Good morning!

Saturday was a welcoming glimpse of the summer to come. It reached just below 78 degrees at MSP, breaking a record for March 21 that stood since 1938 and decimating the aftermath of the record-threatening snowstorm just a week before.

Although the weather won’t be as warm this week, it is still a great time to go out and explore what Woodbury has to offer. This week, we highlight Holy Week services provided by churches across Woodbury, along with the classic Easter brunches, egg hunts and pictures with the bunny.

Enjoy!

Editor: Theo Franz
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Holy Week Service Times Across Woodbury

By: Beth-Ann Bloom

Holy Week, culminating on Easter Sunday (April 5), is the most sacred time on the Christian calendar.

While many Woodbury residents have a church home and plan to attend special services, others who are new to the community or not part of a congregation may be looking for a chance to join in worship.

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Fun Fact

Neither the Woodbury Heritage Society records, nor the long memory of his son Tom Bielenberg can answer this recent question: Did Woodbury's first mayor, Orville Bielenberg, receive a salary for his years of service, first to the town and then to the city.”

Tom shared, “I don’t recall a city paycheck ever being talked about at home, not that any of us as kids know much about our parents’ finances. There was the farm, and later in the 1960s, dad took a job at the University of Minnesota Experiment Farm in Rosemount. He’d come home and go work in the fields or go to a meeting.”

Dad was big on service to the community and volunteerism, so payment never occurred to me. He just never talked about serving as mayor in monetary terms.”

Orville wrote in his memoir, ”During the 1950s I spent a lot of time serving on the Woodbury Town Board. Prior to 1961, we had quite a number of subdivision applications to take care of and we also had to provide new ordinances to take care of the growth and handle the number of citizens coming to Woodbury.”

In this interval the population increased from 1,000 to 3,000.

“Prior to that time, we were a farming community. In 1967, after Woodbury became a city, I served on the Village Council and I was elected mayor in 1968. This job consisted of minimal work during the day but many meetings at night as Woodbury began to grow.”

There were about 6,000 people in Woodbury at this point.