Change

We went for a drive yesterday.   Two miles from home we noticed big changes happening. 

An entire woods is disappearing.   Oak woods that have been there since before I was born....and who knows how much longer than that.  The land was in a trust and then the land owner died and left it to some college someplace who apparently sold it to a cooperate farmer.   Center pivot irrigators will inhabit part of what was Native Prairie and the Oak Woods.

I was so angry last summer when they tore into the Native Prairie...such sadness for the Prairie Wildflowers that bloomed there...long ago there was a school and lilac bushes on that part of the property.

Now sadness for the Oaks that sheltered deer and probably some coyotes.  When I was growing up it was a shady pasture for cows.
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The property across the road has also been sold at least that is what the sign says...Far Guy's Great Grandparents Lemon lived and farmed there. I suppose those Oak trees will be gone too before long...part was Oaks trees and part farm fields.

Sometimes change can be good...sometimes us old folks that remember how things used to be 70 years ago should just accept change.
Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Neighbors

Last week was a hard week for long time neighbors.  People that I have known nearly all my life…well since my parents moved to their farm in Carsonville township  in 1952.

Ruby.  What  a gal, she celebrated her Christmas Eve birthday of 100 years and lived 16 days longer than that.   She and her husband Bob owned the Texaco Station in Ponsford.  Bob and I shared a dog one summer.  A German Shepherd showed up at the farm, she would stay a few days and then be gone, a few days later she would show up again.  I named her Princess.  I snuck her food, but we had other dogs on the farm and didn’t need another.   One day we stopped at the Texaco station and there she was…the mystery was solved…Bob couldn’t figure out where she (Patsy) went or why?  We lived just over 4 miles away.  Ruby always loved that old memory of the shared dog.  Bob has been gone a long time (he died in 1999) and now sweet Ruby has joined him.  Their lake place on the west side of Shell Lake was a great place to swim in the summer and we were always welcomed. Hot summer nights before air conditioning spent on their dock is a fond memory for me as a kid. Last summer Ruby invited me to her birthday party and so when it rolled around I went…she was so happy to see the good turn out for her birthday. She made it to 100!  She said she would and she did.

The old Texaco sign still marks the spot of the old station in Ponsford.

Jim.  Jim died the day after Ruby.  Since they were good friends that used to play cards together all the time it is fitting that he died the day after Ruby.  They lived just a mile apart all their lives.  Jim was 94.  We used to have coffee with Jim and his wife Irene and talk about area history. Jim’s Grandpa Nunns family and Far Guy’s Great Grandfather Abbott family were neighbors up in Eramosa Township, Wellington County  Ontario Canada. They all made the trip together to Eunice Township Becker County first in 1889 and shortly therafter settled in Carsonville Township.  Jim used to say that his Grandpa was sickly and would have died in Canada, but the healing air of the pine boughs saved him here in Minnesota. ( Then he would wipe away a tear or two.)  Jim used to say that there were many Indian mounded graves in the area…one was right along the road.  He had lots of stories to tell.  One story I will share; Jim had a pretty good looking Stallion.  Our daughter Trica worked out a deal with him to have her horse “visit” the stallion for awhile….when asked what we owed for feed…he replied “The good Lord provided the rain and sunshine for a good pasture and there is no way I am charging you for that!”

Jim and his wife Irene were married for 72 years before she died in 2016. Up until that time they were constant companions.  Their children took turns caring for them on the farm until 2015 when Irene needed extra help so they moved into assisted living and away from their farm.

In years past we would enjoy seeing a team hitched up to a sleigh or a wagon taking kids and grandkids for a ride the old fashioned way.  “There goes Jim.”

Saying goodbye to really old friends is hard.  Not many old timers around anymore.  Soon we will be the old timers….maybe we are already.

Hwy 26

We now live off County Highway 26.  Sounds foreign as we have lived off State Highway 225 for many years.
 
It is a change that will take some getting used to.  I think they should have just called it Old Hwy 225.  Last week all the signs were changed.

