Administrative SectionAdministrative Packet
A little bit of
history...
1902
At the June 7, 1902 council
meeting it was decided that
"minors under 16 years must not
be out on the street, sidewalks
or alleys after 9 in the evening,
at which time the Village Bell
shall ring to notify them.
1958
A 1958 Carver County Centen-
nial History book describes
Chanhassen: "The town boasts
one elevator, one bank, one gen-
eral and grocery store, two ser-
vice stations, two taverns, and
an active American Legion and
Auxiliary."
1975
On November 15 -16, 22 -23,
1975, Chanhassen Civic The-
atre, Chanhassen's `oldest' the-
atre will present "Carousel"
at the St. Hubert School audi-
torium. This will be the Civic
Theatre's 13 production. Their
first production was "All Be-
cause of Agatha" in May 1966.
Chanhassen
Yhstonan
Vol. 3. No.1
2010
When baseball was king
Red Birds, half of town went to state tournament
By Stan Roeser
Some older Chan-
hassen citizens who
are longtime base-
ball fans will re-
member the excite-
ment which perme-
ated the area with
the announcement,
back in the early
sixties, that the Part of the 1949 Regional Championship team pictured with
Washington Sena- the team's number one booster, Father Oswald Gasper,
tors would become OFM: (front row) Walt Raser, Stan Roeser, Hank Bartel,
the Minnesota Howard Meuwissen, (back row) Harry Pauly, George
Twins and bring Shorba, Rube Bongard, Dennis Van Sloun, Father Oswald,
major league base- Bob Meuwissen, and Bogie Raser.
ball to the state. In proportion, multiply that excitement ten times or more and you
might gauge the anticipation which prevailed in this then tiny hamlet when the word
spread in the early spring of 1947 that we were to have a town baseball team playing
in an organized league.
You had to have lived in Chanhassen in that era to appreciate that atmosphere.
Chanhassen then, of course, was a provincial, postage stamp -sized community with
little sense of identity, far from the busy slice of suburbia it is today.
It was Rueben Bongard, a Chanhassen native, who fueled the resurgence of base-
ball here and also fueled a resurgence in the town's pride and spirit. He was a wheeler -
dealer type with immense energy. He came off six year's duty with the U.S. Navy as
a Chief Petty Officer and returning to Chan immediately set to work building a
thriving business and forming a town baseball team in the baseball mad climate
which enveloped the area in the immediate post war years.
Rube went before the staid board of Carver County commissioners with the tale
that Chanhassen had always been sort of the poor relation as part of Carver County
-- in short, the county had never done anything positive for Chanhassen, and it was
time to provide a little muscle to help our town develop a baseball field.
CHANHASSEN BASEBALL continued on Page 3
Page 2 Chanhassen Historian Spring 2010
Camp Tanadoona fondly remembered
Camp Fire Girls to celebrate Centennial there on June 3
By Rachel Vallens, Camp Fire USA Minnesota Council
When it opened in 1924, Camp Fire's Camp Tanadoona,
on the shores of Lake Minnewashta, was a backwoods desti-
nation camp for girls in the Twin Cities. Campers would
travel the long distance from the cities to Camp Tanadoona
by streetcar, and when they got to camp, they felt themselves
to be out in the middle of the wilderness.
Today, the city of Chanhassen has grown up around Camp
Tanadoona. What was once a long journey from Minneapo-
lis has become a quick drive, and the "wilderness" has
sprouted a thriving community with its own urban core.
Despite the many changes taking place around it, Camp
Tanadoona remains, at its core, much the same as when it
first opened its doors in the 1920s.
Camp Tanadoona sits on the former summer home of Gov-
ernor John Lind, Minnesota's 14" governor. Born in Swe-
den, Governor Lind was at the forefront of the progressive
movement in Minnesota. Camp Fire purchased the property,
which included Lind's mansion and a number of other build-
ings, in 1922.
