by Cori Hilsgen
(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Part 1 was published Jan. 2.)
July
St. Joseph celebrated July 3 and 4 festivities with musicians, good food, games, fireworks, a parade and much more.
The fifth annual sustainable farming association’s Festival of Farms was held July 12 and included tours of five area farms, market gardens and more. The farms were located within three miles of the Lake Wobegon Trail.
The 22nd annual Habitat for Humanity 500 bike ride held July 13-19 began and ended in St. Joseph. The ride was limited to 135 riders who traveled 500 miles to raise funds for decent, safe and affordable homes to low-income families.
A group of local citizens formed a coalition to try to bring a splash pad to St. Joseph. Two members of the St. Joseph Splash Pad Coalition, Matt Killam and Jen Warnert, thought a splash pad would be a good way to bring people together, keep people in the city and bring others to the city to patronize businesses.
The 34th annual Tour of Saints was held July 20. Riders from 200 Minnesota cities gathered in St. Joseph for the ride through rolling hills.
Because of a rash of thefts from vehicles, police once again advised all local residents to lock their vehicles.
St. John’s Prep placed third in the state Envirothon held at St. John’s University.
A historical perspective from 25 years ago told about Dennis Stueve’s proposed downtown beautification project and also of Idelia Loso’s book chronicling the history of St. Joseph called St. Joseph: Preserving a Heritage.
The St. Joseph Police Department purchased a 2014 Ford sport-utility vehicle to replace a 2010 Ford Crown Victoria.
August
After 140 years, the Catholic church of St. Joseph installed air conditioning units under the balcony.
Arlington Place Assisted Living celebrated an annual summer “hoedown” picnic. About 96 residents, staff and families were served a picnic lunch and were entertained by the Slew Foot Family Band from Grey Eagle.
Maxx Grell brought back the “Gold” to his father for Father’s Day after scoring multiple medals in the 2014 Special Olympics USA games held in New Jersey.
A Flippin’ Cancer the Bird benefit was held for local business owner Mary Bruno at the Middy Bar in St. Joseph. Bruno was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in mid-April.
The College of St. Benedict’s north entrance got a facelift. This is the first project highlighting sustainable landscaping with low-maintenance plants and permeable paving to reduce runoff.
The church hand bells, stolen earlier from the Catholic Church of St. Joseph, were found after someone attempted to pawn them in St. Cloud.
Primary elections determined that Republican Tom Emmer of Delano and Democrat Joe Perske of Sartell will face off in the Nov. 4 election for the U.S. Sixth Congressional seat which was occupied by Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater). Independent candidate John Denney will also be on the ballot.
Principal Judy Nagel discussed changes at Kennedy Community School for the upcoming school year.
Principal Karl Terhaar discussed new academic options at All Saints Academy in St. Joseph.
University of North Dakota senior Jake Braegelmann was featured in the student spotlight.
A historical perspective from 25 years ago told about the city issuing a watering ban to relieve peak water usage demands by city residents. Another perspective told about a proposed downtown beautification project in front of the St. Joseph Catholic Church along Minnesota Street.
St. Cloud School District 742 Early Childhood Education Services moved into the Colts’ Academy building after a fire burned down the 3rd Street St. Cloud location.
Y2K Lions in St. Joseph held two brat sales to raise funds for Chad’s Wing at Place of Hope in St. Cloud. Ralph and Jan Boecker of St. Joseph made a generous donation toward the wing in honor of their son, who suffered mental illness issues that led to his death in 2006.
Amber Wiese and other volunteers organized a Kids Connect event at Resurrection Lutheran Church to offer new clothes, shoes, backpacks, school supplies and even new hair cuts for children to start the new school year. The event helped defray back-to-school costs and promoted children’s self-worth.
September
Pastor Jerome Tupa of the Church of St. Joseph celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest. He has been pastor in St. Joseph for two years.
Eighty flower baskets beautified the streets of St. Joseph along College Avenue and Minnesota Street. The flowers are put up before Memorial Day and are taken down after the Millstream Arts Festival in late September.
The ninth annual Lake Wobegon Regional Trail Ride was held Sept. 13. This family-fun event benefited the Catholic Charities St. Cloud Children’s Home, a residential treatment home for youth at-risk, ages 8-18.
