Established in 1983, the Edison Community & Sports Foundation consists of Edison High School alumni, and community who originally organized to honor coaches and past athletes while building scholarship funds for Edison High School students. Today’s Foundation has expanded to support Edison High School in a broader spectrum while keeping the past connected to the future. To learn more, please visit the About Us page. If you are interested in a membership, complete the form on the Register to Receive News & Information page and select “yes” at the bottom of the form.
Another successful golf tournament in the books!
We had another great event this year with great weather and Tommy fellowship. 128 golfers and many volunteers converged on Columbia Golf Club on July 29th to golf, reconnect and enjoy a beautiful day!
Among the many volunteers for the event were many of the students which benefit from the foundation and what the tournament raises. The foundation would like to extend a special “Thank You” to the following Edison teams for volunteering to help make the tournament a success.
Baseball Track and Field Cheerleading
Girls Soccer Softball Swimming
As I’ve often said in the past, I’ve never seen the foundation send anyone away empty handed. This event helps to ensure that ECSF doesn’t have to. These teams are helping us help them
Almost $11,000 was raised, with $7,500 of that through the support of our amazing sponsors listed below.
Niles Schulz Scholarship Dinner
Wednesday May 8, 2024, Alumni, Teachers, Community leaders and supporters of Edison gathered for our annual Fundraising Dinner. For a second year, the event was held at Murzyn Hall and Sarna’s did an excellent job with the catering. The Edison jazz band provided wonderful entertainment. Caricatures were done by Johnny Lourey Borgen Class of 1975. Many scholarship recipients enjoyed having a caricature done.
A silent auction and raffle helped raise more than $13,000! This year we awarded $35,500 in scholarships to 16 Students. Special thanks to the businesses that donated prizes to support our silent auction and the wonderful guests that come each year to support this important endeavor to help Edison graduates with their future education. The Larson Family and the Niles Schulz family were in attendance and have been giving scholarships for many years. The dedication they show as alumni giving back is outstanding. Students are so grateful for the scholarships they receive, and we always welcome more scholarships or donations.
Scholarship recipients took the stage to introduce themselves and let everyone know where they will be attending school. We always look forward to having them meet many of the supporters that contribute to their scholarships.
2023 Hall of Fame
Two athletes and a team were inducted into the Edison Hall of Fame at the induction dinner held October 16th. A small but enthusiastic group welcomed Lowell Mielke (65), Tim Schnieder (76), and the baseball team from 1979 into the hall as its newest inductees. Championship teams from 1977 were honored in the sports of football, girls and boys swimming, wrestling, boys skiing and boys’ gymnastics.
Lowel Mielke, Class of 1965
Lowel Mielke spent 3 years at Edison High school. In those 3 years he was a member of three organizations: The Order of DeMolay, The Senior Boy Scouts of America, and the Hall Monitors. In his 3 years at Edison High School, he earned 8 letters in 3 sports, 2 letters his Junior and senior years in football and was co-captain his senior year. The awards in football were earned his senior year. Lowel also earned a Sports Award for Minneapolis City Lineman of the Lineman of the week September 25, 1964. He was voted Minneapolis City Most Valuable Football Player of Edison 1964 by teammates and was selected a member to the Minneapolis All-City Football Team by WCCO and was also selected to the WCCO All State Football Team. In addition to these awards, he received The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award of the Minneapolis Chapter of the National Football Foundation. Mielke received the Ray Perkins Award. The last award he was given was a full football scholarship to play football for the University of Minnesota where he played 3 years of Hockey and lettered all 3. He was team captain senior year and elected to WCCO Minneapolis All-City Hockey Team. The last sport played was track and field and on the team 3 years, lettering all 3 years. His biggest achievement were medals received at the all-city track meet at the end of the year. At that time there were 11 high schools in the City of Minneapolis. He earned a 3rd place medal in the high hurdles and 3rd place medal in the low hurdles and a 3rd place medal in the shotput. None of these achievements would have been possible without the fantastic team members he played with and the best coaching staff in the city. Pete, Woody, Dave and Mr. Parsons. When attending the University of Minnesota, Lowel played football and received a letter sweater his first year. He also played hockey and received a letter sweater. While attending the University of Minnesota, he met his wife of 55 years and were married in 1968 and moved to Mankato. There he started working at ADM. They have three wonderful children. Mielke joined the Army Reserves in 1969 and in 1971 attended OCS at Fort Benning Georgia and commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Reserves. He reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant before being honorably discharged in 1982. Then, worked for Archer Daniels Midland Company for 37.2 years and was the maintenance superintendent for ADM West Plant in Decatur Illinois. In