The Rice Area Sportsmen’s Club held a dedication of a parking lot on club property on 63rd Street, about a half-mile west of 250th Avenue in Morrison County, northeast of Rice. The land is 300 acres of recreational and habitat land which the club has owned for several years. In order to give better access to the land, the organization decided to put in a parking area. The club dedicated the parking area to longtime member Glenn Petron. Petron was a past board member and was instrumental in the club attaining this piece of property. Petron died suddenly in April of 2003. He willed a generous donation to the RASC land account after his passing and the club wanted to thank Petron and his family for their donation. Pictured (from left to right) are Petron’s children: Debbie Rudnitski, Mark Petron, Peggy Reimer, Mary Kay Plombom, Karen Kotsmith and Amy Gorecki, all originally from the Rice area.
The Rice Area Sportsmen’s Club this past June purchased 76.75 acres of land at the junction of Hwy 25 and CR 2 in Benton County. The land was purchased from Melvin and Renee Strang of Sauk Rapids. The club was able to purchase the property because of a very generous donation from the Gerald and Virginia Paradeis family. On Aug. 30, the club dedicated the land as “Acres of Paradise” in memory of Gerald and Virginia Paradeis, who were longtime and active members of the club. It was also dedicated to the memory of their daughter, Jane Pardeis. Jane was a standout athlete and student at Royalton High School who went on to receive an engineering degree from the University of Minnesota. Jane also played softball for the Golden Gophers. Jane then went into the Navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant. Jane was killed in June, 1990 when the CH-46 helicopter she was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean six miles off the coast of Virginia during an off-load maneuver for the U.S.S. Detroit. With Mayhew Creek running right through the center, the land will be used to provide wildlife habitat year round as well as hunting opportunities in the fall.
Pictured are (from left to right) the Paradeis’ children: Marty Paradeis, Joan Paradeis, Peggy Wimmer, Pat Furst and Bill Paradeis, all originally from the Rice area.
