May 4
S e r v i n g To d d C o u n t y , M N
Country Courier
VOLUME 20; NUMBER 4 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2010 CIRCULATION 10,000 - FREE
State, County, and Local
Election Results
On November 2nd, 2010 Minnesotans all over the state went
to their local polling places to exercise their civil right to vote.
The information provided here is the preliminary results of
many of the State, County, and Local results. Results are not
considered official until all ballots have been canvassed.
GOVERNOR & LT.
GOVERNOR
# of registered voters as of 7 am,
November 2: 3130070
DFL Dayton and Solon - 919216
Rep. Emmer and Meeks - 910442
Independence Horner
Mulder - 251495
Grassroots Wright
Engelmann - 7513
Green Hakeem and Dittmann -
6188
Ecology Pentel and Wallace -
6178
Resource Eno and Hanson - 4092
Write in - 1857
DIST. 11 SENATE
Rep. Ingebrigtsen - 20798
DFL Thoreen - 11171
Write in - 37
DIST. 11B
REPRESENTATIVE
Rep. Franson - 7798
DFL Hunter - 5147
Independence - Pexsa - 2680
Write in - 29
TODD COUNTY SHERIFF
# of registered voters as of 7 am,
November 2: 13453
Peter J Mikkelson - 5660
Scott Dirkes - 3341
Write in - 14
TODD COUNTY
HISTORICAL
COURTHOUSE
QUESTION 1
AUTHORIZING BONDING TO
RENOVATE THE TODD COUN-
TY HISTORIC COURTHOUSE
The Todd County Board of
Commissioners have authorized
a bond referendum for the pur-
pose of renovating the Todd
County Historic Courthouse.
EAGLE VALLEY ISD #2759
SCHOOL BOARD
Riedel - 652
Rowe - 576
Nelson - 543
Pierce - 516
Stormoen - 504
Polovick - 503
EAGLE VALLEY
REFERENDUM
SCHOOL DISTRICT QUES-
TION 1 (ISD #2759)
REVOKING EXISTING REFER-
ENDUM REVENUE AUTHO-
RIZATION; APPROVING NEW
AUTHORIZATION
The board of Independent School
District No. 2759 (Eagle Valley
Public Schools) has proposed to
revoke the school district's exist-
ing referendum revenue authori-
zation of $807.08 per pupil and
to replace that authorization
with a new authorization of
$1,157.08 per pupil. The pro-
posed referendum revenue
authorization would increase
each year by the rate of inflation
and be applicable for ten years
The result of this referendum
unless otherwise revoked or
will inform the County Board as
reduced as provided by law.
to the desires of the voters of the
Shall the school district's exist-
County with regards to the sta-
ing referendum revenue authori-
tus of the Historic Courthouse.
zation be revoked and the
A failed referendum will likely
increase in the revenue proposed
and lead to a decision that the
by the board of Independent
Historic Courthouse can no
School District No. 2759 be
and longer be used or maintained
approved? BY VOTING "YES"
and the building may be demol-
ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION,
ished. In favor of renovating the
YOU ARE VOTING FOR A
Todd County Historic
PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.
Courthouse and to bond for up to
No - 647
$4.3 million for said purpose. BY
Yes - 509
VOTING “YES” ON THIS BAL-
LOT QUESTION, YOU ARE
SCHOOL DISTRICT QUES-
VOTING FOR A PROPERTY
TION 2 (ISD #2759)
TAX INCREASE
APPROVAL OF SCHOOL DIS-
Yes - 4429
TRICT BOND ISSUE
No - 4336
If School District Ballot Question
1 is approved, shall the school
BROWERVILLE MAYOR
board of Independent School
# of registered voters as of 7 am,
District No. 2759 (Eagle Valley
November 2: 417
Public Schools) also be author-
Mike Aksamit - 160
ized to issue its general obliga-
Robert A Heid - 107
tion school building bonds in an
Write in - 1
amount not to exceed $2,055,000
to provide funds for the repair
BROWERVILLE CITY
and betterment of school sites
COUNCIL
and facilities, including the con-
Iten - 208
struction of renovations and
Wieshalla - 137
additions to the school in
Santer - 107
Clarissa and the construction of
Olson - 48
renovations to the school in
Eagle Bend? BY VOTING "YES"
BROWERVILLE ISD #787
ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION,
SCHOOL BOARD
YOU ARE VOTING FOR A
Iten - 706
PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.
