Oct. 18 Sartell

Scouting for food drive gathers a surprise

The annual Scouting for Food campaign was conducted by local community volunteers and the Cub and Boy Scouts of the Central Minnesota Council and their families.

On Oct. 5, Scouts in the Sartell, St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and St. Augusta areas collected almost six tons of food and household supplies for the Salvation Army and Caritas food shelves.

This year we also received and are trying to return some wedding photos from Feb. 28, 2004. The groom is bald with a black goatee and beard. Contact Bob Rueter 320-251-3930 if these are yours.

Thanks to Caritas for hosting the collection site and distribution of the food.

Thanks to Wells Fargo for their site coordination and food plus beverages for the volunteers.

We are moving our food drive to the spring in 2015 so look for more details at a later date. Thanks to everyone for their donations and support.

The Central Minnesota Council, Boy Scouts of America serves throughout a 12-county area in central Minnesota. The Central Minnesota Council is a United Way agency.

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Eighteen Sartell Middle School students attended the first annual WE Day at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul on Oct. 8.  WE Day is an initiative started by the Free the Children organization to empower young people to “change the world.”

Sartell Middle School has committed to being a WE School and working toward completing one local and one global community project. Minnesota is the second state to host WE Day.

Students heard a number of motivational speakers including Barbara Pierce Bush, Martin Luther King III and Jack Jablonski.

Musical groups including the Jonas Brothers, the Tenors and Carly Rae Jepson performed.

Students were chaperoned by Luke Rude and Lori Dornburg.

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Callie Frank, a junior theatre arts and hospitality management double major from Sartell, will play Kate Alterman during the Triangle Factory Fire Project to be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 24-26 and Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Fine Arts Theatre at Southwestern Minnesota State University, Marshall. A dinner theater will be offered Oct. 25 and Nov. 2. Tickets are available at www.SMSUtickets.com and at the door. For more information, call the theatre office at 507-537-7103.

The Triangle Factory Fire Project is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. Written by Christopher Piehler, in collaboration with Scott Alan Evans, the Triangle Factory Fire Project examines the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, in which 146 people — mostly young, immigrant women, and nearly half of them teenagers — died in one of the worst industrial tragedies in U.S. history. Using words spoken by real people of the time, this play dramatically traces the events and the labor and safety problems that led up to the fire, the horror of the fire itself and the subsequent manslaughter trial of the factory owners.

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PineCone Vision Center’s Jennifer Novak was recently named Paraoptometric of the Year by the Minnesota Optometric Association at its fall meeting held recently in Minneapolis. She is the president of the Minnesota Paraoptometric Association, and was chair of a task force that structured the association. She has also led efforts to build membership, develop education for paras and has encouraged paraoptometric certification.

Recognized for her outstanding work by members of the MOA, Novak is the practice administrator at PineCone Vision Center in Sartell and a certified paraoptometric. She has been with PineCone Vision for seven-and-a-half of their nine years in business. As practice administrator she has taken on various roles, however most important to her is the practice’s patient experience and community outreach efforts.

The award is given to an optometric assistant or technician who has made the most contributions to the profession of optometry. The committee judges nominees based on service to optometry, paraoptometric associations and the public, in addition to personal endorsements.

“This is a huge accomplishment and our entire office couldn’t be more proud of her,” says owner and medical director Dr. Nicholas Colatrella. “We are delighted for Jennifer and congratulate her.”

The award nomination stated: “Jennifer is incredibly organized and efficient, and ensures operations run smoothly so patients can have the best possible experience. She is dedicated to optometry and an excellent example of professionalism. She is a true mentor for others in our profession.”

Novak lives with her husband, Quentin, and their two children in Hillman, Minn.

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National Karate students from the Sartell and St. Cloud karate schools competed at the Diamond Nationals Tournament this October. The students took 12 first-place trophies, 17 second-place trophies and 26 third-place trophies. Congratulations to: under black belts: Dolan Binder, Christina Binder, Gabi Lietz, Quinn Skoog, Adam Pocklington, Abby Silman, Chris Silman, Wyatt Kern, Mitch Shimak, Nicole Shimak, Joshua Hoekstra, Broden Lemke, Harry Mitchell, Nolan Houghton, Travis Biery, Allie Chapman, RJ Carstensen-Boe, Allyson Carstensen-Boe, Summer Burton, Katie Chapman, Bailey Guggisberg, Brooke Jacobsen, Sharon Botz, Tabby Botz, Sara Jansky, Roman Pugachenko, Taylor Evans, Brooklyn Norton, Justin Robertson, Devin Corrigan, Shauna Corrigan, Colin Heydman, Ryan Heydman, Claudia Warzecka, Shannon Vadnie, Caleb Kudrna, Heidi Austin and Miah Sack, and black belts: Anne Nelson, Rosanna Lee, Brandon Robertson, Cassie King, Samantha King, Julie Gadient, Jessica Fasen, Christa Halonen, Evan Bell and Taylor Mastey. The students are from Sartell, St. Joseph, Annandale, Albany, Becker, Clearwater, Cold Spring, Kimball, Little Falls, St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Watkins.

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