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Spring Valley Kiwanis hear from Salt & Light Partners
Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, February 8, 2024. Reprinted with permission and gratitude.
By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy
“Salt keeps good things good…and light (shines),” said George Beech, addressing the Spring Valley Kiwanis Club in late January, sharing the message of Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” as it relates to Salt & Light Partners, the Rochester organization of which he is executive director and a chaplain who offers spiritual and emotional ministry for first responders and others in distress.
The Salt & Light Partners website included the organization’s official mission statement that reads, “Our mission is to provide emotional and spiritual support through workplace chaplaincy in our community.” Beech concurred, “We provide counseling for emergency services workers,” adding that the purpose of making chaplains available to emergency services personnel and law enforcement officers is to help them process the events to which they have been called as part of their duty, occasions that are oftentimes accompanied by very difficult and traumatic circumstances. “People in law enforcement don’t trust people because people are lying to them all day, so we work to build trust and meet people where they’re at. And 93 percent of all firefighters are white and male, so the culture takes its own way.”
Beech listed that Salt & Light Partners was begun as a project that cooperates with the Rochester Police Department (RPD) three years ago, and that it now is represented through the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO). “Prior to that, I was a pastor, and prior to that, I was with the Department of Homeland Security, and before that, I was in the United States Army, serving in Korea and Germany…I met my wife on a rifle range. I grew up in Byron on a farm, and I went to the big city of Minneapolis to go to college. I tried to get back into the military after 9/11, but I had been out (long enough) that the Army didn’t let me. I was a civilian working with Homeland Security, and then my pastor asked me, ‘Do you want to work in a church?’ So I was a pastor. It’s not a usual career path. Then, the chief of police in Rochester asked me if I wanted to be a chaplain to all the department, and I realized I couldn’t do it all (being a pastor and a chaplain) so that’s when I started counseling all the first responders. It has grown because it was me and the police chief, and now we work with the Rochester Police Department, the ambulance service and the fire department, as well as the Winona Police Department and Visiting Angels. Chaplaincy is a ministry of presence.”
Beech then introduced chaplain Kathy Dudley, whom he said was among the very small number of chaplains that Salt & Light encompasses even as numerous have applied and interviewed to be part of the response teams, as the work requires particularly specific skills in navigating intense on-scene situations. Dudley explained how she became a Salt & Light chaplain through a chance meeting with Beech, and Beech commented that she was among the number of chaplains that give of their time to be present for people whose lives are in sudden upheaval, waking up at all hours to go out to a location with only a few details provided in advance and simply listen if someone needs to have another person hear them compassionately as or after they deal with processing or defusing a situation.
He remarked that police officers and firefighters have his personal cell phone number so that they may reach him at any time, even in the middle of the night, if they need someone to be with while managing emotions that may not have initially affected them. While Salt & Light is Christian-based, the executive director reiterated that chaplains assess a scene and determine how to approach the matter in the most sensitive ways possible, accepting that not everyone is a Christian and also that some wish to rely upon their faith to remain well or strive toward better understanding of what they’ve encountered or endured as individuals who have witnessed more than a person can internalize or convey to others. “We don’t proselytize…we don’t open that door, but if they open the door, we run through it…most of what we do is relationship-building.”
Beech’s Salt heals broken law enforcement officers who have brought work home with them because they’ve seen so much. “Why are there broken cops? Because families are broken – what happens at home comes to work, and what happens at work comes home, but not in a good way. We also have marriage counseling – it’s eight weeks at a time, and I take only one couple at a time. We help keep families together and help them act like they like each other. We have a ‘family readiness group’ like they have in the military, and we do date nights. All the people drop their kids off at the church with a gymnasium, then we take them (to an event or dinner). We ask them, ‘When was the last time you went on a date?’ We know how important the family is, so we have a date night. All of a sudden, we have spouses who know each other and each other’s phone numbers. But we’re giving people a venue to grow a relationship with their spouse by having date nights.”
The date nights and networking opportunities then grow the involved individuals to be a family of people on whom law enforcement and first responders and their spouses can rely if they need to converse about their lives’ concerns or joys. Additionally, in “relationship-building,” Salt & Light chaplains work to better acquaint themselves with new officers, and perhaps very importantly, they take time out to meet the children in neighborhoods where poverty or crime are prevalent and get out their pitching and catching gloves just to play ball for a while. Beech stated that chaplains also participate in community celebrations to make their presence known, some of which are sponsored by Salt & Light.
