NRHEG Star Eagle

137 Years Serving the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Area
Newspaper of Record for NRHEG School District
Newspaper of Record for Waseca County, MN
PO Box 248 • New Richland, MN 56072

507-463-8112
email: steagle@hickorytech.net
Published every Thursday
Yearly Subscription: Waseca, Steele, and Freeborn counties: $52
Minnesota $57 • Out of state $64

Feature Stories from the Star Eagle pages.

By DEB BENTLY

Staff Writer

Roughly 20 years ago, Lyn Sahr of Pine City took a pickup truck to an organization in the Twin Cities with the intent of bringing back some toys.

“I was the pastor of a church that had a mission program in Mexico four or five times a year,” Sahr remembers. “We always took toys along to help keep the children occupied while the adults took part.”

Having been told he could acquire some toys at a certain agency, he drove on down.

“Really, we didn’t know how much we didn’t know,” he says with a warm laugh. “They filled our pickup with food higher than the cab. We drove home in a daze.

By DEB BENTLEY

Staff Writer

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.

With all present members installed, board members proceeded to elect officers: Incumbents Rick Schultz (chair), Dan Schmidt (vice chair), and Terri Engel (clerk) were

reelected to their positions. Loren Schoenrock was selected as treasurer.

The NRHEG Star Eagle was named as the school's official newspaper, meaning that any legally required notices will be published there.

The board's depositories were again named as the State Bank of New Richland and the Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund. Superintendent of Schools Michael Meihak was authorized to handle electronic transfers of funds and investments.

The regular meeting time was reinstated as 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, except when displaced by a holiday, in which case the meeting is moved to the next day, Tuesday; meeting locations will alternate between the New Richland and Ellendale school buildings, with the January 17 meeting occuring in New Richland.

Board member compensation for regular meetings was maintained at the same rate as last year, $75; payment for full day meetings will be $250.

Committee memberships were also set. Buildings and Grounds: Schultz, Engel and Schoenrock. Finance: Schoenrock, Theuer and Ihrke. Policy: Schmidt, Schoenrock and Engel. Transportation: Schmidt, Schultz and Phillips. School activities: Schmidt, Phillips and Ihrke. Negotiations (paraprofessional): Schultz, Schoenrock, Phillips. Negotiations (Clerical, custodial and food service): Engel, Schmidt and Theuer. Negotiations (Certified staff/teachers): Schmidt, Ihrke and Schultz.


BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS, AND FAMILY - The Leonardo family is pictured above in the newly renovated gym, Panther PowerHouse. After five months of renovations the building is unrecognizable. From left: Jayce, Melisa, Keith, Reed, and Kenzie Leonardo.         Star Eagle photo by Eli Lutgens

By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor

“If you build it, they will come.” The infamous line from the movie Field of Dreams has been the motto for Keith and Melisa Leonardo as they renovated and transformed Panther PowerHouse, formerly New Richland Fitness, over the past five months. An open house will be held August 7, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to celebrate the grand opening of the gym.
Keith and Melisa found their lives revolving around New Richland after the two married in 2013. The pair lives in Claremont with their three kids Jayce, Kenzie and Reid, but a lot of their business is found in New Richland. They rent several other New Richland properties, including the New Richland Craft Mall building.
“We really focus on single family units and investing in small towns,” Keith explained. “The town of New Richland is a natural place for us to do business since Melisa is from New Richland and we have some family in the area.” Melisa is a 1999 graduate of NRHEG and daughter of Kim and Marcia Berg.
The Leonardo’s were looking for another way to invest in Melisa’s hometown when they heard through the grapevine that the local New Richland gym might be for sale. “A lot of people reached out to us and told us we should do this,” Melisa said. “We love our small town roots. I don’t want to say we were looking for this big of a project, but this one spoke to us.”
In February Keith called Wayne Billing and expressed interest in purchasing the more than 100-year-old main street property in New Richland. The former grocery store and gym includes two second floor apartment units, and the main floor gym.  When negotiating the terms of the sale of the property, Wayne and Jean stressed how important it was to them to keep the downstairs a gym for the community. The building had been in his family for many years and serving the community is what the building has always done.   
The five-month project included a lot of blood, sweat and tears from Keith, Melisa, and their family and friends. The interior was expanded 20 feet further back, the interior walls removed, and the original tin ceiling exposed, restored, and painted to create a much more open space. An upper loft previously used to overlook the grocery store was also removed.
“I’m the spreadsheet and budget manager,” Melisa said. “He makes the dreams come to life.” The Leonardo’s involve their three kids in all of their projects so they can learn the importance of hard work, and about entrepreneurship.
As soon as Keith walked into the gym, he had an image in his mind of what he wanted it to become. It was just the matter of making it happen and according to Keith this is only phase one.

New business started by Ellendale local, Audrea Horejsi

By JORDAN HOREJSI
Staff Writer

CRAFT STATION - Audrea Horejsi is pictured above putting together a presentation for her class, “Kids just wanna have fun.” Below are photos of various art supplies used in the class. Star Eagle photos by Jordan Horejsi

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many lives since it began in 2020. Audrea Horejsi, a local Ellendale resident, has decided to take her work life back after losing her job in March of 2020 by starting her own home-run business. Crafts and Creations was formed in the summer of 2021 with the intention of bringing art and creativity to the young minds of tomorrow.

BREATHTAKING - A monarch butterfly rests on a milkweed flower along a local road. A bee feeds on native bee balm in an area conservation plot. The study of native plants--including both milkweed and bee balm--is an important element of studying monarch butterflies.  Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently

By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer

Wendy Caldwell, executive director of Monarch Joint Venture, has been studying monarch butterflies and their interconnectedness with the environment since her college days beginning back in 2007. She is ready, though, and even anxious to learn more.

The organization she leads is based in the Twin Cities, with offices in California and Michigan. Its purpose is to serve as a clearing house for information and recommendations to assist the many people, groups, businesses and agencies which have a stake in monarch butterflies and their annual migration. “We want to help them make their efforts as efficient as possible,” she explains. At the current time, well over a hundred groups from all over the country have partnered with the organization.

It seems everybody is fond of monarchs.

“Pretty much everyone has a connection with them,” observes Caldwell, “whether it was raising a monarch in a classroom as a child or watching as hundreds of monarchs flew overhead during a southward migration.”