by Dennis Dalman
This winter, nobody in St. Joseph should mope and play shut-in just because the weather is a bit nippy. There will be plenty of fun outdoor activities, thanks to planning by the city’s new parks and recreation director, Rhonda Juell.
Years of teaching grade-school classes and serving as a coach are skills Juell brings to her new job in St. Joseph. She was hired late last summer to replace former parks and rec director John Anderson.
Now semi-retired, Juell, who lives in Clearwater, works part-time, anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week.
Born in Karlstad in northwestern Minnesota and raised in Albany, Juell taught grades four and six for 32 years in various St. Cloud schools, then for the last 10 years of her career, she taught physical education at North Junior High, also in St. Cloud.
Juell’s goal as parks and rec director is, in her words, “to get people on their feet,” to combine activities that involve fun physical exercise along with fun learning and cultural-social enrichment. Those are the pursuits she is so good at from her years of teaching both mental aspects and physical aspects of students’ well-being.
“I’m always thinking of activities for different age levels,” she said. “Senior activities like yoga, picnics in Centennial Park, and Elf-in-the-Park hunt.”
The latter involves participants who will try to find a hidden elf in Centennial Park, take a photo of the elf and bring it to Minnesota Street Market in downtown St. Joseph to receive a prize. More details will be announced later.
Juell commutes to St. Joseph from her Clearwater home. Her hobbies are golf, socializing with others (especially her grandchildren) and events-planning. She has three children: Kaylee, a nurse practitioner in Blaine, who has a 2-year-old child; Brooke, a therapist in Alexandria, who is expecting a child soon; and Nick, who owns Cloud Nine Energy Bowls in Waite Park and Albertville. Nick is the father of 4-year-old twin boys.
Juell gave details about all the events she has planned for St. Joseph this winter. More details about the following events will be released to the public as the events draw nearer:
Snowfest 2022
The many events of St. Joseph Snowfest 2022 will take place Saturday, Jan. 29 in Memorial and Klinefelter parks. There will be skating, sledding, snowshoes for people to try on and learn to walk on. In the meantime, on that same day, Sal’s Bar & Grill in downtown St. Joseph will offer a burger special, and the Midi Bar, also in downtown, will offer free pool games and free darts from 3-5 p.m. Sisters & Company will provide kids’ art projects and face-painting from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dodge Ball
Starting on Thursday, Feb. 3 and for four Thursdays following that, there will be dodge-ball games from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Kennedy Elementary School.
Dodge ball involves two teams of people using a nerf ball to knock down (tag) people on the opposing team.
“It’s a really good work-out for adults,” Juell said.
Tails on Trails
A “Tails on Trails” event will happen from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27 at Millstream Park. There will be all kinds of dogs present, and dog-sled rides will be offered. The Retrievers’ Club dogs will do demonstrations as well as demonstrations by a police K-9 dog. Throughout the event, a scavenger hunt will send participants scurrying for clues left along the trail that, if found, will entitle the finders to prizes.
Baseball Camps
Those with an early itch from spring fever will just have to wait until May and June for baseball camps at Schneider Field. One is set for a two-part event on Saturday, May 14 and Saturday, May 21. The two camps will be taught by Al Newman, former member of the Minnesota Twins when they won the World Series years ago.
Monday through Wednesday, June 5-8, there will be baseball camps led by Pat Schneider, long-time coach of the St. Joseph Joes baseball team.
St. Joseph residents should note there will be more details about the baseball camps and the other events listed above in the newsletter that comes in the mail with utility bills.
Rhonda Juell