At its Aug. 27 meeting, the St. Joseph Park Board approved the basic concept of a splash pad for the city. Splash pad coalition members were asked to gather more information about costs, locations, long-term maintenance and more before scheduling several meetings with the board and the St. Joseph City Council.
Elaine Vogel was honored for 10,000 volunteer hours at the Veterans Administration Hospital in St. Cloud.
Nuns on a Bus, a traveling group fighting for social-justice issues, planned to stop Sept. 22 at the St. Benedict Monastery in St. Joseph.
Residents donated 68 bags of food to the Community Food Shelf during the Sept. 13 fourth annual areawide drive.
Escher Auditorium was packed as Mary Dana Hinton was inaugurated as the 15th president of the College of St. Benedict. Hinton is the sixth lay person and first African-American to hold the position of president of the college.
A Ride, Bike or Walk for Hope fundraiser was held Sept. 27 to raise funds for Place of Hope in St. Cloud, a charitable facility that provides food, shelter and long-term solutions to people in need.
A free traveling health and screening fair, open to people 50 and older, stopped at the Church of St. Joseph Heritage Hall Sept. 26. The fair also traveled to Discovery Church in Sauk Rapids on Sept. 30.
A historical perspective from 25 years ago told the story of the Kennedy Elementary school renovation in September 1989. Another perspective told how the St. Joseph Newsleader recently became an independent newspaper.
October
Beautiful weather and many crafts, art and more drew thousands of people for the annual Millstream Arts Festival in downtown St. Joseph.
Area children, ages 4 through sixth grade, celebrated another year of Vacation Bible School. This year, 104 children from the area explored a Workshop of Wonders theme.
St. Joseph Splash-Pad Coalition members decided to discontinue future monthly meetings until results are obtained from an aquatic-feasibility study. USAquatics of Delano is planning to conduct the study.
The St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce planned to host a Building Positive Workplaces workshop Oct. 14 at the St. Joseph Fire Hall. Its intent is to help build and grow positive workplace cultures and increase employee and customer engagement.
Gateway Church began hosting Saturday evening services at the Church of St. Joseph Heritage Hall and Sunday morning services at the CSB Benedicta Arts Center Recital Hall.
A “Find Jacob” billboard campaign began for Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted by a masked gunman 25 years ago. “Still Missing” billboards were placed by St. Joseph, Paynesville, Cold Spring on Hwy. 23 and a digital billboard was placed in St. Cloud.
Hundreds of families attended the Oct. 10 St. Joseph Fire Department Safety Fair held at the Fire Hall. Phil Barnes of WSB and Associates of Minneapolis discussed how the facilities-needs task force meetings would be conducted. The St. Joseph City Council hired the professional facilitator after much controversy over a new proposed city hall/police station with a community meeting room.
Four candidates – Stephen Frank, Dale Wick, Matt Killam, Steve Olson – compete for two open city-council seats in the Nov. 4 election.
The Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict invited the public to a Festival of Thanksgiving and Praise to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Sacred Heart Chapel at St. Benedict’s Monastery.
The early-childhood center at Colts’ Academy celebrated its annual Family Fun Night and installed a flag that had flown at the old center at Roosevelt School in St. Cloud and survived the June 14 fire that destroyed that school.
Candidates Bob Loso and Rick Schultz compete for the St. Joseph mayor’s office . Five candidates (Michael Conway, Peter Hamerlinck, Bruce Mohs, Jerry Von Korff, Hassan Yussuf) compete for three St. Cloud School District school board positions.
A 65-year-old St. Joseph man, Gary Dennis Vogt, was charged for wounding and attempting to kill his estranged wife during a high-speed chase and shooting rampage Oct. 25.
Serina Stockoski begins operating 2nd Avenue Cuts out of the old Danzl’s Barbershop building.
November
Mayor Rick Schultz was re-elected as mayor in the Nov. 4 election. Dale Wick was re-elected to the city council and Matt Killam defeated Steve Frank by a very close vote. Republican Jeff Howe defeated Emily Jensen in the Minnesota House District 13A race, and Tom Emmer defeated Sartell resident Joe Perske for the Sixth U.S. Congressional seat in the House of Representatives.
