David Wegscheid is also working on the Legacy Wall sign for the McLeod County Historical Society and Museum. It will be part of a display that salutes the history of farming and agriculture. The centerpiece will be the Wegscheid mural of Les Kouba’s painting “Corn Pickin’ in the 1930’s.”
Brian Haines
It's been said when life serves you lemons, make lemonade. Brian Haines, executive director of the McLeod County Historical Society and Museum, has done just that.
When cost overages occurred in building the museum's new wing, Haines came up with the idea of bridging the gap with a unique fundraiser. His idea: Create a legacy wall with an agricultural theme. The idea is to sell the 900-plus cinderblocks to commemorate McLeod County farmers and their farms. The cost: $100 each. Buyers will have the option of listing the farm and when it was established or the name of a farmer with birth date (and death date, if applicable). Color is optional, too. John Deere fans can have a green block with yellow lettering. Allis-Chalmers enthusiasts can select orange, while Farmall, White and Ford users can choose red, white or blue, respectively.
“It was a great idea, but we needed something to tie it together and give it more pizzazz,” Haines said, “so we commissioned Dave Wegscheid to paint an 8 foot by 12 foot mural of Les Kouba's (painting) 'Corn Pickin' in the 1930's.' It's a farmer hand-picking corn, Kouba's 13 pheasants are scurrying out of the corn. A lot of his paintings are based on memories. The farming memories (in this painting) would have been made in McLeod County. It has a homey feeling to it.”
Right — This is the Kouba image Wescheid is recreating into a mural.
To add to the presentation, Wegscheid is lettering the sign: McLeod County Legacy Wall in recognition of the historic significance of farming and agriculture in McLeod County
While it was a great fundraising idea, Haines admitted the museum couldn't do this project for free.
“We had to go out and before selling (cinder) blocks, we had to raise funds for the mural,” he said. “I could bring farmers in and we could tell them about the project, but they would say, 'It sounds like a great idea, let me know when you have it going.'”
To have something to show potential donors, Haines approached the Burich Foundation at Citizens Bank in Hutchinson. He shared the mural idea with Connie Lambert, who said it sounded like something they would be interested in and encouraged him to submit an application.
The Burich Foundation provided a matching grant of $4,000, which required Haines to raise the other $4,000.
“I put feelers out in the magazine and within two weeks we had all the money,” he said. “We have sold a half-a-dozen blocks already. The hope is once we have the mural up with several blocks in place, people will see that its established and want to participate.”
Originally, Haines gave Wegscheid a short deadline of three weeks to complete the project. The goal was to have it finished in time for the grand opening, which was scheduled to coincide with the museum co-hosting with Thrivent the program “Keeping the Farm in the Family.”
“We thought it was a great time to unveil it,” Haines said. “If it wasn't finished, we'd post pictures. We had to cancel that.”
FROM THE ARTIST
It was Haines who selected Kouba's painting of “Corn Pickin' in the 1930's” for the mural project.
“It's what the legacy wall meant — farms in McLeod County,” Wegscheid said. “Les Kouba. It was perfect. He told me flat out this is what he would like.”
Working from his home studio in Stewart, Wegscheid said the deadline for the the mural went from “three weeks to who knows.”
“This is working out well doing it this way,” he said. “When its done, I'll have time to go back in and keep working it and working it. The more time I'll have, the more pop it will have.”
Artist David Wegscheid is working at his home studio in Stewart. He is painting in the background for the mural of Les Kouba's painting, "Corn Pickin' in the 1930's." It will be the centerpiece of the museum's new Legacy Wall, which honors McLeod County farmers and agriculture.
While the museum's Kouba mural at 8 foot by 12 foot is smaller than the 20 foot by 17 foot "By the Country Store" Kouba mural Wegscheid painted in 2017 for the Ace Hardware building in downtown Hutchinson, the artist said it's actually more challenging.
“Its smaller and so much more detail than the first one," he said.
