September 2015

Employee Newsletter

Renaissance Festival Tickets

available at reduced price! Visit

the staff page of the website for

ordering information.

In an effort to get to know one another better, we’ll randomly select two

individuals each month to feature in this section of the newsletter.

Mark Herzing, Assistant County Attorney in the County Attorney’s Office: I have worked for Mille Lacs County since the summer of 2003 when I be-gan working as an intern in the county attorney’s office. I became an as-sistant county attorney in 2005. Between working alongside other talented

and caring employees, and managing the variety and challenges of my job, the thing I enjoy most about what I do is having the opportunity to help the county deliver services to residents. For example: as an assistant county attorney, I currently play a role in promoting public safety through juvenile prosecutions, but I also sup-port departments with contract and document review so a wide variety of other county programs can move forward. I was born in the Milaca Area Hospital in what is now the Fairview Clinic. I have one older brother and one younger sister. I attended Milaca Public Schools and graduated from high school in 1990. I graduated from the University of St. Thomas in St Paul in 1994 and St. Cloud State University in 1997. David Spade’s line from the movie Tommy Boy (“A lot of people go to college for 7 years, they are called doctors”) did not apply to me, because in 1998 I started teaching. The opening of the St. Thomas Law School in 2001 gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend law school, and I started there in 2002. Although the school has a beautiful Minneapolis building today, the first year I attended school the law library was located in a converted under-ground parking garage, and all classes were held in four rooms. I graduated from law school in 2005. The football season represents the start of one of my favorite pastimes: fantasy football. I didn’t start playing fan-tasy football until I started working as an intern in Mille Lacs County in 2003 when I played in a league that included Ron Tvedt, Don Stob, and former assistant Mille Lacs County Attorney Cory Tennison. Although I did-n’t make it to the draft that year, Cory Tennison picked Kansas City Chief Running Back Priest Holmes for my team. By the end of the 2003 regular season, Holmes played 16 games, ran for 1,420 yards rushing and 690 yards receiving, and scored 27 touchdowns. With stats like that, my rookie year was a success and I’ve played ever since. If I could have dinner with anyone, either living or as they were before they died, I would have din-ner with my dad. He passed away in 2009, and I miss him and the opportunity to seek his advice. If the per-son has to be living, I would pick Pope Francis. He seems to be a joyful person who could share insight on how everyone could treat other people fairly and with respect.

Father Hennepin State Park Sep 04 Trail Walk: Woods, Wings,

& Wildife

Sep 05 Lore of the Loon

Sep 05 I Can Fish!

Kathio State Park Sep 05 Voyageur Canoe Tours

Ogechie Lake: Ducks, Geese, &

Heritage

Sep 05 Camping at Kathio 1,500

B.C.

Sep 06 Food from the Forest...&

More

Sep 06 Kids’ Program: Barking Up

the Right Tree

Sep 07 Snakes Alive!

Sep 26 Archaeology Day

Other Events

Sep 5 & 6: Fishermen’s Wharf

Isle Annual “Prom” Party

Sep 5 & 19: We are An-

ishinaabe Mille Lacs Indian

Museum & Trading Post

Sep 19: Fall Fun Fest Onamia

Sep 20: Hairy Mosquito’s

Bloodsucker’s Bash

Sep 25-27: McQuoid’s Inn Isle

Lake Country Cruisers Car

Show

Sep 26: Olde-Tyme Fall Festi-

val in Isle

Attention all employ-ees with food in the

HCH break room: The green fridge will soon be used to sell

healthy snacks for the Wellness Program. If you

have any food in this fridge, please move these items prior to Friday 9/4.

Karly Fetters

Property & Records Clerk

ASO (LSO/A-T/ASSESSOR)

Have some sugges-tions for the Mille Lacs County web-

site?

Email Karly in ASO with ideas/changes

on how you think we can improve the

website.

Welcome, New Employees!

Laurie Rahm, Case Aide in CVS: I have worked for Mille Lacs County for 13 years. I have worked in a few different departments: I started working part-time at Public Works as an Accounting Tech, and worked there for 6 years. In 2008 I transferred to the Extension Office as part-time Office Sup-port. In 2010 the Extension Office was combined with the ASO office, and I then was Office Support for both Extension and ASO. In 2012 I transferred to CVS to work full-time as an Accounting Tech, and in April 2015 I accepted

