Posted: 2/12/03

Honor Elsie Vogel through good deeds

Just before Christmas, Elsie Vogel spent a morning in Forest Lake shopping with her favorite granddaughter, Rebecca. That special day was capped with lunch in their favorite downtown restaurant, Dona Leís.

It was just one of the many special times the two shared. Although some 60 years apart in age, the two were best friends who enjoyed the simple but precious things of life.

On this December day, Rebecca would see for herself, in a small way, that her grandmother was indeed a special woman in her hometown.

As the two finished their meal and prepared to leave, cafe owner Donna Schultz said there was no check. A friend had purchased the meal, she said.

The friend had not gone unnoticed to Elsie. She later told Rebecca the buyer was Ray Bergerson, a classmate from her days in school here decades ago.

There were no words exchanged that day between Elsie and Ray but the simple act of picking up a check symbolized the fondness that many in Forest Lake had for Elsie Vogel.

Many of us today are struggling for words and searching for ways to honor this gentle woman of 87 who left us on Feb. 7. There is a deep and wide void in our community with Elsieís passing.

She was just one month shy of her 88th birthday but no one who knew her is ready to let her go, not when she had so many things left to do.

Weíve struggled to find the perfect way to honor Elsie. How can we ever pay our debts of gratitude for her tireless work as a historian and newspaper writer, her devotion to Forest Lake through volunteer services and the influence that Elsie and Bert Vogel had on hundreds upon hundreds of kids at Skateland in the 1950s and 1960s.

People here ó many of them former skaters at Skateland ó often went out of their way for Elsie and Bert, who died four years ago. If friends could help the Vogels, they did so eagerly.

They were often simple things that needed to be done. Things like opening a car door or lending an arm to steady Elsieís walking. Things like raking and bagging leaves or sweeping snow from her deck and driveway.

Things like buying her lunch.

Perhaps there are no words to adequately express what so many are feeling today.

Perhaps it is in our deeds and how we live our lives that are the best ways to thank and honor Elsie.

As we struggle to find those perfect words, we need only remember Elsieís patient style and the willingness to share a story. Sometimes the stories took time to tell, but we didnít care because she was talking and we were listening.

For those of us fortunate enough to have known her, we have had a gift dollars can not buy. We have learned much from this woman. She has been an example in life that we can only hope to come close to modeling in our lives.

Those who did not know her have benefited none the less. They have been left with a body of writing that explains our history in rich and colorful ways. Her writing is a documentation of Forest Lakeís history that will live on for generations. Her fingerprints are everywhere in Forest Lake today.

We can never thank her enough for this lasting contribution.

Elsie Vogelís legacy will live on in the lives she touched and the historical recordings that she put on paper.

Her passing last week should not be the end of her work. Her torch needs to be carried and it is our responsibility to continue the race. This we owe Elsie Vogel.

In the 10 years since the Forest Lake Centennial, Elsie often expressed concern over the inability of Forest Lake to forge a plan for a museum here. Her goal of having a museum was still unfinished last Friday when she left us.

A solid foundation for a museum is tucked away in boxes and photo albums that remained in her possession. She always longed for a home for the photos and artifacts that she protected with care.

As Forest Lake continues its planning for a community center on the airport site, there is an opportunity to achieve this goal for Elsie. We hope the planners inject the museum idea to the community center concept.

There is something else we can do for Elsie. Our downtown is seeing major changes and the Lake Street she knew and loved is facing a major transformation.

Elsie grew up here in a time when stately trees lined Highway 61. Trees were important to the cityís legacy, she would say. After all, she once pointed out, ìForestî was part of the cityís name.

As downtown plans continue to evolve, we hope developers and city officials will give special attention to finding ways to return trees to our downtown streetscape. She wonít be here to water them, as she once promised she would, but she will be responsible in part for helping bring them back.

As we struggle with our emotions in saying good-bye, we can take comfort in the fact the Forest Lake we know today is a better place because of her. And thatís no accident.

Mylo Shoberg, a deacon at St. Peterís Catholic Church, may have said it the best and in the simplest terms during a prayer service at the close of Sundayís family visitation at Mattson Funeral Home.

ìElsie loved Forest Lake,î Shoberg said.

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