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2ASKOV AMERICAN OBITUARIESSharon R. MosbekMay 5, 1955 - February 28, 2022Sharon Rae Mosbek, age 66, of Finlayson, Minn.passed away peacefully on February 28, 2022, after atwo year long battle fighting pancreatic cancer, at herhome with her family byher side.Sharon was born inIndianapolis, Ind. on May5, 1955, to Ray and Pauline(Weiler) Lynch. Throughout her life Sharon enjoyedliving in many differenttowns between NorthDakota and Minnesota. Shespent time in Fargo, N.D.attending school while shelived there. Sharon thenmoved to Minnesota and attended school in Sandstone,Minn. after that she movedto Young America, Minn., Elk River, Minn. and settled in Finlayson, Minn. for the later years with herhusband, Eugene (Gene) Mosbek. Gene and Sharonwere married on May 24, 1975. Together they raisedtwo energetic sons and loved teaching their childrenhow to enjoy life. Sharon worked at a few differentjobs which included being a receptionist and bookkeeper at Gene’s Auto Repair. Sharon wasn’t a personto sit still and liked to do yard work, which includedgardening and planting new things each year. Shealso loved to do it yourself home improvements, seeing how much better she could make it look than thepeople on the shows. If there was a free moment Sharon would suggest to Gene lets take a trip whether itwas spending a weekend at the cabin, going fishing,riding four-wheeler, attending county fairs, heading out on the road to a new place, or playing bingo.The thing that brought the most joy to Sharon’s lifethough was seeing her husband, children and grandchildren happy. She loved to see her family enjoyinglife as she did. Holidays were absolutely Sharon’s besttimes of the year; she would decorate for each holidaybringing smiles to the faces to everyone that came tothe house.Sharon is preceded in death by her parents, RayLynch and Pauline Gullingrud; brother, RogerLynch; and sister, Linda Miller.Sharon is survived by her loving husband of 46years, Eugene Mosbek; her sons, Timothy (Brooke)Mosbek, their children Brennon and Nolan, of Andover, Minn., Thomas (Michelle) Mosbek, their childrenJaden and Emmett of Elk River, Minn.A memorial service is being planned for a later datein April or May at Peace Lutheran Church in Finlayson, Minn.Arrangements by Methven Funeral and CremationServices. www.methvenfuneralhome.comHarvest Christian School’sAnnual Aebleskiver Dinner,Hog Run Raffle and Silent Auctionat the AskovCommunity Center4:30 - 7:30pmFriday, March 18th, 2022For more information, call320-245-5330Your bestsource comMARCH 10, 2022VISION: Three county schools work together fornew Vision program buildingFROM PAGE 1options were evaluated. In thewinter of 2021, a scaled backversion of the original projectemerged as the best option tomove forward and a consensuswas reached by all three districtsto purchase the Chris’ FoodCenter building in Pine City torenovate to meet the needs of theVision Program.The Vision Program Director,Jocelyn Rydberg, stated “I havebeen dreaming and planning forthis day for years. The excitement and anticipation of ourstudents and staff over the lastnine months is second to none.We are so excited to move to ournew space.” She then introducedRyan Tracy, one of Vision’s for-mer students and Pine City graduate. Ryan shared his journeythrough the education system,including his experience in theVision Program. Ryan stated, “Ididn’t want to graduate from amainstream school but being inVision I got the necessary pushI needed to graduate like manyother kids in high school. I havea lot to be thankful for, especiallythe staff at Vision. They workreally hard and sadly that’snot always recognized in theeducation system, so I am trulygrateful for their efforts andwhat they do for their students.”Ryan also expressed excitementfor the new Vision facility, “It’sgood to see that they’re expanding for students’ needs. It’s alsonice to see that the school is ableto teach students everyday livingskills with the new life skillslab.” Currently, Ryan is workingtwo jobs, attending college forgenerals in Biology, has a wonderful