the position of Case Aide for Child Support. I have enjoyed all of the positions I have held at Mille Lacs County; being in different areas really helped me understand how the different county departments operate and interact with each other. The thing I like best about my current job is that there is a lot of variety, challenges, and it keeps me very busy. I really enjoy all my co-workers. I was born and raised 2 miles east of Bock on Hwy. 23, right by the county line. My grandparents had a dairy farm and we lived across the field. It was awesome being able to walk over to my grandparents’ whenever I wanted to as a kid. I attended school in Ogilvie and graduated in 1984. I then went to St. Cloud Technical College for a year and received a Bookkeeping diploma; the next year I went to Pine Technical College for a year and received an Office Support diploma. I moved to Coon Rapids and worked in downtown Minneapolis for 2 years. In 1988 I met my husband David, who most people know by his nickname “Ernie,” and I moved back to the area and got married in 1989. We have lived on my husband’s par-ents’ farm, which is about a mile north of Foreston, since we have been married. We took over the farm in 2004 and are still dairy farming. We have two grown daughters, Jenna and Alyssa. I love to read, scrapbook, relax at home and spend time with family. If I could own one item from any movie, it would be the house from the Note-book: I love old restored homes with all the beautiful woodwork.

Employee Moves

Ben Davis, Probation Office, promoted from Probation Officer to Director of County Probation

Employees Leaving

Laura Whitcomb, Legal Secretary in County Attorney’s Office, left after almost 2 years of service

Walther Morisaki, Correctional Officer, left after less than one year of employment

Tashia Maland, Correctional Officer, left after less than one year of employment

Lisa Rutland, Social Worker in CVS, leaving after almost 16 years of employment

Upcoming Wellness Events with MLC: September 16th: Poker Walk September 24th: 1st Annual Park Extravaganza September 28th: Annual Weight Loss & Weight Management Challenge begins

Let’s Not Sugar Coat This!

Healthy Me. An Employee Worksite Wellness Initiative

September 2015

Volume 11

Mille Lacs

County

About This Issue

It is the Mille Lacs County Employee

Wellness Program’s mission to

educate, support, and empower

employees to improve and maintain

their overall health and well-being

through healthy lifestyle choices.

Visit our web page HERE !

Healthy Choices. Healthy Me.

This month we are looking at

how sugar affects your health.

Diane Overby, CVS Kyann Hamilton, CVS Lisa Herges, ASO Alisha Voigt, CVS Sue Koosman, CVS Chris Jaques, Probation Dillon Hayes, LSO

Current Members

Next Meeting

Be a part of the movement!

Stay tuned for the next

meeting.

Reports show that the average American

consumes 130 pounds of added sugar each

year (22 teaspoons a day). The American

Heart Association recommends that, to

maintain a healthy lifestyle, your daily add-

ed sugar consumption be no more than 6

teaspoons a day for women and 9 tea-

spoons a day for men. Excess sugar can

lead to high blood pressure, diabetes,

heart disease, energy dips, tooth decay

and obesity. Note that this is added sugar, different from sugar that naturally occurs in foods such as

fruits, vegetables and milk. The nutrition you gain from fruits, vegetables and milk outweighs the sugar

effects and actually helps reduce the risk of many diseases.

There are hidden sugars in many products we consume (yogurts, canned food, spaghetti sauce, ketch-

up) and it can be hard to determine how much added sugar is in any certain product. Just recently, the

Food and Drug Administration has pushed for a change in the way sugar is listed on the Nutrition Facts

labels on food products. They are proposing that food labels not only list the amount of added sugar,

but also the daily percent value. That would mean that on a bottle of 20-ounce Coca-Cola, it would

show that it contains 65 grams (about 15 teaspoons) of added sugar and is more than twice the recom-

mended daily intake.

The sugar industry and soft drink companies are working hard to detract our attention from the dan-

gers of excess sugar, placing an emphasis on calories consumed and lack of exercise as the reason

most Americans are overweight and unhealthy. If you haven’t already, check out the film Fed Up, from

producers Katie Couric and Laurie David and director Stephanie Soechtig. This film reports that sugar

has the same addictive properties as tobacco and alcohol. However, warnings against the addictive

powers of sugar are almost non-existent due to intense lobbying by the sugar industry. Further, soft

drink companies are actually funding organizations to promote their stance that lack of exercise is the

culprit of obesity in the nation. An example of this is an organization called The Global Energy Balance

Network. NPR recently reported that the Coca-Cola Company funded the upstart of this group and

continues to fund the group’s founders in what amounts to millions of dollars. Their conclusion is that

it is too difficult for people to change their diet habits and, therefore, the solution is to increase activity.

No mention is made of changing the way food companies manufacture, process, or label our food.

Through education, consumer awareness and accurate food labeling,

we can make smarter choices regarding our food intake. Cook

more meals at home, involve the whole family in meal preparation

and get excited about healthy eating!

YOU DON’T NEED MORE SUGAR, YOU’RE SWEET ENOUGH!

Sources: World Health Organization, Fedupmovie.com, NPR, American Heart Association

It will take a 110-pound child

75 minutes of bike riding to

burn off the calories in one

20-oz bottle of soda.