I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
April 22, 1997
By Devlyn Brooks
Staff Writer
Due to a shortage of space at the Bemidji National Guard Armory, the flood Emergency Operations Center in Bemidji announced Monday the clothing depot for flood evacuees has been moved to the 4-H building located at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds.
According to Amy Maixner, a volunteer for the EOC, the amount of clothing was too large for the Armory to handle, so all alternative space was needed.
More than a dozen American Red Cross volunteers were working feverishly at about 8 p.m. Monday at the 4-H building to unload and sort a semi-trailer and two pickups full of clothes that were donated by the Bemidji area.
The new clothing depot will be ready for operations today.
According to a Red Cross volunteer, the depot will be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. all week, and the clothing will be sorted into men's, women's and children's aisles.
Marilyn Shutter, a Fair Board member, said the building had formerly been reserved for a statewide metalsmiths' convention to be held there this weekend, but she said if needed the two groups will be sharing the 4-H building.
"I imagine that this is an outpouring of love from our community," she said of the semi full of clothing. "This is awesome."
According to Maixner, the Bemidji Armory will still handle donations of personal hygiene items and food stuffs and will still provide shelter to those in need, but the local Red Cross office should be contacted about clothing donations.
People in need of clothing and volunteers willing to sort, distribute and unload clothing at the 4-H building should also call the Red Cross office at 755-9490.
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