group of friends and anamazing girlfriend.Jamie Nord, Executive Director of SCRED, stated, “It hasbeen such a pleasure to be partof a project that will grant us theopportunity to bring one of ourstudent programs to the nextlevel. We knew this wasn’t goingto be an easy task, but that theoutcome would be worth it!” shesaid. “This little project has, andwill continue to have, such a BIGIMPACT on our students, staff,families, and communities!FAMILY: PCGS invites you to join the groupFROM PAGE 1about 12 active members, and arealways happy to welcome more.They have members that participate remotely, even from as faraway as Florida.Al and Lyn Johnson have beenmembers of the group for around13 years now. They have bothdone extensive research intotheir own family trees, as well asbeing part of larger projects suchas the USS Arizona Project, researching Hinckley’s Poor Farmand more.“Different members havedifferent research skills,” saidLyn. For example, Al has doneextensive research on DNA andhow using sites such as Ancestryor My Heritage can aid in thediscovery of who you are throughyour family history. A PCGSmember recently was able to discover the mother of her OrphanTrain Rider grandmother usingDNA. The group encouraged heralong the way while she did herresearch on this amazing discovery.Members of the group areworking with Al and Lyn to keeptheir website up to date with PineCounty cemetery information. Attheir next meeting on WednesdayMarch 16, PCGS will be talkingabout the free “find a grave”website. They will be explaininghow the website works and if youcome early they will be willing togive you some extra help.The group meets the thirdWednesday of the month indifferent locations. Meetingdates and locations are listed ontheir website and in the “Out andAbout” section of this newspaper.Visit the Pine County Genealogical Society’s website at www.pinecogen.org to learn moreabout the organization and tosign up to become a member.MINNESOTA WOODS AND WILDLIFE — MN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCESDNR webinars coverpollinators, how tochoose rifle cartridgesThe Minnesota Department ofNatural Resources invites Minnesotans interested in wildlifeand outdoor skills to tune intotwo upcoming webinars.The first webinar, on pollinators, will be at noon on Wednesday, March 9. Hosts James Burnham, DNR Region 3 coordinator;Jess Petersen, DNR invertebrateecologist; Megan Benage, DNRregional ecologist; and NicoleGerjets, DNR bee survey specialist, will talk about Minnesota’snative plants, pollinators, theiraward-winning podcast, and howpeople can support pollinators.The second webinar, on how tochoose hunting rifle cartridges,will be at noon on Wednesday,March 16. Kraig Kiger, DNRshooting sports educationspecialist, and guest PhillipMassaro, a writer, shooter andworldwide big game hunter, willtalk about what caliber huntersshould choose for the game animal they are hunting.The webinars are part of theDNR’s Minnesota Outdoor Skillsand Stewardship Series, whichaims to give participants quick,relevant information on upcoming seasons and events, as wellas skills to enjoy these opportu-METRO CREATIVE GRAPHICSA MN DNR webinar on March 16 will discuss what caliber hunters shouldchoose for the game animal they are hunting.nities. The webinars are free butregistration is required.More information, includingregistration information for webinars each Wednesday throughMay 25, is available on the outdoor skills and stewardship pageof the DNR website (mndnr.gov/Discover).Time to buy newlicensesIt’s the time of year whenanglers and hunters need to buynew fishing and hunting licenses.Minnesota fishing, hunting andtrapping licenses for 2021 expireMonday, Feb. 28.Licenses for 2022 are nowavailable wherever fishing andhunting licenses are sold, online,by telephone at 888-665-4236.Mobile buyers receive a text oremail that serves as proof of avalid fish or game license to stateconservation officers.All 2022 fishing licenses become effective Tuesday, March1. New licenses are required for2022 hunting and fishing seasonsthat continue past Feb. 28.Subscribe to the Askov American today!

