By Brenda Erdahl
January
Just when we thought this winter couldn’t get any stranger, two local teens decided to prove us all wrong. The call of the open water on Lake Pulaski was too much to resist for Isabelle Melgaard of Maple Lake and Ashlyn Petersen of Annandale who decided to take advantage of the ice-free lake on New Year’s Day with a quick tour on water skis. . . Maple Lake eighth grader Riley Ellingson won the District Spelling Bee title last week in a dramatic 10-round finale. Ellingson spelled “pragmatic” correctly to claim the honor and will advance to the Regional Spelling Bee on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at the Atwood Ballroom at St. Cloud State University. On Wednesday, Jan. 17, he out-spelled 17 schoolmates in grades fifth through eighth.