50 cents JORDAN Vol. 6 No. 48 East Jordan, Michigan Journal Wednesday, August 26,1998 Serving East Jordan, Boyne City and surrounding areas Surprise Hey, this visitors is fun NORWEGIAN FAMILY Michelle is one TRACKS DOWN THEIR happy Camp Quality camper, as WAGBO ROOTS she and her There are the occasional unex­ companion Brian pected guests, and then there is the Gallagher (right), a van-load of folks from Norway, pre-med student whom you've never met or spoken from Bay City, learn with, who stop by on a whim to trace the ropes on their family roots. spraying a firehose With a six-generation family tree from Boyne City in hand, some Norwegian relatives firefighter Steve of the late Wagbo family of East Jor­ Carlston. Spraying dan did just that to Tracy and Rick Meisterheim, managers of the Wagbo the hoses was just Peace Center. one of the activities The Wagbos — or as the ex­ the Boyne City Fire tended family spells it: WaagbO. Department had in Vaagbu. VSgbo, or Wogbo and so store for the forth — came from Norway for a campers last family reunion in Northport. and Thursday evening were in search of family history on at Veteran's Park. the farm on M-66 that was home- They also had a chance to try on fire gear, climb around *w*» the fire trucks and ride in the bucket truck. For more photos, see page 7. PRICE TAG IS $1.1 MILLION FOR 15,000 SQUARE FOOT ADDITION Norwegian settlers Bertha D. Eide and Jacob Olsen Concord expansion should begin soon Vaagbo, homesteaded a farm in East Jordan around 'Hie board of directors of Concord Acad­ The current facility sits on 10 acres. This school year. of the schools, and now is a good lime for the 1897, and posed in front of emy Boyne recently approved a SI.l million summer the school purchased an additional 7 Most businesses try to keep plant and schools to engage in long-term borrowing be­ cause of low interest rates. the barn that still stands expenditure to build a 15.000 square foot school 1/2 acres to build on and for recreation. equipment costs to 25 percent of gross rev­ addition to accommodate a full high school. Funding for the addition will come directly enue, board president Barry Cole said. With Cole pointed out a few areas in which the today at Wagbo Peace Construction is expected to begin this month. from the school's pcr-pupil annual stipend of that in mind, the school should spend academy saves money compared to other pub­ Center. The new addition will include six larger S5.253. its only current source of revenue. The 5280.(¾¾) a year or less to pay hack a mort­ lic schools. Forexample, there is no subsidized steaded by their uncle Jacob around classrooms split between an upper and lower school can also accept donations and grants, but gage. lunch program; students bring their own. Also, 1897. Back then the area was called level, more bathrooms and storage, a new teach­ has not received any so far this year, prinicpal Cole said Concord has been approved the school does not have a full sports program Little Norway, explained Tracy, be­ ers' lounge, a separate entrance for kindergart- Larry Kubovchick said. for. and the board feels comfortable spend­ at this time — so no football field or track among cause in the winter there were always ners and first-graders, a large multi-purpose Charter schools rely solely on those sources ing, about S200.000 per year on its debt ser­ other things. But there' are also no sports boost­ people — Norwegians — skiing in room for the arts, and be designed so that it can of funding for all operating and capital expenses, vice, or about 18 percent of the annual rev­ ers to speak of. When surveyed about his own the surrounding hills. be expanded in the future. while traditional public schools look to millages enue. "That's very affordable and Financially satisfaction with the charter school, Cole indi­ One of the relatives, a nephew1 The charter school was started three years for building and reconstruction funding. How­ very sound." Cole said. cated that, as a parent, he doesn't mind a school to Jacob, had been to the farm nearly ago as a kindergarten through eighth grade. ever, charter schools are similar to traditional The academy currently owes S560.O0O with limited resources because it is teaching his sons to be resourceful — to make the most of 20 years ago. when it was still owned Since then it has added a ninth and 10th grade. public schools in that both are open to the pub­ on a promissory note for the existing facil­ lic and neither charges a tuition for students who ity. The two mortgages will be combined what