Emma Young sits beside her father, Don Young, in her new golf cart. She was surrounded by classmates and friends in front of Hutchinson High School when it was presented to her by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Eighteen-year-old Emma Young has a need for speed. And now she has access.
This past Thursday, friends, classmates and educators gathered in front of Hutchinson High School as Emma was presented with a new golf cart by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. When she was seated on the passenger side of the tiny blue vehicle, she was ecstatic, which came as no surprise to her father, Don Young. Emma loves ATVs and rollercoasters, and she loves taking walks, waving and smiling. The golf cart combines the best of all of those interests.
“It’s something I thought she would enjoy,” Don said. “And, unlike a trip somewhere, it’s something that’s hers. She gets to keep it.”
Emma, a senior at Hutchinson High School, has been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome. The rare genetic disease causes epilepsy and developmental delays, and has made Emma nonverbal.
“But she’s a social butterfly,” Don said.
“She loves getting her adrenaline up and that kind of stuff,” said Jennifer Rettig, Emma’s personal care assistant. “Like Don said, if she did a trip, is that something she’s going to enjoy and remember? At least with this, she can enjoy it for the rest of her life.”
Rettig looks forward to golf cart rides with Emma.
“She’s very laid back and loves to laugh,” Rettig said. “She’s just a really good person.”
Don applied to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to have a wish granted for Emma before she turned 18. It was the last opportunity for him to do so after having been denied six years ago.
“As part of her syndrome she has epilepsy,” he said. “A major seizure could unfortunately kill someone. ... I figured I would try one more time.”
This time, Make-A-Wish agreed to grant the wish, and tapped local wish granters Sherry and Garey Knudsen of Hutchinson to help make the connection. They met with Emma, handled coordination with Make-A-Wish, handled paperwork and other details, and dropped off random gift cards. Finding Emma’s cart turned out to be difficult. They had hoped to give it to her during the summer, but it ended up taking about seven months.
“That’s kind of the story today,” Garey said. “There are a lot of shortages of things.”
The two have been wish granters for 14 years and cover McLeod and Meeker counties. But due to a shortage of wish granters in rural Minnesota, they have covered other areas as well.
“It’s so rewarding, and the families are so appreciative,” Sherry said. “And Make-A-Wish just bends over backwards to do whatever they can for the families and the wish child. We get a lot of joy out of it.”
A love for the community and great customers has made work at NAPA of Hutchinson a labor of love for the Powell family, which is celebrating 50 years. Pictured are, front row, Jane Powell, Dee Powell and Bob Powell; back row, Tyler Powell, Craig Powell, Jake Powell and Scott Powell.
Looking back on the past 50 years, Bob Powell of Hutchinson feels grateful.
Since buying NAPA Auto Parts of Hutchinson in 1971, his family has served many loyal customers. Among them are those who have patronized the business on State Highway 7 East from the start to today.
“There are good people we’ve gotten to know through the business,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have made it. There have been trying times in this business, like any other.”
His son Craig, who currently owns the business, said, “It’s all we know.” He worked at the business while in high school and learned from his father. It’s been a part of his life for as long as he can remember.
“Family business can be really good,” Craig said. “There can be struggles sometimes, but all in all it’s been good for everybody.”
The past few years have brought fresh challenges to NAPA due to COVID-19.
“It’s not unique to our industry, everyone has the same problem,” Bob said. “Right now there is a shortage of parts. I think the whole world is suffering shortages now days.”
The story of the Powell family’s venture goes back even further than 1971. One good starting point might be 1958, when Bob moved to the Twin Cities. He worked for a company selling industrial parts and tools.
“I was a district guy, you would call it,” he said. “It was too much travel. I started looking for something else.”
He and his wife, Dee, wanted a place to call home — somewhere to get off the road and be part of a community. Hutchinson stuck out.
“The town looked good and I decided to take a chance,” Bob said. “The first thing we liked was it was close to Minneapolis, and it was a thriving community, an attractive community, no doubt about that. It had a good business plan and still does. The schools are good. Anything you want a community to have, this one has.”
Longtime Hutchinson residents may remember that in 1971, Hutchinson Wholesale Supply — the current NAPA store — was owned by Floyd Hoel. It was founded in 1955 by Eddy Dunstetter. At the time it was where Standard Printing is now.
“(Hoel) had a Mileage gas station at the corner, a restaurant down there. He had one in Litchfield and one in Glencoe,” Bob said.