Girls came to Camp Tanadoona to build outdoor skills and
learn independence. In the early years, campers slept in tents
among the trees, but cabins were built in the late 1920s to
provide a more permanent camping experience. The man-
sion and other buildings of Governor Lind's summer home
were repurposed as camp buildings, and the mansion still
stands overlooking Lake Minnewashta.
Camp Fire expanded in the 1970s to welcome boys as well
as girls, but summers at Camp Tanadoona have continued
with many of the same activities and traditions as when the
camp first opened. Campers still sing songs each day, and
every session closes with a traditional Council Fire.
Starting in the 1960s, as Camp Tanadoona began to feel
like less of an exotic destination for campers in the Twin Cit-
ies, the camp shifted its focus to include trips up to the Bound-
ary Waters and other parts of northern Minnesota. Campers
learn canoeing and backpacking skills, then test their mettle
with backwoods trips.
To commemorate these
trips, campers signed
and decorated canoe
paddles that hang in
Tasiago, the camp's
dining hall. Today,
Camp Tanadoona's trip
sessions travel to a
Camp Fire camp in the
Chippewa National
Forest.
Camp Tanadoona
continues to provide an
Campers worked on a totem
pole (left) and enjoyed a to-
boggan ride.
authentic summer camp experience with a Northwoods feel.
Many campers come for multiple weeks throughout the sum-
mer and cherish their time spent in the woods and on the lake.
The camp has also gained an international flair, with counse-
lors from around the world.
This year, Camp Fire USA celebrates its Centennial. Alumni
and supporters will gather June 3` at Camp Tanadoona to re-
flect on Camp Fire's 100 years of building caring, confident
youth and future leaders, renew ties and celebrate a commit-
ment to reinvesting in Camp Tanadoona for the next 100 years.
Are you a Camp Fire alum? Reconnect with Camp Fire as
we celebrate our Centennial! Visit www.CampFire USA -
MN.org/Centennial or e -mail info(u campfireusa- mn.or to re-
kindle Camp Fire in your life.
Welcome New Members
Walter W. Benjamin
Alice Brose English
Judy Gifford
Thomas/Nico Haight Family
Jenny Lang Family
George and Marge Shorba
Steven/Patricia Taylor Family
Colleen Thompson
Doug Thompson
Jim Thompson
Steve Thompson
Peter and Denise
Westerhaus
Suzanne Woods Family
The Chanhassen Historical Society is a chapter of
the Carver County Historical Society. As a member
of Chanhassen's Historical Society, you are also a
member of the County Historical Society. A portion
of the dues paid to Chanhassen for membership is paid
to the County to receive their newsletters, as well as
notices of their programs for adults and children.
Fill out the application at right to become
a member of the Chanhassen Historical
Society. If you are already a member, pass
the application on to a friend,
Enjoying a horseback ride.
Chanhassen Historian Spring 2010 Page 3
Chanhassen Baseball From Page 1
I was among a group of young people then attending high
school in Chaska -- the public high or Guardian Angels, and
one afternoon as we stepped off the bus at Pauly's Store cor-
ner we were greeted by the sounds of dynamite explosions
and the sights of heavy machinery as work was underway con-
verting what we knew as the "meadow" and "little woods"
into a ball field.
Since the area being worked on was church property, a ques-
tion arose about the legality of the county doing work on it,
but in those days common sense often took precedence over
legal technicality and the work went ahead. Soon a small army
of local citizens was out with rakes and shovels getting the
flat surface ready for the first home game in May against vis-
iting Norwood. The Chanhassen Red Birds had opened their
season a week previously on the road in the metropolis of
Hydes Lake near Waconia and came home a 9 -4 winner.
Playing in a league which originally included Norwood,
Hamburg, Carver, Cologne, Green Isle, Belle Plaine, and Ar-
lington, the Red Birds, under the fiesty direction of Manager
Bongard, became the team to beat. Baseball in Chanhassen
probably reached its apex in 1949 when the team swept all
opposition to win the Region 7 championship and earn a place
in the state tournament.
