Posted: 6/11/03

Times experiences fire, changes in location and looks under Rasmussen

(Editorís Note: The following Reflections column was first published on October 18, 1984 and is reprinted here as part of the newspaperís on-going coverage during its 100th year. This column and future Reflections columns are in tribute to the author who died on Friday, Feb. 7, 2003.)

Elsie Vogel
Historical feature writer

This week I will continue covering the 81-year span of our local newspaper, but first I would like to take a few side-steps and talk about a contribution to the Times that was of great interest to the subscribers... The Forest Breeze, written by high school journalists.

Mary (Hendrickson) Carlson, former editor of the Breeze during the years of 1940-41, submitted her knowledge of the origin of the school paper in the following paragraphs. Hereís Mary.

ìWhence came the Breeze weíve heard so much about? Way down in grade school Earl Lellman wrote his own paper in class. It finally fell into the hands of an irate school teacher. Her anger was short-lived, however, when she discovered what it was, she decided that the class would publish its own newspaper.

In Dec. 1928, the first real Breeze was published under the editorship of James Elwell and Earl Lellman.

Succeeding editors have been Barbara Tyra, Lauree Nelson, Florence Smith, Evelyn Hilken, Lois Loren, Elizabeth Holmgren, Ruth Taylor, Doris Boehm, Mary Hendrickson, Shirley Larson, Kay Hallberg, and Matt Berven to name a few.î

Thank you, Mary. In my conversations with Mary she recalled, with enthusiasm, all the work, fun and long hours the Breeze staff would put in trying to meet the Times deadline.

Forest Breeze, Volume 1, Dec. 1928

With a subscription price of 75 cents a year, in advance, the Breeze was to be published four times during that school year.

In addition to the editors there was a joke editor, Philip Gorman, feature editor Lillian Johnson, and sports editor, Louis Peloquin. And who was better qualified for social activities then Yvonne Poirier?

It was a six-page paper containing many poems and of course there were the tidbits about life at Forest Lake High School.

One item mentioned that the freshman, all wearing green, survived torment by the sophomores during freshman day.

The senior class play in the spring was ìNothing but the Truth.î That year would have the largest graduating class, 32 students.

Breeze appears in the Times

The following year on Sept. 19, 1929, under publisher John Anderson, the Breeze became a supplement to the Forest Lake Times, during the school year. This was the start of a long association, enjoyed by students and parents.

Doris Skog, Breeze Advisor

During the years that Doris Skog taught English and Latin in addition to holding the librarian position, she was also the advisor to the Breeze staff for many years. The students under her guidance filled a complete page in the Times. The students appreciated the ìafter hoursî help and advice that she offered as all paper work was extra curricular with no journalism credits given.

Doris Skog did not know what the future held for her as she helped these ìeager to learnî journalist students, but one day she found herself a vital part of the Times as Mrs. Earl Lellman.

Doris Boehm (Houle), Editor 1938-39

Under the editorial hand of Doris Boehm the Breeze was filled with bits of observation as found in the following description of Examinitis. Examinitis: the symptoms and characteristics are knitted brows, puzzled expressions, worry and an involuntary stepping up of the heart beat. Chewing of pencils, pieces of scratch paper on which have been scribbled formulas, equations, dates, etc. (Some things never change through the years.)

The Feb. 9, 1939 issue found an inquiring reporter asking students ìWhat is your favorite radio program?î Stanley Johnson, Tommy Rolseth and Bunny Patrin agreed on Kay Keser. Lorraine Elwell preferred Eddie Cantor, Lavonne Morleyís favorite was the ìMagic Key.î Baby Snooks and Fibber McGee were popular too.

ìFisher Flashesî a popular column (writer unknown) contained an item about instructions from popular teacher, Mr. Plourde, to his class. ìThis examination will be conducted on the honor system, now please take seats three apart and in alternate rows.î

All in the Family

Mary Margaret Houle (Turcotte) co-editor with Terry Herzog in 1965-66, was only ìdoing what comes naturallyî as she followed her motherís flair for writing and editing. Her mother, Doris Houle, was editor 27 years previously.