All Saints Academy students surpassed their work-a-thon fundraising goal of $19,000 and were rewarded with a party and the chance to duct-tape their administrator, Karl Terhaar, to the wall.
A blizzard struck central Minnesota Nov. 10 and forced school closings across the state, including St. Joseph, which received almost one foot of snow.
The 2014 St. Cloud School District weather policy dealt with closings, delays and dismissals.
Kennedy student Jakob Schmitz, 8, drew a Veterans’ Day photo and wrote a “thank you” after questioning his mother about the day and about those they knew who had served in the military.
Pete Rothfork’s turkey barn burned down. Fortunately, the barn was empty. If the fire had happened the day after, 8,000 chicks would have perished. About 20 firefighters from the St. Joseph Fire department, as well as others from St. Stephen, Sartell and Waite Park, responded to the fire.
Colleen Hollinger Petters, Jon Petters and their team at Collegeville Cos. planned to break ground on a new development called Bayou Flats Lofts. The development located across from City Hall on College Avenue, will include apartments, as well as a restaurant and brewery. Another parcel of land to the east will be turned into Alley Flats Condominiums.
Carol Howe-Veenstra announced plans to retire June 19, 2015 as the athletic director for the College of St. Benedict. Howe-Veenstra has worked at CSB for 30 years.
A new warning system was installed to help drivers judge gaps between vehicles at the intersection of CR 2 and Minnesota Street.
Due to a major snow storm at the Nov. 10 distribution, Fare for All scheduled a second November distribution for Nov. 24 so people could purchase the Thanksgiving holiday pack for their Thanksgiving dinner.
Joshua Guimond’s father spoke of his son’s disappearance from St. John’s University 12 years ago. He believes someone from the college knew something about his son’s abduction.
The Riverbluff Christmas Tree Farm, located by St. Augusta, announced it would close for the 2014 Christmas season but would have a grand reopening for Christmas 2015. The closing was due to a loss of 3,000 trees after two severe winters and hot dry summers.
Tahir Sandhu and Gwen Williams opened the Artisan Naan Bakery in the back of the Minnesota Street Market.
A perspective from 25 years ago gave quotes from Jerry and Patty Wetterling one month after their son, Jacob Wetterling, was abducted from a rural St. Joseph neighborhood.
December
Area businesses and volunteers pooled their resources to create a Winterwalk in St. Joseph. The walk was held Dec. 12 and lighted luminaries lined the north side of Minnesota Street, from Sal’s Bar to Millstream Shops, and north on College Avenue up to Bo Diddley’s and La Playette.
St. Joseph Catholic Church Health and Wellness minister Marjorie Henkemeyer notified residents of upcoming events such as health-care directive help, the validation communication technique, healthy eating and various exercise classes being held at the Heritage Hall Parish Center.
The open-enrollment period to get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act began Nov. 15 and will end Feb. 15. More than 90 percent of Minnesotans now have access of some kind to health care.
Two sisters, Jodi Brinkman and Cheryl Wilhelmi, opened Sisters and Co., a consignment boutique on Minnesota Street. The boutique sells gently-used, name-brand clothing and accessories which the sisters accept on a consignment basis.
Residents were invited to a Christmas holiday meal at Resurrection Lutheran Church Dec. 20. Volunteers also planned to deliver meals to people who are unable to leave their homes.
CSB and SJU won the first Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge contest. Ten schools competed in the eight-week challenge during which they recorded their outdoor activities online. The colleges won a $10,000 outdoor gear package and a $2,500 school-wide celebration activity.
Family and friends pulled together for a Dec. 21 benefit at Salem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud to help Todd and Sarah Theisen after a fire destroyed their barn Nov. 22, which housed equipment for their three businesses, TMT Integrity Flooring, TMT Tree Service and Creekwood Acres, a sustainable farm located on the property where the fire occurred.
The Kennedy Community School Singers, led by Kristin Bauer, entertained a crowd at the Dec. 5 St. Joseph Winterwalk.
A retirement reception honoring Greg Reinhart was held Dec. 19 for his retirement Dec. 31 as the president of Sentry Bank. Reinhart has been very active and has had a huge impact in the area.