The region finally blanketed with snow

January 26, 2012

The Tyler area was blanketed with snow last week after a mild winter that stretched well into January.

A few inches of snow accumulated on the ground when the snow storm hit mid-week.

Above: Residents brought out their shovels and snow blowers that had been accumulating dust during the winter up until this point.

Right: The snow didn’t stop Paul En­gels of Ivanhoe, who was contracted for some work in Tyler. Even while the snow was falling Engels continued to work on a project he had al­ready started.

Hwy. 68 Corridor Colation requests county reps

January 26, 2012

By Tammy Mathison

hendrickspioneer@gmail.com

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners heard reports and updates from county enti­ties at their Jan. 20 meeting.

Lee Amundson included in his report to the commissioners an update on the proposed shop inTyler. The intention is to get a shop put up inTylerfor under $100,000.

Christin Berger provided an update on the DSI Trails Grant. In regard to the Hole-in-the- Mountain Trail, a water/wetland review will be done and, if need­ed, the trail will be rerouted to accommodate the wetland. Con­struction is slated to begin on the Hole-in-the-Mountain trail this year.

Jeanna Sommers spoke to the board regarding the county si­rens grant. Each city has applied for a USDA grant and would get $5,000 toward the sirens. “I would like the siren to go off each night in Ivanhoe at 6 p.m. like it used to,” said Commis­sioner Gillund, who appeared pleased with the favorable news regarding the sirens grant.

Rebecca Day of the Minneota EDA spoke to the commissioners about the Highway 68 Corridor Coalition, presenting a packet of information on Highway 68, of which 3.7 miles run through a portion ofLincolnCounty. The packet contained information on the highway and the need to fix it. Maps were included in the packet, as well as the dimen­sions of the road and shoulders. Safety issues concerning the road were brought up, includ­ing the narrow shoulder widths, steep slope and the fact that it is a heavily travelled road.

The Coalition was at the meet­ing on Jan. 20 to request of the commissioners representation forLincolnCountyso needs and concerns regarding the stretch of Highway 68 inLincolnCoun­tycould be voiced at upcom­ing meetings. Commissioner Blumeyer and possibly the coun­ty engineer will representLin­colnCounty.

RTR One-Act team ready for competition

January 26, 2012

 

The cast of “Chipped,” RTR’s 2012 one-act competition play, are pictured in the middle of rehearsal last week.

The RTR One-Act competition play Chipped is set to debut in the first round of competition on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Yellow Medi­cine East High School in Granite Falls.

“Anyone is welcome to attend,” said director Neil Witte. “We may perform as early as 2 p.m., so don’t come at the last second or you might miss it.”

Witte said, “Chipped is a fast-paced comedy about a variety show that performs live over the internet, enlightening its view­ers on the subject of love, rela­tionships and the family unit. The play satirizes the way soci­ety treats computers/technol­ogy and whether we control the computers, or if the computers control us.”

The top two plays from each subsection will be invited to per­form at section finals on Feb. 4 inRedwoodFalls, Witte said.

TACC holds annual meeting

January 20, 2012

The Tyler Area Community Club held its annual meeting on Monday, Jan. 16 at the Log Cabin meeting room.

Gary Manson, 2011 TACC pres­ident, was voted in for a second term with no candidates nomi­nated for the positions of first or second vice-president.

A number of committee re­ports were given, including the Beautification and Lighting Committee which held a tour of homes during the summer.

Sharon Jacobsen said the tour of homes event was a success for the group and brought in some good fundraising dollars for the organization.

The Lincoln County Tourism Committee showed the new bro­chure forTylerthat is taken to various towns throughout the greater region to encourage peo­ple to visitTyler.

Carl Holmquist said the bro­chure has seen a lot of interest at both shows and the locations it has been left at.

TACC also discussed the water tower design as was requested by the Tyler City Council.

The group decided on aTylerlogo that would include the Dan­ish flag on a silver or grey back­ground color.

The design will be mocked up and presented to the Tyler City Council during its February meeting.

TACC also voted to donate $50 in Tyler Bucks to the THC spon­sored Cookin’ at the Club event in February.

RTR Snow Week King and Queen

January 20, 2012

 

Katie Bump, left, and Nathan Condelli are pictured after they were crowned RTR Snow Week Queen and King during the halftime of the girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 13.

There wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground, but that didn’t stopRTRHigh Schoolfrom crowning its Snow Week King and Queen.

Katie Bump was crowned Queen and Nathan Condelli crowned King during the coro­nation that took place during halftime of the Lady Knights bas­ketball game Friday, Jan. 13.

The Queen candidates also in­cluded Wendy Andersen, Larisa Denney, Danica Long, Elizabeth Shelton and Kelsey Stanek. The King candidates also included Spencer Kor, Andrew Miller, Jerad Stanfield, Taylor Thooft and Zach Thooft.

Before the King was announced, the Snow Week King candidates each knelt down like NFL quarterback Tim Tebow during the halftime of the girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 13.

Last year’s King and Queen, Tanner Thomsen and Samantha Schaefer, were on hand to crown the winners.

Recognition for Sunrise Manor – Tyler Healthcare Center

January 20, 2012

Sunrise Manor was recently recognized for its work. Kayla Knaeble, CNA, left, Laura duCharme, RN, DON; and Bethanni Johnson, CNA pose for a photo with the award.

