Newsletter
Volume 11, Issue 3
Presidents Corner
By Martin Kubik
Congratulations! You, the
Kekekabic Trail Club volunteers,
have now been clearing wilderness
trails for ten years! We can be
extremely proud of our
achievements of the past decade.
What started as an effort to clear one
trail, the Kek, has grown into a
vision to preserve historic trails in
the BWCA.
This year, we have either flagged
for the USDA Forest Service or
cleared the trails adopted by KTC:
Kekekabic, Pow Wow, South Lake,
Lima, Snow Bank, Eagle Mountain,
and Brule Lake trails.
Last year’s storm damage from the
4th of July left three quarters of the
Kek impenetrable. We asked the
USFS to help with reclaiming the
Kek after the catastrophic damage.
USDA Forest Service cleared the
trails last fall and this spring. We
are grateful to them and to the crews
that returned to finish clearing the
center section of the Kek now that
it’s cooler and the fire danger has
lessened.
Our National Trails Day event at
Ely was the most successful NTD
event we have ever organized.
Thanks to Neal Chapman, our
relationship with the USFS has
greatly improved. I could go on and
on about our accomplishments.
Now that trail clearing is done, we
need to focus on our organization.
October 2000
We need to look ahead and face the
challenges associated with running a
volunteer organization dedicated to
serving the public. To do that, the
board of directors is taking action.
Derrick Passe, past president of the
KTC and trail committee chair has
taken up the post of Vice-President.
Mark Stange, who has co-chaired
the membership committee, is the
new club secretary.
board and the club members is to
fine tune the vision for the club and
to communicate this vision, along
with objectives and specific goals,
to members, partnering
organizations, and sponsors. To
accomplish that, Terry Bernhardt is
heading a committee working with a
communications expert, Maureen
Schriner. Many people are familiar
with the KTC’s maintaining trails.
Several of you have called about the
lack of a newsletter. I believe that
the newsletter, web page,
membership meetings, our mailing
list, and personal contact are all
important tools for communicating
with club members. I make it my
personal goal as the new president
of the club to make sure that you
will receive information about trails
and club business periodically. Bill
Burt has volunteered to edit the
Hungry Beaver on a monthly basis.
Terry Bernhardt, who organized
NTD 2000 with the largest KTC
NTD attendance in history of the
club, was approved as a new
member of the BOD and has taken
up the responsibility of membership
chair. Dagmar Romano is the cochair. We are rescheduling our
annual meeting to December to give
us time to prepare for the event
adequately.
However, we need to continuously
update (refresh) public awareness
about the scope of our efforts and
the extent of our partnership with
the USFS and other trail
organizations such as our partners
Minnesota Parks and Trails Council
(Sioux Hustler Foot Trail), Rovers
(Border Route Trail), and 3M Club
Outdoor Club (Secret-Black Stone
I am confident that you will
volunteer to help with running our
very unique organization. We are
unique in that although we have a
lot of fun doing it, our primary
mission is to be a public service
organization that maintains trails.
One of the tasks ahead of the new
Inside This Issue
Presidents Corner
pg 1
KTC Annual Meeting
Announcement
pg 2
2000 Volunteers
pg 2
Kek Clearing Trip
pg 3
Eagle Mountain Clearing
Trip
pg 4
Calendar of Events
pg 4
Meeting Minutes
pg 5-6
Trail Chatter
pg 7
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1
October 2000
Trail) of the Minnesota Wilderness
Trails Alliance (MWTA). We will
continue our relentless commitment
to “Leave No Trace” camping and to
having fun while aiming for high
standards of safety when clearing
trails or hiking.
Several of you have stepped
forward and offered to help. Thanks
to those of you. If you would like
to volunteer but are not sure of long
term commitment now, I encourage
you to work a shift with an
experienced member at the KTC
booth at the Midwest
Mountaineering Winterfest EXPO
on November 10-12. This is a
chance to tell interested folks about
what it is like to clear the trails and
about having the satisfaction of
helping to maintain the trails. I look
forward to hearing from you. Please
feel free to call me at (651) 3344554 or email me at
wtrails2@yahoo.com.