Breeze changes

In 1964, the Breeze fluttered on its own. It was a four-page issue published separately from the Times and distributed to the students at school.

Matt Berve and John Olson, co-editors filled the paper with pictures and a column called ìRustling Leaves,î a sports column ìFrom Under the Bleachersî and even a Dear Feebieî column that mostly dispensed advice to the lovelorn.

The one-act play that spring, which received pages of publicity was called ìImpromptu.î The play won the sub-district competition.

Breeze today

The Breeze today, under advisor Bill Somrock is underwritten by the school.

The paper contains club and school news, pictures and cartoons. They like surveys and at this election time, political polls will be taken. This week they will cover all the ìHomecomingî festivities.

It is published monthly and contains 12 tabloid pages, the same size as the Times. The staff of 25 to 30 students received one-half credit in journalism for the year.

Awards and congratulations

Awards have come to staff members from the Minnesota High School Press Association. Gabe Gabash, 1984 graduate, received a second place feature award; Mike McEarney received second place in feature writing and senior Kris Copham placed second in cartooning and illustrating and also an honorable mention in that category.

For 55 years the Breeze has been the journal for the students, printing their activities, their fun and problems too.

Peach

My other side-step will be a thumbnail sketch of a very popular publication owned by Sell Publishing, which prints the Times.

Bob Shaw, associated with Times quite a few years ago had an idea. He could see the large retail potential of Wyoming, Hugo, Lindstrom and other surrounding communities. If these out-of-town shoppers could be informed of what was available in our fair city and theirs it would stimulate business.

Shaw talked to Lellman about his idea and they decided to print a ìshopperî type paper. Shaw would be in charge of advertising.

The first paper in 1954 consisted of 12 pages and gradually increased as the Peach became the advertisersí voice and the shoppersí delight.

Lellman wanted to distinguish the ìshopperî by color. At that time a peach color newsprint was available, so the name ìPeachî was adopted. (I wonder what they would have called the shopper if only lemon-yellow or blue was available.)

Last week the Peach carried 44 pages and the circulation is over 26,000 copies.

Duane Rasmussen Editor and Publisher, 1968

What does a newspaper man do when he wants to purchase a small daily or weekly newspaper? He places a blind advertisement in ìThe Editor and Publisherî publication.

Lellman answered Duane Rasmussenís ad, they came to terms and the sale took place on Jan. 5, 1968. This ended Lellmanís time as editor and publisher after 21 years.

Family newspaper

Rasmussen had a lifetime newspaper background. His parents, Harry and Geraldine Rasmussen owned the Austin Daily Herald at Austin.

As a youngster growing up in the business, he did the janitor work, delivered papers and wrote sport stories. His early boyhood effort at writing a newspaper was similar to Earl Lellmanís. Rasmussen, at age 10, printed his own neighborhood newspaper with a rubber-letter printing press. He tried unsuccessfully to sell his paper, and he finally passed them out to his friends.

Rasmussen attended Carleton College, Northfield, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelorís degree in journalism. In 1952, he enlisted in the Army and served two years in intelligence work in the Panama Canal zone.

During the time he was acting publisher of the Albert Lea Tribune and the Greenville Daily Advocate, Greenville, OH, he wanted to own his own paper. The purchase of the Forest Lake Times made that desire a reality.

New community

Rasmussen also climbed the 19 wooden steps, with a twist to the left, as he occupied Lellmanís old office. It must have been a little difficult at the start to get the feeling of a strange town, to meet the people and the business community.

Celebrations

No doubt Rasmussen was a little surprised that first year, at the energy that the local people put into their celebrations and community projects.

