaign to “kill the bill” and helped to keep the public continually informed on developments with the bill via e-mail and Facebook. “However, the battle against Andrew’s (Rep. Falk) HF2594 should be a wake up call to all communities; how one man armed with very little information and too much power can destroy lives, a town’s history and a town itself. Elections have consequences,” added Schmidt.

Rep. Andrew Falk introduced bill to dissolve Hendricks School District

By Robert Wolfington

tribeditor@gmail.com

A Minnesota House Bill was in­troduced at the end of February that called for the dissolution of Independent School District No. 402.

The bill, H.F. No. 2594, co-au­thored by Rep. Andrew Falk, D-Murdock of District 20A, called for the Hendricks School District to be dissolved by July 1, 2012.

Kate Hensing, legislative assis­tant for Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, who currently serves as the chairwoman for the Edu­cation Reform Committee, said the bill would not be introduced on the floor for a vote.

The bill was first introduced in committee on Feb. 29, but Hen­dricks School Board Chairman Tom Olson said he didn’t hear about the bill until March 14.

“Speaking as the Board Chair, this is one of the most un­d e r h a n d e d , sneaky things that has ever happened,” said Olson. “What would hap­pen if we never knew about this? Luckily, we found out.”

In a letter sent to the Hen­dricks Pioneer, Falk said he had a number of concerns that led him to authoring the bill to close the district.

“The sparsity revenue previ­ously eligible to all students in Hendricks (ISD 402) and Ivanhoe (ISD 403) ceased to exist when Hendricks (ISD 402) opened their own high school (albeit an online one),” Falk said in the letter. “Because the Hendricks (ISD 402) high school is with­in 17 miles of the former site ofLincolnHigh Schooland the current site of the Ivanhoe (ISD 403) K-12 school, that spar­sity revenue is no longer eligible to either Hendricks (ISD 402) or Ivanhoe (ISD 403). It is off the table. Ivanhoe’s loss is not Hendricks’ gain; it is a net loss to both. Losing this funding makes abso­lutely no sense.”

Falk also said he had questions about the class­es being provided in the Hendricks School District and if they would meet the academic standards set by the state.

“Serious questions have been raised about whether or not the Hendricks (ISD 402) online high school constitutes a qualified high school education,” said Falk. “Serious concerns ex­ist about whether or not required hours of study are being met, the ability to garner enough credits to earn aMinnesotahigh school graduation diploma and, ultimately, if the stu­dents are being honestly prepared for post-second­ary education and civic life after high school.”

Falk also expressed con­cerns over interstate reci­procity agreements with South Dakota and how having both Hendricks and Ivanhoe operating K-12 districts impacts those agreements.

Hendricks Principal Shelly Jensen responded to Falk’s letter in an e-mail sent to the Pioneer, en­couraging Falk to visit the Hendricks school to see how the classes are work­ing first hand.

“If you have a chance, you should come and visit our high school,” said Jens­en. “You will discover that Hendricks Public School takes extra steps to ensure that students are techno­logically advanced and taught in a way to meet the individual learning needs of students.

“Some of our students are attending a hybrid classroom because they learn best face-to-face in some classes and online in other classes,” said Jensen. “Many of the online classes that students take are for dual credit which means they take college courses and get credit for both high school and college. This description does not constitute the definition of an online school.”

Hendricks Superinten­dent Bruce Houck said the bill came as a surprise to the district, which had no prior warning that it could happen.

“It was a very big sur­prise,” said Houck. “We had no information about it coming down at all.”

Houck said a number of members from the Hen­dricks community contact­ed the Education Reform Committee to express con­cerns over the bill after they learned about it last week.

“In the Hendricks com­munity there have been a number of e-mails that have gone to the Educa­tion Reform Committee because they would be the ones that would take ac­tion on it first.”

Houck criticized Falk for “pitting two communities against each other” with the bill.

In his letter, Falk said he wants to see the two districts work together to find a solution that will provide the most amount offinancial resources for the students of both the Hendricks and Ivanhoe areas.

“It is my hope that Hen­dricks (ISD 402) and Ivan­hoe (ISD 403) will be able to enter into a mutually beneficial arrangement (like the one that previ­ously existed) that brings the maximum amount of resources to the students,” said Falk in the letter. “That said, if current man­agement stands in the way of this cooperative effort, then it is dependent upon the school boards to either assert that management cooperate or find new management or a new way of operating.”

Kiwanis held annual waffle feed March 17

These three generations of leprechauns were spotted at the Kiwanis Waffle Feed held on St. Patrick’s Day. Pictured from left to right are Muriel Dorn, Lynn Bockelmann and Nicole Espland.

By Tammy Mathison

hendrickspioneer@gmail.com

On Saturday, March 17 the Hendricks Kiwanis held their an­nual Dad’s Belgian Waffle Feed in the Hendricks Public School gymnasium.

With over 400 tickets pre-sold, plus additional tickets sold at the door, according to Harvey Buch­holz, Kiwanis members deemed the waffle feed a success. Buch­holz said that several monetary donations were also made to the Kiwanis, with one individual do­nating $100.

The annual waffle feed is one of the three main fundraising ef­forts done by the Kiwanis, with the others being the annual Ice Cream Social and the ongoing aluminum can collection.

Proceeds from the fundraisers are used toward school and com­munity projects including pro­viding books for preschoolers and kindergarteners as part of a reading program that they sup­port and scholarships for college freshmen from Hendricks.