KTC Annual
Meeting
Announcement
KTC Annual Meeting to be held on
December 2 Kekekabic Trail Club
will hold annual meeting on
Saturday, December 2, 4p.m. to
8p.m. at Wilder Forest, Marine on
St. Croix, Minnesota. Registration
$21 includes dinner and soft drinks.
Terry Bernhardt and Dagmar
Romano are the organizers for this
year's annual meeting. For more
information watch next issue of
Hungry Beaver or call 952-2529297 or (800)818-HIKE and leave
your name and telephone number on
KTC voice mail.
2
2000 Volunteers
By Derrick Passe
The KTC would like to thank all the
volunteers who participated in our
10th Anniversary Clearing. It was a
difficult task to clean up after the
Blowdown. Many changes were
required due to trail closures. Some
of these even at the last minute.
Regulation changes by the USFS
also saw 8 trip leaders learning saw
safety and cutting methods at Fort
Snelling the first weekend of trail
clearing. (The training was
excellent and will be expanded to
include more clearing volunteers in
2001). Despite the enormous
amount of work, the goals of the
KTC Trail Committee were reached
without any injuries to the
participants.
My hard hat is off to the following
volunteers who helped out in 2000!
Names in Italic’s denotes crew
leaders.
Kekekabic Trail West Trailhead
through Benezie-Becoosin
Loop
*Peter Sparks
Folke Arbin
Anne Sigford
John Starr
John Rieck
Theresa Scheib
Mary Handrick
Ed Handrick
Jaqueline Stubbs
Bruce Anderson
Julie Anderson
Jon Harrison
Bruce Lemmons
Vickie Heggen
Kekekabic Trail Seahorse Lake
to Bingshick Lake
*Sue Roring
Gina Hasskamp
Myles Dawson
Jerry Beckham
Gene Kelling
Rachel Lau
Ed Dallas
Chris Moorman
Kekekabic Trail
Disappointment Loop
*Dick Waeschle
Robin Stoffel
Eric Jensen
Patrice Benoit
Charles Peterson
Andrew Peterson
Melissa Becker
Tim Kelly
Dick Kroener
Kekekabic Trail East Trailhead
to Bingshick Lake
*Kelly Breit
Kent Hering
Susan Davies
Mike Fedde
Harlan Liljequist
Joe Davis
Tom Clasen
Mimi Tsai
Kekekabic Trail Thomas Lake
Area
*Lowell Jaeger
Ruth Pfaller
Steven Vollrath
John Wolforth
Angela Anderson
Ulrike Anderson
Stewart Hoagland
Steve Lenius
Kekekabic Trail Strup Lake
Area
*Justin Bodie
Dennis Hensche
Rita Carlotto
Neeraj Khadakkar
Joe Reichert
Ian Holmly
Fred Holmly
Mark Kowaliw
Kekekabic Trail
Disappointment Lake to Medas
Lake
*Kelly Breit
Aaron Walding
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Newsletter
Scott Zellmer
Karen Raway
Deanne Walding
Roberta O'hara
Paul Walding
Reg Willson
Jesse Berger
Kekekabic Trail Agamok River
Bridge
*Bruce Anderson
Bruce Wheelright
Jon Harrison
Folke Arbin
Michael Solmonson
Peter Sparks
Pow Wow Trail Rock of Ages
Lake to Fallen Arch Lake
*Mark Stange
Steve York
Amy Jo Forslund
Eric Forslund
Dagmar Romano
Bob Kelleher
Pow Wow Trail Pose Creek to
Rock of Ages Lake
*Jim Luadtke
Cindy Zwicky
Andy Dvoracek
Chris Stapleton
Meredith Cooley
Nina Clark
Thomas Jacobson
Caitlin Baldwin
Peter Sparks
Eric Mead
Desniege Emmons
Pat Duerr
Bill Carey, Jr
Margaret Russell
Lima Mtn Trail Entire Trail
*Neal Chapman
Fred Base
LeAnn Hensche
John Kendrick
Maureen Schriner
Barb Neitge
David Edlund
Jacki Kucharski
James Massee
John Neitge
Eagle Mtn Trail Clearing
*Bill Burt
Mimi Tsai
Amy Jo Forslund
Mark Jamerson
Sarah Troemel
Troy Foede
Eric Forslund
DPasse@Spacestar.net or
at 1-800-818-HIKE so I can update
the records.
