A year of stories

People and their stories.

Every member of the Waseca County Pioneer staff finds his or her motivation in the people of the community, their passions, motivations, and projects.

“Being a news writer pulled me out of my comfort zone,” comments writer Michael Roy. “It’s very demanding and it takes a lot of time.

“But I have gotten to know some people who do what they do, not because they’re paid for it, but because they truly care.

“No amount of money could bring out the passion and dedication I’ve seen.”

Today’s July 7 edition comes out on the anniversary of the paper’s July 8, 2022, “Waseca addresses only” free distribution. Another free mailing had gone out on July 1 to all addresses in Waseca County.

The concept of the Pioneer – of a Waseca-based newspaper that covered local events—had started long before, and sprouted in November of 2021.

That was when NRHEG Star Eagle owner Eli Lutgens spoke with Michael Roy about beginning to attend and write about Waseca sports.

“Sports, those are very important to a community,” comments Lutgens. “It was a gaping hole in what a community should have.” The regionally-owned paper didn’t even have a staff writer located in Waseca at the time.

Roy’s coverage of Waseca sports began appearing in the Star Eagle in December 2021. Since then, his dual positions as a writer both for the Pioneer and for the Janesville Journal have him attending sporting events of all types over a very wide area, including state competitions.

He finds it rewarding to be part of the dedication and passion shown at contests at every level. He is also grateful to be in a position to record history. He mentions the combined Janesville/Waterville wrestling team’s accomplishments this year which included Keegan Kuball becoming state champion in the 285-pound weight division, soon-to-be sophomore Brady Murphy placing 4th in his first-ever state tournament, and Jack Cahill ending his high school career as a state participant.

“We’ve got a long line of successful wrestlers in the region,” Roy observes. “I’m glad to have been part of that,” he says. “By knowing what’s happened in the past, I’m in a better position to write about what’s happening in the present.”

Roy admits that attending and writing about so many events is very demanding. Despite the long workdays and the many tasks he is called upon to take care of, though, he says it’s worthwhile and rewarding enough to keep him willing to continue. And, he confesses, “Being young helps.”

Waseca High School 2021 graduate and University of Minnesota journalism student Amelia Roessler was the second writer recruited for the Pioneer.

She began working out of the Star Eagle office in spring of 2022 shortly after the college spring semester ended. She sought out a job as a news writer to get some practical experience in the field; college programs being as they are, she had not yet taken a single course in journalism, even though it was her major.

The informal atmosphere and close-knit staff took her by surprise, but she adapted quickly. When sent to cover high school events, she had the advantage of being able to interview and take pictures of her former classmates—having been very active in band and choir, it was almost like coming home.

She not only wrote for the paper, but contributed her time to help set up the Pioneer’s Waseca office and helped with non-writing tasks associated with record keeping and billing. She acknowledges those tasks are important, but says telling about people’s accomplishments and projects is what she finds worthwhile.

“I get to talk to people, learn about them,” she says. “I always feel glad I can tell their story.

“It’s demanding,” she admits. On a recent day she had already been working for 11 hours, and had so far written only eight of the 14 pieces on her docket.

Despite the demands, she is glad to have been part of starting the Pioneer, and grateful to be on its staff again this summer.

She thinks back to the Catholic Daughters’ annual pillow fluffing event last year. “Those ladies were so grateful somebody wanted to write about them and what they were doing,” she remembers. “It had real personal meaning to them—that gave it a gravity that really stays with me.”

When she returned to the University of Minnesota last fall, her experience at the Pioneer helped Roessler get a job with the campus newspaper, the Minnesota Daily. In spring when she decided to take part in an international exchange program in Spain, she was encouraged to submit weekly columns about her experiences. Now that she’s back in Waseca, she says, it’s as if everyone were one of her relatives who took the time to learn about her travels. “It’s as if these people know me intimately,” she jokes.

She mentions some of the fundraisers and charity events she has covered, including the O’Brien golf tournament benefit. “It’s a great reminder to give back,” she says.

Another source of inspiration for Roessler are the other members of the Pioneer staff. She mentions Eli Lutgens’ desire to see the residents of Waseca receive local coverage—to a degree that he was willing to start a new newspaper—the only one started in the state of Minnesota in years.

Thanks to that inspiration, and to the variety the job represents, Roessler says she is glad to be associated with the Pioneer. “It’s unique,” she says. “I do something different every day. I get to know people and businesses. I see how a community works, how it is made up of the contributions of many different people.

“And I see why it’s important to be sure those people’s stories are told.”

Like Roessler, 2021 NRHEG graduate Jonah Stafford began working for the Star Eagle in May of 2022, and contributed to the Pioneer as it began publishing in July.

Stafford is a student at St. Mary’s University in Winona, where he is majoring in public relations and digital media. He had also been a writer for the NRHEG school newspaper, the Panther Press, which publishes its editions in the Star Eagle. 