Home games involved not only the village but the entire
farm community and they were festive events. Games with
rivals like Carver and Cologne stirred the crowds. The 3.3
beer flowed freely and at times Al Klingelhutz, the biggest
man in the area, was called upon to don badge and cop's hat
to keep order.
The priest at St. Hubert's, Father Oswald, became an en-
thusiastic fan, and often sat on the bench. Most of the team
was Catholic and behaved what they deemed as proper in the
presence of a priest, but I recall how we tried to hush up the
bench language of one particularly competitive Red Bird. The
field was located just to the north of the old school and con-
vent and word was, certainly
apocyphal, that as the nuns
watched the action from their
porch, whenever the Red Birds
got in a tight spot one would
scurry up to the chapel for a
short prayer.
The Red Birds of `49 played
their only state tourney game
up at Detroit Lakes, a 10 -9 loss
to Ulen. Because about half the
community made the long trip
north to the game, the usual
time for "early mass" at St.
Hubert's was moved to 6 a.m.
the Red Birds included that Sunday.
catcher Frank Schneider, Roger "the Horse" Pauly
left, and pitcher Stan was the stellar pitcher on that
Roeser, right, with manager team, so named for his delib-
Rube Bongard. erate style on the mound and
his workhorse durability. Frank Schneider, Jr., not yet 18, was
the catcher. Henry Bartel, a fiercely competitive recruit from
Eden Prairie, was the first baseman. Lean and lithe Bob
Meuwiseen was at second. I played short with irrepresible Rube
Bongard at third. John Dean, a speedy Eden Prairie recruit,
played center field flanked by a pair of slow movers but heavy
hitters, Harry Pauly in left and "Bogie" Raser in right.
With the expansion of St. Hubert's School (now Chapel
Hill), the space of the old baseball field was taken over and
the home of the Red Birds was moved across the tracks near
where the Legion now stands. No vestige of that early base-
ball scene remains in the Chanhassen of today. However, what
remains for those of us fortunate to have been a part of it is a
store of good memories to be treasured for a lifetime.
(Roeser is a retired newspaper editor who lives in Litchfield.)
-----------------------------------------
- -- — ----------- - - - - -- - - - --
Chanhassen Historical Society Membership Application
I
Name:
Phone Number:
Street Address: E -mail:
I
city: State: Zip Code:
I ANNUAL DUES: F ❑ Individual ($15) ❑ Family ($25) DATE:
I
I ❑ I would like to serve as a volunteer. Contact me about opportunities, I
I Mail completed form and check to: Chanhassen Historical Society,
c / o Mary Klingelhutz, 8600 Waters Edge Drive, Chanhassen, MN 55317
L ----------------------------------
- - - - - -J
The starting battery for the
first game ever played by
Notes from the President
Occasionally I think it is helpful to
recite our mission statement:
To enhance the lives of the larger
Chanhassen community through the col- z ,
lection, preservation, interpretation, and -
sharing of its history.
By joining the Chanhassen Histori- Jack Atkins
cal Society, you have all shown that you
think history is important — that it matters. And any-
thing you do to help us to better accomplish our mis-
sion is appreciated.
The Cemetery Walk, held last fall, was a perfect
example of how we fulfill all aspects of our mission —
collecting, preserving, interpreting and sharing.
The past enlightens our present and our future.
As we prepare to enter our fourth year, I thank all
of you for being members and for helping us to achieve
our goals. History matters.
White Rlephmt sole pfwmed
Save your unwanted "treasures" to donate to
the second annual Chanhassen Historical
Society White Elephant Sale planned over
Chanhassen's Fourth of Jul Celebration.
Chanhassen Historian Spring 2010 Page 4
Historical Society to hold
annual meeting April 28
The annual meeting of the Chanhassen Historical Soci-
ety will be held Wednesday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the
Chanhassen Library.
The meeting will include the election of several board
members and an update on upcoming fund- raising efforts.
Information will also be provided about discussions tak-
ing place over the future of Historic St. Hubert's Church.