COMMUNITYMARCH 10, 2022 ASKOV AMERICANHow did parents handle not hearing from kids before cell phones?Gary dropped me off at thefront door after we ranerrands on Saturday.I was in the house forabout 10 minutes when I realized he wasn’t back from parking the car.My internalpanic buttonwent off whenI rememberedthe packedsnow wasquite slipperywith an iceFinlayson polish overthe top. I flewNewsto the frontdoor to put myMaxine Meyer coat back on.That’s whenI spotted hewas carefully coming up thesteps. I kept my mouth shut,no sense telling him I worryabout everything. Shortly afterI remembered to spread thepet friendly salt over the deckand steps. In years past I havefallen a number of times, it’snever fun.Like anyone else’s family, Iworry about family memberswhen they announce they aregoing on a road trip. Last Saturday was the planned departure of our daughter’s “springbreak” with a longtime friendsince high school. (And atthis time of year, who doesn’twant a get-away vacation toa warmer climate.) So, as Iwatched the weather reportsnearing the weekend I couldn’thelp express my concernsabout Saturday’s forecast.Accordingly, they adjusted thedeparture date and moved itup to Friday.Our spring break travelersonly ran into a little rain andmanaged to get as far as Missouri that first night. Leavingearlier like that, they managedto avoid Iowa’s freezing rain,snow on roads, and one tornado. A text message we receivedlate Saturday told us they hada “great weather day” of driving on day two. I don’t knowhow my parents handled nothearing from Gary and I whenthere were no cell phones. Wedidn’t contact family until wereturned from our one, or two,week spring break vacations.I guess the old phrase, “Nonews, is good news” was whatwe lived with.On Sunday afternoon ourdaughter, Tiffany Farr, sentme a text that they had nearedtheir destination and on thatlast leg, she spotted a signadvertising a small town’sbakery specialty: kolaches. Ido have a weakness for thosesweet desserts. So I asked herto stop and pick up some, ormake room for one more tojoin them on the return trip.She quickly volunteered tostop on the way home. Ohboy, my week is really gettingbetter.I was pretty busy this pastweek, spending a lot of timeon the phone arranging followup appointments and gettingnew and updated dosages ofmedications for Gary now thathe is home. It took a coupleemails, and four days of phonecalls to the Veteran Administration (VA) Pharmacy to hearthem say they acknowledge therevised script was received.No promise of filling it, the faxmarked “urgent” was noted tobe sitting on a VA doctor’s inbox, waiting for their approval.Of course, the nice person onthe other end couldn’t venturea guess when they would fillit, (it could be 4-6 weeks.) Afterthat call all I could think ofwas how excited I will be to seetheir next “how are we doing?”survey.Before I was done with allmy phone calls, I managedto get scheduled Gary’s 13thCovid test for next week. (Yes,he keeps count.) I got a couplesets of labs scheduled, butwhen I tried to get one followup Dr. appointment with alocal doctor I ran into anotherproblem. Far be it for me todeny that doctor’s need a breaktoo, but this is the second timein two years that we have beenasked to wait another weekfor their appointment. Lookslike we might be looking for anoffice that can find a partnerto cover for their vacations asthat seem to be the times Garyneeds an appointment.It was Friday when I finished my first list of calls, andpolished off my secondary listof to do items from the hospitaldischarge list. After posting tomy calendar all the notes, I putthe pen down and I wonderedto myself how do other peopledeal with these tasks whenthey are the patient, or tryingto keep a job. Heaven help youif you need to arrange transportation. Speaking of transportation, now gas is goingup, up and away (ok, I couldn’thelp myself from fitting in the5th Dimension song there.)More cards and phone calls,were received last week-and aRecipes for St. Patrick’s Day CelebrationsSLOW COOKER APPLE JUICE CORNED BEEFFood N’FriendsMary EllenDeweyIF YOU have afavorite recipe youwould like to share,send it to MaryEllen at recipe@pinecountycourier.com. ENJOY!! 2-1/2 to 3 lb. corned beef brisket 8 small red potatoes 3 medium carrots, peeled andsliced 1 large onion, cut into 6-8 pieces 1 small head cabbage, cut intochunks 1-quart apple juice 1 c. brown sugar 1 Tbsp. prepared mustardPlace meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, andcabbage in 6-qt. slow cooker or dividebetween two 4-quart cookers. Combineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard.Pour into slow cooker. Cover. Cook onHIGH 6-1/2 hours or low 10-12 hours.Remove meat and vegetables from slowcooker. Thinly slice meat across thegrain. Serve topped with vegetables.Serve with cornbread.SHAMROCK PIE 1 c. sugar1/4 c. cornstarch1-1/2 c. water3 egg yolks, lightly beaten1/4 c. lemon juice1 Tbsp. butter1-1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel5 to 6 drops green food coloring1 pastry shell 9-inches, bakedMeringue: 3 egg whites 1/3 c. sugarCombine the sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan;stir until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boilfor 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir a small amount intoegg yolks; return all to the pan. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, butter, lemonpeel, and food coloring until smooth. Pour into crust. Formeringue: beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually addsugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread hot filing,sealing to the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until brown. Cool. Serves 6-8.IRISH SODA BREAD MUFFINS 2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour1/2 c. plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided2 tsp. baking powder1/2 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. caraway seeds1 large egg, room temperature1 c. buttermilk1/4 c. butter, melted1/4 c. canola oil3/4 c. dried currants or raisinsIn a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/2cup sugar, baking powder, salt, bakingsoda and caraway seeds. In anotherbowl, beat the egg, buttermilk, butterand oil. Stir into dry ingredients justuntil moistened. Fold in raisins. Fillgreased muffin cups three-fourths full.Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at400 degrees for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes outclean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. Serve warm.May the lilt of Irish laughterLighten every load,May the mist of Irish magicShorten every road.May you taste the sweetestpleasuresThat fortune ere bestowed,And may all your friendsrememberAll the favors you are owed. Irish Blessing3notice from the Morris AnimalFoundation where a donationwas made in Prince’s memory.I am so honored to receive allthe condolences, King andI sure do miss that big guy.Some folks have expressedconcern that King will belonely now. Well, a small doemust have noticed Prince wasmissing and she began spending more time around ourplace a couple weeks ago. Shecan be seen sleeping overnightin the snow of the pasture infront of the barn, and spendingmuch of her daylight hourspicking away at the driveway,or nipping at trees in our yard.I see King watching her, butnot making it obvious. It seemsKing may have a friend that hecan now watch over.Many states have droppedthe masking mandates. Keepin mind, the pandemic is stillaround, protect yourself andyour family.MAXINE MEYER Is a columnist for the AskovAmerican and Pine County Courier. She can bereached at 612-590-6907, or email mnmaxgram@yahoo.com.

