Hutchinson High School graduate Blaine Stephenson holds aloft the Snow Goer Cup, which his name will be engraved upon for a third time.
A snowmobile racer hailing from Hutchinson has made the history books while competing at the sport's highest level. Blaine Stephenson, 24-year-old Hutchinson High School graduate, won his third World Championship Snowmobile Derby victory this past weekend in Eagle River, Wisconsin. He's the first to achieve the feat.
"It's tough to put into words (how I feel)," he said. "I can't explain it. It's never been done before. It keeps sinking in. You look around at the other race winners in the history of the race and there are a lot of huge names that have done this a long time. So it's just crazy to think we're the only ones."
When discussing the victory, and how the three-day qualifying event leading to the final race Jan. 19 was navigated, Stephenson never referred to it as "his" accomplishment. He always opts to use the word "we."
"It's not just me," he said. "I just drive it. We've got a pretty big team."
His team includes his mother and father, Andrea and Chris, his fiancee, Alexis Kerslake, and sister, Haley. There's also family friends Greg Bihner, Gavin Bihner, Troy Boettcher and Logan Boettcher.
Snow Goer, which covered the event's 57th year, said the race was one of the most competitive fields in more than a decade. According to a story on its website, Stephenson took the lead early in the 25-lap final but had to start again from the rear on the seventh lap after spinning out. He made his way back to the head of the pack by the mid point. Stephenson was described as a shocking winner in 2018, but this year he was described as "unquestionably dominant."
Snowmobiling has always been about racing for Stephenson. You might say he was born into it.
"I started when I was 3 years old," said Stephenson, who now lives in St. Cloud. "I started off competing right away."
His parents are from the Thief River Falls area, home of Arctic Cat. Polaris' home, Roseau, isn't far away, either.
"I went to my first race and never stopped after that," Stephenson said. "It's been a long road but it's a lot of fun."
He moved up from Kitty Cat races and onto the big track when he was 13. His sister raced with him when they were young.
"She raced a big sled once but that was it," Stephenson said. "It's basically been my entire life."
He still sleds for fun when he can, but not often.
Blaine Stephenson was described as “unquestionably dominant” at the 57th World Championship Snowmobile Derby by Snow Goer.
"My fiancee and I will (sled for fun) every now and then," Stephenson said. "We bought my dad a trail sled a year ago, so we have the ability to. Our winters are just so taken up with racing, so we don't do a whole lot. It's usually toward the end of the year."
Right before his three-year high point started, Stephenson had hit a low point in January 2017 when he sustained a head injury while racing. His family was worried about his safety and what would happen if he kept racing.
"I had to really take a step back and look at what I wanted to do," he said. "We took a little bit of a new approach. I say I restarted my career that year. It was pretty bad. I was airlifted and all kinds of stuff."
Stephenson's relaunch included a new focus for he and the team.
"We redid how we raced and the time and effort we put into it," he said. "It refocused us. We made sure we were not a back-of-the-pack team."
Now that the championship is behind him, Stephenson isn't slowing down.
"We have a pretty hefty schedule the rest of the year," he said. "We travel to Quebec in a couple of weeks, so we have a lot of racing to do this year."
The Revs. Geary and Carol Smith founded St. Cloud’s Place of Hope Ministries in 1997 with the mission of feeding, clothing and sheltering homeless people while helping them rebuild, repair and restore their lives. The shelter also supports families from McLeod and Meeker county communities.
This building at Place of Hope houses the wings for single women and women with children staying at the shelter. The wing for single women is called Mary Anne’s Wing, named in honor of Rev. Carol Smith’s sister, Mary Anne Baker, a former Litchfield resident.
A comfortable bed is a luxury many take for granted. For people who know the feeling of not having a place to rest, a bed is more than just a place to sleep. It can be the start of a new beginning.
That’s why last October, local philanthropy group Daughters With Purpose set out to raise money for new beds at the Place of Hope shelter in St. Cloud, which serves people from McLeod and Meeker county communities.
The group had hoped to raise enough money to buy 50 new beds. This week, Tammy Rolf of Hutchinson, founder of Daughters With Purpose, was pleased to announce they exceeded their goal and purchased 55 beds.
“Churches jumped in, organizations jumped in, individual families jumped in. It was fantastic,” Rolf said. “I had no idea how it would go. I just put it out there, and our community is incredibly generous.”
“Anybody having a bed to lay in instead of on the floor, in a car or on a mat is a wonderful thing,” said the Rev Carol Smith, director at Place of Hope. “It’s just awesome that we’re able to do this. I’m so grateful. The people that we serve, one of the things they say when they come in is that they feel safe and warm and cared for when they get to come in and be on a bed.”