All members of the historical society are invited and
encouraged to attend. New members are also welcome.
Successful fundraisers held
A special thank youll the members who helped make
the Historical Society's fall fundraising sale of the Historic
St. Hubert's puzzle a huge success. With the help of Byerly's
and Center Drug of Chanhassen, over 400 puzzles were sold
within one month.
Congratulations to the fundraising committee members
who worked on the project, plus Kathy Gyorfi who handled
the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre ticket sales for "Nunsense"
and sold over 100 tickets herself.
Chanhassen Historical Society
P.O. Box 941
Chanhassen, MN 55317
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jack Atkins, President
952- 934 -0501
952- 906 -3830 (fax)
j atkins @goldengate.net
Mary Stumpfl, Vice President Todd and Liz Hoffman
Rosemary Mingo, Secretary PO Box 147 - City Hall
Mary Jane Klingelhutz, Treasurer Chanhassen, MN 55317
Tom Faust
Art Mason
Terry Roeser
Sandy Rodenz
Theresa Spande
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ThreeRivers
PARK DISTRICT
Three Rivers Park District is considering a proposal that would allow the use of electric -
Marilynn Corcoran assist pedal bicycles (e- bikes) on the Park District's regional trails. As a valued partner,
Vice Chair we'd like to share our rationale for this proposal and invite your feedback. This topic was
District 2 initially reviewed by a Committee of the Park District's Board in 2009, and we are
planning to bring back a recommendation to the Committee on March 18 with final
Board consideration on April 81n
Mark Haggerty To help bring you up to speed on the current status of e- bikes, we'd like to provide you
District 3
with a bit of background information:
State Definition of E -Bikes
Minnesota law considers a -bikes to be a special subset of motorized vehicles, defining
Dale Wood beck
District 4 and restricting their design in a manner similar to classic bikes. The definition requires
that to be classified as an a -bike, the bicycle cannot exceed a maximum speed of 20
miles per hour and must meet certain federal safety standards; it must have a saddle,
operable pedals, and two or three wheels; and the electric motor (which may not exceed
Rosemary Franzese 1,000 watts) must disengage during braking. E -bikes look like a classic bicycle, take up
District s the same amount of trail space as a classic bike, and are ridden as a classic bike. They
can only be operated by persons 16 years of age or older with a valid license.
Growing Popularity of E -Bikes
Larry Blackstad Chair E -bikes are growing in popularity throughout the country and the Twin Cities. These
Appointed bikes are now sold at a number of local bike shops and other retailers. Nationally, sales
increased by 60% last year. Although a niche market bicycle, Park District public safety
and research staff both report that these bikes are frequently seen on the Park District's
regional trails.
Barbara Kinsey
Appointed Use of E -Bikes
Informal research indicates that a -bike users fall into one of two categories: (1) previous
bicyclists with health issues who are looking for some sort of assistance when riding;
and (2) individuals who want a viable alternative to the car for transportation. This
Cris Gears second group includes commuters who want to avoid the carbon emissions of a car or
Superintendent road congestion, as well as those who want to utilize the bike to run errands and carry
goods. Many of the users in both groups use a -bikes because they are concerned about
the environment and want to do their part to reduce the effects of climate change.
Administrative Center, 3000 Xenium Lane North, Plymouth, MN 55441 -1299
Information 763.559.9000 • TTY 763.559.6719 • Fax 763.559.3287 • www.ThreeRiversParks.org
