Brandon Otte reports:

Three Jordan area residents are probably smiling a little wider than usual this week.

The Jordan Commercial Club and the Jordan Jaycees held their annual distinguished service award banquet last Saturday and honored three lucky Jordan residents for being outstanding at what they do.

Tim Sonnek was recognized with the outstanding agriculturist award, presented by Jim Terwedo.
Sarah Langsweirdt Flynn was recognized as an outstanding young Jordanite, presented by Jerry Langsweirdt.

Howard and Char Senske were recognized with the distinguished service award, presented by Terwedo.

 

SONNEK

Sonnek was born Sept. 14, 1955, and was the oldest of 16 children. He grew up helping on his dad’s 600-acre dairy and cow farm. The farm also raised corn, soybeans, oats, and alfalfa. He milked the cows, drove the tractor, planted, tilled, harvested crops, baled hay, and perfected manure management.

A 1974 graduate of Waldorf-Pemberton High School, Sonnek participated in class plays, was the co-captain of the wrestling team, vice president of the Future Farmers of America, and a member of the local 4-H club that showed dairy cattle at its county fair.

After his uncle broke his arm in a hunting accident, Sonnek worked on his uncle’s farm for a year after high school. It paid off in the end, because with his uncle’s assistance, he was able to attend the University of Minnesota in Waseca and graduate in 1977 with an associate’s degree in diversified agriculture. From there, he transferred to the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education.

While attending college, Sonnek spent his summers beginning a career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a field reporter and working for the Waseca County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS).

Sonnek was hired by the ASCS in 1980 to work with their county office’s training program. In 1981, he transferred to the Olmsted County ASCS office to become the county’s executive director but shortly thereafter transferred to the Scott County ASCS office as its chief executive officer. He worked in the Scott County office until last December.

When government departments and programs were consolidated, Sonnek took a job at the Minnesota Farm Service Agency office as a program specialist. He rides the bus to work every day, something he hasn’t done in 40 years.

Sonnek married Barbara Keller in 1987, and the couple has four children – Christine, Michelle, Shari, and Billy.

Throughout his life in Jordan, Sonnek has been active in the community. He was the vice president of the Jordan Jaycees and has served as a member of the Jordan Lions Club for more than 20 years. He also has been a member of the New Prague Sportsman’s Club and was a founding member of Scott County Pheasants Forever.

He uses his few moments of spare time to work with elementary students in local wrestling programs and participates as a lector and Eucharistic minister for St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. The family has also adopted a section of highway east of St. Patrick and does ditch cleanup twice a year.

His hobbies include yard work and gardening, hunting, fishing, and camping. He also enjoys playing card games like euchre, 500, and Texas hold ’em.

Sonnek is an outdoors enthusiast who likes hiking, cutting wood, and monitoring 12 wood duck houses and 25 bluebird houses that he has on his property.

 

FLYNN

Sarah Langsweirdt Flynn was born July 15, 1972, to parents Cheryl and Jerry. She has one sister and one brother. She and her husband, Al, have two children.

Flynn is a lifelong Jordan resident who attended St. John the Baptist Catholic School and graduated from Jordan High School. While in high school, she was a member of the choir, band, and softball team, and she was a homecoming queen finalist and an all-conference volleyball player.

It’s in sports that Flynn spends most of her volunteer time, working with youth wrestling. She sizes and orders uniforms for youth wrestlers, gets the Ghost Rider youth wrestlers their USA eligibility cards, organizes registrations, is a member of the Scott West Boosters Club, helps sell clothing items at Scott West events, and helps prepare and serve food at the events.

She also helps fund raise for the wrestling programs, whether through organizing and playing on a golf team at the Scott West Open or by selling pork burgers at Belle Plaine’s Barbecue Days. She is also seen often as a table worker during wrestling meets and is the adviser for the Scott West statisticians, taking them to tournaments and working as their chaperone.

At the 2008 Scott West wrestling banquet, the booster club named Flynn and her husband as the No. 1 fans of the year.

Flynn is a member of the Jordan Heimatfest Commission and served as the chairman of the event last year.

You may also have seen her around town selling mini-doughnuts for the high school choir, raking leaves for St. John’s Marathon, stirring dressings for the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Fall Festival, or making personalized cookies for the Jaguars volleyball team – a team of which she is a big fan.

Flynn is also the manager of the Radermacher’s Fresh Market bakery and deli, where she began working when she was 16.

 

SENSKE & SENSKE

Howard and Char Senske both grew up in Gaylord and started dating while they were in high school. They attended college together at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter and were married after graduation.

The couple began their teaching careers together, too, in Hector, but soon moved to southern California, where they taught for several years.

In 1971, the Senskes welcomed their son, Peter, into the world, and his birth brought the two back home to Minnesota. They were hoping to put down more permanent roots and to be closer to both of their families. In 1974, those roots were firmly planted in Jordan, where they built a home and had their second child – daughter Heather.

Church has always been an important part of life for the Senskes. They helped start Hope Lutheran Church in 1975, while the church was still worshiping at Jordan High School. They have been active in church council, camping trips, retreats, and ski trips. Both sang in the church choir and have directed the choir. And when the church needed to expand, the Senskes were involved in the building project.

The couple can’t stay still – while Howard would be building a pool in their backyard, Char would be working on sewing, gardening, scrapbooking, or crafting. Together, they enjoy playing golf.
The couple started Jordan Wine & Spirits together, and the business is still a part of Jordan. They have also been involved in the Jordan Economic Development Authority in hopes of bringing new businesses to Jordan.

Howard and Char retired from teaching after 30 years to continue their activities with their business and in the church.

What little extra time they find they like to spend with their grandchildren – Tor, Bryn, Grace and Caroline. They take the grandkids to plays, museums, camping, skiing, biking, walks in the woods, gardening ventures, and trips to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Brandon Otte is a staff writer for the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at botte@swpub.com [1].