Each bed cost about $350, which means the group raised approximately $20,000 for its effort. Not only was money raised for the beds, but new pillows, sheets and quilts were also donated.
The beds will go to the wings of the shelter that serve single women and women with children, where a shortage of beds has sometimes meant a waiting list for people to be accepted into the shelter. The wing servicing single women is named Mary Anne’s Wing in honor of Smith’s sister, Mary Anne Baker, a former Litchfield resident.
“We have beds that are in terrible shape and need to go,” Smith said. “We’ve been limping along, and we’ve had to wait to bring people onto that floor because we did not have a bed for rooms. So this is going to allow us to have every room accessible for people, so we can bring more people into our shelter.”
Move-in Day
With the beds and sheets secured, Rolf is now asking the residents of McLeod and Meeker counties for another favor. The new beds will be delivered to the shelter Jan. 31, and on Feb. 1 a team of volunteers is needed to set everything up and complete other tasks at the shelter.
“We are starting at 9 a.m. and there will be a brunch served to all the volunteers at 10 a.m., and then a meal in the evening at 4:45 p.m.,” Rolf said.
Even if you’re not handy with tools and constructing beds, volunteers will help with other projects such as painting and prepping and serving the meals. People can work part of the morning or the entire day. If you’re interested in assisting with move-in day, visit daughterswithpurpose.org or call Rolf at 320-582-1017 to sign up.
“That will help us coordinate the different projects that will be worked on and also give us a head count for food,” she said.
Rolf said she’s already heard from volunteers who are interested in helping with the effort, including an entire hockey team and their families. It’s just another way people are showing they care about the members of their communities.
“It is amazing,” Rolf said, “because we are really, seriously changing people’s lives.”
McLeod County 4-H Program Coordinator Darcy Cole has a map on her office wall displaying where all the county’s 4-H families live.
Three hundred and fifty nine youth pursue hands-on learning opportunities in agriculture, firearm safety, engineering and more in nine clubs spread across McLeod County. One hundred years ago in 1920, the club had humbler beginnings with one group — Hutchinson Loyal Progress — aimed at educating youth in the latest agricultural practices.
"That is the first record we have of a 4-H club," said 4-H Extension educator Darcy Cole.
Now in its centennial year, McLeod County 4-H wants to celebrate its history by gathering as much of it as possible.
"We are trying to collect stories by the end of February of people who have had 4-H play an impactful part of their life," Cole said. "It can be little stories, but could also be really big things that have shaped them into who they are."
She hopes county residents will submit memories, stories, photos and mementos from their time in 4-H, whenever it was. They can be submitted digitally at z.umn.edu/100yearstories. Cole can also be reached at 320-484-4305 or dacole@umn.edu.
"But not everyone has access (to the internet)," Cole said. "We will make arrangements to gather the story however we need to, whether that's us meeting or a phone conversation."
Submissions don't need to be large. Anyone with stories about how things used to be done or how they met someone in 4-H or how the club impacted their life can submit just a few sentences if that's all it takes. Ultimately, every submission will be compiled.
"Think about the impact that 4-H had on your life, experiences you had, people you met, things you learned," Cole said.
The original plan was to organize everything into a book, but other presentation methods will be considered as well.
"It also depends on what things come in," Cole said. "The form does have it where people can upload a picture or another file. Depending on who reaches out, if we do an actual interview that might look a little different. There could be short videos. It just depends on what comes in."
She also plans to spend time looking through artifacts and records collected by the McLeod County Historical Society.
"And we envision this is round one of us collecting stories," Cole said. "We will probably have more targeted approaches within 4-H to get stories, or a booth at the fair."
WAYS TO CELEBRATE
Those with a love of 4-H will want to keep an eye out for a celebration later this year.
"We haven't 100 percent nailed down when it will be," Cole said. "It may be at the fair, it may be at the awards celebration in the fall."
She is certain, however, that it will involve cake. Community members will be invited join in with club members. In the meantime, the club plans to order 100-year anniversary apparel this spring. Included among other items will be hats, sweatshirts and shirts with a celebratory design.
"Our designs are in the works right now," Cole said.
Come McLeod County Fair time Aug. 19-23, visitors will also want to keep an eye out at the 4-H cafe. A new 4-H sculpture will be erected in front of the building where the dog sculpture once stood. 4-H'ers who have researched and collected historical information about their individual clubs will be able to submit reports or poster board projects for display in the 4-H building. McLeod County 4-H also hopes people submit artifacts.
"If someone has a graduation gift from (for instance) 1953, they could submit that as a 4-H history project," Cole said. "We will have an area in the 4-H building where we will group those together and talk about 4-H with a timeline of some sort so people can see what has happened the past 100 years."
