Victoria Gazette - Victoria Moments

RAGNAR THE VIKING. This picture was taken the night of January 16th at the Island View Country Club in Waconia where the Sons of Norway's Scandia Lodge held its meeting. World renown ice sculptor Maurie Pearson carved this bust of Ragnar the Viking for us outside on the porch while we sat inside and watched. That's Stephanie Smith smiling for the camera next to the finished work of art. Stephanie and her husband Smith are members in good standing with the Sons of Norway. She was one of cheerleaders for Team Norway at the Lutefisk Toss in Victoria this past October.

Kurt Zuppke, Pierson Lake

Victoria and Chaska, Minnesota

UP NORTH CABIN GUY. Chuck Freiberg, former resident of Victoria who moved Up North with the Cabin Gal last year, stopped by to say Hi in early January. Chuck used to be a member of the St. Victoria Choir which is how he and I became acquainted which is how he and Allan became acquainted which is how he became a Victoria Lion. Some years ago Chuck and Pam decided to buy a second home -- they called it the cabin -- up in Voyager Village near Webster, Wisconsin, and Chuck started writing for the Gazette as the Up North Cabin Guy. After Pam retired, she and her retired husband moved to the Up North Cabin and called it home. Now Chuck doesn't write so much for the Gazette anymore. And life goes on, one chapter after the other. ~Editor Sue

NEW TRAINER AT SNAP FITNESS. Josh Yamauchi is one of the new trainers at Snap Fitness in Victoria. With an extensive background in health and fitness, including education at Mankato State University, Josh joins a great team of trainers at this newly built location in the Enki Building on Stieger Lake Lane in Victoria. Josh is the Director of Nutrition Services at Auburn Homes in Carver County.

Jeff Dischinger

Snap Fitness

Victoria, Minnesota

AUGSBURG FOOTBALL STARS. Nick (#6) and Frank Heenie (#62), sons of Kevin and Kim Heenie of Victoria, were recognized for fabulous football feats at Augsburg University, Minneapolis.

Nick, a junior wide receiver at Augsburg, was 1st in the MIAC Conference for touchdowns (15) and 7th nationally. He was also 1st in yards per game (98.3) as well as 1st in receiving yards (983) for the year. His 62 receptions (6.2 per game) and 15.9 yards per catch average were all third-best among MIAC receivers. As a sign of his dominance, no other Conference receiver has more than 816 receiving yards or seven receiving touchdowns this season. At the End of the Year Banquet, Nick was voted Most Valuable Player by his team members. In 2017, Nick recorded 7 games with 100+ receiving yard, including a 10-catch, 178-yard, three-touchdown performance in the Auggie's 48-28 win at Carleton back on September 23rd. In his 22-game Augsburg career, Nick now has 117 receptions for 1,585 yards (72 yards per game, 13.5 yards per catch) and 18 touchdowns.

Frank, a freshman offensive line guard at Augsburg, won the Darrell Wiese Award Freshman Offensive Scout Team Most Valuable Player. Darrell Wiese is credited for recruiting most of the players on the '97 Augsburg Football Championship team. One freshman is picked from the Offensive Line and the Defensive Line for the award. This past September 25th, Frank won the Honors of MIAC Athlete of the Week.

CHAMPIONS AT BEMIDJI.

The Chaska Chanhassen (CCHA) PeeWee B1 Purple team won the Bemidji PeeWee Tournament held in Bemidji the weekend of January 19th to 21st. We played Tartan, Morris/Benson, Bemidji, West Fargo, and St. Michael/Albertville to win the tournamenbt.

Front (l-r): Griffin Duff (Victoria), Caleb Bendell. Kneeling: Caden Bigelbach (Victoria), Owen Buesgens (Victoria), Billy McNeely, Alex Jensen (Victoria). Back: Coach Eric Jensen, Coach Dan Bendell, Tyler Hanson (Victoria), Sam Marek, Coach Nick Bigelbach, Cole Seaverson, Ben Vernier, Mateo Waisanen, Ryan Schutter (Victoria), Cade Reding, Mason Fasching (Victoria), Coach John Seaverson.

Janice Schutter

Victoria, Minnesota

ICE BREAKER CLASSIC CHAMPIONS. Chaska Chanhassen Squirt B Black won the ice Breaker Classic Hockey Tournament the weekend of January 5th-7th. The tournament was held at the Highland Arena in St. Paul, MN. Along the way to the championship, the team beat Delano 7-0, Minnetonka White 4-1, and in the championship game, St. Paul B1 Capitols 4-1.

Front (l-r): Bennett McGinley (Victoria), Kieran Kurtt (Chanhassen), Michael Azanov (Dahlgren Township), Grayson Endres (Victoria), Riley Nahan (Chaska). Middle: Zoe Zielinski (Chanhassen), Colby Stewart (Chanhassem), Jack Gleason (Victoria), Peter Vidmar (Carver). Back: Matthew Tyler (Victoria), Parker Mancini (Chanhassen), Quinn Reding (Chanhassen), Angelo Provinzino (Chanhassen), James Guillemette (Chaska), Holden Palmquist (Chanhassen). Coaches: Jason Noterman (Victoria), Joe Provinzino (Chanhassen), Jason Endres (Victoria). Not pictured: Shawn Nahan (Chaska).