Author: Ben Kopnick

From left, Frank Johnson, Gene Bartz, and West Metro Senior Softball Commissioner Bob Hartshorn enjoy the games at Miller Park on Aug. 31. Photos by Ben Kopnick The familiar sounds of the ballfield were in the air on a late August morning. Ping! The metal bat meets the ball. Smack! The ball hits the back of the leather glove. “One out,” one of the players says. The rhythms of the game were instantly recognizable to the players on the field. After all, most of them have been playing some form of it for decades. The two teams on the field…

Chef and entrepreneur Amalia Moreno-Damgaard in the kitchen of her Eden Prairie home, where she conducts virtual cooking classes. Photos by Ben Kopnick It’s no secret that children are influenced by their environment, learning from the people, places, and things around them. For Eden Prairie resident Amalia Moreno-Damgaard, that meant absorbing the lessons taught by family and food in her native Guatemala. “I call my grandmother on my mother’s side my north star,” said Moreno-Damgaard. After her parents’ divorce, she lived with her grandmother in a small town in southeastern Guatemala from age 5 to 9. There, Moreno-Damgaard watched (and…

Artist Michael Finch stands beside his sculpture Guardian 2, on display outside the Eden Prairie Art Center as part of the city’s Rotating Art Series. Photo by Ben Kopnick For sculptor Michael Finch, it started with duct tape. About a decade ago, it was trendy to make wallets and purses out of duct tape. But, while others were caught up in the craze of making smaller things out of the versatile adhesive, the then 10-year-old Finch saw something else, something bigger. “I saw it and I’m like, ‘hmmm,’ I wonder what giant things I can make out of this material,”…

Hospice patient MaryAnn Stevens (left) visits with Gracie, a moyen poodle, and her owner, Patty Hauck. Photo by Ben Kopnick For many people, pets are a constant in a life full of change. Our pets are around as we grow from children to adults, graduate, get jobs, get married, and have children of our own. Animals give us stability, joy, humor, loyalty, and much more. It only makes sense, then, that they are there for us as we near the end of our lives. Minneapolis-based Grace Hospice, which serves the seven-county metro area, including Eden Prairie, uses volunteer teams —…

Eden Prairie’s William Sawalich moved forward in his auto racing career earlier this month, making his debut in the ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) Menards Series, which can serve as a feeder system for NASCAR, the country’s top stock car racing series. A lot went well, even if the end result wasn’t what he wanted. Sawalich, 16, had the fastest time in the qualifying runs for the ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 150 on March 10 in Phoenix. That meant he got to start the race at the front of the field. He said he had a good…

From left, co-founders of Vori: Robert Pinkerton, Tremaine Kirkman, and Eden Prairie native Brandon Leon Richardson Hill. Photo by Adam Prieto When you grow up going to your parents’ business meetings, you’re going to pick up a few things. In the case of Eden Prairie native Brandon Leon Richardson Hill, that meant learning a lot about the grocery industry. For Hill, those seeds, planted in childhood, were a big part of helping him get to where he is today — co-founder and CEO of Vori, a company that he hopes will transform the business of how we get our food. Hill,…

William Sawalich recently signed a three-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing that begins in 2023. Submitted photo For seven years, Eden Prairie native William Sawalich has been darting around racetracks all over the country, driving cars that routinely travel at triple-digit speeds. He just became eligible for his Minnesota driver’s license in October. The 16-year-old race car driver had a strong 2022 season, registering 15 wins across various racing series. Those accomplishments helped him land a three-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the most successful racing teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, the highest level of stock car…

Meaghan Pezon concentrates on the puck at a recent Minnesota Whitecaps practice. Photo courtesy of Sam Silver/Minnesota Whitecaps With more than a decade of experience as a professional hockey player, it stands to reason that Eden Prairie native Meaghan Pezon has seen a lot: leagues that folded, blinding snowstorms during van trips to away games, home arenas without a permanent locker room for her team. Meaghan Pezon Today, her team plays in a more stable league, flies to away games, and recently moved into an arena that has a locker room it can call its own. Through it all, Pezon…

Mike Max said he learned a lot about being a reporter from the late Sid Hartman. “To be a great reporter is just fundamental; it’s not fancy, you know,” he said. “It’s fundamental. Show up, show up, show up.” Photo by Ben Kopnick It’s midday in downtown Minneapolis, and Mike Max’s curiosity is on full display. Listen to him conversing with people on the sidewalks, people he sees every day — the curiosity is there. Watch him taking in the answers as he talks with members of an organization hired by the city of Minneapolis to help curb violent crime…

Fantasy football pioneer Paul Charchian has dealt with plenty of pressure in his professional life. As a side job, he started a magazine to fill a hole in a growing industry. Three decades later, he has to figure out how to stand out in that same industry, now saturated with competitors. Growing up in Eden Prairie, pressure involved scrounging up 25 cents. “I would walk up to Eden Prairie Center,” said Charchian, who now lives in Plymouth. “If I could find a quarter, I would walk up to Aladdin’s Castle [an arcade]. If I could just get one quarter together…