Brule Lake Trail Entire Trail
*Ken Yarina
Johan Dirks
Paul Walding
Deanne Walding
Jenny Schorr
Ken Yarina
Mike Hicks
By Ulrike Anderson
South Lake Trail and Border
Route spur
*Wayne Pulford
Amy Atkielski
David Lane
Meadow Muska
Beth Burow
Jerry Hofmann
Brian Benson
Douglas Lane MD
Snowbank Trail North Arm
*Mark Stange
Peter Marshall
Adam Schad
Stephen Keaveny
Pow Wow Trail Trailhead to
Pose Creek and Fallen Arch
Lake
*Derrick Passe
Chris Klein
Chris Fothergill
Seth Williams
Ellie Graves
Dave Tigges
Brian Kruchowski
Kekekabic Trail Strup flagging
*John Koffski
Chuck Knutson
John Solbitshka
+ My apologies to you if your name
was missed here. Please contact me
at
Kek Clearing Trip,
May 18-21, 2000
From May 18th to the 21st, our group
of nine people cleared a stretch of
the Old Pines Loop and a portion of
the Snowbank Trail almost to Grub
Lake. After a hearty breakfast
Thursday morning, we packed our
gear and canoed across Snowbank
Lake, portaged 140 rods to
Disappointment Lake, and canoed
across to the campsite on the eastern
side of Disappointment Lake. It was
a beautiful campsite with a perfect
swimming access and protruding
into the lake a bit, like a peninsula,
giving us just enough of a breeze to
keep most of the bugs away. After
lunch, we canoed for the remainder
of the day heading west on the Old
Pine Loop Trail. As I went to sleep
that night I thought to myself, “This
is going to be a great trip: not too
hard, not too easy, but just right.”
Boy was I in for a surprise. On the
second day, our group consisting of
John, Steve, Lowell, John, Steve,
Ken, Ruth, Angela, and myself
continued clearing west on Old
Pines up to the northern portage
(that leads from Disappointment
Lake to Ahsub Lake) and cleared the
Loop. It seemed like a good working
day, enough trees to keep us busy
from breakfast till dinner at a steady
pace. Lowell, our leader, kept us
moving with a smile and lots of
enthusiasm, which rubbed off on all
of us. In the end, it turned out to be
a strenuous day for all of us. I think
we were all glad when we finally
turned around, although I believe
Lowell would have liked to keep
going, and I’m sure some of the
others could have kept on too, but I
wonder if we would have remained
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3
October 2000
in a sociable mood. We got back
and had a great, almost gourmet
meal. A big thanks to our food
organizers-- the meals were good
and plentiful. After dinner Lowell
went fishing and caught a whopper
of a walleye. It almost sunk his
canoe. He held it captive until his
proud catch had been documented
on film; then he gently released it.
The next day, we walked the length
Calendar of Events
Oct 3, 7:00 pm
Midwest Mounteering
Membership Meeting
Terry Bernhardt will present “Hiking
in the Big Horns and Kelso
Mountain.”
Oct 13-15
Annual Meeting at the Gunflint
Lodge has been rescheduled to
Dec. 2 at Wilder Forest.
Oct. 17, 6:00 pm
Midwest Mountaineering
Trail Committee Meeting
First meeting of the Trail
Committee.. If you are interested in
attending, helping out, or have any
questions contact Derrick Passe at
(715)386-8348 (612)780-4100
dpasse@spacestar.net
Nov. 9, 7:00 pm
Midwest Mountaineering
Membership Meeting
Due to Presidetnial Elections
Novembers Meeting has been
rescheduled to this time. Remember
Get out and VOTE
Nov. 10, 11, 12
Midwest Mounteering
Outdoor Adventure Expo
Over 60 presentaions and 60
exhibitors and the BEST SALE of
the season.
