Posted: 6/4/03

Earl Lellman made Times a prize paper

(Editorís Note: The following Reflections column was first published on October 11, 1989 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

I am certain that tucked away in old trunks or memory boxes are yellowed, fragile copies of the Times. These papers contain stories of marriages, accomplishments, birth and death notices.

In more recent years the papers are wrapped in plastic to preserve the same stories.

It is this written and pictorial documentation of events in our lives that make our hometown paper so very important for family histories or to recall unforgettable instances.

Last week in the story about the Times, I dwelt on the early days and closed with the World War II years. Today I will continue to turn the pages of the previous Times issues, selecting long ago, almost forgotten items. Iíll also write about the people who wrote the stories.

Earl Lellman Editor and Publisher 1947-1968

ìWhat do you want to be when you grow up?î is a question frequently asked of youngsters. Perhaps Earl lellman couldnít answer that question, but all signs pointed the way to a future career as an editor of a newspaper.

Progress to a goal

When Earl was a little boy, he accompanied his father, Al Lellman, to the Times office; when they left, Earlís hands and shirt were covered with black printers ink which he had picked up off the proof press. Is that where he got printers ink in his blood?

When he was in eighth grade he put out a single hand-drawn copy of a newspaper, which he circulated around the school room.

When he was 16 he had a summer job with the Times, under John Anderson, writing bits of news. This was Depression time and the dollar a week he earned was big money. He became a reporter for the next editor, Palmer Gilbertson, and earned the satisfactory sum of $6 a week.

Earlís next promotion was to become news editor. In addition, he wrote a front page column under the heading of ìIt just occurred to me.î

This column was one of the first things the subscribers read. It was light, gossipy and full of anecdotes and jokes about people in the area. Much of his material came from people ìtelling on each otherî and often the back booth at Wagnerís was his second office. Iíve selected a few examples from the early 1940 columns.

* Fine State of Affairs when the citizens of a village get themselves the reputation that we have among the villages to the north of here. Les Johnson was driving toward St. Croix Falls Tuesday night and passing through Lindstrom, he saw a school girl walking in his direction. It was a cold, windy night and he thought heíd do his good deed for the day, heís a Scout leader, so he stopped to give her a ride. ìWho are you and where are you fromî she demanded to know. When he told her, ìIím from Forest Lake,î she froze up icier than the northwest blasts that were sweeping the pavement. ìOh no you donít!î she said. ìIím not riding with anybody from Forest Lake.î Now, who of you fellows has been doing damage to the name of our fair town, Iíd like to know?

* Beulah Enquist, local gal whoís only 10, took first prize at the county fair with her devils food cake, but she was barred from competition at the State Fair because she was too young.

* Steve Hendrickson neednít think he took that beautiful spill on Main Street Monday afternoon, completely unnoticed. This column prides itself on seeing all, hearing all and telling almost everything.

* Out in a hobo ìjungleî in Oregon, mulligan was stewing in the pot and 27 hungry ìgentlemen of the roadî gathered eagerly about, stirring the fire and making ready the cups and pans. The talk centered about which are the good towns and poor towns through the country for ìbumming.î One of the boys considered a town in Montana tops and one of them offered Forest Lake, Minnesota. Do you know that half the hobos in that group recalled Forest Lake as a swell town and ìthe Catholic priest thereî as really the best up and down the line. Not once had any of the boys been refused a substantial handout in cash or clothing by Father Gibbons. This story was told by a wandering willie and when asked about it Father Gibbons admitted he never turns the boys down, just canít find it in his heart to turn them away, even those who are unquestionably ìprofessionals.î

* Midnight Climber - Well, it was me stumped as Iíve never been stumped before. Who had the slaphappy nerve to climb the water tower Friday night with a Christmas tree and fasten it up there right smack on the peak, 135 feet in the air? Iím offering all my second-hand Christmas cards to the first person whoíll give me the real lowdown.

* Mud Bath - Johnny Israelson and Bob Holl claim the distinction of having been the first to try out Forest Lakeís new bathing beach, now being dredged. The boys were mud to their ears, but anything for fame and honor, I guess.

Lellman is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. He also served in the Army during World War II.

Forest Lake Times, Inc.

To reach Lellmanís office on the second floor you walked up 19 steep wooden steps, there was a twist to the left near the top.

From his office window, Lellman could look south on our main street. It was a familiar street, yet during the ensuing years he would be writing about the changes he would see.

There would be wider streets, new street lights and parking meters. Some stores would have new fronts and familiar names would disappear from the business signs to be replaced by names still in place today.

Pros, Cons and Just the Facts

Lellmanís editorials and front page news kept us abreast of controversies as they developed. He kept us informed, in-depth, about school re-districting, the new hospital and the two new tenants, General Fabrication and Wyard Industries in our new Industrial Park.

There was a large front page picture of our deserted main street, taken during the funeral service in Washington D.C., as Forest Lake mourned the death of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Social Events

The advertisement to attend the ìLast Dance Before Lentî to be held at the Legion Club would remind us to make plans.

How eagerly the dancers that had attended the Firemanís Masquerade Ball would leaf through the Times to see if their picture appeared. Pictures of the ìGrand Marchî showed an incredible array of the most original costumes they could create. There was fierce competition in some categories, but the George Hawkins took the ìCouples First Prizeî for many years, with their imaginative costuming.

The talented ìgroupsî from Wyoming vied for prizes along with the Forest Lake groups. The Times would be filled with pictures of people having a great time... what a dancing community this use to be.

Earlís wife, Doris, also had an important position to fill on the paper as she gathered news for the family page. The ìComings and Goingsî feature kept us up on the social activities, whether it was a bridge party, a trip to the city or an extensive journey, we all liked to know about it.

One item of reader interest that has not changed during all the years are the important Church, wedding, birth and death notices.

Diamond Jubilee edition... Sept. 15, 1949

Maybe, only once in an editorís term would there be one community event that would be so outstanding that the people who attended would never forget it. The occasion, for Lellman, was the 75th Anniversary of Forest Lake Township.

It took Lellman and his staff of 12 persons a year to collect, sort and write the Diamond Jubilee Edition. There were 60 pages filled with stories, pictures and historical data, not only about Forest Lake but the surrounding communities of Scandia, Wyoming, Stacy and Hugo.

The supplement the following week was filled with pictures showing all the townspeople in old time costumes. Many were riding in surreys, wagons and antique cars.

The pictures and stories covered the morning parade, the Old Settlers dinner with Governor Youngdahl, the Band Concert and horse pulling contest.

There was an evening pageant on the schools grounds with a beard judging contest and a big square dancing set with 64 lively dancers. A dance at the Melody Ballroom ended the biggest one-day birthday party our area had ever had up to that time.

We owe the Times a big ìthank you,î because without that Jubilee Edition much local history would never have been recorded for future generations.

From the start as editor and publisher of the paper, Earl had many different hats to wear. He wrote editorials and columns, he sold ads, attended meetings and burned the midnight oil to meet deadlines.

There are rewards for hard work, and also awards for excellence in journalistic efforts and the Times received their share.

The Lellmans have at home, two desk size school bells as awards for their coverage of education.

The National Editorial Association awards to the Times were:

First place... special edition, 1950

Second place... general excellence, 1958

Third place... community Service, 1953

Honorable mention... Best feature story, 1954; general excellence, 1953, best news picture, 1952; Service to Agriculture, 1964.

Unfortunately, these hard-earned awards were destroyed in the Times fire in 1969.

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