Kelly Jo McDonnell

Broadway is a long way from Washington County, but Forest Lake native Kourtni Lind always knew that’s where she’d end up.

Lind landed a key role in the rock musical “Spiderman: Turn off the Dark” in December and has been performing since on Broadway — her dream since she was 3 years old and dancing in her mother’s dance studio.

“I actually was not really good,” Lind said, recalling her early years dancing. “It wasn’t until I hit my growth spurt and figured out how my body worked that it all clicked. I realized it was what I was meant to do, and I’ve always loved it.”

Lind’s mother, Robin Lind, owner of Dance Tech Studio in Forest Lake, admitted she tried to steer her daughter toward sports and not the arts world.

“She hadn’t grown into her body yet, but she did do well in sports. She just wasn’t very flexible. … But she just loved to dance!”

Danielle Napoli, a lifelong friend who took dancing with Lind, remembered Lind’s lack of flexibility, but she also remembered a strong work ethic and a will to practice.

“Yes, she wasn’t the most flexible at that time,” said Napoli, “but look at her now. She’s Gumby woman. I never doubted that she could do it.

“When Kourtni makes up her mind to do it, she can pretty much accomplish anything.”

The entertainment business can be a challenging one. Lind said she really started to focus on dance as a career once she hit high school.

She had attended junior high and most of senior high in Forest Lake, but spent her senior year at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts. After graduating and moving to Los Angeles, Lind participated in the nationally broadcast reality show, “So you think you can dance?” and was booked on the “Wicked” tour. But she knew New York was the place she needed to be.

Lind toured with “Wicked” for 2010, but then made the decision to leave.

“I chose to leave so I could move to New York,” she recalled. “I left around the holidays and moved to New York on Dec. 28th of 2010.”

She cleared her calendar for auditions. When the “Spiderman: Turn off the Dark” audition came around, she was ready. It was a two-day process, involving dancing first, then returning to sing.

“I had a great feeling that I had gotten it,” Lind said. “The call from my agent came in around 10:30 in the morning, and it was such the stereotypical thing. … They put me on speaker phone and told me the news and we were all screaming and crying.”

The rock musical has become infamous in New York City due to problems with its budget and struggles with injuries and safety issues. But it seems to have hit its stride, recently having sellout shows and strong reviews.

About 80 percent of the cast has stuck with the production, and Lind, 22, is the youngest cast member.

“Everybody is from all over the place. It’s so cool that way,” said Lind, “We have people from Chicago, Michigan and Iowa. I think I’m the only Minnesotan, though.”

The work schedule is grueling — they do eight shows a week and have Mondays off.

Lind said the Broadway schedule makes it tough to come home for visits. “It was Minnesota State Fair time last year when I was last home,” she said. “I only get one day a week right now.

“I miss my family all the time,” she said, but “I need to be far away to be able to do what I love and make money. I’m very blessed to have that support system in my family.”

Kelly Jo McDonnell is a Twin Cities freelance writer.

In northeast Lino Lakes, there’s a piece of land that could be right out of “Jurassic Park.”

“Just north of 35W, look over to your right, and you can see an island and a lake,” said Marty Asleson, environmental coordinator for the city. “That’s where the blue herons are living. When they fly over, they look like a pterodactyl. Their species dates back to the dinosaur age. They’ve been around a long time.”

Not so long ago, however, the Peltier Island colony appeared to be going the way of the dinosaur.

In the early 2000s, Lino Lakes resident Art Hawkins, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, noticed that the blue herons were disbanding.

“Art was the one that rang the alarm on the colony,” said biologist Andy Von Duyke, “and the Peltier Lake Heron Task Force was organized; it was a coalition of stakeholders as well as DNR [the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources], Anoka County Parks, and the city of Lino Lakes and Centerville.”

Hawkins died in 2006, but his warning already was bearing fruit. The project received some funding, and with the help of DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, steps were being taken as early as 2004 to reverse the trend.

“I was a new graduate student at the time,” Von Duyke said. “That season I started studying the colony. In the previous season, there were 250 nests in this colony early in the season. We went and installed cameras. … That colony had a 100 percent failed [birth] rate that year. Based on my camera evidence, I had a pretty good idea what it was.”

Predation, mainly raccoons, seemed to be the main culprit, Von Duyke said.

Asleson also suspected boating activity in the shallow waters around the island and 35W road construction, as well as low-flying seaplanes, as possible factors.

Said Von Duyke: “I had an experimental design to test my hypothesis on the remaining couple hundred nests. But in 2005, there were only 25 active nests. [The number] dropped 90 percent in one year. So I immediately went into crisis mode. We had to keep this colony going.”

He and volunteers started by installing predator guards and monitoring the nests. Asleson said a no-wake zone around the island also was enforced.

Three blue heron chicks survived that year, and there’s been a steady increase since then, Von Duyke said. The following year, 50 chicks survived.

