Quotations are a great way to get an idea across or to remind ourselves and others just what is important. Many years ago, a friend of mine published “A Collection of Inspiring Thoughts” subtitled “For Business & Professional People”. Every week I try to find a quotation to use at the end of this weekly musing. I use a copy of Norm’s booklet and record the date that I use the quotation. I invested a little bit of money in his company, and he gave me a box of those booklets. For many years I gave them out to clients and friends. I now have just a few copies left.
For 22 years I sold office furnishings. I started working for General Office Products in 1972. Ron Anderson worked for a carpet installation company, and he carried a calling card with a quote on the back of the card. His carpet installation work was not the cheapest, but they were the best in the industry. The card read: “The bitterness of poor workmanship remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” Longfellow
A woman that I was dating at the time told me that it was not Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but Benjamin Franklin who said, “The bitterness of poor workmanship remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”. My thanks to the English major who corrected me. She also was the one that told me that when I stopped to use a restroom in a gas station, I had to at least purchase a bag of peanuts if I hadn’t purchased any gas.
An article in USA Today about the passing of Yogi Berra was full of his best sayings. “When you get to a fork in the road, take it” is one of my favorites.
“You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” Yogi Berra
It has been thirteen years since Auntie passed. There are many stories to tell about Auntie, but my favorite comes from her son Kevin. They had been visiting Kevin’s uncle in Alexandria and Kevin told Auntie that he wanted to get back to her house in Upsala in time to watch the Preakness horse race on television.
The speed limit on County Road 17 is 55, so Kevin was doing 60. Auntie said, “You drive slow Kevin”. Kevin stepped it up a bit and a little while later, Auntie spoke up again. “We’ll never get there on time at this speed.”. Kevin responded: “Ma, I don’t want to get a ticket.” , but he dutifully stepped it up again.
There was silence for a while and then: “Kevin, why don’t you just pull over and let me drive”. Kevin was driving a four-wheel drive pickup. Auntie was 90 years young at the time. We miss you Auntie.
“I was born to have fun”. Leone Larson Hagstrom 1922-2013
It has been thirteen years since Auntie passed. There are many stories to tell about Auntie, but my favorite comes from her son Kevin. They had been visiting Kevin’s uncle in Alexandria and Kevin told Auntie that he wanted to get back to her house in Upsala in time to watch the Preakness horse race on television.
The speed limit on County Road 17 is 55, so Kevin was doing 60. Auntie said, “You drive slow Kevin”. Kevin stepped it up a bit and a little while later, Auntie spoke up again. “We’ll never get there on time at this speed.”. Kevin responded: “Ma, I don’t want to get a ticket.” , but he dutifully stepped it up again.
There was silence for a while and then: “Kevin, why don’t you just pull over and let me drive”. Kevin was driving a four-wheel drive pickup. Auntie was 90 years young at the time. We miss you Auntie.
“I was born to have fun”. Leone Larson Hagstrom 1922-2013
In 2000 I took my first trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. I had been representing Minnesota Public Radio for almost one year and my boss decided to take the Brainerd territory away from me and give me the classical music station in Sun Valley to cover instead. St. Cloud, Worthington, Appleton, MN and Sioux Falls, SD were also my responsibility.
I flew into Hailey, Idaho on a Sunday in September and I would work in the territory for three days. On Thursday I would get into the rental car and head towards Bozeman, Montana to visit Aunt Maggie and Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill was my mother-in-law’s half-brother.
One of my Sun Valley underwriters was a record shop, and the owner gifted me a “Pavarotti& Friends” CD. For the first time I heard Luciano Pavarotti and popular rock stars performing at a special venue in Pavarotti’s hometown, Modena, Italy.
Michael Bolton singing “Nessun Dorma” blew me away. Driving through the mountains with the volume turned way up was thrilling. I now own six “Pavarotti & Friends” CDs. All were purchased in Sun Valley and accompanied me on the road to Bozeman.
Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Maybe this bit of music will bring some joy your way on this day of remembrance.
“The greatest glory in living is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela
This note was cut and pasted from my son’s website, www.erikosberg.com . He wrote it in 2013.
“In our family, Labor Day weekend means a trip to Uncle Brian & Aunt Jean Marie’s Cabin. It’s our way of saying goodbye to summer & one last weekend dedicated to feeling Minnesota. What I mean by that is a celebration of why we live here, sky blue waters, great food, fantastic fishing & family fun. This year, the weekend began with temperatures in the mid 80’s which led to perfect swimming weather. Eventually the temperatures dropped far enough to make fishing the favorite activity. “The Cabin” is a gorgeous log cabin nestled in the woods on a small environmental lake near Aitkin, MN. It’s a great place to get away from it all, and the warm orange glow inside the cabin has a way of refreshing your soul.
