A look back at 2023

In the past year, the Star Eagle has covered many exciting stories worth remembering. Here is a look back at the best highlights from the year that was 2023.

 

January

- Larry Otto of Ellendale died unexpectedly at his home Saturday night. He was 73.

Otto was elected in July as chaplain of the Minnesota American Legion. He said at the time that, although he does get emotional, he doesn’t cry, his eyeballs just sweat profusely.

He said his one main goal in life was to, through whatever means, help the world understand that “there’s a heavenly Father up there who loves them.”

- Anthony Martens resigned as New Richland City Administrator effective January 30, 2023. Martens accepted a position as chief deputy to Waseca County Sheriff Jay Dulas. He informed the City of New Richland via email last Saturday and will work with the city to train in his replacement as time allows. The resignation was officially accepted during an emergency meeting of the New Richland City Council Tuesday morning, January 3, 2023.

- In 2018 the Ellendale Community Action Group (ECAG) came together with the goal to “improve and better Ellendale and make it a great place to live.” Group member Donavan Eaker proposed an electronic sign which area civic groups, churches and the school would be able to use to share events and news with the community. Residents of Ellendale and those passing through may have noticed the sign has become a reality, located on Highway 30 just east of the railroad tracks. It is the same design and concept as the sign outside the high school building in New Richland, and was ordered from M&M Signs in Mankato.

- Geneva Cancer Auction continued its work raising money for cancer research with the first weekend of its annual auction event January 6 and 7 at Geneva Bar and Grill. Since its inception in 1985, the auction has raised over $2 million. “It was nothing when we started,” said Whitey Hagen, founder, “but people grabbed onto it and it's been like this ever since. It takes a lot of work by a lot of people who don't like cancer.”

- The NRHEG school board completed its legally required annual organizational meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. The agenda included swearing in new board members Amy Ihrke and Pat Theuer; also newly elected, but not present at the meeting was Aaron Phillips.

- After 34 years of service in law enforcement in Waseca County, Sheriff Brad Milbrath has retired.

- Chad Neitzel, newly elected New Richland mayor, was sworn in by Gail Schmidt, her last official act as mayor, during the regular meeting of the city council Monday, January 9, 2023.

- Sunday, January 8 the Ellendale Cafe held a “Pancake Day” in honor of Larry Otto, whom owner LeAnn Knudson said was “instrumental in helping us reopen the cafe.

- The Geneva Cancer Auction closed its 2023 event Saturday, January 14. The committee pledged their donation the following day in a televised event, with a total of $165,000 contributed to cancer research. This reflects an increase of $20,000 from 2022.

- Pastor Mary Iverson was installed as Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church of New Richland on Sunday, January 8.

- The NRHEG High School girls' basketball team improved to 9-2 overall and 6-0 in the Gopher Conference last week, defeating Medford 76-39 and WEM 54-46 before dropping a 75-55 decision to Dover-Eyota.

- About 40 participants–the students in two sections of “Foods 1” classes offered by NRHEG Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher Kelly Delacruz, took part in “Cupcake Wars” during the week beginning January 16.

- On Monday evening the New Richland City Council accepted a “withdrawal” of city administrator Anthony Martens’ resignation. Martens tendered his resignation early in the month after announcing he had accepted an offer to be chief deputy under Waseca County Sheriff Jay Dulas.

Martens announced Sheriff Dulas rescinded the offer of the chief deputy position and declined to comment further on the matter.

- After three months of preparation and practice, the NRHEG contest one act play “Ignoble Death” will be taking part in subsection competition on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 at an all-day event at Medford High School. The performance is scheduled in the day’s final time slot: 2:50 p.m., just prior to awards.

- NRHEG Senior Makota Misgen earned his 100th career win last week. “Makota is motivated to do well,” head coach Shawn Larson said. “I enjoy having the opportunity to work with Makota and like others that I have coached, love seeing hard work pay off.”

February

- With very little fanfare, Wayne Billing, 67, was gifted a new kidney from his former assistant SaraJo Vulcan on Jan. 18, 2023.

“I guess you could call it a little miracle,” Vulcan, 45, said of the decision, the donation, and the match. “I want to give him a chance for more years of life…more life together with his family, with their grandchildren and much more.”