March 1, 2010
!ftftr
MAR 0
82010
Three Rivers
Todd Hoffman, Parks & Rec Director
c , /�
Park District
City of Chanhassen
CH,� roNAftft
Board of
PO Box 147
Commissioners
7700 Market Blvd.
Chanhassen, MN 55317
Sara Wyatt
Re: Three Rivers Park District Proposal to Allow
E -Bikes on Regional Trails
District 1
�
Dear M man: /v �
Three Rivers Park District is considering a proposal that would allow the use of electric -
Marilynn Corcoran assist pedal bicycles (e- bikes) on the Park District's regional trails. As a valued partner,
Vice Chair we'd like to share our rationale for this proposal and invite your feedback. This topic was
District 2 initially reviewed by a Committee of the Park District's Board in 2009, and we are
planning to bring back a recommendation to the Committee on March 18 with final
Board consideration on April 81n
Mark Haggerty To help bring you up to speed on the current status of e- bikes, we'd like to provide you
District 3
with a bit of background information:
State Definition of E -Bikes
Minnesota law considers a -bikes to be a special subset of motorized vehicles, defining
Dale Wood beck
District 4 and restricting their design in a manner similar to classic bikes. The definition requires
that to be classified as an a -bike, the bicycle cannot exceed a maximum speed of 20
miles per hour and must meet certain federal safety standards; it must have a saddle,
operable pedals, and two or three wheels; and the electric motor (which may not exceed
Rosemary Franzese 1,000 watts) must disengage during braking. E -bikes look like a classic bicycle, take up
District s the same amount of trail space as a classic bike, and are ridden as a classic bike. They
can only be operated by persons 16 years of age or older with a valid license.
Growing Popularity of E -Bikes
Larry Blackstad Chair E -bikes are growing in popularity throughout the country and the Twin Cities. These
Appointed bikes are now sold at a number of local bike shops and other retailers. Nationally, sales
increased by 60% last year. Although a niche market bicycle, Park District public safety
and research staff both report that these bikes are frequently seen on the Park District's
regional trails.
Barbara Kinsey
Appointed Use of E -Bikes
Informal research indicates that a -bike users fall into one of two categories: (1) previous
bicyclists with health issues who are looking for some sort of assistance when riding;
and (2) individuals who want a viable alternative to the car for transportation. This
Cris Gears second group includes commuters who want to avoid the carbon emissions of a car or
Superintendent road congestion, as well as those who want to utilize the bike to run errands and carry
goods. Many of the users in both groups use a -bikes because they are concerned about
the environment and want to do their part to reduce the effects of climate change.
Administrative Center, 3000 Xenium Lane North, Plymouth, MN 55441 -1299
Information 763.559.9000 • TTY 763.559.6719 • Fax 763.559.3287 • www.ThreeRiversParks.org
Bike Trail Ordinances and Enforcement
Throughout our discussions with representatives from metro area park systems as well as
other trail providers across the country, we have found that a number of systems have
ordinances or rules that prohibit "motorized vehicles" on paved trails. Most of these rules
were written before the advent of a -bikes and were intended to restrict access to cars,
motorcycles, ATV's and similar motor powered vehicles. The current proposal being
considered by our Board would utilize the state definition of "e- bikes" and would consider
them to be classified as bicycles, rather than as motorized vehicles, thus allowing their use
on all Park District trails. The Park District is not proposing to change its Ordinance or
signage.
The Park District regulates the use of bikes within its Ordinance and provides public safety
patrol of regional trails to establish a presence and enforce the rules. Specifically, the Park
District Ordinance states that it shall be a petty misdemeanor to "ride or operate a bicycle
except in a prudent and careful manner or at a speed faster than is reasonable and safe
with regard to the safety of the operator and other persons in the immediate area." We
believe that the need to enforce these regulations is the same regardless of if a classic or e-
bike is ridden on the trail. The complete Three Rivers Ordinance is available at
www.threeriversparks.org
We understand that city trails often connect to Park District regional trails and that our
proposed direction may or may not be in conflict with city ordinances. Park District staff has
a great deal of information about a -bikes which we can share with your staff, if you have
further interest.
We welcome your comments on this topic. Please feel free to contact Associate
Superintendent Margie Walz at 763 - 559 -6746 or mwalz(athreeriversparkdistrict ora .
Sincerely,
tom:
Cris Gears
Superintendent
c: Margie Walz, Associate Superintendent
Tom McDowell, Associate Superintendent
Boe Carlson, Associate Superintendent