that time period he coached several different hockey team levels: mini-mites, squirts, bantams and midgets. The most enjoyable time was with the mini-mites. Lowel played hockey until the age of 60 and was also an avid skeet, trap and sporting clays shooter and is a life member of the National Skeet Shooting Association, a life member of Pheasants Forever, a Life Benefactor of the National Rifle Association, a life Member of Bassmaster, a member of Ducks Unlimited, a member of the American Legion Post 46 for 23 years, a member of The Elks for 11 years and a present member of Tarpon Springs BPOE 1719. He has held several positions in local government as a council member in three different cities: Eagle Lake Mn, Forsyth Il and Kimberling City MO. Today he still dabbles in politics as board director for their Condominium Association Windrush North II Tarpon Springs FL
Tim Schneider Class of 1976
Tim Schneider, class of 1976, was a 4-year letter winner in swimming and diving. He captained the team along with Teammates David Krepis, Jay Johnson, and Tom Anderson. He competed in the State Championships for 3 years and was a bronze medalist in the 50-freestyle sprint as a senior and state AAU champion. At St. Olaf College he captained the team and helped the Oles achieve its first of many MIAC championships and was a conference champion in the 100-yard backstroke and competed in 3 NCAA championships. After college, he entered Mayo Medical School then Johns Hopkins for an ophthalmology residency, and finally a fellowship in Cornea and Anterior Segment Surgery. He is currently in private practice in Jacksonville Florida and serves as the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for Three International. He is active in Volunteers in Medicine in Jacksonville, serves as an advisor for the Ponte Vedra Beach Concert Hall, and is active in The Church of Eleven 22, fulfilling his love of God, community, and music. He is grateful for the community of Northeast Minneapolis, and the coaches and teachers that motivated him to achieve and aspire to faster times not only in the pool but in the realm of academics. Coach Steven Hirsch, Coach Pat O’Keefe, and teachers Mike Minema, Mel Pibal, Dr. Bates, Mike Doyle, and Roger Harmon will always be his heroes.
1979 Baseball Team
The 1979 baseball team continued the winning tradition at Edison by winning the 8th title in 9 years. They completed city play with a 10-2 conference record. They were co-champions with Washburn. In 12 conference games, the average score for those games was 9-3 in Edison’s favor. The Tommies had a winning combination of good hitting, solid defense and great pitching. In the region tournament, Edison won games against North 13-3, Henry 10-6, and Brooklyn Center 3-2. They played Fridley for the Region 5 championship. In a close game, the Tommies defeated Fridley 3-2 to move on to the State Tournament. Key players for the Tommies included pitchers; Pat PetKey players for the Tommies included pitchers; Pat Petrowitz (6-1), Tom Kazrowski (4-0) and Blaine Wakaruk (1.88 ERA). The hitting leaders were Tom Jaremko (.400), Jim Wentland (.377), and Jim Burns (.344)
Circle of Champions
1977 Football – The football team completed a city championship campaign(9-1) by going undefeated during the regular season. Their loss was in the Twin City game against St. Paul Johnson. Highlight victories were against Apple Valley and a one point victory over rival Washburn. Tim Femrite was an all-state selection Boys Swimming – The Tommies finished second in the city during the dual meet schedule but rallied to take first in the conference meet by winning 8 of the 11 events. The team finished third in the region meet and qualified 4 swimmers to the state meet. Girls Swimming – The girls swim team won the city conference title this year with Margaret Brandes. Lisa Harstad, and Judy Johnson being top performers. Judy and Lisa qualified for the state meet. Boys Gymnastics – The squad won a piece of the title for the second consecutive year. Jim McNeal, Rich Rorem, Parry Rawlings and Bill Macko were top performers. Wrestling – The team won the city Title and 6 wrestlers were selected to the all-city team. With many underclassmen, the team was led by seniors Mike Neeb and Scott Masica. Boys Skiing – The Tommies were the undefeated conference champs and city meet champions. The Jumping squad also won the District III title and finished third in the state meet. Bob Maxwell repeated as District III champion.
The Bulb
“The Bulb” is the Edison Tommies Student Network and as part of the Centennial Celebration, they are featuring 100 alumni stories on Youtube. One new story will be released each day. The first story was shared June 22nd, 2022 which is 100 days before the big event!
Below are the links to the first three stories and they are wonderful to listen to!
Please “like” the stories, and share with your network of Edison and Northeast Minneapolis friends, family and alumni!
This is a great opportunity to get people excited about the upcoming 100 Year Celebration and also to share special memories of Edison High! It’s also a great opportunity to bring visibility to the Edison Tommies Student Network. Hit the “Subscribe” button to get updates on the YouTube channel and check your settings to be notified.
Contribute
Contributions made to the Edison Community Sports Foundation help provide scholarships for Edison students who have shown excellence in academics, athletics and the arts.
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News
For more information about our recent scholarship recipients, updates from Board President Iacarella and more
Check out the ECSF Newsletter!