The question that went unasked by the Kiwanians but was addressed by the executive director was how the organization is funded, and he noted that “donations from churches, individuals and organizations” and wellness monies allotted to law enforcement help underwrite the costs of sending trained chaplains to emergencies, making way for Salt & Light’s mission to happen. As is the nature of the work, chaplaincy is unpredictable, and that means that Beech and his team are grateful to have the community’s support for their efforts, as it has allowed Salt & Light to expand its association from just the Rochester Police Department and OCSO to all Rochester area law enforcement, and to extend its radius to partner with the Winona emergency services.
Beech posited, “What are we going to do tomorrow? I started with the Rochester Police Department, and…if more work comes to us, we will respond.”
A Kiwanis member inquired of Beech, “How do you take care of your own chaplains?” The director answered, “Kathy or I…the rule is if you get called…the thing is you have to go talk with another chaplain. You have to download.” Another member wanted to know how many police departments have chaplains for the police, and he replied that “percentage wise, it’s really small…Chicago and New York have chaplains on staff, but small departments generally don’t.”
The meeting’s hour ended, and the Kiwanis graciously thanked Beech for his willingness to share about Salt & Light, presenting him with the club’s framed certificate of appreciation that is “suitable for hanging.”
For more information, log onto the Salt & Light Partners’ website at www.saltandlightpartners.org.
Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325
Ribbon Cutting in Spring Valley
Photo Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325
Nominate a Kiwanis Citizen of the Year
The Kiwanis Club of Spring Valley is seeking nominations for an outstanding person
to be honored at its annual Citizen of the Year program in the fall.
The Kiwanis Citizen of the Year, chosen by the club from nominations received from the public,
is someone who has contributed to the betterment of Spring Valley through service to the community.
Nominations are due by September 1, 2023.
Download the nomination form or compete the online nomination below.
Minn. author’s diligence garners on TV, three novels
Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, June 1, 2023. Reprinted with permission and gratitude.
By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy
The secret to getting published is moving people from inebriation to brilliant statement, then listening to one’s grandma.
“I walked my resume to MTV. That was 1999, and I started working at VH1, when MTV was still doing music programming. That’s when they started making reality programs, and by the time we got to 2002, I got a call from the higher-ups at ABC to do a reality show called ‘The Bachelorette.’ I spent my time escorting really goodlooking drunk people from mansion to mansion and try to get them to say interesting things,” recounted Hastings, Minn., native and California author Stradal during his appearance at the Spring Valley Public Library (SVPL) earlier this month as part of the library’s participation in the Southeast Libraries Cooperating (SELCO) spring author tour.
The author of three novels – “Kitchens of the Great Midwest,” “The Lager Queen of Minnesota,” and “Saturday Night at the Lakeside Sup[1]per Club” – highlighted how his career progressed from being just a guy from Hastings who aspired to put words on a screen to being a member of pro[1]duction crews for famous television shows and writing books that, according to his website, “received glowing reviews from NPR, People, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota Public Radio, TASTE Magazine, AARP Magazine, and Kirkus, where it earned a starred review.” He addressed the audience at SVPL and answered their questions related to how he acquired novel-writing skills, saying, “Vanity Fair asked me how I learned to write a novel, and I told them that I had to take hours of footage down to 42 minutes…that’s not a lot of time to winnow things down to tell a story.”
He continued by telling about how he felt that his first manuscript had potential for publication. “I wrote every day for a year before work. I had written a novel before, but this was one that I thought might have a chance, but…my grandma read it and hated it. She told me to my face.” Stradal took questions from his audience related to how the editorial process affected his confidence, and he answered that he’d attempted to challenge one editor on the topic of how many swear words were included in the dialogue and been informed that he’d probably overdone it… eventually learning from his readers that it was better to listen to his editor than to do his best to row against the current. “Editors at every level have been very helpful…and once you get started in the publishing industry, you just keep writing… you get another crack at changes between hardback and paperback for when someone asks, ‘Who’s Blaine?’ and I remember ‘Oh yeah, I forgot I changed his name to Jake.’”
