| Owatonna’s newest activity center working toward opening by Thanksgiving |
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Posted: Sunday, November 1, 2009 4:00 am
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Somewhat hidden by the rolling hills of Steele County farmland, work is continuing and finishing touches are being given to Owatonna’s newest activity center. The new Daybreak Community Church located at 2515 Harvest Lane N.W., just a block west of the Owatonna Hospital, is in the final stages of completion and the new church will officially open its doors to the community by Thanksgiving.
I was met for a tour of this beautiful new building by Daybreak’s Pastor John Linde, who was armed with a carpenter’s apron full of tools. He, like many of the volunteers from the congregation, are spending countless hours making this 18,600 square foot building ready to serve not only the Daybreak congregation, but the entire community of Owatonna as well.
When you enter the front doors the auditorium is located to your left. It will include theatrical lighting, a sound and light booth and moveable seating for 450. It’s not only designed to serve the congregation for their worship services, but also will accommodate a host of other community activities ranging from business and training seminars to practically any gathering of Owatonna area groups needing a meeting facility. “One of the things we strived for in the design of this building is not to make it look churchy,” Pastor John told me. “We did a lot of studying of building designs by visiting churches all around the state. We found that a church right in our own back yard impressed us the most. The United Methodist Church in Ellendale was built with basically the same design elements as we wanted to include in our plan.” John’s father, 94-year-old Rienard Linde, a retired mechanical engineer, drew up the floor plans for the building.
“He basically took all of our suggestions and desires and incorporated them into our building design,” John said. “Architect Dave Medin who specializes in church buildings took the floor plans and created the architectural drawings.”
Surrounding the auditorium is a parent’s room and a nursery, offering glassed in walls to accommodate seeing and hearing the activities. Three classrooms, a larger youth room and the main restrooms complete the classroom wing.
A gathering space
As I entered the building, I immediately stepped into what Pastor John called the “gathering area.” Practically every facet of the building is accessible from this large open foyer including offices, a bookstore, classrooms and a beautiful activity center that can be used for basketball, volleyball etc. “We are really excited about this activity center,” Pastor Linde said. “We want to offer ‘recreation ministry’ to the community… having open recreation hours a couple of times a week. A catering kitchen will also be available in this area. We know that there is a great need in Owatonna for additional space and are confident this will help serve that need.”
Building efficiency
The new Daybreak Church has been designed with the most up-to-date efficiency as far as energy is concerned. The exterior walls of the building consist of “structural insulated panels made of eight inches of foam sandwiched between two layers of 3⁄4 inch plywood designed to be six times stronger than a 2-by-6 wall. The shell of the building was supplied by Energy Panel Systems and were installed by PROCON (an EPS dealer from Faribault). Sam and Ardis Woods, owners of Casey and Groesbeck Construction of Owatonna donated 35 windows which are being used in the building. Heating for the building will include the use of “munchkin boilers” that will heat the floors. Using this type of heating to assist regular furnaces should save from $1,500 to $2,000 a month in heating costs during the winter months.
Outside the building
The church property allows for activities outside the building. There is an area designated for outdoor worship services and church related concerts boasting an amphitheatre that will seat up to 1,500. There is room for expansion of the auditorium that could seat up to 800. A fully completed parking lot will serve those using the building.
The beginning
From the time 15 years ago when Daybreak Church was founded, it’s been the dream of the congregation to offer a facility like this to the community. Since the beginning, the church has moved to several community locations beginning with the building on North Cedar that now houses Insty-Prints. The most recent home for the church has been at 215 E. Vine Street, site of a former auto dealership. The current project has been in the works for the past six years. As I mentioned earlier, the volunteers from the congregation have made up the major work force in the interior construction.
Pastor Linde said, “There are so many people involved with this. For instance, we have a group of women who have been working many hours installing thousands of screws in the sheetrock walls. They borrowed a name from the women of World War II, calling themselves ‘Rosie Riveters.’ They are now painting and have re-named themselves the ‘Poly Painters.’ There’s also a couple of congregation members from Faribault who are doing the door and trim finishing work. Our congregation members and others in the community have really stepped up to the plate to make this project a reality. No doubt about it, we couldn’t do this without them.”
A rigid schedule
From this point on, most everything being done in the new church building is on a time schedule and the plan is to hold Thanksgiving services at the new church. It’s been an immense but gratifying endeavor that will result in the realization of a dream that has now become a reality.
Pastor Linde said, “From the beginning, we wanted to offer a facility that not only serves our worship needs, but one that will become a real center for community events.”
Daybreak to host Hospice Star of Hope
I visited with Franchon Pirkl, Chaplain of Owatonna Homestead Hospice House, who informed me that this year’s “Star of Hope” lighting ceremony will again include a program of music, prayer and remembrance of loved ones which will be presented at the new Daybreak Church. The date for the program is Dec. 6 at 5 p.m. When Hospice was located in the old hospital, a yearly memorial program was held at Sacred Heart Church. When Hospice moved to their present location, the actual program was suspended due to parking restrictions at the Hospice House and lack of a location in which to formally hold a program. This year, the program will return thanks to the close proximity of the Daybreak Church to the Hospice House.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first lighting ceremony which took place at the large evergreen tree which was located next to the hospital on Cedar Street. Later the lighting ceremony took place in a memorial garden located next to the hospital entrance on Oak Street. A special invitation to attend this year’s program goes to all those who have served Hospice in any way including administration and staff, board members and volunteers.
