Goodbye 2017. Hello 2018. It’s time again to look back over 2017 at the events that shaped the year. Here we’ve chosen stories that had the most impact -- or received the most attention.

 

Need we say more?

 

The giant feathered friend of Becker was in the headlines from April to November as people followed his globe-trotting from Becker to Big Lake. 

 

Dork’s escape from his outdoor pen at Easter time led to hundreds of sightings, several chases and countless updates on his whereabouts via social media. Dork captured the public’s fascination and his notierity grew to international status.

 

Dork’s followers continually expressed concernfor his safety and well-being and worried how he might survive a harsh Minnesota winter in the wild. But before that question could be answered, Dork suffered a heart attack during capture in Big Lake and died Nov. 25.

 

The Citizen-Tribune plans to carry on Dork’s legacy in our advertising (with permission from Dork’s owner) and are currently running a holiday coloring contest featuring Dork and Santa Claus.

 

Paul Fors, 86 of Clear Lake finally received that coveted medal during a church service at South Santiago Lutheran in August.

 

Fors’ injury in the war took place at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, a man-made lake located in the northeast of the Korean peninsula. It is known as a key defensive battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "Chōshin". 

 

Pastor Rob Olsen of Becker Baptist Church was recognized in August for his 25 years at the helm.

 

His congregation surprised him with a celebration to honor Olsen for his service to the area that began Aug. 17, 1992.

 

In April, the Becker Public Library held a community art show that featured works from local artists as well as student pieces.

 

The library was filled with colorful and creative works of art including drawings, watercolor paintings, oil paintings, acrylic paintings, ceramics, sculptures, printmaking, mixed media, photography, graphic design and textiles.

 

Tom Sheldon, Susan Dunbar, Barb Gulbrandson and students Madison and Faith Bass, Heidi Voigt and Allison  Crane were just a few of the over 200 works of art on display.

 

Becker High School hosted their first-ever, Manufacturing on the Road Fair in the north commons of the school in April.

 

Hundreds of students from two schools (Becker and Big Lake) attended the fair that featured businesses and industries introducing students to a career in the industrial arts.

 

Los Ortizes held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in September to officially announce the opening of their new Mexican restaurant along Bank Street in Becker.

 

Luis and Heidi Ortize opened their establishment that features a full menu of nachos, enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, burritos, quesadillas fajitas, chimichangas, tamales, combination dinners, salads and seafood items. 

 

Mike Garland paddled down the entire Mississippi River last summer to help bring awareness and raise funds for cancer research.

 

This was Garland’s final (maybe?) special feat as the previous two years he rode his bicycle from Becker to the west coast and last year walked from south to north along the Pacific Coast Trail.

 

Northern Metal Recycling relocated their business to Becker from Minneapolis earlier this year.

 

The operation is a shredder, a metal separator and a receiving yard for the general public and possibly end-of-life for vehicles.

 

Improvements to Becker city’s wastewater plant to accommodate an increase in capacity to handle LPI’s expansion of operations was approved in January. NMR currently has 17 operating facilities in Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota With the bulk in Minnesota. 

 

Two local farmers opposed the plan for Xcel Energy to move their Sand Plain Research Farm from its current site to another piece of property they own further to the east.

 

The two farmers — Malcolm Olson and Alan Peterson — were against  the move, citing the costs of moving irrigation equipment, installing wells, building fences, etc. would be a million dollar move and fall on the taxpayers.

 

Becker city and representatives from Xcel Energy and the University of Minnesota all concurred there would be no financial burden to the taxpayers of Becker in regards to the move.

 

Sen. Andrew Mathews and Rep. Jim Newberger were able to puch a bill through the Minnesota Senate Energy and Utilities Finance and Policy Committee in February to allow Xcel Energy to build a natural gas combined cycle electric generation plant on the site of the current Sherco plant in Becker.

 

Former BHS student Josten Rosistas starred in a film entitled, Miles Between Us, that was shown at a select few area theaters in early February.

 

Rositas launched his Hollywood dream after graduation by moving to Los Angelas to try and find film roles and modeling gigs.

 

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas was performed by Becker students in the Performing Arts Center in November.

 

The show was directed by Joe Rand and featured the talents of Blake Paulson, William Schendel, Samantha Pounds and Grace Jacobsen.

 

Girl Scout Morgan Meyer of Becker was  awarded the Gold Award in July for her cystic fibrosis project she started in 2016.

 

The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, encompassing sustainability, community involvement, leadership, and lots of time and dedication.  

 

To receive the award, Morgan created a power point presentation to present in front of the Girl Scout council members. She also had to submit a time log of her nearly 90 hours of work toward this project and write a final report identifying how she’s helped improve her community, what she’s done to make a difference, how her project will be sustained and what she’s learned throughout this project.  

 

Becker High School  students and teachers started their fall classes this year with a new principal and assistant principal.