Duncan - 694
No - 727
Bryniarski - 668
Yes - 475
Heid - 583
Write in - 16
A final act of giving,
Father Eugene Lemm leaves
$100,000.00 to Christ the King
School
To support the Roman
Catholic Church in extending
the faith, especially by com-
mending and encouraging
Catholic schools and religious
education, is one of the primary
tenets of Catholic Aid’s mission.
So it is with great humility that
we recognize members who
themselves take that mission
upon themselves as their final
act.
On March 17, 2010, Fr.
Eugene Kevin “Tiger” Lemm
passed away. He was 80 years
old, a native son of Browerville,
Minn., and is remembered for
“serving others humbly with
great generosity and kindness.”
For the students and families of
Christ the King church and ele-
mentary school in Browerville,
generosity is hardly a big
enough word to describe him.
It was shortly after Fr.
Lemm’s death that Fr. Ralph
Zimmerman, pastor of Christ
the King, was informed that Fr.
Lemm had left something for the
school.
“Well, we were surprised,” Fr.
Zimmerman says. “It was a
great, wonderful surprise. His
final gift was over $100,000 and
it was given to the school.”
In fact, Field Representative
Ryan Schmitz informed Fr.
Zimmerman that an annuity
worth $104,000 owned by Fr.
Lemm had listed Christ the
King school as its only benefici-
ary.
“He basically left it for them
to do with whatever they want-
ed. Fr. Lemm sort of lived his life
like whenever anyone needed
anything, he just gave it to
them,” Schmitz says.
The gifting of an annuity to a
charitable organization, like a
church or parochial school, also
means that it does not have to
pay any taxes on the interest
earned. So the gift is as good as
cash. According to Director of
Sales, Tom Schisler, the school
has the option to let the annuity
continue to build, take interest
only payments, chip away at the
principal as the need arises, or
take the entire sum in a lump
payment.
Fr. Zimmerman says the
school board was discussing
what to do with the surprise gift,
but that it certainly gives them
some breathing room.
“I don’t know for sure. As you
know, Catholic schools with less
than 50 students are always
challenged. And we’re right at
50,” he says. “It keeps giving us
life and helps us to work with
our limited funds. [The parish]
heavily subsidizes the school, so
it gives the parish a chance to
look at those things. I’m also
Fr. Eugene Lemm.
thinking of our religious educa-
tion program. We’re a parish
cluster now, so this gift will help
the whole community.”
In Fr. Lemm’s case, he left no
instructions for how he wished
for the annuity to be used. It was
to go to the school and for that
body to decide how to use it.
According to Schisler, gifts of
annuities or charitable life
insurance policies can be made
with as few or as many stipula-
tions as the original owner
decides.
“If you want to give it to a
charitable organization like a
church, it’s as simple as listing
them as a beneficiary. Then they
can decide how to use those
funds after you’re gone. In Fr.
Lemm’s case, I believe they’ve
still got the annuity with
Catholic Aid while they decide
what to do with it.” If the owner
wants certain conditions to be
followed after their death, how-
ever, a trust can be set up
through the Catholic Aid
Foundation that will ensure the
proceeds of their final gift are
used in accordance with their
wishes.
Fr. Lemm seemed to only
desire that the children of Christ
the King receive the best educa-
tion available, and his gift will
go a long way toward making
that a reality today and in the
future.
“We certainly say of our plans
‘make your home parish one of
your children in terms of inheri-
tance,” Fr. Zimmerman says. “It
helps us to keep going. Those
funds are the future; they will
keep on giving after we’re all
gone. This is a permanent gift.”
Contact your Field
Representative to learn how you
too can leave a permanent gift
for your church or school.
Reprinted with permission
from the Catholic Aid
Journal