0000lSkOV The most readweek00newsfafer t'n NotCher. P/ne Ca.n00, Thursday. February 3.201 , Volume 96, Number 21 (320 838-3151 • askovamerican@scicable.com 75¢ Who reads the Askov American? arb Bartholomaus of Otsego is among the many people who read the Askov American every week. i 'ANATOMY OF GRAY' Feb. 3, 7 p.m., East Central School theater sub-section champi- ons perform, one act play. East Cen- tral auditorium. 'LOVE YOUR LIBRARY' Silent auction, Feb. 4-11, Sand- stone Public Library. Sponsored by Friends of the Sandstone Library. EAST CENTRAL PTO Meeting, Feb. 7, 4-5:30 p.m., East Central community room (Room 413). EC SPELLING BEE Feb. 7, 7 p.m., East Central au- ditorium. SANDSTONE FLOWER AND GARDEN CLUB Meeting, Feb. 8, 1 p.m., Sand- stone Area Senior Center. WFLA LODGE 346 Meeting, Feb. 9, 1 p.m., Com- munity Room, Wild River Apts., sandstone. Meet at 11:45 a.m., Jan & Gary's to eat. COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE ..... Feb, i0::i11 8 'a.m,i4 p,m,, 01d Stanton Lumber, next to Cybert PC, Askov. Contributions accepted 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Feb. 4. Sponsored by Askov Area Lions. Donna (320) 838- 3438. ICE FISHING CONTEST Feb. 12, 1-3 p.m., south side of Oak Lake at public access. Spon- sored by Kerrick Fire & Rescue. ARTHRITIS EXERCISE CLASS Eight-week low-impact exercise class, begins Feb. 16, 1-2 p.m., Community Room 1, Mercy Hospital, Moose Lake. (218) 485-5696. EC PRESCHOOL SCREENING Feb. 17, for preschool children 3 years of age or older who have not been screened. East Central Elementary School, (320) 245-2931, ext. 6407, to schedule a child for screening. MEDICARE INFORMATION Sessions, Feb. 17 and April 14, 10 a:m.-noon, Essentia Health- Sandstone, conference room. Lynn Anderson, (320) 679-4065, ext. 34. Leave name/phone number to reg- ister. ,COOPERATIVE 101' WORKSHOP Feb. 17, 4-7 p.m., Rolf Olsen Center, Onamia, for anyone inter- ested in finding out more about cooperatives. Register at (320) 679- 4604 or Onanegozie RC&D at dana. raines@mn.usda.gov. SONS OF NORWAY Tusenvann Lodge 1-659, Isle, meeting Feb. 19, noon, at I.R.E.C. Program with author Anita Dittman, a holocaust survivor. Donna (320) 676-1638 or Gary (218) 927-6557. PROM DRESS EXCHANGE March 19, g a.m.- 1 p.m., East Central School. ADOPTNE PARENTS Support, education, activities for adoptive, foster, and kinship parents, first Mon. of month, 7-9 p.m. in Rm. 3, Kanabec Co. Courthouse, Mora. (877) 699-5937 or (320) 679-2467. CHILD LOSS GRIEF SUPPORT Group meets first Thur. of month, 7-8:30 p.m., Mercy Hospi- tel, Moose Lake. (218) 485-5508 or cblatz@sisunet.org. FOOD DISTRIBUTION "Feed My Sheep," first Sat. of month, Memorial Drive Bible Fellow- ship Church. Sign up 7 a.m., distribu- tion 8:30 a.m. Bring boxes atc., $15 fee. Pastor Nelson (320) 838-3733. .AREA EVENTS Continued on page 3. I Sub-section champs East Central, as the sub-section champion, advances to Section 7A competition Saturday, February 5 at Marshall School in Duluth. Cast and crew members are, front: Janna Jansen, Stuart Lourey, Joyce Domogalla, and John True. Second row: Glen Ridlon, Rowan Hilty, Colton Lourey, Danielle Yaste, McKinley Larson, and Brandon Wallace. Third row: Will Groskruetz, Dallos Lourey, Amanda Downs, Phillip Jansen, and Jessica Vork. Back: Sami Yokum, Chelsea Lourey, Kirsten Ecklund, and Kortnie Brown. East Central one act takes first place East Central's play "Anato- my of Gray" by Jim Leonard re- ceived first place ranking from all three judges at the Sub-sec- tion 7A Minnesota State High School League One Act play contest held at East Central High School Saturday. East Central, as the sub- section champion, advances to Section 7A competition Saturday, February 5 at Mar- shall School in Duluth. Also advancing as the subsection runner-up is Aitkin High School with its performance of "Confession: Kafka in High Local pei'formance of 'Anatomy of Gray' Thursday, February 3 at 7 p.m. in the East Central High School auditorium School." Onamia's "Mirrors" was