- “Cheerleading isn’t just waving your arms and shouting,” observes NRHEG senior Grace Wilkenson. Fellow senior Eva Wayne agrees: “People often don’t realize how serious it is,” she says. “It’s actually very competitive and very demanding.”

As three-time members of NRHEG’s state champion competitive cheer team and 10-year participants in the sport, the two of them would know.

Wayne and Wilkenson were among the 15 cheerleaders and four coaches who represented NRHEG at the weekend-long competition that ended Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. On Saturday morning, the group performed its two-minute, 30-second routine along with 8 other competing teams and was ranked in the top half, thus advancing to finals later that evening.

- Candidates for NRHEG snow week set for February 6-11 are, for queen: Ashley Wobschall, daughter of Jeri Wobschall; Grace Wilkenson, daughter of Matt and Kara Wilkenson; Erin Jacobson daughter of Erik and Heidi Jacobson; Taya Lembke daughter of Jeff and Tara Lembke; Katheryn Kofstad, daughter of Isaac and Martha Kofstad; Andrea Briggs, daughter of April Martin and the late Garrett Briggs;

Candidates for king: Jed Pfundt, son of Jed Pfundt and Jessica Rowland; Ethan Thompson son of Jena and David Thompson; Lucas Hanna, son of Jonathan and Miriam Hanna; Gavin Wilkenson, son Billie Jo Wilkenson and Dan Wilkenson; Evan Beckmann, son of Diana Foster and the late Mathew Beckmann; and Dylan Ingvaldson son of Tait and Jennifer Ingvaldson.

- Dylan Ingvaldson and Grace Wilkenson were crowned 2023 Snow Week King and Queen by the NRHEG 2022 Homecoming King and Queen Makota Misgen and Eva Wayne.

- “It’s great to see these athletes achieving success,” says Joni Churchill, one of four coaches for NRHEG’s competitive cheerleading team. “They’ve given their all, and it’s brought them recognition.”

The 15-member team won its third straight state championship on January 28, and will be taking part in a national competition in Orlando on Feb. 10. The state title, however, is not what opened the pathway for their trip to the Sunshine State. That happened last October during a qualifying event held in Minnetonka. Team members have been preparing ever since.

- Southern MN residents attending Saturday’s annual New Richland Area Sportsmen's Club ice fishing contest could not have asked for better weather. 40 degrees and sunny.

Hundreds gathered, even more than last year, from all over southern MN Saturday morning from 10:30 a.m. until about 4 p.m. when events wrapped up.

More than 150 kids prizes were handed out according to Lee Mendenhall.                               

- One year after a tornado tore through Hartland, devastating a number of prominent businesses, Arcadian Bank is well on its way toward rebuilding.

- Two years, two conference championship losses to Hayfield.

After falling early in the season to the Vikings, the NRHEG girls' basketball team was looking for revenge, and a championship. They found neither, losing 63-55 Saturday night in Hayfield.

March

- NRHEG High School will be well represented in this year's state wrestling tournament.

Junior Annabelle Petsinger, who earlier qualified for the girls' state tourney, will be joined at the Xcel Energy Center by the Panthers' Reese Routh and Makota Misgen, who both finished second in the Section 2A individual tournament at Maple River Saturday, Feb. 25. They were among nine Panther placewinners.

- Junior Annabelle Petsinger became NRHEG’s first-ever girls' state wrestling champion at the Minnesota State High School League tournament Saturday, March 4. Accompanying her at the capital were third-place finisher Makota Misgen and first-time state qualifier Reese Routh.

Petsinger entered the tournament with a record of 14-1, and pinned her way to the championship bout. She needed only 36 seconds in her first match over Shelby McFetridge from Mahtomedi. In the semifinals she needed a little longer. Her opponent, Lanna Walter from Sauk Centre-Melrose, lasted until the second round when Petsinger pinned her too.

The title bout saw a rematch of last year’s section title match between Petsinger and Stillwater’s Audrey Rogotzke.

Petsinger fell behind via takedown in the first period and further behind after a reversal in the second. But Petsinger went to work. She earned a reversal to cut the score to 4-2 going into the final period. A reversal and two three-point near falls secured the come-from-behind win.