Though Wegscheid and Kouba never met, the two Hutchinson natives would have had plenty to talk about if they did. Before he became famous for wildlife painting, Kouba was a sign painter. He traveled from town to town painting Coca-Cola signs on the sides of buildings and trucks. Like Kouba, Wegscheid is a sign painter and has done his fair share of Coca-Cola signs.
SCHEDULING A GRAND OPENING
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything is up in the air for the McLeod County Historical Society and Museum.
"It's so unknown,” Haines said. “We canceled all our March and April events. We might be able to open up May 4, but will there be stipulations on how many people? We were in the midst of setting up the artifacts — from the donor and our own artifacts. That's been put on hold. We thought we'd have the whole month of April to do that. We'd have to have a few weeks of preparation and planning before we can give the go-ahead for the grand opening. We'll know more in the beginning of May. I'm hoping things will get back to normal. Sometime this summer we can have our grand opening and unveil the mural and all that good stuff.”
During Gov. Tim Walz' stay-at-home order, Haines has been working from Paynesville.
“My wife is essential,” he said. “She's an insurance agent. I'm not. My first week at home with our 4-year-old, I had to tell my son, 'I'm busy. I can't change the channel.' He brought me his extra walkie-talkie. If he needed something, he'd get on the walkie-talkie. 'Dad I need you to change the channel.'"
Haines said his first couple of weeks were productive. He caught up on stuff including working on a book of his columns, the historical society's magazine and correspondence.
"After a couple of weeks you saw the effects of the work at home," he said. "I had no events to plan. I don't have any fundraisers I can work on because we don't know what's going to happen. I'm still finding things to do, but I'm having to look hard. It is what it is right now — a different situation, a different time.”
Although the museum is closed, volunteers are still taking research requests and people are renewing their memberships and the magazine will come out.
"We're not completely dormant, but we're operating at a bare bones minimum," Haines said. "There's not much to report on. We're still here and we're doing what we can."
There were no athletes, but S.R. Knutson Field was lit up Monday night as part of the nationwide #BeTheLight movement. Hutchinson High School will continue to turn on its stadium lights through the remainder of the school year from 8 to 8:20 p.m. in honor of 2020 seniors.
“It's tough.”
That was the general response from some of Hutchinson High School's seniors dealing with the reality that there will be no spring sports season, no prom and no graduation ceremony, at least not in the traditional sense.
Gov. Tim Walz last week announced an executive order shutting down schools for the rest of the year. Shortly after Walz’ announcement, the Minnesota State High School League officially announced the 2019-20 spring season was canceled, ending any hope for an abbreviated season
The announcement may not have come as a surprise, as Walz had hinted in earlier press conferences that it was unlikely schools would reopen as the state continues to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. But it was still difficult news to take for the Hutchinson seniors losing the final months of their high school lives.
“It'd be a different story if it was your freshman, sophomore, junior year where you know you could come back next year,” Tyler Schiller, co-captain of the baseball team, said. “But being my senior year, it's definitely a super hard pill to swallow. You know you can't go back and you can't do anything about it. … Baseball is one of those things where I've put a lot of time into it. I put in a lot of time in the winter. Just for it to be taken away, in what seemed like not even a week, it all just happened. I invested so much time into it. It's just snatched away from me like that.”
“We're dealing with something that's unprecedented in my lifetime,” Hutchinson High School Principal Rob Danneker said. “We certainly don't want to overlook the loss that comes from something of this nature, loss of opportunity. At the same time, I am extremely proud of our seniors and the flexibility they've shown in transitioning to distance learning. I'm heartened by the resiliency that they've shown dealing with our current scenario. … I think our seniors have shown why they are the individuals that they are, and the characteristics that they have displayed here for four years, despite the obstacles that have been faced in front of them.”
A handful of spring sports, such as softball and track and field, had already started practice before Walz issued his first stay-at-home order March 13, suspending the spring activities season.