they have. by Jacob's daughters. Anne, Manha It will add an 11 th grade this year with approxi­ mately 10 students in the class and a 12th grade attend the school. ($1.6 million) and paid off over 20 years. Concord docs not bus its students. Cole and Olga. It was becoming run down the following year. Enrollment has gone from With a current enrollment for this fall of He believes too that more lending insti­ added, and the school's emphasis on parental then, and the surviving Wagbos ex- 183 last year to more than 200 for this fall, and 213 students, Concord's revenue base will be tutions are willing to finance charter schools Please see CONCORD on page 3 Please see WAGBO on page 3 there is still room in some grades. approximately 51,118,900 for the 1998-99 now because of the increasing permanence Coming home ^^-^ \ **«*? \^ and going away Amanda Hoaglund will spend a year In LEARNING ABOUT A DIFFERENT CULTURE Poland. THROUGH THE ROTARY EXCHANGE PROGRAM She tried cross-country skiing, went downhill skiing, snowboarding and ice-skating. Doesn't sound indsay Blackall went through a hole in the to go back one day. "Without the support of Rotary too different from Boyne Falls. But there, she said, ice into the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea and without the support of the community, it people ride bikes all winter. There arc paths every­ last winter for nearly 30 seconds — on wouldn't have been possible at all." where — the sidewalks are plowed before the roads. L purpose. "The older people say that it's -Amanda hoped to go to a Spanish speaking "It's wonderful." very good for the body," said the 18-year-old Boyne country, but instead is going to Poland, her second She stayed with three families, met a big, new Falls student. choice. She docs not speak Polish. She's heard from group of buddies and, "the best friend I have in the She took the organized plunge with the locals of others that by Christmas she should be speaking it whole world is in Finland." Raahc, Finland, the town where she .spent the last 11 fluently. "I'm just excited to be in the culture and She visited nine other countries in 18 days. months as part of the Boyne City Rotary Youth experience a different way of living." And, she said, they are very serious about school. Exchange Program. The city is located in the north­ The students chosen for exchange partake in a "During test weeks you don't even see your friends." ern part of the country on the Baltic Sea. scries of conferences to help them become oriented to There, she pointed out, students have the choice Tomorrow, Amanda Hoaglund, a Boyne City government affairs, cultural protocols and language of attending high school, or going to a type of trade High School junior, will head to Torun, Poland — 80 issues. school instead. miles northwest of Warsaw — as part of the same "The best feeling I had was when I didn't feel Her class schedule included English and art — program. like a foreigner anymore," Lindsay said about two courses she needed to graduate from Boyne Falls acclimating to her new environment. That was when Lindsay Blackall models a jacket and hat •The two students were chosen by the Rotary School — and she took psychology and history as clad with pins, buttons and patches Club of Boyne City for the exchange program after their habits became hers and she wasn't comparing electives. undergoing an application process which included a Finland to America anymore, "and just accepted and Art was hard to follow, because it was taught in collected while she was an exchange series of interviews. tived it." student in Finland. Lindsay's first choice was Zimbabwe, but instead "I loved winter there," Lindsay-said. "There was Please see EXCHANGE STUDENT on page 3 she went to Finland,.her fourth choice. And she hopes so much to do." e2 August 26,1998 OPINION A place like few others The scene at Aten Place is picture perfect. An old, well maintained barn is sur­ rounded by hills covered with waist deep grass. &J&%1'& Inside the barn the rafters are open. Hanging on the walls are quilts, old photographs, lanterns, farm memorabilia and a huge saw blade. Chairs gathered from old movie theatres, courthouses and churches form a semi-circle around the small wooden stage. On Saturday evenings throughout the summer those chairs, each with its own history, are filled with people enjoying a concert featuring musicians as entertain­ ing and talented as any you would find anywhere. This place is found on the southern outskirts of Boyne Falls on a road that until this summer was dirt.