4OPINIONASKOV AMERICAN MARCH 10, 2022Open governmentis good governmentElection season is under way, and this yearpromises to be especially busy with redistricting producing many new faces seekingoffice. Candidates are hitting the campaigntrail outlining their priorities. With every pressrelease and speech is certain to be a pledge to betransparent with constituents.The timing is perfect to sendthe message that “open government is good government”– the theme of Sunshine Week,March 13-19. At its foundation,Sunshine Week underscoresthe importance of the free flowof information for an open,effective and accountable govGuesternment.Editors and reporters roucolumntinely are in the trenches seeking everyday information thatJimappointed and elected officialsPumarlowant to keep confidential – or,at minimum, want to releaseon their terms. We’ve becomeall too accustomed to the stonewalling of information on state and national levels. The practiceunfortunately is increasingly common in localgovernment, too.Witness these two examples from the past yearof officials trying to set their own rules.The St. Louis County School Board continuedto meet in person despite cautionary measurestaken by many bodies during the pandemic. Atthe same time, it restricted the public to remotemonitoring. The Ely Timberjay cried foul ansought an advisory opinion from a state agency,which ruled the board in violation of the OpenMeeting Law.A citizen questioned several actions of theWest Lakeland Township Board with respect tothe Open Meeting Law. The issues included theboard’s failure to keep a separate journal of itsvotes and its failure to give three days’ notice ofa change in meeting location. The state agencyruled the actions out of bounds.The advisory opinions were handed downthrough the Data Practices Office of the Minnesota Department of Administration. News organizations are usually the first to object whenaccess to proceedings and information is deniedor made more difficult. Citizens need to understand that state laws governing access to openmeetings and government records preserve therights of all Minnesotans. Citizens have equalopportunity to challenge actions.Most troubling are the regular attempts toblock access to government information or toconduct public business behind closed doors. Iwitnessed it all too often when I sat behind theeditor’s desk.Landfill siting may be controversial, but constituents will be more accepting of the processif a county board identifies potential locationsfrom the start. The departure of a controversial department head may not be official untilformally accepted, but a city council will do itselfa favor by announcing the resignation as soonas it is submitted. The closing of an elementaryschool may not be on a school board’s agendafor a few weeks, but the administration will winhigher marks if it informs residents of its intentions when first put on the table.The above examples, plus many more,SEE PUMARLO, PAGE 6AmericanASKOV“The most important thing acommunity newspaper doesis recognize the value of thelives of ordinary people.”The “Evil Empire”IT WAS PRESIDENT Ronald Reagan in 1983 whocalled the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire.”What’s happening in Ukrainetoday is deplorable. It appearsthat Russian President VladimirPutin wants to recover the satellitecountries that were once part of theSoviet Union. The world watchesas thousands of lives are lost andfamilies are escaping to Poland andRomania.As a result, Ukraine is losing itsfreedom, independence and sovereignty. This is a struggle of goodagainst evil.The Ukrainian people are braveGeneand they are fighting hard to preserve their independence, but theJohnsonRussian Army is large and theirgovernment is powerful. What happens in Ukraine could encourage Putin to continuehis takeover of the former satellite countries. Weneed people of faith and a moral fiber to help leadworld governments. Prayers are in order for our leaders. God is still in control.THE MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT is reportingmore than nine billion in surplus. The legislature isdebating how to best utilize these monies. It seemssimple to me that if we are overtaxing, then thoserates should be adjusted and slowly reduced andrefunds made to those who paid the taxes.First of all, the unemployment trust fund shouldbe restored after falling to a deficit