Baldwin Greenhouse owners Rochell and James Karlson, flank James’ mother Chris. Baldwin Greenhouse was a recent winner of the Petal of Honor-Award of Excellence!
Teleflora, the world’s leading flower wire service announced recently that Baldwin Greenhouse is one of the first shops to be awarded the Petal of Honor -Award of Excellence! Recently created by Teleflora, this program was designed to recognize member florists who have an exemplary track record of customer service and satisfaction.
Quality is the core of the Teleflora difference. Every Teleflora floral gift is personally hand-arranged and hand-delivered by industry professionals. Baldwin Greenhouse along with a select number of member shops exceeded expectations with a low complaint rate, high customer satisfaction and prompt delivery.
Being the best of the best deserves public recognition and consumers will be able to identify Petal of Honor recipients by a special emblem created exclusively by Teleflora. The emblem will be visible on honorees’ websites next to their listings on Findaflorist.com and in the Select a Florist option on Teleflora.com check-out. In addition, shops will be given a window decal to hang in their store.
For more information please contact Baldwin Greenhouse at 520 Hwy. 12 in Baldwin or call 715-684-2104.
Peterson recognized for service
Kenneth Peterson, who chose not to stand for re-election to the St. Croix Electric board of directors this year, was presented with a plaque of recognition for his 15 years of service to the organization. The award was presented by Chairman of the Board Bill Peavey at the 73rd annual meeting of St. Croix Electric. The meeting was held at R & D Catering south of New Richmond on Thursday, April 1 and was preceeded by a meal provided by St. Croix Electric.
At the meeting, Dennis Carlson, CPA, of the accounting firm of Carlson and Highland & Co., LLP, presented the audit report.
Mark Pendergast, President and CEO, reported to the membership and expressed concern about proposed CO2 limits. He discussed the effects of the recession on the co-op and members. He said he was concerned about Governor Doyle’s proposal to require use of more electricity from renewable sources, especially in light of the fact that Wisconsin already has a power generation surplus.
For good news, Pendergast said projections are for less expense for local operations in the coming year and the past year had fewer outages than ever before.
In balloting at the meeting for directors, for District 1 incumbent Harold Rivard defeated challenger Neil Plourde; in District 4 (from which Peterson was retiring) Paul Nyhus defeated Jerry Pederstuen; and in district 7 Fran Klatt, the incumbent, defeated challenger Brian Hurtgen.
Local middle schooler has hopes of being His Arms in Kenya
A local girl, Abby Hanson, daughter of Pastor John and Julie Hanson, Peace Lutheran Church of Baldwin, aims big. This 12 year old is trying to baby-sit, take on yard jobs, organize 6th graders in a garage sale, and pretty much do anything she can to earn money to join the Peace Lutheran Mission Team leaving for Kenya in June. This is Peace's fifth team to go to Kenya, in East Africa, and the first time the group has included a youth.
When asked why she wants to go so badly that she would try to earn nearly $2000 it will take for her ticket, she replied "Ever since my Dad went to Africa and came home and told me about his experiences and how good it felt to help these people out, I wanted to be able to go and do the same thing and see the smiles on the faces as God works through me to reach out to them. So I am just going to do this!"
Abby takes part in drama, basketball, volleyball, band, and choir while she attends Viking Middle School. She is also active in Peace's Sunday School, Logos program, and the children's choir group, J Crew.
When her parents were asked about Abby's lofty goals and their response to her request, her Dad responded "Okay, then. Let's make this happen." Julie Hanson, her Mother added "I told Abby, you will have to raise the money, then, to make it happen." She added, "I do believe she has a heart for missions."
While in Kenya, Abby plans to address the children of a school near Maseno about the life of the child in America compared to Kenya. With her visit, she hopes to bring educational books to share, as this school lacks books of any kind. She also plans to help with craft projects for the Orphan programs, with which she'll be working. This year the mission team will continue the work they have started since 2005 in Maseno, Western Kenya. It is located about 35 miles from the Ugandan border. While there, they hope to continue working with the His Arms Orphan Program they helped developed. Coordinator Nancy Rowe, from Peace, works with the Kenya Coordinator, Florence Oyosi, to oversee orphans in that area. They currently have 26 children being sponsored by US families. Each sponsor promises $20 a month support and, in turn, the child is able to stay in the home of a guardian, attend school, get regular nutrition, get education as to basic hygiene, and is monitored as to medical needs. Some of the children are HIV+ and are followed by the area HIV clinic with the His Arms Program overseeing these efforts.