“I‘ve wanted to win state since I was little,” Petsinger said after her victory. Telling about having watched the tournament as a 3-year-old, she admits, back then “I didn’t think it was gonna happen.

“It’s really nice. It’s… I guess you could say I had a dream.”

- Kelly Delacruz admits she didn’t see it coming.

During a statewide event on Feb. 28 in the Twin Cities, it was announced that she had been selected as the statewide winner of the program’s “teacher of the year” award. As the details of the winner’s career were being itemized and becoming more and more familiar, she suddenly realized it was her–and struck her neighbor, NRHEG principal David Bunn, in the knee.

- In front of a large audience of about 50 friends, family, and coaches, NRHEG High School senior Brady Schlaak signed his official Letter of Intent to play Division III football and continue his education at the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

“I’m excited and scared at the same time,” Schlaak said of the decision. “It’s gonna be a huge change. I’m not going up against high school seniors and freshmen. Now it’s college seniors, as a freshman… But, I feel like I can definitely make a huge impact.”

- The NRHEG girls' basketball underdog story came to an end Monday night in Mankato’s Taylor Center.

Top-seeded Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial was just too tough.

LCWM, rated No. 3 in the state and riding a 20-game winning streak, ended the Panthers' season 68-33.

- Nine members of the NRHEG college trigonometry class took the team championship at the regional “TrigStar” competition held March 10 at Mankato West High School. Senior Ethan Thompson scored third as an individual among the dozens of people participating.

- After 41 years with NRHEG, three state tournaments, two state titles, two stints as head coach, a recent run as assistant coach, and two daughters' basketball careers, John Schultz has coached for the final time.

Schultz started at NRHEG in 1982 and began his coaching career in 1986. He first retired from coaching high school girls' basketball in 2000 after leading the Panthers to two Gopher Conference titles and a section championship game.

“I didn’t think I’d ever coach varsity basketball again after 2000,” Schultz said in a Star Eagle interview in 2014.

Turns out, though, he did. In a position dubbed as “temporary,” Schultz took the job again in 2011 after Mindy Sparby moved to Belle Plaine.

This time, he and the Lady Panthers etched memories into fans’ minds for a lifetime. Under Schultz, the Panthers advanced to three consecutive state tournaments, placing third before winning back-to-back state titles in 2013 and 2014.

“That put our program in cement,” Schultz said in 2014. “It’s well beyond anything I ever dreamed of.”

That magical four-year ride saw the Panthers win 118 games. They went 59-1 in the Gopher Conference. Between 2012 and 2014 they won 95 games, lost two, and won 61 games in a row.

The process of turning dreams into reality also created lasting memories.

“I was a third-grader when my sister was a senior (and they won their second state title),” Sidney Schultz, John’s youngest daughter, recalled. “Me and Erin Jacobson, we were videographers, so we would film their games. And so we got a lot of good experiences and learned a lot from them.

- The NRHEG boys' basketball season came to an end in the opening round of the sub-section playoffs with a 74-32 loss to 2-seed Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial last week.

- Good food, conversations, and stories were shared during the annual Farm and City Luncheon March 16, hosted by the Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce at the Mill in Waseca.

Following a lunch catered by the Pheasant Cafe, the following families were honored with awards:

Farm Family of the year (FFOY); Cedar Crate Farms, Dan and Lara Zimmerli of Waldorf.

- During the 2023 Waseca County Farm and City Luncheon Thursday, March 16, local Mark Bernard was recognized as a leader in area agriculture and honored with the “Distinguished Agricultural Leadership” award.

- After the tornado that devastated much of downtown Hartland in December 2021, L & D Ag Service moved into a brand new building at 602 Railroad Street earlier in March of this year.

- On March 7 Noris Cuisine of Geneva announced via their Facebook page their intention to close their store front. They will continue to operate their food truck, serving food throughout several locations in Minnesota.

- The NRHEG track and field teams opened the season with the USC/AC Indoor Invitational at Minnesota State-Mankato Monday, March 27.

The Panther boys and girls turned in a strong performance, both finishing second to JWP.