Nov 26, 2013

Peterson Selected as Regional Coach of the Year

American Volleyball Coaches Association

Jane Peterson has been selected as the 2013 AVCA Two-Year Colleges Regional Coach of the Year. Peterson will represent her region on the 2013 AVCA Two-Year Colleges National Coach of the Year ballot. The awards will be officially presented at the 2013 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Seattle, Wash. on Thursday, December 19, at the 2013 American Volleyball Coaches Association Annual Convention.

Nov 25, 2013

Rosenmeier Biographer Featured at Forum

Steve Dornfeld will present at the Rosenmeier Center Forum on Monday, December 2nd at 7 pm at Central Lakes College’s Chalberg Theater in Brainerd. Dornfeld, who is writing a biography of the State Senator, states that Gordon Rosenmeier was perhaps the most powerful Senator of his time.

Award-winning journalist Steve Dornfeld met Rosenmeier a number of times in the early 1970s and won a Mondale Research Fellowship to write about him for Minnesota History magazine. “He was a political power in the 1950s and 1960s in Minnesota and he left an impressive legacy. Former Gov. Rudy Perpich called Rosenmeier a ‘visionary’ and there is a large body of evidence to support that view.” 

Nov 22, 2013

Cultural Thursday: SPAIN - Revisited


Central Lakes College Cultural Thursday will be traveling to Spain on December 5th at noon in the Chalberg Theater. Speaker Jan Kurtz, Spanish and Latin American Studies Instructor, will start with a brief background orientation presented to her before her first trip to Seville, Spain. “I was a junior at Hamline University and reasoned that study abroad was imperative to my future in teaching Spanish and learning that culture. I do have one regret, I should have signed up for a year, not just a semester!” 

Nov 21, 2013

CLC's Verse Like Water Program Earns Minnesota State Arts Board Grant


Verse Like Water: the visiting poet program of Central Lakes College, in collaboration with Crossing Arts Alliance, has been granted $65,422 to fund first class literary arts events across 2014.

The American poets Billy Collins, Sherman Alexie, Tracy K. Smith, and Robert Hass will present a series of afternoon readings and workshops in the CLC Chalberg Theater, and all events are free and open to the public.

Nov 14, 2013

CLC Instructor Receives Meritorious Service Medal

Dave Davis, Criminal Justice Instructor at Central Lakes College was recently awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) is a military award presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States. The award was presented to Davis by Col. Scott St. Sauver, Camp Ripley Post Commander. 


Davis joined the Iowa Army National Guard in 1984. He went to Infantry Basic Training in Fort Benning Georgia in 1985. He then joined the Active Duty Air Force in October 1986 as a Law Enforcement Specialist and attended Basic Training and Technical School at Lackland Air Force Base. Davis was stationed at Clark AB, Philippines and Nellis AFB, Las Vegas NV. Separated from Active Duty in October 1990, he joined the MN National Guard in March 1998 and was part of the Training Support Unit at Camp Ripley until he retired in Feb 2013. 

It is rare for an individual to receive the Meritorious Service Medal with Davis's rank of Staff Sergent (E-6). The medal is typically given to senior non commissioned officers (E-7 to E-9), as exceptionally meritorious service at that level of responsibility is usually required for award of the medal. 

Paving Your Path to a Successful Future with Higher Education Event

Central Lakes College is hosting a college fair event on Thursday, November 21st, 2013, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. "Paving Your Path to a Successful Future with Higher Education" event will take place in the Gymnasium at Central Lakes College, Brainerd campus.

The college fair offers an opportunity for many surrounding high school students, veterans, military families and community education seekers to find future opportunities all in one location.

Nov 13, 2013

CLC Fall Band Concert


The CLC Community Band starting it's 21st year will perform music from England and Scotland in its Fall Concert, "Pubs and Pipers". The music will feature familiar melodies from both countries as well as well known English band classics such as the Gustav Holst "First Suite in Eb for Military Band" and Colonel Bogey March by Kenneth Alford. This is in anticipation of the scheduled CLC Band Tour to England and Scotland which will take place in the summer of 2014. 

The concert also features the CLC Jazz Ensemble playing a variety of musical styles from the "Average White Band" to "Guy Noir's Brother", a trombone feature with Jerry Swanson on trombone, to the "Modern Jazz Quartet" which will feature guest artist Jim Henkenmeyer on Vibraphone. 

New Rosenmeier Center Board Members

The Gordon Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government has added the following new board members.


Laura Raedeke
Since moving to Nisswa, MN in 2001, Laura Raedeke has served as organist at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa, and at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Brainerd.  Raedeke also performs in the Brainerd Lakes Summer Organ Recital Series, and serves as piano accompanist to the Legacy Chorale of Greater Minnesota.  In 2008 she formed the Creation Care Team at Lutheran Church of the Cross which, in addition to building a community garden on church property, works in a number of ways to encourage responsible ecological behavior at our church, at home, and at work. Together with her husband, Jerry, Raedeke owns and directs the Raedeke Art Gallery in Nisswa, to which she has contributed her own oil paintings. Previously from Worthington, MN, Raedeke taught private piano lessons, served as an organist with several churches, and co‑founded and served as president of both the Worthington Area Piano Teachers Association and the Worthington Area Music Boosters Organization.  She also helped found the Worthington Concert Association, serving as a board member and a term as president. Raedeke received her BA in Biology, and later a Master of Arts degree with concentrations in music theory/composition from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD.

Nov 9, 2013

Raider Volleyball Team Advances To National Tournament


The 2013 Raider volleyball team advances to the NJCAA Division III national tournament by beating Northland 3-0 in the Region 13B championship game on Saturday, November 9. 

CLC rolled through the tournament without losing a single game. The Raiders shutout Itasca on Friday night winning three straight games to advance to the championship game on Saturday. 

The #2 nationally ranked Raiders improve their season record to 27-2 and will advance to the National NJCAA Division III tournament in Rochester, MN on November 15-16. The tournament is held at the UCR Regional Sports Center at Rochester Community and Technical College.

Nov 6, 2013

Vietnam Vets Look Back on the War

Courtesy of the Brainerd Dispatch by Mike O'Rourke, Associate Editor

Wartime memories — military veterans’ Vietnam stories that are more than 40 years old now — were the subject of Tuesday’s Center for Lifelong Learning session at Central Lakes College (CLC).

The U.S. Army veterans’ tales mixed humor with poignancy as a largely gray-haired audience listened to Bill Wroolie of Brainerd, Steve Rosenow of Baxter, Butch Lund of Pine River and Ken Klose of Staples recall their experiences while fighting in Vietnam. The audience included other Vietnam vets as well as Jim Russell, CLC’s basketball coach, who thanked the veterans for service and for their stories. Russell lived in Vietnam until he was almost 9, before his family moved to the United States in 1973.


Photo Courtesy of the US Archives