MORE THAN 80O RIDERS took part in the 5th annual LTD Memorial Motorcycle Ride Saturday. The ride was held in memory of Sergeant Jesse Lhotka, First Lieutenant Jason Timmerman and Staff Sergeant David Day who died in Iraq February 21, 2005. They were members of the Minnesota National Guard First Battalion 151st Field Artillery Unit. Between 20 and 30 riders from Ortonville and Big Stone City, SD rode just under 300 miles that day. Ortonville’s emergency vehicles where there to show support, as the 550 mortocycles passed through town.

Ortonville Police Department to purchase In-Car Camera

    City Council members approved a resolution to purchase an In-Car Camera for the Ortonville Police Department for $5,635 at their regular meeting on Monday, July 19. Councilman Mel Reinke was not present.  Police Chief Jason Mork informed the council that half of the money would come from the Capital Outlay-Equipment Fund and half from the DUI Civil Penalty Fund. 

    Due to changes in the Minnesota State Gang Taskforce, the Department of Public Safety has provide grant funding for departments in Minnesota towards the purchase of In-Car camera systems if the department fits that criteria.  The criteria was any squad car that did not currently have an In-Car Camera currently installed would be available for grant funding.  The Ortonville Police Department fit the criteria as they currently do not have a camera system in their Trailblazer.

    The Ortonville Police Department applied for the grant and were awarded the grant, of which they are responsible for $300.  Mork stated that they were planning on replacing their current camera system that they have in the Crown Victoria with the system they were awarded in the grant next year as they have had some issues in the past with their current system.  This will have both vehicles more uniform to the same type of equipment in each car.

    In other business, the council approved a resolution of a five percent match for a FEMA grant for the Ortonville Fire Department 800 MHz radio system for $2,000.  The Ortonville Fire Department  along with other fire departments and ambulance services in Big Stone County were awarded a FEMA AFG Grant in the amount of $190,000.  This was to purchase radios and pagers to be compatible with the 800 MHz radio systems.  The money would come out of the Fire Department Capital Equipment Outlay.

City Clerk Administrator Char Grossman informed the Council that after receiving the bids to replace the counter at the City Office that the low bid recieved was from Strei Construction for $1,100. The council approved the bid with Councilman Mike Dorry abstaining.

    Due to the loss of one maintenance worker at the Ortonville Golf Course, the council approved on the recommendation of Golf Course Superintendent Travis Strasser, the hiring of Nathan Stottler at step one of the golf/parks wage schedule.

    The council went into Executive Session at approximately 7:56 p.m.  After reconvening, the council reached arbitration relating to an employment matter with a former City Administrator.

The next meeting of the Ortonville City Council will be on Monday, Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Media Center of the Ortonville Public Library.

She came back to her birth-place to celebrate her 50th

    Charlene (DeShazo) Nanos of Tucson, AZ came to Ortonville last weekend to celebrate her 50th birthday, where she was born on July 24, 1960. She and her parents left when she was just 15 days old, and had never been back since. But Char and her mom talked many times about  one day returning to visit the town where Char's life began.

    Char's mother Jude passed away five years ago, before they had the opportunity to travel back to Ortonville where Char's birth is recorded. Her parents often told her of the many fond memories they had of  their short time in the community.

Char wanted to do something special on her 50th birthday, and was sad her mom couldn't be with her to celebrate. She thought, coming back to the place where she was born, would bring her closer to her mom than anything.

    So Char and her husband Chris Nanos flew to Minneapolis last Friday and drove to Ortonville that evening. Chris knew how important this was for his wife, so unbeknownst to Char, he called ahead to the Ortonville Independent office to have someone stay late to meet them and show them the original published birth announcement from the Ortonville Independent files.

    Char's story is quite interesting. Her father John DeShazo was a traveling salesman who sold caskets for Western Casket Company out of Chicago, IL.  He called on mortuaries throughout the midwest. In July of 1960 he went on a routine sales trip, accompanied by his wife Jude, who was about seven months pregnant. They drove to Minnesota for the first time and went to Ortonville to call on the local mortuary.

    The couple had planned to stay the one night at the Poplar Motel in Ortonville. In the middle of the night, Jude woke her husband, saying she thought it was time to go to the hospital. They called the nurses at the Ortonville Hospital who reassured the soon-to-be-mother that it was too early for her to be going into labor and it was probably just a false alarm.  She woke her husband again about an hour later, as she was pretty sure it was time to go. He told her just to try and rest. About an hour later at 4:40 a.m., Charlene Ann DeShazo was born at the Ortonville Hospital, weighing 5 lbs. 2 3/4 oz., delivered by Dr. Fran Karn.

    Jude had to stay in the hospital for five days and the baby, being six weeks premature, had to stay hospitalized until she weighed enough to be released, which ended up to be 15 days.

    The new father couldn't afford to stay in the motel any longer and had little money for food or other necessities. He was treated with warm hospitality by the people of the Ortonville community.  Co-owners of Schoen’s Furniture and Mortuary in Ortonville were L.H. “Tommy” and Inez Thompson. They took in John and let him stay at the furniture store. Jude joined him upon her release from the hospital. Other townsfolk helped the new family and made them feel welcome.

    John and Jude have never forgotten the kindness shown to them by the people of Ortonville. They became good friends with Tommy and Inez and kept in touch with them throughout the years and spent many winters together in Arizona.         Tommy and Inez have since passed away, but Char remembers them well.

    Char’s birth announcement from the July 28, 1960 edition of the Ortonville Independent reads, “A  baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. John DeShazo of LaGrange, IL. and a  baby boy to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Lundberg of Ortonville on the 24th.”

Independent staff tried to contact that baby boy, who is Richard Lundberg still of Ortonville, to get a picture of the two on their 50th birthdays, but he was unavailable.

    Char and Chris visited the building where the furniture and funeral home was located and walked through the halls of the Ortonville Hospital.

    Char’s dad wanted to make the trip with them, but was unable to make it due to health reasons. He said he remembers Dr. Karn charging him $60 for the delivery and Char found an unpaid bil from the Ortonville Hospital l in her baby book for $179, which included her mom’s five days and her 15 day hospital stay.

    Her dad says it was a lot of money back then and he’s pretty sure he paid the bill.

    When they left Ortonville in 1960, the family went back to LaGrange, IL where they lived until Char was one year old. Then they moved to El Paso, TX until she was 12. They moved to Phoenix, AZ. where she graduated from Alhambra High School in 1978. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in computer sciences from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ in 1983.

    She met Chris while attending college. He was a policeman in El Paso, TX at the time. They moved to Tucson and married in 1985.

    Char is a computer programmer for Computer Sciences Corp. and Chris is  a captain in the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, the seventh largest county in the United States. One hundred seventy-five miles of the county borders the Mexican border.

    Char has one sister Dee who lives in Phoenix, AZ and a brother John who lives in El Paso.

After leaving Ortonville on Saturday, the couple planned to spend a few days visiting friends Pat and Steve Burnes in Brooklyn Park

    The Nanoses love to travel and play golf. They enjoyed their stay in Ortonville and hope to return again to perhaps play in the Couples Golf Tournament at the Ortonville Golf Course. Char is glad she was able to make the trip and see for herself the uniqeness of her birthplace, that her parents spoke of so often. What a great birthday present!

For all of the stories subscribe to the Ortonville Independent.

To subscribe call 320-839-6163