Observers estimate there are now more than 100 active blue heron nests on Peltier Lake. The coalition volunteers have confirmed great egrets nesting on the island, as well.

“It’s very exciting,” said Von Duyke. “A colony that’s on the brink in 2005 now seven years later is graduated into a big colony — not the huge one that it used to be, but bigger than the average colony in Minnesota.”

Von Duyke, a volunteer on the project now, said blue herons not only are magnificent creatures, but also are important to the ecology of the region.

Asleson agrees and notes that the bird is ingrained into the Lino Lakes culture:

“The Blue Heron is our city logo. It’s on our water tower. We have a Blue Heron Elementary, and it’s on our coffee cups. If you live in Lino Lakes, you know about the blue heron.”

It’s a sweet sign of spring.

The sap is running, and the Wargo Nature Center in Lino Lakes is ready to tap into it during Sunday’s Maple Syrup Madness festival.

“It started 13 years ago, actually as a maple full moon event,” said Deb Gallop, program supervisor at Wargo. “In 2004 we switched it to a day festival, and it’s been a wonderful family event.”

The event attracts an average of 100 participants, and it happens rain or shine.

But the conditions have to be perfect for maple syrup making.

“It has to be above 40 [degrees] during the day, and under 30 at night,” said Jennifer Fink, marketing and visitor services manager at Anoka County Parks and Recreation. “That’s what causes the sap to run. Some years are better than others, but it’s always fun to teach folks about it.”

All stages of the maple syrup process will be shown and demonstrated by the Nature Center’s naturalists. The history of maple syrup making will be covered, dating to the 19th century.

The actual process itself hasn’t changed much over the years. In the spirit of the old tradition, the sap will be collected from the maple trees, then cooked down over an open fire. But there also is an evaporator for use on-site, so participants can take in the modern-day maple syrup processes as well.

The Nature Center event incorporates many other activities along with the maple syrup making. Visitors can participate in a hike where they see tapped trees, learn about the process of making sap into syrup, as well as craft making.

“It’s a lot of families, from parents with young kids all the way up to empty nesters,” said Fink. “It really varies, and it’s a free-flowing event where people get to choose what they want to listen to, what interests them.”

Everyone’s favorite, especially the kids’, seems to be the taste-testing, Fink said.

All sorts of maple syrup treats are available, from maple syrup baked beans to log cabin sundaes, which are topped with maple syrup made at the center.

The syrup tasting is an education in itself, Fink said, with many people not believing the difference when they taste the product for the first time.

Fink and Gallop said it’s a treat to see the kids stick a finger under the spout and taste the sap.

“What they think is maple syrup from the store, and what true maple syrup is that gets made right in front of their eyes. … There’s definitely different grades of maple syrup,” said Fink. “Most of the stuff in the store is flavored with additives, to make it taste like maple. The actual stuff you’ll taste at our event is lighter in color, and it’s a much softer taste. … It’s just more subtle.”

Last week’s arctic blast gave an assist to one of those staples of Minnesota winters — the back-yard hockey rink — but even amid the mostly mild weather the tradition endured, as three hockey dads in the Centennial School District can attest.

This is Ben Peterson’s third year in the back-yard rink game. The Lino Lakes resident has two sons, ages 13 and 11, both hockey players. They went to skate on a buddy’s rink in Elk River a few years ago, and the idea took over. “I really wanted one,” Peterson said.

The first year didn’t come without problems. The ground wasn’t level, “so I ended up asking a neighbor who was a farmer, and we put it up in the old pasture behind his house.”

This year, the rink dimensions are 50 by 100 feet. The farmer helped level the ground with his Bobcat, and Peterson and some neighbors built the frame from old boards.

The rink attracts kids of all ages around the neighborhood. “The older guys slow the game down a little bit so that they can play with the younger guys. They all know the rules of the rink, and show respect,” Peterson said. “If they don’t, they aren’t going to be invited back.”

Rick Mathies lives nearby, and his 10-year-old son often can be found on Peterson’s rink — when he’s not on his own.

In Mathies’ case, Mother Nature gave a hand: When the family moved to the neighborhood in 2007, their property came complete with a small pond. Right away, Mathies went out and shoveled off the snow.

“People started coming out of the woodwork,” he said with a laugh. “Everybody showed up. Since it’s a pond, it does crack, and it’s exposed to the elements a lot, so I started running a hose off the water heater and flooding it once a week. It gives the kids a good skating surface. I added built-in nets, also.”

Mathies also says the neighborhood kids are respectful of the pond rink rules. “All the kids play on teams, and there’s always somebody out there,” he said. “All the neighbors got together and bought sets of 1,200-watt lights. … we have nine sets of lights up. I sometimes think a plane might land there!”

Both dads agree that the rinks have brought the neighborhood together. “We’ll keep this going,” said Peterson, “We’re making memories for the kids that they can remember for the rest of their life.”

