Thursday, July 8, 2010

Volume 98; Number 4

www.bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

75¢
Class of 1960 holds 50th reunion EV School
Board
shelves
major
building
plans
By Rin Porter
At a retreat held June 28 at the Eagle
Bend High School auditorium, the Eagle
Valley School Board agreed by consen-
sus not to ask voters a third time to
approve a multi-million dollar bond refer-
endum.
Instead, the board will vote at its July
regular meeting to put two different ques-
tions before voters in November. Voters
will be asked (1) to approve an operating
levy, and (2) to approve a small bond ref-
erendum, likely less than $1 million, to
allow the district to make the minimum
repairs and upgrades necessary for the
school district to continue to operate.
"The Class of 1960 celebrated its 50th reunion June 26th, in conjunction with the Browerville Days Festival. Mr. and Mrs. The retreat was attended by
Jack Dressen, former teachers, were special guests of honor. Of 48 living graduates, 29 attended the reunion. After a social Superintendent Jim Madsen and six of
hour, dinner, and short program, the days events were concluded with many of the graduates riding in a horse drawn wagon in the seven board members. Twila Pierce
the Browerville Days Parade." was absent. The meeting lasted from 6
Photo by Amy Tolifson PM to 8:43 PM, and included a short

business meeting held at the conclusion
Horseshoe swimming area, use it of the retreat discussion.
The meeting began with Mr. Madsen
electrical, sprinkler, and other systems, all
of which would be costly. These costs
would be in addition to leasing costs, which

and enjoy it, but don’t abuse it
or you may lose it
thousands of dollars a year, keeping the
area up and running. If you want to land a
boat on the lake, there is a dock on the
east side of the lake, also sponsored by
the Sportsmans Club. Do not use the
swimming area as a boat launch. That
area is specifically for fishing and swim-
ming. The buoys are there so boats don’t
come into the swimming area. There are
also many homes around the lake and
they can hear noise from the dock clearly.
Remember to keep voices down, and lan-
guage appropriate while at the dock and
on the lake.
The Browerville Sportsmans Club sup-
ports the Horseshoe Lake dock, along
with about eight others in the area, so
people can have a good time at the lake.
So keep that in mind next time you’re out
Browerville resident and teacher Jeff Marxer likes to take there.
his young children swimming at Horseshoe.
By Ben Dreher Recently people, mostly teens, have
Horseshoe lake has been the spot to been abusing their privileges to the dock.
hang out for the past 60 years. The origi- On many occasions, teens have been
nal north dock was put in by the drinking. There has been abuse to the
Browerville Sportsmans Club in 1949 and dock, the toilet, the buoys, and the cable
has been there ever since. But if things and posts blocking access to the lake for
continue the way they are, the vehicles. The Sportsmans Club wants to
Sportsmans Club may just pull the dock remind everyone that things don’t fix
out permanently. themselves. They spend hundreds, even
summarizing the results of the discussion
held by a committee of teachers and
board members appointed at the June 14
board meeting. The committee was
asked to make a list of repairs, upgrades,
and additional space needed for the dis-
trict to move all students to the Clarissa
building, and to make a recommendation
about where the district should hold class-
es for the next two years.
The committee identified these needs:
(1) two additional spaces for pre-school
classes, because there will be 42 children
this fall; (2) additional space for music
education, so as not to take away teach-
ers’ preparation time in their classrooms;
(3) additional space for health, safety, and
physical education classes; (4) space for
a study hall, possibly using the cafeteria or
the stage.
The committee recommended continu-
ing to use the Eagle Bend building for the
next two years for the agriculture class,
industrial arts/shop class, science class-
es, and extra-curricular activities held in
the gym. There are no facilities for these
activities to be held at Clarissa at this
time.
Finally, the committee discussed the
possibility of fixing up the old studio or leas-
ing three modular units to be used as class-
rooms. Mr. Madsen pointed out that leasing
modular units would require the district to
install concrete foundations, plumbing,
he estimated at 90 cents to $1.25 per
square foot for a two-year lease, and less
per square foot for a three-year lease.
Chris Notch commented, “If we do all
that, we’re halfway to a new building. Why
do it.?”
Sharon Notch said about the studio
building, “We’ve been saying for years that
we can’t use it. Now suddenly it’s good
enough?”
Mr. Madsen explained that the studio
would have to be fixed up, but was includ-
ed as a possibility so that costs could be
compared between fixing up existing space
and bringing in three modular classrooms.
Joel Godding and Mr. Madsen next
explained the idea for a tuition agreement
among the three small districts along U.S.
Hwy 71 – Browerville, Eagle Valley, and
Bertha – that would allow the districts to
offer advanced classes for students jointly,
instead of having each district offer them
separately. This came from the committee
discussion also.
“The tuition agreement would be for
elective classes, and we would pay that dis-
trict a certain amount of money for one of
our students to take that class. If the three
districts combine, we could advance our
curriculum, do some college prep course
work, give them those electives that they
need. Between the three schools it
would be more economical than if we
Continued on page 16.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Wed. July 7 Thur. July 8 Fri. July 9 Sat, July 10 Sun. July 11 Mon. July 12 Tue. July 13 Wed. July 14
Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy T-Storms T-Storms T-Storms Showers
77°/58° 80°/57° 79°/57° 78°/58° 80°/60° 79°/58° 80°/60° 84°/63ß°