Dec. 2, 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wilder Forest
Annual Meeting and Holiday
Gathering
More information in the next Hungry
Beaver
4
we had already cleared, now easy to
hike on, and picked up were we left
off. We continued to work at a good
pace considering there were more
trees down on this part of the trail
than there had been on our stretch
the day before. We hit some pretty
good-sized tangles of fallen trees.
Lowell, with his seemingly
inexhaustible energy, reminded me
of the energizer bunny that just
keeps going, and going, and going,
and going, and going…and going.
We got back to camp late that day
tired and hungry. The next morning,
Sunday, we packed up and canoed
back across the lakes and made our
separate ways home; everyone I
think (I hope) with a positive
memory of those shared days. For
me personally, it turned out to be a
challenging trip, especially the
second and third clearing days. But I
enjoy the wilderness greatly and am
always reluctant to leave the BWCA
and my newfound friends to return
to the unnatural world and the city
and all the stress and chaos that
comes with it. I can’t wait till my
next trip.
Official Kekekabic
Trail Club
Leatherman Tool
Limited quantities of the Kekekabic
Trail Club engraved Leatherman
Mini Tool are available for $25.00.
Contact Derrick Passe (715)3868348 or dpasse@spacestar.net
Eagle Mountain /
Brule Lake Clearing
Trip
By Bill Burt
These two trips proved to show
some of the best qualities of the
Kekekabic Trail Club: ingenuity,
teamwork, hard work, loads of fun
and food, and great company. But
before we go any further, we would
like to recognize and thank all the
volunteers who participated. Your
hard work is greatly appreciated.
The Brule Lake Crew
Ken Yarina (leader)
Ken Yarina (leaders Father)
Mike Hicks
Jenny Schorr
Deanne Walding
Paul Walding
Johan Dirks
The Eagle Mountain Crew:
Bill Burt (leader)
Troy Foede
Eric Forslund
Amy Forslund
Sarah Troemel
Mimi Tsai
Mark Jamerson
Under the great plan devised by
Ken, we combined the two crews
and worked as one unit. Everyone
stayed at the Forest Service Cabin
on the Brule. We sent four people:
Bill, Mike, Jenny, and Troy in from
the Brule. Their mission was to
cover and clear as much ground as
rapidly as possible. Since the Brule
end had lighter tree falls, they were
to cover more ground. Ken Yarina
led Ken, Paul, Deanne, Johan, Amy,
Eric, Sarah, and Mimi in from the
Eagle Mountain side. Their mission
was to hit the hardest area by Whale
Lake with a lot of people. This was
the ingenuity.
On Friday, with the teams selected,
missions given, and Forest Service
Safety speech done, the two crews
moved out to achieve their
objectives. This is where the
teamwork, hard work, and some fun
came into play. Both units did an
outstanding job. The Brule Lake
Unit cleared about 80 tree falls
while covering much terrain. The
Eagle Mountain Unit cleared about
at least 80 trees falls while dealing
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Newsletter
with the harder hit areas. The two
units met in the middle as planned
roughly ¾ miles east of the river
crossing.
Since plans where changed with
everyone staying at one place, we
pooled our food resources together
also. Everyone ate very well with a
choice of 2 main entrees each night.
Friday night was tacos and a lentil
stew. Saturday night’s menu was
scalloped potatoes with ham and
bean burritos with a "jello" salad
dessert. Breakfasts where bagels
and fresh corn bread or muffins. On
Sunday, Deanne whipped up a
"cheesy scrambled egg vegetable
dish". They say an army travels on
its stomach. Well this army traveled
VERY well that weekend.
The company was first rate.
Everyone pitched in with camp
chores while creating new friends or
deepening old friendships. With
engineers, a nurse, a physicist,
insurers, programmers, an exchange
student from Taiwan, and several
others that escape me right now,
conversations were interesting and
lively. Saturday night, while sitting
around the picnic table talking, one
of our crewmembers jumped up
flailing their arms all around and
bouncing up and down frantically.
Everyone else looked on in
amazement and curiosity. When all
was done, we where informed that a
beetle had crawled up the sleeve of
their sweatshirt. Another member
responded with, "You don't have to
squish a bug if you want to dance."
In our opinion, this was a very
enjoyable, accomplishing clearing
trip, and we would like to thank all
those who participated once again.
