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NB school building referendum set for fallBy Barbara Brown And at a special meeting June 20, the board voted unanimously to present a referendum to voters this fall for a 135,000- square foot school building. The building is proposed to be built on land the district already owns along Grand Avenue in North Branch although two parcels in Stacy are being looked at to see if they might be feasible. A final bond cost was not set, but estimations show that the referendum question could total about $28 million for a single school building project. The board recognized that residents needed more than a statement saying they would build a school with the money and ordered a working diagram of the building from the district architecture firm, ATS&R. The rendering should be available in a couple of months. Other actions The Edelstein Family Foundation was created by the children of Samuel Edelstein, a general merchant who lived in North Branch in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Jacob, David and Ruth Edelstein started the foundation because they wanted to offer other young people eager to learn the opportunity to continue their educations past high school. The Edelstein children were among a rare few who actually graduated from high school in those years. The first graduating class from North Branch High School ñ in 1909 ñ consisted of only a couple of students, including Jacob Edelstein. By the time Ruth Edelstein graduated in 1917, the graduating class grew to 12. Jacob Edelstein opened the Rapinwax Paper Co. in 1926. It made waxed paper for bakeries. The company was on Como Avenue in St. Paul for years. David Edelstein became president and owner of C.D. Robinson Co., a St. Paul sugar brokerage in 1922. Ruth Edelstein took the stage name Ruth Easton when she starred in several plays in a stock theater company in upstate New York. She also appeared in five Broadway plays during a seven-year stretch. None of the Edelsteins were married and none had children. Instead, they spent a lot of time helping charitable organizations. The siblings were lucky to attend school, they had been known to say. The three now will be honored with a plaque at the high school and their name above the auditorium entrance. ©ECM Post Review |