after businessesclosed or laid off workers during the pandemic andmore than a million Minnesotans filed for unemployment benefits. We also have a rainy day fund inMinnesota. Maybe that needs some funds, but thebalance should be returned to the taxpayers proportionately and taxes reduced or in some cases eliminated.The positive side of all of this is our economy ishealthy, but inflation is going to be taking biggerbites out of it as it continues.WITH THE INFLATION running so high, I won-Aboutthe TownThe Askov American is published everyThursday.Periodicals postage paid at Askov, MN 55704Publication No. 0034-140Postal Permit No. 6998886POSTMASTER: If undeliverable as addressed,notify on Form 3579.Periodicals postage paid in Askov, MN 55704The Askov American is a publication ofNorthstar Media Inc.Copyright 2022 Northstar Media, Inc.der what dollar stores are going to do in changingtheir name. Will they be called 1.25 stores? At onetime we had Ben Franklin stores. They were oftenreferred to as dime stores. I still remember whenWhite Castle hamburgers were five for 1.LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE are essential tokeeping law and order in a democracy. This includesa wide range of trained people, including police, sheriff’s departments, state patrol to the National Guard.Law enforcement deserves our financial support,recognition, and the best training for the best results. They deal with many types of issues, many toodangerous to understand, all for our protection andsafety. Volunteers can be helpful, too. Maybe it’s timeall American youth be required to volunteer for sixmonths or a year.Politics must be put aside and government policiesmust be followed to ensure regulations and laws arecarried out.SCAMS OF ALL types are growing and takingadvantage of vulnerable people of all ages withoutregard to education or income.An AARP study in January 2022 found people’semotional state at the time of encounter often timeswas the difference between victims and non-victimsin fraud cases.Scamming incidents include Internet scams, doorknockers and telephone calls. Be aware of scammers.Insurance scams grow after natural disasters andscammers have been known to troll dating websitesfor vulnerable people.My take is to refuse all calls, letters and messagesfrom people you don’t know. If it sounds too good, itprobably is and could be false or misleading.Some cell phones can be set so all calls without aprevious contact are declined. But remember, if youare lost or have tried to make emergency contacts bydialing 911, you should answer the phone.REMEMBER THAT NOT getting what you wantis sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Dalai LamaGENE JOHNSON is the Publisher Emeritus, Press Publications, White Bear Lake,MN and owner of Northstar Media. He can be reached at ppinfo@presspubs.com.SUBSCRIBE:In Pine County: 37 per year.Outside Pine County: 44 per year. 44 snow bird rate 2 discount for those 60 years and olderAll subscriptions payable in advance. This is a postal regulation.CONTACT US:Askov AmericanPhone: 320-245-2368Fax: 320-245-2438Email: askovamerican@scicable.comAddress: P.O. Box 230 414 Main St., Sandstone, Minn. 55072STAFF:Jeff Andres, er Yocum-Stans, ManagingEditor320-384-6188Lance Furber, ReporterLori Schmolke, Employment andClassified SpecialistAl Fritsche - Ad sales

MARCH 10, 2022 BRUNO/KERRICK NEWSSaturday morningJean Jensen, JeanMarquardt and twoof Jean’s sisters fromSuperior enjoyed breakfastat Amy’s in Sandstone.Afterbreakfastthey allwent shopping at theQuarryQuilt shop.Paul, Colette s atWayneSylviaand DebSchweigerStadin’sSundaymorning.In spite of the messyweather, the DiamondDance Studio dancers werecompeting down in theTwin Cities area over theweekend and once againcame home with manyawards.Congratulationsto you all!!!Monday, Doug and SueBlechinger traveled to Duluth to watch granddaughter, Maddie Borchardt, playhockey with her TenU teamat the Duluth HeritageSports Center in the westend. After they enjoyeddinner with family at theClyde

PINE COUNTY VISION PROGRAM On February 28, 2022, a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house was held to celebrate the grand opening of the Pine County Vision Program's new home, locat - ed at 1035 Main Street South in Pine City. The Vision Pro - gram is one of five St. Croix River Education District (SCRED) student programs serving students .