He took some more questions from attendees – particularly one involving whether he’s finished writing or has “more pressure now to write more after first successful books.” He responded, “Yeah, but a tree fell on our house.” That’s a house in Burbank, Calif., by the way, meaning that while he was “just a guy from Hastings, Minnesota” who wanted to use words to make his living, he’s well-traveled, but, he concluded, having a chance to return to the Midwest was a treat he thoroughly enjoyed.
SVPL’s summer program calendar is quite full with author visits, the children’s summer reading program, various educational workshops and more. SVPL’s director, Jenny Simon, encouraged interested persons to peruse the library’s schedule and take advantage of the free opportunities that await, including the return of photographer and author Doug Ohman, who presented in late March on his new book about metal detecting and will return to the library on June 29 to demonstrate how to use metal detectors to find historic artifacts deep underground.
The Spring Valley Public Library is open Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 7 p.m., striving to find opportunity and ability to reopen on Saturdays, if possible. For more information on library services, log onto the library’s website at www.springvalley.lib.mn.us, or call 507-346- 2100.
Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325
Young Runners Excel at 2021 Ag Days 6k
Teens made a strong showing in the Ag Days 6k race on the Spring Valley trail Saturday, Aug. 21, as a 16-year old had the fastest time. Cole Kruegel was the first finisher in the 2021 race with a time of 24:19. Two other teens were close on his heels, though, as Andrew Imm finished second with a time of 24:39 and Garrison Hubka took third with a time of 24:57. The three Spring Valley teens are all 16 years old and members of the Kingsland cross-country team.
The first female across the finish line was Jenna Steeves, 32, of Milford, Connecticut, with a time of 27:12. She is the daughter of Steve Tammel, who volunteered to drive the bus full of runners to the starting line. Steeves was also the female winner in 2018, the last time she ran the local race.
A teen winner is a repeat of the last Ag Days 6k trail race. The Ag Days race wasn’t held in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2019, Treyton Lanning, 14, of Chatfield, became the youngest ever winner of the race, which became a 6k race on the trail in 2013. Previously the race was 5k in length and the course was on roads in Spring Valley, starting at Spring Creek Park.
Since then, the race has started on County Road 8 near the city camping area with runners heading onto the paved trail and following it all the way to Willow Park. The course is 3.72 miles long.
Kruegel previously played football in the fall, but last season he was allowed to play football and run cross-country for Kingsland. This year, he is focusing solely on cross-country. However, in cross-country meets this year, Hubka is usually the one in front of the Kingsland High School cross-country team. At a Hayfield invitational meet Sept. 9, Hubka took first and Kruegel finished second overall in a field of a dozen teams.
A total of 49 runners signed up for the 2021 race. There were plenty of young runners as 16 of them, or nearly a third, were age 18 or younger. The field even included a 9-year-old, Carson Smith of Spring Valley. Every age group was represented up to the 60s, which included three women older than 60.
Age group medal winners, not including the overall winners, are as follows: 
Youth 14 and younger: Dalton Pischke of Elkton and Kylie Meyer of Spring Valley.
Age 19 and under: Imm and Susan Mettler of Spring Valley.
Age 20 to 29: Isaac Watson of Spring Valley.
Age 30 to 39: Dan Hershberger and Heather Betts, both of Spring Valley.
Age 40 to 49: Nils Wahlander and Angela Boysen, both of Spring Valley.
Age 50 to 59: Bruce Meyer and Sarah Kohn, both of Spring Valley.
Age 60 to 69: Sharon McGill of Stewartville.
Volunteers included Dave and Marlene Foster at the finish line, Kristi Mettler at the registration table, and Brenda and Matt Stier and Pam Phillips at the aid station. Tammel also officially started the runners and the Kingsland School District provided a bus to transport the runners from Willow Park to the starting line.
Next year’s race will be held Saturday, Aug. 20, with plans to run the same course. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome. Also, don’t forget the Frozen Feet 4k during Christmas on Historic Broadway Avenue on Dec. 11. This is a fun run that supports Kingsland youth football.
Click Here to View 2021 Ag Days 6K Run Results
