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We are used to seeing glorious gardens from the likes of Edina, Minnetonka and the Minneapolis lakes area featured in home and garden publications. But this year, the back yard of a St. Bonifacius couple, David and Sheila Aadland, was recognized in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Beautiful Gardens contest.

Their gardens were among six contest winners announced in Sunday’s newspaper and will be highlighted in its home and garden section in the coming weeks. A Star Tribune writer and photographer were at the home for more than two hours last Friday morning, the Aadlands noted.

“Ours is just a modest home, so maybe that was a factor in selecting a winner from out here,” David laughs.

The home sits on a cul-de-sac on Maple Lane in St. Boni. It has an inviting curbside presence, but it’s what’s behind the house that stands out – a sprawling hillside garden with annuals, perennials, varieties of evergreens and several water features.

“We call it our secret garden because no one really knows it’s here,” Sheila said.

Readers know now, but only because a neighbor over for a backyard barbecue was wowed by the garden and submitted a contest entry to the Twin Cities daily newspaper, which has been conducting its annual Beautiful Gardens contest for more than 20 years.

It was around 20 years ago that the Aadlands built their home, and the place where their lush gardens bloom now had been a field and a mound of clay. But with a vision, loads of black dirt and mulch, rocks collected from excavated areas where other homes were built, and lots of hard work and nurturing, the back yard has evolved to what it is today.

“Sheila has the design eye and garden knowledge, I’m just a laborer,” David says.

The Aadlands moved into their home in winter, so Sheila’s initial focus was to give the back yard some winter interest – hence the arborvitae, juniper and rock treatment – and to start to develop a natural backdrop and screening for their property.

It was also a place to be at home and do things with their two boys when they were younger, so there is a strategically placed path where they could run around the garden, not through it.

One son has since gone to become a professional organic farmer at an event center in North Carolina. The other took another career path – computer information technology, although he still helps put down mulch every year.

As the boys grew, the garden did too. Sheila plugged in annuals and perennials along the way. She used young plants to save money and shifted them around as other plants grew, or pulled them out entirely if they didn’t work. She also notes that as trees and shrubs grew, it affected sun patterns, which also figures into changes in the garden palette.

“This garden has been evolving for 20 years,” says Sheila, and she is out there every day. “It’s a lot of upkeep, but it’s my passion. I love the beauty, the pruning and the perfecting.”

“It’s spiritual, nurturing and creative, and it’s something I can continue to do as a I get older,” adds the semi-retired personal trainer.

The Aadland’s back deck looks over the garden. A glass sunroom they added recently does too.

“A big Friday night out for us,” David said, “is weeding gardens together and then sitting out on the deck or in the hot tub with a glass of Merlot.”

Sarah Eiler cannot attest to whether Oprah is a good hugger, despite accidental research during the Agnes Scott College commencement in Decatur, Ga.

“I was kind of in a daze because I was walking across the stage graduating,” Eiler told me via phone about halfway through her two-day drive from Georgia back to Minnesota. “I had intended to just shake her hand and she pulled me in for a hug and was like, ‘Let’s take a picture!’ ”

A picture, you say? “It was a professional photographer but the school hasn’t released the photos yet, so I don’t have access,” she said last week. When we talked Sunday Eiler told me most of the photos appear to have been released by GradImages.com — but not the pictures of graduates with Oprah. My calls to GradImages and a tweet to Harpo Studios yielded no explanation for the photo delay.

The new biology degree holder is the daughter of Elizabeth and Tim Eiler, of St. Bonifacius.

“In the summer I’m starting grad school at St. Thomas, to be a science teacher,” said Sarah. “I LOVE biology; it is the love of my life and I had this wonderful biology teacher [at International School of Minnesota in Eden Prairie], Mr. Lyman-Buttler and I want to be like him. I want to make other people like biology.”

When pressed, Sarah told me Mr. Lyman-Buttler’s first name is Andrew.

With the inspiration of Lyman-Buttler, and a hug from Oprah, there’ll be no stopping Sarah in her determination to educate youngsters about biology.

Q: Did you guys have a campaign to get Oprah to give the commencement address?

A: Yeah. It was partly that and partly one of my classmates was part of [a] graduating class of her [Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls] school in South Africa. The class has been campaigning for the last three years to get her.

Q: How did a Minnesotan end up in college in Georgia?

A: My grandmother graduated from Agnes Scott in 1966. My grandmother [Julia Pensinger] lives in east Tennessee.

Q: How old were you when you got your first microscope?

A: I actually don’t have a microscope. I really want one.

Q: Microscopes have gotten expensive, like a couple thousand bucks?

A: Yeah, for a really nice one.

Q: What was your first science experiment around the house?

A: My mom would say all of the times I left food in fridges and didn’t clean it. [We both laugh.] But there’s a creek in our backyard and when I was a kid, one of my neighbors got a microscope for Christmas, I think. We found a really weird mushroom so we dissected it. I think that was the first time I did any kind of science.

Q: Did you keep a cleaner refrigerator at college than at home?

A: [Prolonged laughter and a pause.] Probably not.

Q: What is something that the newly minted B.S. in biology grad finds too gross to the touch?