named alternate. Other schools competing in the South Sub-section 7A contest were Barnum, Hinckley-Finlayson, and Moose Lake. East Central theater will present a local performance of"Anatomy of Gray" at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 3 in the East Central school audito- cast are: Stuart Lourey, Glen Ridlon, Colton Lourey, John True, Brandon Wallace, Joyce Domogalla, Rowan Hilty, Jan- na Jansen, Danielle Yaste, and McKinley Larson. rium. There is no admission The crew is comprised of: charge. Amanda Downs, Jessica Vork, The playwright, Jim Leon- Will Groskreutz, Phillip Jan- ard, describes his play as "a sen, SamiYocum, Kirsten Eck- children's story for adults." lund, Chelsea Lourey, Kortnie Set in Indiana during the late Brown, and Dallos Lourey. 1800s,"AnatomyofGray"deals This is East Central stu- with fear, death, loss, love, and dents' 17th sub-section one healing in a coming of age sto- act play championship in 23 ry. years. Members of East Central's School to begin strategic planning process Board appoints Barb Johnsen of Askov to fill vacant seat Colette Stadin At a special meeting of the East Central school board Monday, the board discussed the need for strategic planning, which correlated with a pre- sentation by Mirja P. Hanson, a strategic plan facilitator. "I've been talking about this for months. Strategic planning really defines how we're go- ing to do business. It's really a nice community piece to get others to voice what they feel East Central is about -- to find some common themes about what we're about," said Su- perintendent Tamara Schultz. A strategic plan, said Schultz, can act as a "guiding force" in a school's decision making and can identify the "most impor- tant things -- everything we strive for." Hanson's website, mir- japhanson.com, describes a strategic plan as "a guide for effective action ... by using consensus decision making. MPHA (Mirja P. Hanson Associ- ates) is all about getting things done. MPHA is for leaders who want results; for participants who don't like to waste time; for facilitators who want to meet leaders' and participants' needs." Hanson's services come at a cost of more than $8,000, with approval and launching of the plan possible in April. The consensus of the board is that a plan for East Central is needed. "We want some direction -- we want to be unified in a direction," said board member Julie Domogalla of Askov. "I want to see more than anything a clear direction on what it is we're working to get to. We all have our views but more than anything being to- gether on an issue," said board member Darren Fogt of Askov. Board member Bill Jansen of Askov stressed the need to keep up with changing times, "I feel it's hard to make pro- gressive changes and ready our students for the future that's right around the corner." "We need to make sure our kids are ready to go out into the world ... we need a plan so the whole function works to- gether, so the kids are ready," said board member Rich Thorn- sen of Askov. The need for efficiency was stressed by vice chair Doug Ecklund of Bruno. "We have to graduate productive citizens ... What we need to consider is that we have a lot of direction from other entities ... any plan needs to take into consider- ation the economic landscape. If we're going to do something I want to get to the efficiency side of it," said Ecklund. "We need to put kids first all the way through K-12, make sure we're preparing them to be successful," said board Chair Jeannette Kester of Sandstone. The need for community participation in the strategic planning process was stressed. "I think success of the project will be based on participation of everyone outside (the board room) ... We can't be the key leaders in the process. It needs to come from the community," said Ecklund. As part of the strategic planning process, multiple meetings will be held throughout the area with the goal of getting input from com- munity members. Barb Johnsen of Askov is sworn in as the newest member of