Sunrise Manor -Tyler Healthcare Center, Avera has been recognized by My InnerView, a combined business unit with OCS HomeCare and a division of National Research Corporation, with a 2010-2011 Excellence in Action award for customer sat­isfaction. According to My In­nerview, this honor recognizes nursing homes that achieve the highest levels of satisfaction ex­cellence, as demonstrated by overall customer scores that fall within the top 10 percent of their database—the largest skilled nursing facility database of its kind in the U.S. Sunrise Manor participated in a family satis­faction survey that asked family members a number of questions related to the care and treatment of their loved ones, including if they would recommend this fa­cility to others. A high percent­age of those responding indi­cated an “Excellent” score. “I am very proud of our entire team”, said Kathe Miranowski,Sunrise Manor’s administrator. “We re­spect and take very seriously the trust that is placed with us when someone chooses our facility as their home.”

In their announcement, Amanda Twiss, CEO of my In­nerView-OCS, stated, “Celebrat­ing the fifth year of Excellence in Action awards, it’s important to note that this year’s award recipients were first recognized by their own customers and employees. There is no doubt that these nursing homes un­derstand the value of measuring quality improvement over time, as evidenced not only by their outstanding scores, but the dif­ferences that they are making in the lives of their residents and employees.”

Dale Kruger, THC CEO, states that “TylerHealthcareCenterviews customer satisfaction as a high priority. Our employees take pride in assuring that we are doing the absolute best we can in the services we provide residents and patients.” The facility has received a plaque to recognize this outstanding achievement in quality care.

Tyler City Council hears Schuneman project proposal

January 12, 2012

 By Robert Wolfington

tributeeditor@gmail.com

The Tyler City Council sched­uled a public hearing for a tax abatement for a proposed expan­sion to the Schuneman Equip­ment building inTylerduring its regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 9.

Vince Robinson of the Lincoln County Enterprise Development Corporation presented the coun­cil with the project and said Sc­huneman Equipment is request­ing a tax abatement that will help in the $900,000 construc­tion project.

Robinson said the expansion will also likely include the addi­tion of three full-time jobs at Sc­huneman Equipment in addition to the current jobs.

Robinson presented the coun­cil with three options, including a tax abatement, utilizing an existing tax incriminate finance district or creating a new TIF district.

Robinson said the abatement option was his recommended option because it gave the city more input and control over how it is administered.

The council scheduled the public hearing for Monday, Feb. 6 during its regular meet­ing.

Robinson said the Lin­coln County Board also scheduled a hearing for its portion of the tax abate­ment, which will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7 during its regular meeting.

City Councilman Erick Harper said he was im­pressed with the scope of the project and the eco­nomic impact it will have inTyler.

Mayor Kurt Thomsen said he was happy to see an existing business inTy­lernot only maintaining its current staff, but also looking at expanding.

Robinson said Schu­namen Equipment is also working with the Tyler Regional Economic Devel­opment board on a grant to help cover additional expenses for the project.

The tax abatement would be for a period of 10 years with a net total incentive to the business of $73,210.

The council approved the hiring of anew citypolice officer from the rec­ommendation of the Tyler Fire/Police Committee.

Eric Bloch, formerly of the Balaton Police Depart­ment, was selected for the position.

Harper, a member of the committee, said there were four strong candi­dates for the position and complimented Police Chief John Spindler for finding strong part-time officers to work with the city.

January heat wave continues in Tyler

January 12, 2012

The word January on the calendar didn’t stop Jim Miranowski, pictured above, and Roger Isenberg from golfing on Thursday, Jan. 5. The two were just some of the golfers taking in the nice weather on the Tyler Golf Course.

An unusually warm winter continued into the early weeks of January with golfers taking a swing on the course and the thermometer in front of Citizens State Bank in Tyler reading as high as 62 degrees on Thursday, Jan. 5.

On Monday, Jan. 9 and Tues­day, Jan. 10 the thermometer read at least 51 degrees during part of the day.

The weather outlook for the remainder of the week was not as warm with snow in the fore­cast and temperatures dropping to below zero on Thursday.

There has been some snow this winter but none of it has stayed on the ground for more than a day.

At one point the thermometer at Citizens State Bank read 62 degrees last week. Temperatures stayed warm in the early part of this week with 51 degrees reported on Monday, Jan. 9.

Snow week candidates announced at RTR High School

January 12, 2012

Congratulations to the Snow Week Queen and King candidates. Pictured from left to right in front are Katie Bump, Danica Long, Elizabeth Shelton, Larisa Denney, Kelsey Stanek and Wendy Andersen; in back are Jerad Stanfield, Zach Thooft, Nathan Condelli, Andrew Miller, Taylor Thooft and Spencer Kor. The Snow Week King and Queen will be crowned during half time of the RTR Lady Knights basketball game on Friday, Jan. 13.

RTR Knights at home with Holiday Tournament win

January 5, 2012

The RTR Boys Basketball Team is pictured above after winning the Holiday Tournament.

 

The RTR Knights came up with a win against Wabasso to take the RTR Holiday Classic on Thursday, Dec. 22 inTyler.

The tournament featured four teams that each take turns host­ing the event, including Wabas­so, Red Rock Central and Adrian, along with the Knights.

The Knights picked up a win against Red Rock Central to open the tournament before facing off against Wabasso.

The tournament is held at RTR every four years.

The RTR b-squad also picked up a tournament victory

For full coverage of the tour­nament see the sports section of this week’s Tribute on pages 8 and 14.

Dylan Kor, Travis King and Brett Peterson, pictured above, were named to the all-tournament team.