Peace has also helped with various other projects while in Kenya. They have also helped get the Ebenezer Project off the ground. This is a program they developed in which the donors from the U.S. can purchase a goat ($40), chicken ($9), Malaria net ($7), mattress ($25), for an orphan and their family unit. Those who receive the animals, are then asked to give away the first off-spring to someone else in need, in hopes of encouraging more self-sustaining projects. The nets are used by the children to decrease their chances of contracting Malaria, the leading killer of children in Kenya. The mattresses are also used by children who have otherwise been sleeping nightly on the ground, with the danger of contracting the deadly parasites that infest the muddy floors.
If you are interested in any of the above projects check out the website: www.hisarmskenya.org for further information. If you want to help Abby reach her goal, you may send your tax deductible check to Peace Lutheran, 2084 County Rd N, Baldwin, 54002 with a notation on the check that it is for Abby's trip.
From the Exchanges
Interesting items from
surrounding communities
MONDOVI HERALD~NEWS: A Mondovi High School senior was recently charged with a felony count of issuing a bomb scare that locked down Mondovi classrooms last month. Elizabeth “Libby” E. Johnson is scheduled to make her initial appearance in Buffalo County Court on April 7. The charge has a maximum penalty of 1-1/2 years in prison. According to court records, police were called to the Mondovi school on Friday, March 12, after a seventh grade girl said she found a bomb threat note in the girls’ bathroom. School officials said a similar note was found in the girls’ bathroom the previous day. The note said that a bomb was located in a specific locker. Nearby classrooms were evacuated and the rest of the school was locked down while the locker was checked. On March 15, police were contacted by school officials who said they found a paper and a marker in Johnson’s desk that indicated she had written the notes. Johnson told police she wrote both notes because she was having problems at home and at school.
RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: It stated as a noise and possible drug use complaint. Before it was over a patrol officer was hit in the face and bruised and a 19-year-old man chased and caught outside a rental house on S. Fourth St. just before 2 a.m. Sunday. David S. Hodder, a UW-River Falls student living at that address, was jailed for battery to an officer, resisting arrest and underage drinking. He was later charged with a felony battery to a law enforcement officer by the district attorney. Two River Falls police officers responded to the Fourth Street party complaint. When they arrived people were spilling out the back door. There they found Hodder, who they claimed wouldn’t identify himself except for his first name. The Officer Elizabeth Posel, holding a notepad and pen, asked more questions, Hodder allegedly became combative, went to the back door and slammed it against her arm and head as she went in after him. Her partner, Officer Kevin Moore, followed both inside. Hodder was described as swinging his arms while trying to escape the officers. He allegedly swung and hit Posel in the side of the face with a closed fist.
BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL (GRANTSBURG): With an eye on the looming DNR deadline and citizen requests for a place to haul their spring yard waste, the Grantsburg Village Board voted March 23 to accept a transfer station management bid from Robert Moritz of Siren. Moritz owns and operates North Country Dumpsters. Moritz will pay the village $100 a month to operate the Grantsburg Solid Waste Transfer Station on Gary Street for the first year and $200 per month for the second year. The agreement with Moritz is in effect until March, 2012. Effective the very next day, Moritz took over operations at the transfer station and began to remove piles of debris that had been left by the previous operator and by unknown persons illegally leaving garbage outside the gates when the transfer station was closed. The previous operator, Luke Hansen of Northwest Disposal, received the board’s permission to enter the site while Moritz is present so that Hansen can remove his tools. Hansen offered to clean the site but the board accepted Moritz’s offer instead.
CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS: Hammond is home to a, in the words of her father, “$1.6 million miracle baby.” When she was born Kendra Rogan was approximately the size of a bottle of water you would buy at the store - she weighed 20 ounces and was 12 inches long when she was born prematurely at 23.5 weeks (a full-term baby is born at 40 weeks). A photo the family of her shows her mother’s wedding ring slid up above her elbow and it stopped there, Stacy Rogan said, “only because there were tubes.” Now a healthy 16-month-old who is a bit smaller than others her age but is reaching most milestones about the same time, Kendra is a success story that is being shared with others in the area after she was named the 2010 Stillwater March for Babies Ambassador. “March of Dimes was a huge resource after and even before she was born - getting us information on what to expect,” Stacy said. “I contacted them to become involved in the organization and after they heard our story they asked if Kendra would be the ambassador this year. March of Dimes WalkAmerica is the nation’s largest fundraising event, with the money being used to help save America’s babies. The Stillwater March for Babies will be held April 25 and the Rogans have been busy raising both awareness and money for the event. Stacy, who said she never considered herself a public speaker, now has many appearances before regional groups where she tells the story of “Jellybean,” the nickname dad Scott gave to Kendra shortly after she was born.