the East Central school board at Monday's special meeting of the board, while board Chair Jeannette Kester looks on. Photos by Colette Stadin New board member After conducting interviews, Barb Johnsen of Askov was ap- pointed Monday as the newest member of the East Central school board. Johnsen fills the board seat left vacant since the July 2010 resignation of Polly Melhus of Sandstone. Drama students recognized East Central's one act per- formance of"Anatomy of Gray" received first-place ranking at the January 29 Sub-Section 7A Minnesota State High School League contest held at East Central School. East Central advances to Section 7A compe- tition February 5 in Duluth. A local performance of "Anatomy of Gray" is sched- uled for 7 p.m. today, February 3, in the East Central School auditorium. There is no admis- sion charge. "We're very proud of our drama department. They are spectacular," said Kester. • - : : i 2:/:;' Banks prepare to merge CEO Bruce Pogatchnik of Northview Bank, Finlayson, and President Bill Loew of First Na- tional Bank of the North (FNBN), Sandstone, announced today that the two banks have reached Northview an agreement Bank and to merge. The merger First National of Northview, a $160 mil- Bank of the lion asset bank North reach with seven lo- cations in Pine, agreement Carlton, St. Louis and Itas- to merge ca counties and FNBN, a $69 million asset bank with four locations in Pine County, is subject to approval by the state of Minnesota and the FDIC. It is expected that approval could take from three to six months. Pogatchnik and Loew agree that the merger will provide sig- nificant benefits for the customers of both institutions. The merger will combine two experienced staffs with different strengths, such as FNBN's SBA lending and Northview's mortgage depart- ment. The merger insures that both institutions will remain under lo- cal control, with decisions made by individuals who live in the lo- cal area. The new bank will operate as Northview Bank and no staffing changes are expected. Contact Pogatchnik at (320) 216-7352 or Loew at (320) 245- 5261 for additional details. Neglected animals removed from Bruno property A Saukville, Wisconsin, man has been charged with misde- meanor mistreatment of animals. Those animals were ultimately removed from property on Starch Road in Bruno, reports the Pine County Sheriff's Office. Lawrence W. Fiske, age 50, is facing a charge of mistreatment of animals: failing to provide nour- ishment and shelter. Initial com- plaints by concerned citizens in October 2010 of animals that ap- peared to be malnourished were followed up by the coordinated ef- forts of deputies and investigators from the Pine County Sheriff's Office and the Animal Humane Society. A Pine County deputy respond- ed to the property. The deputy "could see the ribs on many of the horses and did not observe any hay out on the field," the com- plaint states. An investigator with the Ani- mal Humane Society was called. The investigator also observed poor conditions, according to the complaint, including "several horses and llamas that appeared to be malnourished, further not- ing a lack of adequate shelter." The investigator contacted Fiske, who stated he was in the process of building shelters. The complaint states that, with Fiske's permission, the investiga- tor and a doctor from Grantsburg Animal Hospital went to the prop- erty to check on the animals De- cember 2, 2010. They "noted that there was no hay in the main pasture and that all of the water troughs on the property were fro- zen over." "One llama was found dead in the shed with another alpaca dead in the middle of the paddock along with a deceased chicken. Another alpaca was found in another shed structure under a tarp with a dead alpaca and dead llama on top preventing animals from having access to the shelter," the complaint states. A search warrant was executed by Pine County deputies and in- vestigators from the Animal Hu- mane Society, with the assistance .ANIMALS Continued on page 3.