Category Moose Lake Show all
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Lieutenant John Klar Retires From Moose Lake
By Ian Heaslip
Lieutenant John Klar recently retired from MCF-Moose Lake with over 30 years of service with the Department of Corrections. John began his career at Sauk Center working with juveniles prior to transferring to Moose Lake in 1997. He finished the remainder of his career up north, promoting to sergeant and eventually lieutenant in 2013.
John was a staple on SORT for over 17 years. John started the Honor Guard at Moose Lake and was instrumental in the team DOC-wide. He was the lead instructor for shotgun/less-lethal. One of the highlights of his career was his time on the Marksman Observer Team. His retirement gift from many in the facility and across the agency was a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun that was engraved with his years of service.
Lt. Klar reminds everyone to be there for your co-workers and watch out for each other. He also noted that it’s important to let the stupid stuff roll off your back daily. John, thank you for your many years of service!
Lt. Carl Bennett (Left) presenting Lt. John Klar (Right) with his retirement gift. 
Lt. John Klar proudly displaying his retirement gift. -
Moose Lake Restorative Justice Council Donates $10,000 to PAVSA
By Ian Heaslip
On Tuesday May 22, 2023, the Restorative Justice Council donated $10,000 to PAVSA (Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault).
Since 1975, PAVSA has been working to end sexual violence in our community. The Restorative Justice Council at Moose Lake sponsors fundraisers throughout the year and gives back to service providers in the community. Along with PAVSA, they also donated $3,000 each to Family Pathways and Safe Haven Shelter & Resource Center.
Special thanks to case manager Chrissy Gamst for her leadership and connection to the community.
Back: Brad Voorhees, Marcus Brown, John Nemo
Middle: Vanessa (PAVSA), Toby Johnson, Bailey Garcia, Charles Maddox, Andrew Salinas, Chrissy Gamst (Caseworker)
Front: Tracy (PAVSA)
Not pictured: David Doppler, Mark Staats, Moises Kinney, and Bradley Ball.
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Shout Out: Moose Lakes Helps MSOP Partners
By Warden Brian Collins
We had quite a few leftovers from our EEC BBQ on Tuesday. We cooked the leftovers on Wednesday and provided MSOP a surprise lunch. I talked to Terry Kneisel the night before and he really appreciated the gesture. They’ve had a tough go if it recently. Staff were very, very appreciative.
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Officer Pete Gentry Retires from Moose Lake
By Ian Heaslip
Officer Pete Gentry recently retired from MCF-Moose Lake with over 23 years of service with the Department of Corrections. Pete spent his entire career at Moose Lake, serving on all three watches and in many posts--however, most of his time was on Squad as an A-Team Responder for 2nd Watch. His words of advice are to, "Listen to what everyone has to say, but at the same time, make your own decisions. When you make a decision, follow through with it timely, as people’s safety often times depend on it."
Thank you for your many years of service, Pete!
Pete Gentry -
Moose Lake's Chrissy Gamst Recognized for Transforming Lives Award
By Ian Heaslip
Chrissy Gamst, Corrections Security Caseworker Career at MCF- Moose Lake, is the winner of the Transforming Lives Award of the month in the category of Above and Beyond Call of Duty. The following narrative illustrates the great work that Chrissy does here at the facility!
Case Manager Chrissy Gamst has gone above and beyond the call of duty with regards to her job duties as a Case Worker-Career. At the beginning of the summer, she volunteered to take the lead in rebuilding the Restorative Justice committee at MCF-ML. The committee had lost some momentum during COVID and lost about half of its members. She dedicated herself to rebuilding the committee based on RJ principles while taking a person-centered approach. She facilitated several meetings with the remaining RJ committee members focused initially on finding new members. She listened to what the current members wanted with regards to criteria for new members. She then facilitated a welcome circle for the new members and allowed the members to set the standards for their participation and their accountability to one another.
As the work was being done in rebuilding the RJ Committee, she was able to work with the committee to provide RJ programming at MCF-ML. She had a presentation given to the committee by Laura Anderson, an intern for The Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at UMD via Teams, which led to several incarcerated individuals at MCF-ML participating in a call for papers about their story. Ms. Gamst facilitated Inside/Out presentations during the summer and early fall. Finally, thanks in large part to the work she did to rebuild the RJ Committee, MCF-ML had a very successful RJ week, offering several different programing options through the shortened week.
MCF-ML is currently running 2 weekly sessions of RJ 101 where incarcerated people learn the principles of RJ and learn to apply those principles to their life. This is a direct result of the work Ms. Gamst has done with the RJ Committee. It should also be noted, Ms. Gamst was doing all of this work despite a large caseload of her own while covering the case load of one of her co-workers who was out on a medical. She accomplished all of this while presenting a great “can do” attitude even though it was a lot of detail orientated work. She certainly went above and beyond the call of duty.
L to R: Brian Collins, Warden; Chrissy Gamst, Corrections Security Caseworker Career; Kevin Szczyrbak, Corrections Program Director -
Joyce Hibke Retires From Moose Lake
By Ian Heaslip
Joyce Hibke recently retired from MCF- Moose Lake with just under 20 years of state service.
She started her career on 1st Watch as an officer for several years prior to transferring into the maintenance department. Joyce is actively involved with the Moose Lake Fire Department. She made history by becoming the first female officer promoted to the Second Lieutenant position! Joyce’s can-do attitude and dedication was evident for all to see. An example of the initiative she took included putting on over 60 miles walking when COVID hit MCF- Moose Lake.
Joyce shared the following insight for staff, “When you start a job with the department, form your own opinions about the people and the job itself. Don’t fall into negativity.” Thank you for being such a positive person for so many years, Joyce! Enjoy retirement!
Left to Right: Kevin Huso - Building Maintenance Supervisor; Joyce Hibke - General Repair Worker; Ed Daoust - Physical Plant Director