I wonder how long it will take Google Maps and all those fancy direction apps to catch up.
My Dad is out of the hospital and was happy to be home.

New Corners

We are getting a new corner in the neighborhood, the neighboring township must have some bucks to spend to fix the old township road.

This is a traffic jam at the corner.  Potato digging machines were hogging the road.

The corner in progress on day one.  This corner is on our usual route when we go for a evening drive.  We usually see deer in the hayfield that is just up yonder and is all green. Previously this corner was full of Jack Pines and Milkweed.

 

We drove down again yesterday to see how it is coming along. Day two.

Old road on the left the new one on the right.

My other baby brother’s construction company is doing the work.  It is not done yet…maybe next week.  I wonder how the snow will blow…probably off the road.

Other road news concerns our State Hwy 225 that was given to the County along with 9 million dollars for a new road…either that or four way stops at all of the many corners that this stair step road has…it’s new name will be County 26…that will take some getting used to as it has been State 225 ever since I can remember.  The County is calling it a dangerous road because you have to slow down for the corners…duh…their other solution is to make it a 40 mph road with 40 mph corners….right now the corners are about 25-30 mph corners…been that way ever since I can remember…and a few were 10 mph corners but great fun on a bike.

Here is an old 1924-1925 Road Map.  Can you find the stair steps? The road back then was built on section lines and you had to go through Ponsford to get to Detroit Lakes.  Later a new road would bypass Ponsford in effect killing the town…the new road would go from Osage straight west to Detroit Lakes.

Water Tower Down on Second Street

We got a “heads  up” from one of Far Guy’s classmates that the old water tower in Park Rapids was going to come down.

I took a photo on the way into town, we were both relieved that we were not too late.

Far Guy grew up a block away from the water tower.  Who knows how many girls he kissed there!  It was a neighborhood kid gathering place. We found a spot to park just behind Far Guy’s old home place.

The backhoe was working on it when we got there.  It was very loud.  At one point there was a very large rumbling noise just like it was moaning and groaning and let me tell you the earth shook …but it stayed standing.  I was nervous…Far Guy was too close in my thinking…were they certain it was going to land in the hole and area that they had prepared? 

People were coming and going as the backhoe pecked away at the exterior.

The crowd got larger and larger.  I thought perhaps the Police would move us back farther…but they didn’t.  I was a tad nervous.  What if something went wrong…I stayed back further than everyone else…I have a good camera with a zoom. Far Guy was right up front, every once in a while he would look my way smile and wave.  I know I saw it sway several times and then right herself again.  I asked other people if they saw it…Far Guy said I was seeing things. 

This is one of her last upright moments.  When she started to fall, she fell straight downward and then…

Then there was dust.

It fell right where those guys said it would….for $86,000 they should be right.  I was glad it fell as planned. 

When it fell there was noise… crumbling sounds and cracking and groaning and then a big crash/whoosh and the earth shook.  Chance was in the car and he was fine, another dog in one of the houses started howling and barking.  People cheered when it hit the ground…me not so much…I thought it was sad.

Here is the new skyline view.

Lush Lolas

We went out for supper at Lush Lolas.  It is a BBQ place that has relocated to The Smokey Hills Wilderness Retreat.
 
This parcel of land used to be The Village of The Smokey Hills.  It was started by a dozen area women who mortgaged every thing they had to form an artisan community.  The long and short of it is they got too big too fast and decided to charge admission because locals were coming out to have pie and coffee all the time.  It was a wonderful place.  I consigned crafts with them for a number of years.  After they decided to charge admission the tour buses stopped coming and the locals stopped buying pie and coffee and they fizzled out.  It has been vacant from time to time…always under new management…a conference center/retreat of sorts and cottages to rent. 

Anyways Jim and his family had a catering business and his approved kitchen was in a building that burned down…so he has leased this property for three years.

It is a beautiful woodland setting.

The woods, pools and waterfall are surrounded by boardwalks.