Among the speakers giving the “Message of Hope” will be Marlene Breckner and Pat Postlewaite who were involved in the first memorial program 20 years ago. This year’s program will also include music, prayer, sacred dance and a memorial litany of names.
Gifts of $10 (or a donation of your choice) will light a very special light on the star in honor of your loved one. Proceeds from donations will go to the Patient Care Fund, which was founded to assist families with limited resources. Checks made out to Star of Hope can be sent to Homestead Hospice House, 2350 26th St. N.W. in Owatonna. Names of persons to be remembered will be inscribed in a Memory Book that has been a part of Hospice for over 18 years. The book will be displayed in the lobby at the new Owatonna Hospital. Following the program, the Star of Hope will be lit and will shine from the top of the Homestead windmill.
The Star of Hope Task Force Committee consists of Gia Plate, Sister Franchon Pirkl, Maureen Mahoney, Tom Bonnacci, Phyllis Rowe, Jane Elsner, Sharon West, Roy Collette, Pastor John Linde and Don Overlie. The Owatonna Hospice program services five counties.
A three year winner
For the third year in a row, D.J. Janke entered his handpicked ear corn in competition at the FFA show at the Minnesota State Fair. This year he again won the Grand Champion and Best of Show with his Pioneer ear corn. The entries are strictly judged on the corn sample only. There are no interviews and the corn is judged against more than 1,000 entries. D.J. is very dedicated to his project and it takes many trips to the field to hand pick the ears just to get the right sample. For the first time this year, D.J. also had entries of wheat, soybeans and shelled corn. In shelled corn, he placed third out of 310 entries and placed first in test weight with 62.8 pounds. D.J. is the son of Dave and Lois Janke and is a senior at Owatonna High School. His grandparents are Harold and Carroll Janke and Glenn Brekke and the late Ellie Brekke, all of Owatonna. D.J. is the President of the Owatonna FFA chapter and has also planted and will harvest the Owatonna Soybean plot this year.
Annual church charity bazaar
This coming Saturday, Nov. 7, several churches will team up to sponsor their annual Charity Bazaar to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Steele County Community Center. There will be lunch of Sloppy Joes, soup and homemade pie and fresh baked Norwegian goodies. Participating churches include the First Baptist Church in Owatonna, First Lutheran Church in Hope, Pontoppidan Lutheran Church in Ellendale, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Meriden and St. John’s Lutheran Church of Claremont.
SCHS annual meeting
Reservations are now being taken for the annual meeting of the Steele County Historical Society to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Eagles Club. There will be several awards including Volunteer of the Year, Tour Guide of the Year, and Business and Community Partners of the Year. This year’s theme is the 1940s with a re-created radio show, interpretive characters from the past, dancing and singing. Tickets are $15 per person and must be reserved by this Friday, Nov. 6. Call 451-1420.
Ag Society annual meeting
The annual meeting of the Steele County Ag Society (Steele County Free Fair) will be held this Thursday, Nov. 5, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, but only Ag Society members are eligible to vote. The group will elect five directors to three year terms. Running for re-election are Paul Arnfelt, Dan Deml, Bill Hartle, Roger Noble and Marlyn Zacharias.
Duffy gets a new knee
Former Owatonnan Duffy Hamren was scheduled for knee replacement surgery this past Friday. He will be laid up for awhile and would love to hear from friends here. His mailing address is 856 Fairway View Dr., Eugene, OR 97401.
Grandparents collect winter items for Owatonna students
Grandparents for Education will be collecting new and used mittens, gloves, caps and scarves which will be used by the elementary teachers to give to students who come to school unprepared to go outdoors during recess in cold temperatures. Donations of these items can be dropped off in boxes located at Hy-Vee and Cash Wise Foods, SeniorPlace, Southern Minn. Initiative Foundation, Sterling Drug, Walgreen’s Drug and the Pizza Ranch beginning this Wednesday, Nov. 4, until Nov. 25. All donations will be cleaned before they are given to students. If you would like to make a cash donation to purchase new items for this collection, send it to Box 1085, Owatonna, MN 55060.
OHS grad’s husband critically injured in cycle crash
I learned that John Timberg, husband of 1975 OHS grad Kathy McEnaney, was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash in Wyoming in early August, sustaining major brain injuries that have now resulted in John being moved from Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul to a Hospice facility in Chaska. John and Kathy have three young boys, Will, Pete and Lou. The Timberg family currently lives in Mound. John does have a caringbridge site that you may visit and sign at www.caringbridge.org and type in johntimberg. Kathy’s parents are Dr. Jim and the late Pat McEnaney.
Oops
A correction from my story last week reminiscing about the hunt for the Chamber of Commerce Pumpkin Medallion. Following the Chamber sponsorship, the church that sponsored a medallion hunt was Christian Family Church, not Bethel Baptist as I stated.
Todd Hale can be reached at thalescff@ll.net or write him at 632 14th St. S.E., Owatonna, MN 55060.
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