This little lake doesn’t have much in the way of BIG fish, but it does have a healthy trout population. We’ve never really tried to fish for trout over Labor Day weekend, however, this year my son Willie demanded we give it a shot. Uncle Brian took Willie & I out in his 14-foot boat powered by an electric motor. We trolled the deep water with small crankbaits & “cow bell” rigs with crawler harnesses. Sometimes keeping it simple makes for a more enjoyable day on the water. No electronics, no big boat, no big motors. Just three guys trolling around hoping to feel the heavy strike on the end of the line. Low & behold, it worked. We managed to catch 3 nice eater sized trout that made the annual Labor Day feast even more memorable.
Keep in mind, just because Labor Day has come & gone, & it feels like summer is over, that doesn’t mean we are going to stop “feeling Minnesota”. Fall brings some of the best fishing of the year & hunting is going to be in full swing soon. As always, remember it’s not about having time, it’s about making time!” Erik Osberg www.erikosberg.com
“The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so, in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of loftier character.” Walter Scott
This note was cut and pasted from my son’s website, www.erikosberg.com . He wrote it in 2013.
“In our family, Labor Day weekend means a trip to Uncle Brian & Aunt Jean Marie’s Cabin. It’s our way of saying goodbye to summer & one last weekend dedicated to feeling Minnesota. What I mean by that is a celebration of why we live here, sky blue waters, great food, fantastic fishing & family fun. This year, the weekend began with temperatures in the mid 80’s which led to perfect swimming weather. Eventually the temperatures dropped far enough to make fishing the favorite activity. “The Cabin” is a gorgeous log cabin nestled in the woods on a small environmental lake near Aitkin, MN. It’s a great place to get away from it all, and the warm orange glow inside the cabin has a way of refreshing your soul.
This little lake doesn’t have much in the way of BIG fish, but it does have a healthy trout population. We’ve never really tried to fish for trout over Labor Day weekend, however, this year my son Willie demanded we give it a shot. Uncle Brian took Willie & I out in his 14-foot boat powered by an electric motor. We trolled the deep water with small crankbaits & “cow bell” rigs with crawler harnesses. Sometimes keeping it simple makes for a more enjoyable day on the water. No electronics, no big boat, no big motors. Just three guys trolling around hoping to feel the heavy strike on the end of the line. Low & behold, it worked. We managed to catch 3 nice eater sized trout that made the annual Labor Day feast even more memorable.
Keep in mind, just because Labor Day has come & gone, & it feels like summer is over, that doesn’t mean we are going to stop “feeling Minnesota”. Fall brings some of the best fishing of the year & hunting is going to be in full swing soon. As always, remember it’s not about having time, it’s about making time!” Erik Osberg www.erikosberg.com
“The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so, in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of loftier character.” Walter Scott
It has been five years since the death of my ex-wife Marcia Julia Rudie Osberg. We were married on August 21, 1965. I could have gone to see the Beatles at Metropolitan Stadium that day, but I got married to Marcia at St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis instead. The wedding reception was held in the living room of the house on the Rudie farm northeast of Upsala. The wedding feast featured baked chickens that had been killed that morning. The beer and booze were served in the milk house.
Marcia was born in the downstairs bedroom in that same farmhouse on May 8, 1942. Her dad had built the house along with the barn, the shed, and the milk house. During her final days, Marcia told our son Erik that her happiest times were ones on that farm. She used to say that she could run barefoot across a newly mowed alfalfa field, and she was proud of it. Three of Marcia’s older siblings lived in California, so the evening of our wedding day we left on a four-week honeymoon to California. Her mother’s half-brother Bill Heisick and his wife Maggie, who had been a model, also lived in California. Maggie made quite an impression on Marcia. So much so that when we got back to Minnesota, she enrolled in the Patricia Stevens Finishing School in downtown Minneapolis. Quite a change for a girl from a farm northeast of Upsala.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic events in our marriage was the purchase of a small farm on the north side of Cedar Lake 3 miles west of Upsala. Marcia’s mother Irene had mailed an auction flyer to Marcia. They both had a lot of experience going to farm auctions. We lived in Coon Rapids, Minnesota at the time. So, on September 15, 1973, we drove to Upsala and parked in the hay field near the house. There was a huge turnout for the “Mrs. Agnes Olson Auction”. The small farm featured 900 feet of lakeshore. Marcia took me into the barn and said “Gary, I want this place, and this is how you win at an auction. When it is your turn to bid, you do not hesitate. Understood? You react immediately.” I said OK and went to see the banker who was a very close friend of my father. In fact, he was Best Man at my parent’s wedding. I had to tell Roland that I wanted to bid, but that I didn’t have the $3,000 cashier’s check. I told him that we would go to town and get a check from Marcia’s mother if we were the high bidder. He took a long time thinking about it, but he finally said OKAY.
The auctioneer started out and I jumped in. After a while I bid $50,000 which was the maximum that Marcia and I had set. The auctioneer milked a bid for $50,500 out of Lee B., the only other remaining bidder. The coaxing went on and on. Finally, Lee said yes to $50,500. The auctioneer turned to me and asked for $51,000. I did as Marcia had instructed and simply nodded my head. It was over. Later it was reported to me that the other bidder stormed away with the comment. “That kid will never stop!” (I was 30 years old at the time) Marcia was 100% correct. We never would have had the enjoyment and fun of living on Cedar Lake if had not been for Marcia.