Bob Sproull, another Lino Lakes dad with a 9-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, also is making memories. After tinkering with a 20-by-40 rink last year, he bought a kit last fall and put up a 30-by-62 sheet.

Sproull said the neighborhood kids have found his rink as well. “Everyone has liked it, it’s much smoother than some of the other rinks,” he said, “My rink holds 14,000 gallons of water right now.”

He has added some little touches, including LED lights mounted to trees, and has extra skates and dozens of extra pucks for the kids. He even has rigged up his own “PVC Pipe Zamboni” which hooks to his hose in the garage and helps smooth the ice.

So did the mild early winter cause any problems? “This year, it’s actually been really nice,” Peterson said before the deep freeze. “We got our rink set up and filled with water before that first cold snap, and it froze all the water in the rink…. Some days, the kids were out skating in their T-shirts, it’s been that warm.”

Mathies concurred that it hasn’t been “that bad” this winter. “I actually would like a little snow,” he said, “it’s so brown. Last year was a major task, there were three of us dads out there with our snowblowers getting the snow off the pond ice.”

Sproull said the warm weather has pros and cons. Pucks are easier to find without all the snow on the ground. However, all the leaves and seeds blow onto the ice on a windy day. He said he had to get on his knees and dig them out with a screwdriver.

“You definitely spend a lot more time preparing it and serving it than you actually use it,” said Sproull. “However maybe next year I’ll sell sponsorships!”

Kelly Jo McConnell is a freelance writer from Lino Lakes.

What do Stillwater prison and a K-12 Minnesota school have in common? One has inmates doing hard time, and the other is dealing with hard times from budget cuts.

But there is other common ground.

The Minnesota Computers for Schools (MCFS) program is a non-profit organization that trains Stillwater Correctional Facility inmates to refurbish computers donated by local businesses. The computers are then shipped to K-12 schools across the state for a nominal fee.

“I think a lot of these offenders want to work on computers because they know that’s what is happening in the world,” said Tamara Gillard, executive director of MCFS.

In 1997, Gov. Arne Carlson had heard about a computers-for-schools program at a governor’s conference in California. “The corrections there had been a wonderful partner, and it was a win-win,” Gillard said. “It kept the inmates busy, learning valuable skills, and it’s a good part of restorative justice.”

One of the 30 inmates working recently in the Minnesota program on the third floor of a prison industries building was Carlos Smith, who said he was unfamiliar with computers when he started.

“It’s kind of like living in the Stone Age,” he said of computer-free cellblocks. Smith, who has a daughter, said he takes pride in rebuilding computers to benefit schoolchildren.

“It gave me an opportunity to do something that’s giving back,” said Smith, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence. “To be in prison, it’s a chance to make something out of a negative situation.”

Another inmate, Alveto Rivera, has been in the program since April and said workers feel inspired. “All of us, we fix them to the best of our ability.”

Though the program has been around for years — and some marketing is sent to area superintendents — there is still a need to get the word out.

“MCFS can save schools a large amount of money in their technology purchases,” Gillard said. “Our equipment includes tech support and a three-year warranty on computers. Schools can take this savings and possibly put it into curriculum expenses.”

In some instances, schools can purchase two to three refurbished laptops for the price of one new one.

“Many schools are having to cut teachers, transportation, major class subjects. … Schools can’t afford to keep the attitude that new technology is the best and only solution,” Gillard said.

On average, 35 or 40 inmates work in the program.

“We work hard with mentoring the inmates,” she said. “They apply like a normal job. They will eventually test out and work side-by-side next to a senior technician [an inmate who has been refurbishing for a long time].

“We do quarterly reviews with them. They have job expectations, and if they reach their goals, they get a raise each quarter. The inmates are giving back to the community through their work.”

All the old data is wiped cleaned from hard drives outside the prison walls before the computers reach the workers. The inmates do not handle any sort of data, Gillard said, nor do they have access to the Internet.

Once refurbished, the computers are placed in public, private or charter schools in Minnesota, as well as in educationally based nonprofit organizations. MCFS has worked with 121 schools across the state.

Timothy Brockman, supervisor of information systems at Forest Lake Area Schools, is one such client. He learned about the MCFS program at a conference and was impressed. He said the Forest Lake schools have been purchasing almost all of their computers from MCFS for more than five years now.

“We are extremely happy with all aspects of what we get — the quality of the equipment, the cost savings, the fact that it is green,” he said. “Money was a huge factor. We needed newer equipment, and we could not afford to purchase brand new equipment.”

Gillard said MCFS makes sure it meets the specific needs of each school or nonprofit. “We’ll build to that order if they need additional memory or a larger hard drive,” she said.

Another inmate, Rhon Butler, has earned compliments from program managers for his dedication. Under Department of Corrections policy, each inmate can work a maximum of four years fixing the computers.

“Computers are the future now,” he said. “If I could finish the rest of my time [in prison] out, I’d do it right here.”

Kelly Jo McDonnell is a freelance writer from Lino Lakes.