Here is Jim the cook.  We got a warm greeting and went inside for the Wednesday Night Buffet.  BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken, Smashed Potatoes (Red potatoes with peeling on and cheese), cornbread, baked beans, some kind of macaroni and cheese and a salad bar. Dessert was peach cobbler.  The ribs were great as were the smashed potatoes then again I have never met a potato I didn’t like.  I make baked beans and cornbread that knocks your socks off…so they were not a hit with me…they were just okay. It was still a nice night out.

Hydrangeas

The inside of the restaurant hasn’t changed in years, still knotty pine and the message board that use to sport the daily specials now just welcomes you to Lush Lolas. There were a few locals dining, but most were touristy types.  The booth and tables are heavy pine furniture that sure has stood the test of time.  The traffic flow to the buffet is a little crowded, but I looked around and couldn’t see a better option unless it was built into a wall that separates two dining areas.

I think they are worried about how to make it through the winter but with some well placed advertising and continued good food I think the people will come.  It is the only place to eat in many miles…30 miles to Detroit Lakes and 12 miles to Park Rapids. Right now they are open Wednesday Nights for BBQ, Thursday or Friday (They haven’t decided yet) for a Shrimp Boil, breakfasts on Friday and Saturday and a breakfast buffet on Sunday.

Water Tower

Some water towers are prettier than others, but they all become part of the skyline.

This water tower has been vacant since 1978.  At one time a developer thought he would put a relvolving resturaunt on top…that never panned out…the City Council has asked for demolition bids…so soon it may be gone…forever.

We were in town last night doing an errand and after that we decided to get some water tower shots.

The view from Far Guys alley, behind the house he grew up in.

The water tower was just a block away from his house.  It was a place for neighbor kids to play…or whatever else kids do.  I know as teens some talked about kisses exchanged at the water tower.

The view from the New Law Enforcement Center…or in the olden days the site of The Ringer Building.

Water Tower Park Rapids Minnesota June 27 2016

The water tower was constructed in 1930, it contains 2 million pounds of concrete, it took a crew of 15 to complete the tower.  The tower cost $16,600. One worked fell to his death and three others were seriously injured in accidents during the building of the tower.   The water tower is 135 feet tall.

The projected cost for demolition is around $100,000.

Orphans

Far Guy and I were wandering around in a cemetery, filling some grave photo requests on our way back from Fargo ND.

Far Guy said “Why are all those stones the same?” 

They were all graves of children in the early 1900’s.   The large stone in the background told the story “ Orphan’s Home. ”

I did a little research…curiosity got the best of me….imagine that.

In 1895 The Norwegian Lutheran Chirch of America started an Orphanage in Lake Park Minnesota.  Later it would become a Lutheran Social Services Orphanage.

From the 1900 Census I learned that 31 orphans lived in the home, there was also a Superintendent, Teacher, a laborer and four servants.  The children that were in the orphanage were mainly children of Norwegian families but a few parents were born in Minnesota and France.  The children ranged in age from 3 to 14 and were born in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Norway.

I never knew about an orphanage in this area of Minnesota….I thought they were all down in “The Cities.”

Yes there are some words on this memorial…but they are in Norwegian.

I read some accounts…one mentioned a young Father not having the slightest idea what to do with his children after his wife died…so he dropped them off at the orphanage. 

There was another Orphanage called Wild Rice Orphanage ( near Twin Valley) a little further north….that burned down and many children were sent to Lake Park.

Wistful Wednesday: Grade School

The Grade School that I went to as a child was built and completed for the start of the 1957 school year when I was ready for First Grade…I was five when school started and turned six later that month….back then I think you had to be six years old by December 31st to go to school.

My parents had purchased a farm that was near a country school (Linnell School)…you could see it from our home. I would just have a short walk to school!

The building of the new school in Osage split the community…sometimes this split is still evident.  Some were in favor of a new school building and others thought the country school was good enough…and neither side spoke to the other side unless it was necessary.