We were married for 32 years, 1 month and 8 days and we were friends for nearly 24 years after that. May my first date and my first love rest in peace.
I am a recovering entrepreneur. I couldn’t work for the man; I had to be the man. Every one of my attempts failed. Early in my career, I read an article in an in-flight magazine. I learned that 25% of the population are “risk-takers”. All the entrepreneurs come out of this group as do all the criminals. I am not sure where I inherited the trait since neither of my parents were entrepreneurs, but my mother’s brother Eldon was. I was a juvenile delinquent.
My first attempt at my own business was Draftech, Inc. a contract drafting service run out of the basement of our home in Coon Rapids. It was not very long before I had to go to work selling office furniture for General Office Products. My second attempt was an energy management company “Office Environmental Systems”. My office was in the Allstate building behind the car wash on Division Street in St. Cloud. I was probably the only one in the State of Minnesota out there on straight commission trying to sell computerized energy management systems to owners of large office buildings. I sold three systems in three years and then I went back to selling office furniture in April of 1982.
I have a collection of business cards that fills a ring binder. There are 44 calling cards from 24 different companies. The last eight are all from Minnesota Public Radio. I started working from the very first studio on the third floor of Wimmer Hall in 1999. I just received delivery of another box of calling cards for Minnesota Public Radio. I go through a box of cards every couple of years. I hope to go through a few more before I call it quits.
Oh, I almost forgot, the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd continues through August 23rd. The schedule of performances is online at www.lakesareamusic.org
“We all find time to do what we really want to do.” William Feather
Tomorrow is the annual Heritage Day celebration in my hometown, Upsala, Minnesota. Details can be found on Facebook and www.cityofupsala.com
“The city of Upsala Minnesota had its beginnings as a settlement of Swedish immigrants. It remained primarily Scandinavian (and Protestant) well into the 20th century, even though German and Polish neighbors were located in surrounding areas.
Some of the first settlers in the area, however, were not Swedish, but Danish. Jurgen (J.J.) Schultz cleared land a couple of miles to the east in 1868. Hanson Misfeldt and Knut H. Gunderson settled in the Elmdale area. John Henry Peterson, who was a Swede, settled just south of what became Upsala in 1872. In 1880 the Northern Pacific railroad company began to sell land in the area, with John Kulander as their agent. Then the flow of homesteaders increased and included Gust Nelson, Ola Pehrson, L.M. Larson, John and Ola Bengston, August Johnson, John Swedback and many others. Swedback operated a sawmill and built a general store, which was run by his wife Ericka.”
The words above are from the first page of a book written by Dan W. Hovland, a former resident of Upsala and past President of the Upsala Area Historical Society. The title of the book is “Upsala, Minnesota … the early year through the 1910s” and it and a companion book are available for purchase at the Borgstom House in Upsala.
The Upsala Area Historical Society was founded in 1979. It was formed because the City of Upsala planned to sell their old 1928 Reo firetruck and folks rallied to save the truck. My wife Marcia wrote a song about the effort and now the Reo firetruck is stored in the garage of the Borgstrom House in Upsala. The house was donated to the UAHS by Axel and Carrie Borgstrom in 1983. The Society has been very active in trying to raise funds for a new museum and at the same time keeping the Borgstrom House open for one day a year on Heritage Day. Board members Dianne S and Sandy M have led the effort to prepare the house for this year’s celebration of Heritage Day in Upsala.
If you come to the Borgstrom House in Upsala tomorrow between noon and 3pm you will be able to purchase the above-mentioned books and view a video of the first Upsala High School All-Class reunion. I have attached a flyer that details the activities at the Borgstrom House. I hope to see you tomorrow. PS: Axel Borgstrom was born on August 8, 1888. Tomorrow, we will have ice cream to celebrate his 138th birthday.
Sun Valley was discovered by Count Felix Schaffgotsch about 80 years ago. Averell Harriman, the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad, had asked the Count to go west and try to find a suitable site for the creation of a ski resort like those that he had visited in Europe. The railroad needed “destination places” to encourage rail travel. The Count was advised to take a trip to Ketchum, Idaho, a mining town in central Idaho. Upon arrival, the Count wired Harriman, “This area combines more delightful features than any place I have seen in Switzerland, Austria or the United States for a winter resort.”
Within days they purchased a 4,300-acre ranch and the Sun Valley Resort opened in the winter of 1936. The “chair lift” was invented in Sun Valley. You can visit www.sunvalley.com for information on the resort. When you get there be sure to tune in to KWRV 91.9 which used to be YourClassical MPR. MPR sold KWRV to Boise State Public Radio a couple of years ago.
The Sun Valley Music Festival is live from the Sun Valley Pavilion once again this year. This year the Gala Concert features an evening with Sutton Foster. The Gala is scheduled for this coming Thursday, August 6th. If you live in the Sun Valley area you can enjoy live concerts outdoors now through August 20th from within the open-air Sun Valley Pavilion or from the lawn. More information is at www.svmusicfestival.org
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein
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