David Baker March 2010 Featured Resident

From living frugally in the woods to being an investor in the stock market, Dave Baker is a person of many contradictions.  He has lived in New Dosey Township for 38 years now and has definitely left a footprint.

David Roswell Baker was born on April 22, 1943, in Minneapolis, to Roswell and Vera Baker.  He attended Catholic schools for all grades- 1st through 12th.  Dave has one brother, Don, who was adopted when Dave was one.  After graduating from high school, Dave attended the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.  He graduated in 1966 and was accepted into the Fine Arts program at Yale University in New Haven, CT.  After getting a Masters of Fine Arts, he went to work as an art and architecture instructor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Dave taught at this school for 3 years, then, having purchased property in our township, moved up in the summer of 1972.  He put up a tepee and with the help of Bob Brewster, who moved up with him, built a one-room cabin, using hand tools and wood from his land.  He lives in that home today, but has added several rooms onto it in the past 3 decades. He has always lived off the electrical grid.

In addition to trying to make and sell his art work, Dave has worked at several different jobs.  The Markville and St. Paul post offices employed him for many years.  He has also worked as an art instructor at the Federal Prisons, both in Duluth and Sandstone.   Dave also worked part time as a veterinarian’s assistant for many years. He is currently working as a fulltime artist out of his home. His work is placed in the Port Wing Gallery on the south shore of Lake Superior and in the Cabin Fever Gallery in Danbury, Wisconsin. He has entered pieces in both the Minnesota State Fair and the East Central Regional Art Show and has won many awards.

Dave married Deborah Hanson in 1977 and they were divorced in 1990.  In 1996, he married Fran Levings whom he had met via mutual friends.  He has 3 children- Sara, 36, (Los Angeles) from a former relationship, Leda, 32, (Minnetonka) and Nic, 28, (Philadelphia) from his first marriage.

Having been elected as the township clerk in 1990, he has served on our town board for 20 years.  He is currently a supervisor. He and Fran continue to enjoy their “back to basics” lifestyle in the woods off Squib Creek Drive.

FEATURED RESIDENT-FEBRUARY-2010-JASON FORNENGO

FEATURED RESIDENT-FEBRUARY-2010-JASON FORNENGO

Last month, we featured John Fornengo in this spot.  This month, we’ll take a look at his industrious and good-hearted son Jason.

Jason Anthony Fornengo was born on May 26, 1974, to Robin and John Fornengo who lived here in Cloverton.

With the exception of being home-schooled for about a year and a half, Jason attended all 12 years of education in the East Central School District.  He graduated from the Sandstone High School in 1992.

After attending Vermillion College in Ely for about a year and a half to study Law Enforcement, he dropped out and has been employed as a concrete worker ever since then.  He has been doing this work since 1994.

He met his wife Erika through a friend and the two of them were married in a church in Sandstone on September 27, 1997.  They have two sons- Dominic (11) and Adam (6).  They live a lovely home that they built on Rutabaga Road.

Jason is also employed by New Dosey Township as our ice & snow removal grader driver.

Jason’s off-work interests are snowmobiling, hunting and fishing.  He and his family also do a lot of camping.  A favorite camping spot is the Rock Lake Horse Camp in Markville.

Our township appreciates the fact that Jason and his family chose to live and raise their boys here.  We have so few young people out here.  Thanks for sticking around, Jason.

Update, January 30, 2012: Jason and Erika Fornengo are the new owners of the Clark Jade Fuel Station in Sandstone.

Update, January 30, 2012: Jason and Erika Fornengo are the new owners of the Clark Jade Fuel Station in Sandstone.

FEATURED RESIDENT- JANUARY, 2010- ANTHONY JOHN FORNENGO

FEATURED RESIDENT- JANUARY, 2010- ANTHONY JOHN FORNENGO

Members of the wonderful and extended Fornengo have lived in our community for many years.  This month we are featuring a longtime contributor in many ways to our township.

Anthony John Fornengo was born to Doris and Tony Fornengo, who lived here in New Dosey, at the Siren, Wisconsin, hospital on April 28, 1951.  He was the last of their six children.

John attended the Cloverton Grade school for grades 1-8, then went to the Sandstone High School, from which he graduated in 1970.  During his senior year in high school, John started working for the railroad in Superior, Wisconsin, and went back to work there upon high school graduation.

John was drafted into the U.S. army in January of 1971.  (He recalls that he and his family were gathered listening to the numbers and his was the last number called!)

He served 2 years in Frankfurt, Germany, as a Railway MP.  He was one of a very small number of MPs serving in the entirety of Europe at that time.

Upon getting out of the Service, John picked up his job with the Canadien-Pacific Railroad and has worked there for over 42 years.  In the meantime, he had met Robin Merritt, from California, when she was staying with friends in Sandstone and attending school in Duluth.  They met at the old A& W Root Beer stand in Sandstone.

John and Robin were married in his mom and dad’s backyard under the lilacs on September 11, 1971.  They have  two adult children, Jason and Brannan, and three grandsons.  Jason and his wife Erika and sons Dominic and Adam live next to John and Robin right here in Cloverton, while Brannan and her husband and son Elijah live in Finlayson.

Carrying a strong religious faith, John has been very involved in church activities for many years.  He and Robin are members of the Siren Assembly of God congregation.  John is part of a Men’s Group that meets every Thursday evening to discuss and deal with many issues, including addiction and recovery.  A recovering alcoholic, John is proud of the fact, and rightfully so, that he took his last drink in January of 1981 and met the Lord during the same month.

Spending time with Robin, his children and grandchildren is another joy of John’s life.

John served on the New Dosey town board for 12 years, six of which saw him in the role of Town Chair. He laughingly recalls the crisis in the early 1990s when a supervisor election came in as a tie and he, along with Clerk Dave Baker, made the call to draw straws to determine a winner.

John hopes to retire in about 18 months and add hunting and fishing to the list of activities that he enjoys.

A grateful and admiring township wishes him well in all that he does.