 

Rick Toso was hired as interim principal following the resignation of Sandy Logrono. Brian Baloun — the twin brother of Police Chief Brent Baloun — was hired as assistant principal.

 

The Becker speech team competed at sections in April in Duluth and Emily Brovold captured second place with her production, earning her a trip to the state tournament.

 

Brovold performed her drama speech based on the television show, the United States of Tara — a Showtime exclusive. The TV program deals with a suburban housewife and mom who lives with dissociative identity disorder — a condition  that causes her to shift between multiple identities without warning.

 

Several local families and individuals took to the stage April 28-30 for the production of Godspell at the Community Methodist Church in Monticello.

 

Among those locals was the family of Dave and Jeannine Larcom and their two children, Jenny and Paul. The Larcom family went to a performance of Godspell in Maple Grove in February to get a feel for the production and their roles. The director (Pastor Penny Fritze-Tietz) wanted to use the show as an evangelistic tool to educate those about the story of Jesus who do not already know about it or have never heard the story.

 

Becker High School sophomore Jordan Gruenes  did what few brave souls would dare to undertake. He ventured to a far away land with a group of strangers to work, play and save the souls of needy children.

It was his own soul that came back saved.

 

Gruenes, the son of Joe and Stephanie Gruenes of Clear Lake, took the trip on his own and knowing no one he would be traveling with.  His task was to teach the children of the communities the English language, teach them the sport of soccer and experience the Haiti culture with excursions to the U.S. Embassy, hospitals, orphanages and museums.

 

Friedman to Madagascar

Senior Adair Friedman of Becker joined a group of student volunteers on a special Samaritan’s Purse team traveling to Madagascar in August to share a message of encouragement, hope and God’s love with children through Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts.

 

Adair, 18, has long served Samaritan’s Purse in the shoebox drive along with members of her family and family friends. Last year, Adair and her helpers stuffed over 500 shoeboxes for needy children throughout the world.

 

Sports News Lundeen to HOF

Becker football coach Dwight Lundeen was one of 12 people inducted into the Minnesota State High School League’s Hall of Fame Oct. 11 in St. Paul.

 

Lundeen is the only football coach that Becker High School has ever had. He began the program in 1970 and has been on the sideline for 47 seasons.

 

During his tenure, he has built the Bulldogs into a Minnesota State High School League power. He has compiled a 329-145-3 record and ranks third all-time in victories, trailing only Ron Stolski of Brainerd and Verndale’s Mike Mahlen, both of whom still coach. 

 

Seth Hubbard of Becker and Dennis Goodrich of Becker Twp. were featured this year for their incredible talent (and luck?) when they bagged two monstrous whitetails.

 

Hubbard’s girlfriend and now wife also had a successful hunt in 2017.

 

Goodrich was featured in the March Outdoor News magazine for taking down a#3-ranked whitetail measuring 158-6/8 (net) with a bow. The deer was also considered the top deer taken in Sherburne County and Goodrich’s name was posted in the Big Game Records of Minnesota book.

 

Hubbard was also featured in the Outdoor News for procuring a monster deer he and some of his associates intimately named, Double Down. The deer was shot with a bow on Hubbard’s family property the third day of the hunting opener and tallied a 188-2/8 count. He took first place in the Whitetail Nontypical Archery category for the Outdoor News Deer & Turkey Classic.

 

In September, Hubbard’s fiancé at the time, Nicole Applebury, bagged a huge deer on the first day of bow hunting. Her deer, nicknamed Junior, counted 166-2/8 and was harvested by Seth near the same location a year earlier. 

 

The Becker Buzzards baseball team celebrated their 10th anniversary in August of 2017.

 

Over two decades ago, Deron Trovall and Mark Kolbinger worked together to bring an amateur baseball team back to Becker in the early 1990's with the original Electroz team.  The next year, they were renamed the Bandits and in 2008, Kolbinger and Trovall started the current Buzzards team in a 35+ league.

 

Becker’s Bobby Lee won his sixth professional MMA fight and fourth fight on AX’s TV in January. Prior to that, Lee earned the Minnesota MMA’s Fighter of the Year award at their annual year-end banquet.

 

Lee has a 7-1 professional career record and last fought in August (win) after losing for the first time as a professional to Jeff Peterson in January.

 

Emi Quill and Sarah Woelfel competed at state in November.

 

Going in to the finals  Saturday, Quill was in 15th place and Woelfel was in 13th place and both girls’ dives went very well.  Quill moved up to 10th place (up five places from her 2016 finish) and Woelfel moved down to 14th place. 

 

Quill is a junior and Woelfel is just an eighth-grader.  

 

Becker’s Sidney Boros was one of 98 football players from around the state who participated in the Dec. 9 Minnesota High School All-Star game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

 

Boros, a senior running back and kick returner for the Bulldogs, played for the North squad, who lost to South by a score of 28-14. Boros got one run attempt for zero yards in a game that featured inner-city players dominating the spotlight.