By Mike Simmons, staff writer

BRICELYN &8212; With a population of around 380, some people might think small towns like Bricelyn don&8217;t change very much. But walk through downtown Bricelyn today and it has a very different look than it did just one year ago.

That difference was made possible by a very generous donation of a decorative clock that sits at the edge of the park on Main Street. The man responsible for this is Mike Kulins, owner of Mike&8217;s Bar just around the corner from where the clock now stands.

Kulins moved to the United States from Germany 12 years ago and lived in Florida until he moved to Bricelyn in 2001, and he now moves back and forth between his two homes. The warm weather and sunny beaches are what attracted the German immigrant to Florida, but something was missing after years of experiencing nothing but one season.

&8220;I liked the weather in Florida, but the weather I grew up with in Germany is much more like it is here in Minnesota,&8221; Kulins said. &8220;I missed the different seasons, even winter, so in 2001 I bought a house just outside of Bricelyn. Soon after that, with encouragement from some friends, I opened the bar.&8221;

Besides owning Mike&8217;s Bar in Bricelyn, Kulins owns and operates Mid-Way Motors in Wells. At Mid-Way he buys and sells cars to the public and mixes in some family time with his two children who still live in Florida by bringing cars back from the south for re-sale here in Minnesota.

Kulins grew up in a town with about 800 inhabitants in Germany, and those small town memories are what make him relate to and love living in Bricelyn so much. In fact, Mike felt the town had done so much for him that he wanted to do something for it in return. That is how the eight-foot tall clock came to be a part of Bricelyn&8217;s beautiful downtown.

&8220;It&8217;s just a small, very nice town and I wanted to do something for it,&8221; said Kulins. &8220;I was in a business down in Florida selling street lamps and clocks so I still had some connections to get this kind of stuff. But I really just started asking myself what would look neat and ended up getting this clock from Mexico.&8221;

Right across the street from the new clock sits the Brush Creek Boutique and Garden Center, owned by Glenn and Linda Gullikson. Glenn, who was outside watering all the flowers he and Linda have to offer, is a lifelong resident of the Bricelyn area. According to the Gulliksons, Kulins is just the kind of person that would do something like this.

&8220;The clock is really a nice addition to the downtown, and I can&8217;t say enough about Mike, he is really a nice guy,&8221; Glenn said. &8220;It just adds to the park, and this is where we have our Fourth of July celebration so it all adds up and makes the town look better. Now we don&8217;t get a lot of traffic through here, but the people that do stop by always notice the new clock and comment about how nice it looks in the park.&8221;

Kulins doesn&8217;t get much free time what with running two businesses in two different cities and having his children in Florida, but thanks to his clock having the time is no longer a problem in Bricelyn.