Mrs. Pearl Sexton taught first grade, Mrs. Minnie Zauche taught second grade, Mrs. Lucille Stearns taught third grade, Mr. Oscar Vaadland taught fourth grade and was the principal.  He had a yard stick with a red bow on it and if you were misbehaving you got whacked with the stick.  The school nurse came out about once a week, not sure what she did other than keep track of who had their shots.  Each classroom had their own single bathroom and there were two other proper boys and girls bathrooms in the hallway.  Not sure why the classrooms were positioned as they were: 1st, 4th, 3rd and 2nd. There was a library room, an office, a milk room off the cafeteria ( it continually smelled like sour milk) a kitchen where Arvilla Nilson was the best school cook ever, and the cafeteria/gym.  Carl Nilson was the boiler operator, janitor and bus driver.

Everyone went outside after lunch.  In the winter we played king of the hill on the mountains of snow and in the spring and fall we would take turns swinging…there were maybe six swings and some monkey bars.

The last day of school we always had a whole school picnic with our parents invited and all kinds of fun games…sack and relay races.

I rode the bus to school, the bus driver was Ivan Siegford (he owned the hardware store in Ponsford and began his route with the Ritt’s girls over on Shell Lake.)  I got on the bus about 7:45 in the morning and got off at 3:45 in the afternoon.  For me it was not a long ride to school…about 7 miles. There were only a few stops after I got on. I loved a window seat on the bus so I could look out on the passing landscape and in the winter those frosty bus windows became a canvas for thumb print designs…and whatever else I could scratch into the frost.

I took this photo the other day…it is now apartments and is owned by one of my cousins.

I learned to read ( See Dick, see Jane!), spell, write in cursive, how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.  Division was the worst for me in third grade…until one day “it clicked.”  I can still smell the thick white paste in the big jars and I remember how everyone smelled the purple mimeographed paper before beginning our work.

Native Grass Prairies

I am getting old.  I remember what fields were what and how long they have been native prairies. 

This field hasn’t  been worked up in 65 years….for sure maybe more.  I passed this field everyday on the bus ride to school.

There used to be a school house on this piece of land…the lilac bushes are all that remain.  (I think it was a country schoolhouse that was abandoned when the Linnell School was built(1890)…as the crow flies it is about a mile to the Linnell School…by road a mile and a half.)

The old Maude Brewer place or Harry Klarer place…my friend Carol lived here.  She died tragically a few years ago when she fell off a mule in California, she graduated from High School with me.

When we go out on our nightly adventure we go this way often.  Today someone started cutting the field.  Last night is was normal…no activity.

You can barely see the Smoky Hills Tower in this photo.  The Smoky Hills are real smoky today from the fires out West and in Canada.

I grew up on the farmstead in the distance.

I have travelled these roads often.  I notice the changes. 

I hope this piece of land has not been sold to the Corporate Farmer.  I read in the paper that they are going to limit the number of irrigation wells in the Straight Lake Watershed.

The small farmer took care of the land…the large corporate farmer not so much.  Soon the overloaded potato trucks will be going up and down the road…is it any wonder that our highways are always in need of repair.

Off the soapbox now.

Your Dash

I am working on some area history.  I must be the local history nut idiot. 

I want to know who used to live where all the lilac bushes are.  What did they do…where were the country schools?  Where did they come from and what were their children’s names?  What happened to them..what does their dash look like?

I am also TRYING to get conversations started on the Historical Museums Facebook page.  It is like pulling teeth.  If we don’t record the history now it will be lost in a few more generations.  OR maybe no one will care anymore. Well I care and I will keep bugging people to share what they know.

No one except God knows how many days are in your dash.  You should make the most of what time you have on this earth.

I guess that goes for you blog readers too.  Take the time to write down your family history, it doesn’t have to be beautifully written, just the facts will do, make copies and give them to your kids and then mail off a copy to the Historical Museum in the County where you were born and where your parents lived.  Someday someone may be searching for that information.  If your parents owned a business that is very important, send in the name of the business its physical street address and the years it was open. 

I see many struggling Genealogists searching for answers.  If everyone would just share what they know it would make a difference.  I just know it would.