A: I don’t know. Touch is not the grossest thing for me. I’m sure there is something that is disgusting.

Q: Refining that question: What is something too gross to touch even with gloves?

A: A rotting pumpkin. I had to clean one up last year, but I touched it with gloves.

Q: How cool is GE’s TV commercial featuring the now late Millie Dresselhaus?

A: Wow! I had to look it up because I don’t see commercials very often. I love it and the idea! It makes me want to buy things from GE since they say they are committed to hiring and encouraging more women engineers and scientists.

Q: How long is it going to take you to become Minnesota Teacher of the Year?

A: [Big laugh.] Probably a long time. I know a previous [2006] Teacher of the Year, my elementary school English teacher at Park Spanish Immersion in St. Louis Park. Lee-Ann Stephens. She just got her Ph.D. this week, too, so she is doctor now.

C.J. can be reached at [email protected] and seen on Fox 9’s “Buzz.” E-mailers, please state a subject; “Hello” does not count.

The Rev. Joseph Gallatin, accused of inappropriately touching a teenage boy on a mission trip in 1998, is the second priest in the past week disciplined by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for alleged child abuse — a pace considered “extraordinary” by some victim advocates.

Gallatin, who most recently served as pastor at the Church of St. Peter in Mendota Heights, is barred from celebrating mass in a church, hearing confessions, wearing a priestly collar or engaging in other ministry activities. His case has been sent to the Vatican for “final resolution.”

“Imposing these precautionary measures reflects the seriousness of the allegation,” wrote interim archbishop Bernard Hebda in a statement, “but should not be viewed as a presumption of guilt.”

The archdiocese also announced the reinstatement of the Rev. Gerald Dvorak to the Church of St. Peter in Richfield. Dvorak was put on a leave of absence in May following an accusation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s. An archdiocese investigation determined the claim was not substantiated.

Meanwhile the archdiocese announced last week it was giving a leave of absence to Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, a pastor at Corpus Christi and St. Rose of Lima parishes in Roseville, following a credible allegation of sexually abusing a minor.

The disciplinary actions against two priests within one week caught advocates for abuse victims by surprise.

It could mark the beginning of a wave of priest removals or leaves, as the archdiocese cranks up its scrutiny of its long secret files on accused priests, said Patrick Wall, an investigator for victim’s attorney Jeff Anderson’s law firm.

Wall, a former monk who served in archdiocese parishes in the 1990s, called the stepped-up disciplinary actions “extraordinary.”

The last wave of priests disciplined for child sex abuse occurred in 2002 and 2003, when about 20 priests were forced to step down following a national survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Bishops, said Wall.

Gallatin was accused of putting his hand under the night shirt of boy in a bunk bed during a mission trip to Appalachia in 1998. He “caressed his stomach and perhaps part of his chest,” and had begun to find it pleasurable, according to a 1998 letter written by then vicar general Kevin McDonough.

The boy wasn’t yet asleep, and reported that it made him uncomfortable, wrote McDonough, noting the boy’s father was angry about the situation.

“He [Gallatin] acknowledged a similar event when he was a college freshmen, involving one of his roommates,” wrote McDonough.

The incident was investigated by three separate clergy review boards, in 1998, 2002 and 2014. They concluded the incident did not constitute sexual abuse of a minor, although it was a “boundary violation.”

Since then, additional information about the incident was obtained, the archdiocese said, and a new ministerial review board determined there was sufficient evidence to support that it was abuse of a minor.

That new review board has 12 members, including five with law degrees, two with medical degrees and “several” with professional or personal experience with victims of violence and abuse, according to a statement by the archdiocese. It did not respond to requests for the names of individuals serving on the board.

Gallatin was a pastor at the Church of St. Peter in Mendota Heights from 2008 to 2014, He also served at St. Boniface parish in St. Bonifacius from 2003 to 2008, as well as parishes in Delano and St. Paul.

Hebda said he was unsure how long it would take for the Vatican to make a decision on Gallatin’s case, “but I have confidence they will proceed with fairness and justice for all parties involved.”

Last week Wednesday, during the council workshop meeting before the regular council meeting, Rick Weible, former mayor of St. Bonifacius and current member of Midwest Swamp Watch gave a presentation to the council on election integrity and the issues he and his organization have found with the Dominion voting machines, the machines which Sherburne County uses. County Auditor Diane Arnold was invited to come and offer a rebuttal of Weible’s claims, but declined to attend.

Weible explained to the council and others in attendance the various ways in which the machines were unreliable. The machines run on Windows 7, which Microsoft no longer supports and therefore they do not receive regular security updates. He also noted that the wifi network, though private and locked, was visible to any person visiting the government center, making it that much easier for a hacker to locate the correct network.

Besides the machines being outdated and hackable, human error can lead to inaccurate counts as well. Incomplete logs of votes and of people entering and exiting the rooms where ballots are stored are two of the issues he discussed.

Weible suggested hand counting the ballots in the upcoming election to eliminate or alleviate these issues.

The full recording of Weible’s presentation to the Big Lake Council can be found at TinyURL.com/RickWeiblePresentation.