“Track season ended last year and I was super excited for the following year to get back at it again. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since,” said Lydia Gross, co-captain of the girls track and field team. “Then when I get back from spring break, I was going to go practice Monday. But then, that's when everything shut down. 'OK, we'll start up again in a couple of weeks, everything will be fine.' And then everything just kept getting pushed back further and further. … It's been hard, but I've been able to realize that I'm not the only one.”
Another big moment in most students’ lives is senior prom. The high school was cooperating with the Crow River Winery to set up a date in late May to reschedule prom, according to Danneker, but that is now a moot point.
“Last year was my first time at prom and I loved it,” said Kendra White, co-captain of the softball team. “So all of my friends of mine, we all got our prom dresses in like February, not expecting it to not happen.”
As for graduation, June 5 was the scheduled date at the high school. The biggest milestone in any senior’s life is walking across the stage and receiving a diploma after many years of hard work. Danneker said that the school is working to make sure that there will be some sort of ceremony.
“We're going to try as hard as possible to maintain that date in some way shape or form,” Danneker said. “What shape that would take will be determined by what comes next in terms of the pandemic situation we're dealing with, as well as the governor's executive orders.”
The school and the district have been communicating to families with updates about the school's plans in response to Walz’ orders. Walking at graduation is the culmination of years of work put in to earn. Receiving that diploma in the mail or through a PDF just doesn't carry the same weight and pride as walking on the stage and having it handed to you.
“It's going to be tough without it,” said Blake Schmidt, another co-captain of the baseball team. “To be able to walk after all the work you've put in your whole childhood going for the diploma. And not being to receive that in person, that's the tough part.”
“That's another hard thing for me,” Gross said. “Am I going to have to send out little announcements in the mail for my graduation or not have a party? I don't know, it's just kind of sad.”
While the situation is difficult, these seniors are remaining optimistic about the future ahead of them. And while they won’t be able to enjoy some moments of their senior year, there are still many more memories they will make. This is new world for everyone, so they are always trying to look on the bright side of life.
“Stay as hopeful as you can,” Schiller said. “Everything is not totally out of the question yet. But you just got to stick through it and, you know, eventually, something's going to work out in the end.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the number of symptoms on its official list for COVID-19.
Previously, the CDC had cited fever, cough and shortness of breath as possible signs of the illness. The updated list, which appeared Sunday on the agency’s website, includes these six additional symptoms:
- chills
- repeated shaking with chills
- muscle pain
- headache
- sore throat
- new loss of taste or smell
In addition, “shortness of breath” is now listed as “shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.”
The World Health Organization has a similar symptom list. Its list also includes a runny nose, nausea and diarrhea, although WHO officials indicate that those symptoms are less common.
Many people who test positive for COVID-19 display no symptoms, however.
Anecdotal confirmation
As the CDC website points out, COVID-19 symptoms range from mild to severe, and any of them may appear from two to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
Several celebrities who have contracted COVID-19 have described one or more of the symptoms newly added to the CDC list.
For example, Chris Cuomo, anchor of CNN’s “Prime Time,” reported shivering so much during his illness that he chipped a tooth. Actor Tom Hanks said he experienced “some very bad body aches” and that his wife, actor Rita Wilson, “lost her sense of taste and sense of smell.” Actor Debi Mazar (“Younger” TV series) listed headaches and a sore throat among her symptoms.
When to get emergency care
The CDC continues to recommend that people seek medical attention immediately when they have any of the following symptoms:
- trouble breathing
- persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- new confusion or inability to arouse
- bluish lips or face
That list is not all-inclusive, however. “Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you,” the CDC advises.
“Call 911 if you have a medical emergency: Notify the operator that you have, or think you might have, COVID-19. If possible, put on a cloth face covering before medical help arrives,” the agency adds.
You can find the CDC’s revised symptom list on its website at cdc.gov, along with an online Coronavirus Self-Checker to help you determine whether you should contact your doctor. Do not use the self-checker as a substitute for a diagnosis, however. For that you’ll need to get tested.