Oh, and by the way, fishing on the
Brule was very good.
Minutes:
KTC Monthly
Meeting June 2000
President Neal Chapman called the
meeting to order at 7:20 PM
Neal recognized Terry Bernhardt for
the highly successful National Trails
Day event.
Neal detailed several “pressing
issues”:
Mark Stange is assuming the duties
of club secretary in the wake of Dr.
Dick Weschle’s resignation. (Dick
will continue as Medical Instructor.)
Jackie K. will edit the club
newsletter, with Bill Burt and Peter
Sparks to provide content.
Kelly Breit will provide an Excel
file of the current database, which
we will host on Peter’s server.
Neal will have USWest set up a new
voicemail box
John K. will lead a hotshot crew in
from the west trailheads of both the
Kek and Snowbank trails
Fall trips are anticipated for the
central portion of the Kek – TBD
Justin Bodie will head a nominating
committee to fill 4 Board openings
Annual Meeting
Neal to arrange accommodations
Martin Kubik will do a history
presentation
Replacement needed for Kelly – by
next meeting
This year’s May trail clearing trips:
146 participants (those who went on
two trips are counted as 2) 566
person days (= 4528 hours in the
woods + 1500 hours advance
planning = 6000 volunteer hours
provided to the USFS) 123 miles of
trail cleared
Mark is to contact Dick for club
secretary items.
Derrick Passe noted that we need to
update our North Country Trail
Association agreement. – Neal will
research our old one.
Martin asked for a couple of
members to work with our
communications consultant. He
expressed concern over recent board
resignations, several housekeeping
issues (e.g., mail), and especially the
club budget. It was agreed that the
Treasurer and Secretary would
produce and publish a budget by
October 1st.
The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes:
KTC Monthly
Meeting September
5, 2000
Martin Kubik kicked off the meeting
with a very entertaining slide show
of his recent travels on the trails in
his native Czech Republic. At the
conclusion, the 13 members present
conducted a regular meeting:
Martin announced the recent
resignations. None of the board
members present could expand on
the terse resignation statement
emailed from President Neal
Chapman. Mark Stange noted that
he has been trying unsuccessfully to
reach Neal to transfer status of the
annual meeting, recent discussions
with the U.S. Forest Service, etc.
No fall trips are currently planned.
Annual Meeting discussion:
Previously planned for Oct 13-14 at
the Gunflint Lodge only a short time
remains. We might combine it with
a holiday party
Crosscut saw certification:
The USFS is tailoring a half-day
course for the KTC
Membership renewals:
Mark & Martin will generate a
renewal letter
Jim Luadtke presented the
treasurer’s report: $5300 balance
with all known bills paid
Concerns:
Database maintenance
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5
October 2000
Website – looking for a way for
multiple-source input. Yahoo
briefcase is a possible addition (for
club business) to the existing
website (for display)
Newsletter – Bill Burt & Martin to
produce a less formal one soon
Bill’s sister is a willing editor (not a
writer) Derrick Passe will prepare
mailing labels
Publicizing Board Meetings – will
be in newsletter and on website
Martin announced he was going on
a short-notice trip this coming
Friday to Banning State Park
Canoe across the river, not far from
the rapids, Members invited.
The meeting was concluded with
Martin giving out two door prizes
(treats from the Czech Republic)
Minutes:
BOD Meeting
September 5, 2000
Following the regular meeting, those
board members present conducted a
short session on how best to proceed
following the recent resignations.
Martin Kubik was designated our
president. Mark Stange will
continue as secretary, Jim Luadtke
as treasurer. Derrick Passe will
become our primary liaison with the
USFS.
Terry Bernhardt was named to fill
one of the open board positions.
NEW BLOOD
WANTED –
October 17,2000
By Derrick Passe
Join the Trail Committee! Its the
easiest way to get the trails cleared
without sacrificing yourself to the
blood-thirsty mosquitoes, black flies
and ticks. Get in the committee that
works behind the scenes to plan and
coordinate the clearing trips. You
can change the way things are done
and help make sure that things flow
smoothly. From training and tools
to lodging and leaders, we do it all.