He bought Hutchinson Wholesale Supply, and its NAPA store, and hasn’t looked back since. For the first five years, Dee was part of the operation.
“Before we got computers — we didn’t get them in the industry until probably ’77 or ’79 — it was strictly a manual inventory system and she ran that,” Bob said. “When we started there was no delivery to dealers. Now it’s all instant delivery.”
At one time NAPA was a catalogue business, but as times changed everything was moved to computers. In 1991, the business expanded when it purchased Hutch Auto Body. Another major change has been the proliferation of parts due to the expansion of models on the American market. At one time there were a few Chevrolet and Ford models to keep track of.
“That was about until Honda came in 1973,” Bob said, “and the import of foreign cars started coming in, and Chevy has 10 models and Ford has 10. It added and added parts.”
When Bob first arrived in Hutchinson, he was part of the Jaycees, but in those days you had to leave at age 35. He served on the Water Carnival Committee, served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and helped start the Hutchinson Ambassadors. Before moving into the city, he served on the Hutchinson Township Board. In the 1970s he was among a group of 10 who helped bolster the Civil Air Patrol’s activity. Today he volunteers with Meals on Wheels.
These days Bob’s son Scott owns Hutch Auto Body, and with Craig running NAPA, Bob is technically retired. That said, he still finds ways to help out at the store.
“I enjoy working with the customers,” he said. “I do it because I enjoy it, and in a sense it feels like you’re helping people out.”
To celebrate Bob’s 50 years and thank members of the community, the family is hosting an open house lunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at NAPA.
Reflecting on his many years of work, Bob said there are “all kinds” of good memories.
“But the most important thing has been the support of my family and wife,” he said. “That’s kept this going all these years.”
- Updated
Illustrated is an image showing the ultrastructural morphology of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Berit Spors
The Minnesota Department of Health reported Monday morning there had been 26 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in McLeod County over the weekend, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 5,063.
The data follows a trend of high case counts in McLeod County in recent months, with 175 new cases this past week, and 172 the week before that. Overall, the county has had 65 deaths attributed to the pandemic, with four this month and three in the past two weeks.
Taking a look at a winter spike in COVID-19 cases in 2020 provides additional context.
As of Dec. 29, 2020, Berit Spors, McLeod County’s Health and Human Services director, reported there had been an increase of 188 positive cases in the two prior weeks. While the number was concerning at the time, it was an improvement from earlier in December when she reported a two-week increase of 639 cases. Such numbers were common in the later quarter of the year, bringing case totals up quickly from 512 on Oct. 5.
All told, about 1,900 cases have been reported so far this year, or about 49% of the county’s total confirmed cases.
McLeod County published on Monday its fall newsletter.
In the letter, Spors addresses the pandemic.
“We are currently facing a critical stage in the COVID-19 pandemic,” she writes. “The Delta variant is pushing case numbers up across the country, including right here in Minnesota. The Delta variant is significantly more infectious than the original strain of COVID-19 and is the dominant version circulating in Minnesota, causing three out of every four COVID-19 cases in our state. As children are back in school, we need to do everything we can to prevent a new surge in cases.”
She reports 61.3% of the county’s population age 16 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As for county residents in total, 50.4% have completed a vaccination series.
“Residents are encouraged to get vaccinated to minimize transmission,” Spors writes in the letter. “Vaccination can build a wall of protection around a large piece of the population, including children under 12, who have not had the opportunity to receive a shot.”
Children age 12 or older are encouraged to receive a vaccine. Vaccines are available in several place in the county, including clinics and pharmacies. The county offers vaccination clinics for residents age 18 or older. More information is available at tinyurl.com/mcleodvaccine.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson Public Schools has been keeping a close eye on its COVID-19 cases. Classes started Aug. 30 in the district, which had approved a COVID-19 preparedness plan that did not include a mask requirement. The plan can be found at isd423.org/district/covid-19-info.
There, the district also posts new confirmed cases each week. On Monday morning it reported 20 new cases among students and no new cases among staff. Overall, it has reported 66 cases among its 2,859 students this school year, and seven among its 463 staff.
The Minnesota Department of Health also tracks school buildings that have reported five or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in students or staff who were in the building while infectious during a two-week reporting period. Statewide the number of schools on that list has jumped from six as of Sept. 9, 26 as of Sept. 16, and 94 as of Sept. 23. On its latest report, Hutchinson’s Park Elementary was the only McLeod County school included in the list.