In the past couple of years, the Kiwanis is one of several or­ganizations donating funds to provide the Missoula Children’s Theatre opportunity in Hen­dricks for local students. The an­nual Bike Rodeo, which teaches kids bike safety, is yet another event the Kiwanis sponsors.

The Kiwanis also supports other community projects, in­cluding Meals on Wheels, as members are the ones to deliver the meals, the Food For Kidz program, the Lincoln County Pioneer Museum and other local projects as needed.

Two new employees with County Highway Department

By Steven Hurd

Hendricks Pioneer Intern

The first March meeting of the Lincoln County Board of  Commissioners was held last Tuesday morning at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Ivanhoe.

At the meeting, Environmental Administrator Robert Olsen esti­mated a cost of $230,000 for the replacement of the 18-inch tile with 30-inch dual-walled plastic on County Ditch 33.

Olsen also reported that over­age charges for garbage and recycling pick-up are down from $500 to $50 since Michael Thooft has been monitoring and documenting the area daily. The board approved a two-month re­newal for the months of March and April for Thooft’s services.

Lincoln County Engineer Lee Amundson started by explaining that the budget numbers for the Lincoln County Highway Depart­ment are below budget so far this year.

Amundson then introduced two new department em­ployees, Garrett Peterson of Lake Benton and James Draper of Fairmont.

The board approved the purchase of a one-way blade for the replacement of a damaged blade on one of the county’s road grad­ers for $8,900 off of state bid.

Amundson went on to provide the highway de­partment’s six-year plan for road maintenance, re­surfacing, overlays and bridge improvements for the townships in Lincoln County.

Hendricks City Admin­istrator David Blees and Nancy Beech, both mem­bers of the Hendricks Trails Committee, pro­posed a plan to expand and improve walking trails in and around the City of Hendricks.

The Hendricks Trails Committee plans to coor­dinate with the Lincoln County Highway Depart­ment and the Lincoln County Board of Com­missioners to apply for a DNR Trails Connection Grant, which is due at the end of the month. The grant matches 25 percent of the local share, up to $150,000.

The board agreed to al­low the highway depart­ment to provide assistance to Hendricks throughout the duration of the proj­ect.

Ben Vangundy, a land protection specialist for Ducks Unlimited, was at the meeting to notify the board that Ducks Unlim­ited purchased 40 acres of land by the Shaokatan Wildlife Area this past De­cember. Ducks Unlimited plans to donate and trans­fer the land to the Minne­sota DNR in the future.

Will Minnesota Twins fans remain loyal to their team?

By Violet Nelson

Hendricks Pioneer

The Minnesota Twins have not had trouble selling tickets in their first two seasons at Target Field. Will that continue if they have another bad season after they nearly lost 100 games in 2011? Arguably, 2011 is prob­ably the worst season in the team’s history.

Tom Olson thinks they will make a good comeback. “They are not perennial losers,” he said. “They can’t afford to have another bad season.”

Travis Olsen is pretty confi­dent they will continue to sell out. “Target Field is still new enough,” he said. “It has a nice family atmosphere. I hope they start out with wins.”

Carrie Campbell said her fam­ily, the Roger Holmlunds, are hugeMinnesotasports fans. “They are loyal no matter what,” she said. “No matter how bad the Twins play this season, the fans will remain loyal.”

“I think Target Field will con­tinue to have sell-out crowds,” Sheryl Hanson said. “If they want to keep the Twins, they have to continue to do so.” Hanson thinks Justin Morneau is getting better and is ready to take on more of a leadership role this season.

Just last week, owner Jim Pohlad and General Manager Bill Smith indicated that the Twins’ payroll for 2012 will decline to somewhere around $100 mil­lion. That is around a $15 million drop from last year, leaving little room to re-sign Michael Cuddy­er, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan. Pohlad said his goal is to keep the team here. “The payroll cut is our chance to break even over the next two seasons,” he said.

I think the Minnesota Twins fans are tops. When we have had a rough year, we focus on what lies ahead and the Twins attempt to stay a good ballclub. In 1960, when we learned the Washington Senators were mov­ing toMinnesota, it was a good thing. We have been given years of good entertainment.

Fans—is it hard to fall “out of love” with the Minnesota Twin’s? It’s impossible!

Sheryl Hanson

Tom Olson

Travis Olsen

Carrie Campbell

Area fire and rescue workers train for ice water rescue

Area fire and rescue workers trained in Lake Hendricks for ice water rescues on Saturday, March 10.

By Tammy Mathison

hendrickspioneer@gmail.com

No, they weren’t brightly col­ored creatures from the deep, dark depths of Lake Hendricks that you saw on the ice on Satur­day, March 10, and there wasn’t a major accident of any sort war­ranting the presence of trucks bearing the logos of surround­ing communities’ fire and rescue departments.

Fire and rescue workers from area communities including Hendricks, Ivanhoe, Lake Benton and Tyler were doing ice water rescue training in Hendricks.

Unusually warm weather this winter has caused more than a few people to go through the ice on area lakes, prompting area fire and rescue to further train in the event of future accidents.

The day began with several hours of classroom training at the Hendricks Fire Hall, followed by the donning of the cold water immersion suits for the hands-on portion of the class, which took place in and on the lake us­ing equipment made for water rescues.

A large hole was cut into the ice and those in attendance took turns donning the suits to en­ter the water to rescue a victim while others then pulled them out using ropes.

Attendees felt the class a time­ly and informational one and hope they do not ever have the need to use the training.