We will meet about once a month
for about an hour and half, no
experience required. If meetings
aren't easy to make, we have lots of
things that can be done by phone,
mail or email. Compared to sawing
and nipping this stuff is a piece of
cake, and no hard hats required.
The first meeting of the trail
committee will be at 6 PM at
Midwest Mountaineering on
October 17, 2000. Contact Derrick
Passe if: you are interested in
helping out, will attend, or have any
questions.
Looking forward to hearing from
you!
Board Of Directors
Martin Kubik
Justin Bodie
Derrick Passe
Peter Sparks
Jim Luadtke
Mark Stange
Bill Burt
Terry Bernhardt
President - Martin Kubik
(651)426-0925 (651)778-5285
wtrails2@yahoo.com
Vice President – Derrick Passe
(715)386-8348 (612)780-4100
dpasse@spacestar.net
Secretary - Mark Stange
(651)483-5373 (612)797-2363
mark_e_stange@uhc.com
Treasurer - Jim Luadtke
(651)489-4418
jluadtke@aol.com
Trail Committee - Derrick Passe
(715)386-8348 (612)780-4100
dpasse@spacestar.net
Peter Sparks
(651)748-0125
pjsparks@isd.net
Membership - Terry Bernhardt
(651)429-9080
tsb@pro-ns.net
Trail Chatter
By Bill Burt / John Koffski
DeadLine for Next
Issue of the Hungry
Beaver
The Forest Service is doing an
outstanding job clearing the trails
after the July 4 storm. We THANK
YOU most graciously.
The deadline for the November
Issue of the Hungry Beaver is
October 16.
Please send contributions to Bill
Burt at lmjwrb@aol.com.
Presently the Forest Service has 40
professional cutting crews. One
crew is at the cabin and is working
east and west. Two crews are at the
6
Kekekabic Trail Club
Special Projects - Justin Bodie
(651)687-9419
bodir@visi.com
Newsletter Committee Bill Burt
(507)280-9877 (507)285-8763
lmjwrb@aol.com
Shannon Burt
Public Relations - Vacant
Fundraising - Vacant
Program Committee - Vacant
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Newsletter
bridge working east and west. Two
crews at Strup Lake working east
and west. Next week another 8 guys
will join the effort. Their work is
scheduled to end October 15,
finished or not.
So far the Forest Service has over
7000 hours clearing trail. Of that
7000 hours ½ of 1% has been done
with chain saws.
Nov. 9 Presentation
Hiking in the Big
Horn Mountains
Terry Bernhardt will give a photoillustrated talk about backpacking in
the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area of
the Big Horn Mountains in
Wyoming.
The Big Horn Mountains are the
closest mountains to MinneapolisSt. Paul that offer alpine
backpacking trails. There will also
be pictures from our own Kelso
Mountain canoeing and hiking
adventure on National Trails Day.
memebers make the difference.
The presentation will be at next
KTC membership meeting on
Tuesday, October 3, 7:00 p.m., at
Midwest Mountaineering, 309
Cedar Avenue S, Minneapolis, (612)
339-3433 (free validated parking
behind the store).
Has Your
Membership
Expired?
Did you participate in a trip this
year? Are you receiving a free
membership?
If so, your free membership expired
at the end of August. If you would
like to continue as a KTC member
(we’d enjoy sending you this
newsletter each month) Please
renew your membership now.
Make sure BWCA trails are
preserved and maintained for years
to come. They are a vital part of the
Boundary Waters history. Our
Please use the membership form
below. Also include a note on any
area’s which you would like to
volunteer, like trail committee,
programs, special events, the annual
meeting, or any special skills you
can contribute, like planning,
fundraising, training or leading
volunteer crews. The Kek Club is
always looking for members to
share in Minnesota’s great North
Woods.
Morning Cous-Cous
Ingredients:
1 c. whole wheat cous-cous
2 cups water (boiled)
brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg
to taste
raisens, dried apples, dried coconut,
or any other dried fruit of your
choice
Directions:
Boil water and fruit. Add Cous-Cous
and spices. Let sit covered 5 minutes.
Fluff with fork and serve.
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7
October 2000
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Kekekabic Trail Club
309 Cedar Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Place
Postage
Here
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
8
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