Stafford, too, finds community connection the most rewarding part of being a newspaper writer. His thoughts turn first to a story he worked on regarding a specially planned hunt which included injured Waseca policeman Arik Matson. He also remembers a story about a Girl Scout food drive, and the information he included about food insecurity and its profound effects on families.

In fact, Stafford is willing to go so far as to say he has learned important life lessons while writing for the Pioneer.

“It’s exciting and humbling,” he says “to be part of a newspaper launch in 2022. This is a time when we think of papers closing. I’m pretty sure it’s a story I’ll be telling until the end of my career…someday.”

He says he has also learned to demand more from himself. “You have to ask yourself what kind of reporter you want to be.”

Being aware of the important role a newspaper plays in a community is an important form of encouragement when the demands of the job become intimidating.

Stafford says he is especially encouraged because of the positive approach community members have to the Pioneer and to his work.

“I’m grateful for all the people I’ve met and gotten to know,” he finishes. Remembering back to the first few editions of the Pioneer, he remembers, “They were flying off the store shelves. That was proof to me that small-town newspapers still matter.”

Writer and editor Deb Bently was an English language arts teacher at NRHEG in the spring of 2022. She was approached by Eli Lutgens and asked whether she would be willing to write a few stories for the Pioneer. With the school year coming to an end, and with the close association that had come about because of the school newspaper being published in the Star Eagle, Bently says she was glad to consent. Her first story assignment was to write about Tim and Becky Dennis, funeral home managers who were retiring from decades of service to the community that June.

“The interview was delightful,” Bently remembers. “Just as Tim and Becky are delightful people. It was a privilege to tell their story.”

Before becoming a teacher in the early 1990s, Bently had been a reporter and writer, first for the Waseca Weekly, and afterward for The Arabian Horse Times. Early in her marriage and career at that time, Bently describes having been faced with a choice: “I realized that if I wanted to advance to a comfortable career as a writer, I would have to leave Waseca,” she recalls. “I would need to find a publication that was large and successful enough to be able to provide support to a growing a family—things like higher pay and company-provided health insurance.”

But she had no interest in leaving the area. She enjoyed being part of a large extended family. She wanted to raise her children—the ones at this point she was only thinking of having—with the support and love of their grandparents and great-grandparents. She thought of herself as a Wasecan, and had no interest in living in a big city.

Weighing these factors, she decided to go back to college and meet the requirements to become a teacher. By 1991, she was working for the NRHEG school district; by 1994 she had joined the school’s staff. For a few years, she taught both English and German. After a time, the district decided to end the German program and Bently was teaching English full time.

Not that she stopped there. During the nearly 28 years Bently worked at NRHEG she was the coach of the speech team, the founder and operator of the school’s drama club, a one-act play director, advisor to the student newspaper, senior class advisor, and held numerous leadership roles in the teachers’ association. She taught a wide range of classes including journalistic writing, college composition, and a “drama and the theater” course.

Never forgetting her roots as a journalist, she frequently wrote articles about people and events at the school. “There is so much dedication and passion shown not only by students, but by the adults who look after them,” says Bently. “Those stories needed to be shared, and I was grateful that I had the skills and resources to share them.” True to the paper’s name, Bently’s stories were published in the NRHEG Star Eagle.

“When someone shares their story to me, I feel as if I have been entrusted with a treasure. I regard it as my obligation to pass that treasure along as richly and accurately as possible. The words, the pictures, the mood and tone of the writing, they all have to work together to bring the story alive for the reader while recording it accurately for the person or people it’s about.”

Stories that Bently thinks of when she remembers what she’s written for the Pioneer include a recent one about the Waldorf graduating class of 1953, the story of WWII era veteran Norm Gehring, and a story she wrote for the first Pioneer about how the newspaper came to be.

“Even with decades of experience as a writer, I can tell you that the job is demanding,” says Bently. “Sometimes the piece has to be written quickly, even under pressure. Sometimes it simply seems there aren’t enough words in the language to do a story justice.

“But we do our best, because that’s what people deserve.

“It’s a privilege to be a writer, to record history and to tell people’s stories. It’s also an obligation.”

Writer and columnist Missy Dunn has been a Waseca resident since the 1990s. Coincidentally, her first job when she came to town back then was as the circulation manager for the Waseca County News under Tom West.

Although she says she has always enjoyed writing, she had never taken the job on until beginning to write for the Pioneer in the fall of 2022. Married to long-time school board member Dave Dunn, she consented to begin covering school  board meetings. Later she began pursuing less “newsy” stories.

She remembers the feature story she wrote about Waseca health care professional Hua Zhu, who performs acupuncture, acupressure, and other Eastern forms of treatment. “It felt good to let people know about this possibility,” she remembers. “And I was really pleased that I got to tell about Hua and all she is capable of.”

Dunn says she persistently hears positive comments about the Pioneer. She is proud to be a contributor because, she says, the publication provides a strong representation of the community and the positive things that happen here. “We make people aware of those things,” she says. “We record them, and we provide a wider perspective. People are glad to see a presence like ours at events they deem important.

“I’m grateful to be a part of that.”