By Rep. Paul Anderson
Saw a beautiful sight over the weekend. We drove to Sauk Centre last Saturday to visit the Eagle’s Healing Nest and attend a fund raiser going on there. As we turned off the highway and drove up the tree-lined entrance of the complex, we saw workers up on top of one of the buildings. They were lining up and attaching roof trusses on a flat portion of the roof of the building that formerly served as the school gymnasium.
It did my heart good to see work finally proceeding on the project of re-roofing the 24 buildings on the campus of the former girls’ school. Built by the state, starting in the early 1900s, these large structures are in great need of maintenance to alleviate water damage, which has already occurred in some of the buildings.
The roofing project is another example of how the Nest operates. Largely, it’s been through donations from a generous public and volunteer work by those who understand the importance of providing a place where our veterans can come to heal with honor. The 70 vets who live there assist each other and can heal at their own pace.
You see, the state originally provided funding for these same roof repairs three years ago in the bonding bill. But because of liability issues, we could never work out a method of actually getting the money to the Nest. We tried and tried, but couldn’t work around the statute governing state funding of charitable organizations.
But the leaky roofs kept leaking, and the need for repairs kept growing larger. So, thanks to some sizeable donations from individuals and several large building material companies, the work is finally getting done. And, to make the story even better, veterans from the Nest are doing some of the work, with the possibility of additional work for the same contractor after the Nest job has been completed.
It’s a sizeable undertaking. But with the donations that came in last weekend at the fund raiser sponsored by KASM Radio and the Melrose Beacon, it put the project over the top. There should be enough money to finish all the buildings at the Nest! Congratulations to Melony, Todd and all the others at the Nest for not giving up and seeing this project all the way through to the end. I think we’ll see even more good things happening soon at The Eagle’s Healing Nest!
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It’s town hall meeting time in District 12B this Friday. Sen. Torrey Westrom and I will meet with constituents at three locations in the district, starting at 9:30 a.m. Friday. It should be a good time to learn about happenings at the Capitol in St. Paul, and at the same time an opportunity for the Senator and I to hear about concerns from district residents. Here’s the schedule:
Friday, Feb. 24
- Glenwood: 9:30 – 10:15 a.m.; Community Room - Pope County Courthouse/Government Center (130 E. Minnesota Ave.)
- Sauk Centre: 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.; City Council Chambers, City Hall (320 Oak St. S.)
- Melrose: 12:15 – 1 p.m.; Meeting Room A, Melrose City Center (225 1st St. N.E.)
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