He barely got accustomed to his office when the Times in January would be covering the Miss Forest Lake Pageant with Linda Hennan (Lowe) selected as the reigning queen for 1968.

In 1949, 19 years earlier, the townspeople and surrounding area celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Forest Lake Township. Now it was time to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the incorporation of the village of Forest Lake. A week-long celebration was planned and once again the early settler days would come alive.

How fitting that Jere Noreen, a descendant of Jeremiah Posten, a pioneer family of Forest Lake, was our mayor at that time.

Forest Lake 75th jubilee, 1968

A ìJourney Through the Years,î a stage production with co-chairman Mrs. Elwood Taylor and Mrs. Roy Hegler, was presented at the schoolgrounds for five evenings, July 30-Aug. 3. There was a cast of about 250 people.

Again our villagers donned their ìold timeî costumes and the men grew beards as they relived our village heritage. During the week-long celebration there was a Merchants Day, Religious Heritage, Settlers Day, Good Neighbor Day, Homecoming, Ladies and Youth Day.

It took a tremendous community involvement by volunteers, young and old, to present a celebration of this size. Once again the Times recorded a special time in the lives of the Forest Lake people.

Thanksgiving Day fire, 1969

Many families were just sitting down to enjoy the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie dinner in the early afternoon, when the fire sire sounded the alarm. The Rasmussen family were enjoying their feast at the Forest Hills Country Club. The Sid Andersons were in Lansing, MI visiting their daughter.

The shrieking sirens of the fire engines and the black billowing smoke drew people away from their gatherings to make their way downtown to witness the loss of the Times, Forest Lake Printing, Marchetties Beauty Salon, an insurance firm, and a music store.

Never missed an issue

Immediately after the fire the Times was published out of the basement of Der Lach Haus. The next location at the Forest Lake Clinic found them coming full circle. Gilbertson had published the Times in that building in 1936.

They had one more move before they could start operating in their newly-constructed building on the former site of the fire. What a team effort from all the employees to continue publishing our weekly papers under these conditions.

Forest Lake changes lifestyle

As editor of the Times, Rasmussen has perhaps witnessed and wrote about more important and rapid changes in our city then any other publisher.

No longer would all the business activity be centered in the downtown area. ìGoing to the mallsî was a new phrase as Northland Mall and Lake Shoppes became a reality.

Travelers turning off of exit... find all the familiar fast food chains that are clustered at all big exits throughout the country.

How the Times changed

The first Times was a large-sized broadsheet (15x22) eight-page paper containing news, comics, serial stories and the Breeze.

Through the years we read columns by the different editors, Bill Higgins, Howard Lestrud and Jim Broede. There was a widely-read folksy ìDiary of a Housewifeî written by a Mrs. Addison from Hugo and later Mrs. Homes from Chisago City and Scandia.

Along with the increase of our moving society, the trend was away from the personal ìComings and Goingsî which the ìold timersî miss reading, to more coverage on a civic and national level. Grace Casey was the last person to write the social column.

One of Rasmussenís goals in the future will be to cover the government units in the entire School District 831, which includes Wyoming, Scandia, Lino Lakes, Hugo, Linwood and other communities in the district.

In recent years the company has gone in heavy for printing orders, in order to progress and justify the expense of efficient equipment that they need for printing their own papers. They now print 80-90 newspapers (monthlies and weeklies).

We now have a smaller size tabloid 30-page paper. This fall there was a change on the front page with a new attractive logo with trees and shoreline in color. There will occasionally be colored pictures used and pictures are used extensively throughout the paper.

New home

In January of this year the Times offices made a gigantic move to the new Town Square. Our local paper has come a long way from the first paper that was printed in a corner of a warehouse in 1903.

This week I was delighted to receive a note from David Campbell of Windom, a subscriber to the Times. He has a copy of the first issue of the Forest Lake Enterprise. What a treasure he has. This was published by Howard Folsom on Sat., May 30, 1903.

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