After Weible’s presentation, Mayor Paul Knier responded by saying that he was concerned about the issues raised regarding the machines themselves, but that he had full faith in Gina Wolbeck, the city clerk who ran the elections. He promised to continue to research the issue.

Open Forum

Brad Cross, in light of the recent uncertainty cast on the election process in the county, wanted to share his point of view as an election judge. He spoke of the integrity of Gina Wolbeck, city clerk who is in charge of running elections, and had many positive things to say about the way she has run elections in the city. He confirmed that, during the last general election, one of the Dominion voting machines did go down, but that he and another election judge worked quickly to secure the unit. Judges from each party handled all ballots and no ballots were compromised. Cross believes that hand counting ballots would be a bad idea, as he believes this will lead to errors over the course of a long day.

Northland Meadows

The Northland Meadows Second Addition will feature single-family homes and single-family villas.

Council members and staff discussed some concern about the housing density of the proposed project. The area is zoned for R1 residential, but the proposed project would represent slightly more density, making it R2 (although, according to staff, the true density would land somewhere between R1 and R2). Although all of the units are single family homes, the tightly-packed villas with small yards (which are marketed towards 65 and older individuals who don’t need much space and don’t like to do a lot of yard maintenance) make the density higher than the city intended for the area.

The developer’s representative explained that there hasn’t been as much demand for large yards, and in the current market he doubted anyone would be able to develop the area to an R1 standard.

However, the developer was unsure whether they wanted to pursue the plan, anyway, as there would be a significant cost to providing sewer services to the area.

Code Revision

The council heard an update on the code revision project. Staff is working to make city code more “user friendly” for developers and residents. Staff approached the council to give the council members a chance to ask questions and provide feedback. The new code should be in use by next spring if everything goes as planned.

Department Reports

Norm Michels of the streets, parks, and fleet department gave an update on his department’s preparations for the summer. Spring crack filling has been going on for several weeks. They have also been dragging over the ball fields in preparation for youth baseball.

A local excavator volunteered their truck to move pieces of the Lakeside Park pier back to the lake, since none of the city’s vehicles were capable of doing so. Michels offered his sincere gratitude for the gesture, as did the council members. Improvements were made to the boat landing, which had some significant cracking.

The city is working with Sherburne County to offer a story stroll at Highline Park. Kids who complete all the story strolls in the county and collect stamps from each one can receive a prize from their local library.

Dan Childs of the Water and Wastewater department reported that improvements to the water treatment facility have led to much more water conserved.

His Excellency, the Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective June 15, 2013

Rev. Mark Joppa, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Ambrose of Woodbury. This is a transfer from his assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord in Saint Paul.

Rev. Nathan LaLiberte, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of St. Michael, of Frankfort (St. Michael). This is a transfer from his assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of St. Stephen, of Anoka.

Effective July 1, 2013

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Rev. Thomas Balluff, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of St. Boniface of St. Bonifacius and the Church of St. Mary (Delano), and appointed pastor of Saint John’s Church of Little Canada.

Rev. Joseph Bambenek, appointed pastor of the Church of St. Pius X of White Bear.

Rev. Daniel Bodin, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Peter (Forest Lake).

Rev. Donald DeGrood, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Peter (Forest Lake) effective June 30, 2013, and appointed pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament of St. Paul. In addition, Rev. DeGrood is appointed Vicar for Clergy.

Rev. Timothy Dolan, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Lake of Mound (effective June 30, 2013), and appointed pastor of the Church of Saint William of Fridley.

Rev. David Kohner, accepted resignation as pastor of Saint John’s Church of Little Canada (effective June 30, 2013), and appointed pastor of the Church of St. Bridget of Sweden (Lindstrom).

Rev. Jules Omba Ombalanga, appointed chaplain to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

Rev. Anthony O’Neill, appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Lake of Mound.

Rev. Joseph-Quoc Vuong, appointed pastor of the Church of St. Boniface of St. Bonifacius and the Church of St. Mary (Delano).

Rev. Mark Wehmann, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of St. Bridget of Sweden (Lindstrom) effective June 30, 2013, and appointed pastor of the Church of St. Boniface (Minneapolis), in addition to his assignment as chaplain to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

Rev. Joseph Whalen, appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Peace (Minneapolis).

Effective June 15, 2013

Rev. Leonard Andrie, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Joseph of West Saint Paul and chaplain to Convent of the Visitation School.

Rev. Andrew Brinkman, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord (St. Paul).

Rev. John Drees, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Hubert of Chanhassen.

Rev. Joah Ellis, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of St. Stephen, of Anoka.

Rev. Spencer Howe, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Divine Mercy of Faribault.

Rev. Andrew Jaspers, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of St. John Neumann (Eagan).

Rev. Luke Marquard, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of the Epiphany of Coon Rapids.

Rev. Brian Park, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church St. Charles Borromeo of Minneapolis and chaplain to De La Salle High School.

Rev. James Peterson, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of St. Odilia, of Shoreview.

Rev. Andrew Stueve, pending presbyteral ordination on May 25, 2013, appointed parochial vicar of the Holy Name of Jesus of Medina (Wayzata).