November 4th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
Years ago I met a woman whose father was a doctor in Cold Spring. His brother was also a doctor and they would take turns covering for each other during vacations. One year the brother and his family drove to California in their “woody” station wagon. At the end of the first week the doctor received a telegram from his brother in California telling him how great a time they were having and asking him to wire some money so they could stay a little longer.
The next week another request for more money arrived. This time, the doctor sent a telegram back to his brother telling him that there would be no more money and that it was time for him to come home.
Some time went by and one day the railroad station manager called the doctor and told him that he should come to the depot. There was a C.O.D. for him. The doctor argued that he had not ordered anything C.O.D. The station manager told him to get down there, that there was no doubt that the package was for him. When the doctor got to the train depot, he discovered that his vacationing brother had loaded the “woody” onto a railroad flat car and shipped himself and his family home C.O.D.
“We judge others by their actions and we judge ourselves by our intentions.” GMO
October 29th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
Forty nine years ago today, my son Erik Jon came into the world. I was supposed to be allowed into the delivery room at Mercy Hospital to witness the big event, but Marcia’s mother Irene, who was supposed to be the baby sitter for Erik’s older sister Kerry, had purchased a new car and she thought that the temperature gauge was the gas gauge. The phone rang and the nurse from Mercy said: “Don’t rush Mr. Osberg, your wife will be delivering in a few minutes.” I hung up the phone and ran out the door just as Irene was pulling into the driveway. I stopped at the hospital gift shop and picked up a planter with a little boy in a football uniform holding a football. It is called “implanting” and it worked. Erik loved to play football.
He should have been a high school football coach, but instead he is the “Rural Rebound Coordinator” for Otter Tail County. Today, Cathy Wurzer is going to feature my son Erik’s production of “Rural by Choice” on her noon time show, “Minnesota Now”. The seven episodes were chosen as one of the films shown at the Twin Cities Film Fest last Sunday at the Showplace ICON Theatre in St. Louis Park. You can watch all 7 episodes on YouTube. Episode 6 is a must see for anyone interested in the arts. Simply search YouTube by “Otter Tail Lakes Country”. If you subscribe, you will be notified when they launch season two.
“Leader aren’t born, they are made. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal which is worthwhile.” Vince Lombardi
Bonus note: Tonight at 9pm, “The Great Pumpkin” , featuring the newly remodeled pipe organ, will be performed at the Abbey Church at St. John’s University. George Maurer will be there. I hope to see you there.
October 22nd, 2021 by Gary Osberg
I spent a lot of my youth in Upsala, Minnesota. At school there were “Farm Kids” and “Village Kids”. Some were “summer kids”. They were kids who’s parent or parents grew up in Upsala and they were sent to Upsala to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa during the summer. Some stayed for a few weeks and some stayed for the whole summer. In one situation that I knew of, the son was getting into too much trouble in the “cities” and they thought hard work on a farm would be a better way for him to spend his summer.
Larry was a “summer kid” and he ended up marrying one of the Upsala beauties. She was chased by all of the boys, but Larry won her heart. He was also one of the eight couples that camped on our lakeshore on Cedar Lake west of Upsala every fourth of July. He was a fun loving fellow. One year he decided to make sure that my son Erik and I had a chance to experience grouse hunting. This is the story that I share every MEA weekend, because it means a lot to me and I know Erik had a great time too.
MEA weekend is a special time of the year. Many a father/son(daughter) combo head for the woods or ponds to bring home the “bacon” in the form of grouse or duck. Larry, a friend of mine who died way too young, knew that I had never taken up hunting, but he wanted my son and myself to experience a weekend of grouse hunting up north at “the shack”. He invited our friend Ron and his son Matt, my son’s best friend, to join him and his son Danny. So there were three dads and three sons along with a black lab, “Bear”. We formed two teams and I was the “bird dog” on the DADS team. Bear went with the boys.
The first day we brought back 17 grouse and Larry fixed a meal of grouse with wild rice and cream of mushroom soup in the giant iron skillet that hung from a nail in “the shack”. It was one of the most memorable feasts of my life. I trust that you are doing something special with your family this weekend.
“Remember, it’s not about having time it’s about making time.” Erik Osberg
October 15th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
During the sixties my dad worked as a night desk clerk at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. I was attending high school in Upsala. Every once in a while Ma would ship me down to spend some time with Dad. The first thing he would do is send me to the barber shop in the lower level of the hotel for a haircut and a shoe shine. He would put me up in a room at the hotel or at the YMCA.
In early October of 1965, the Twins were halfway to a World Series Championship. “Mudcat” Grant was the ace pitcher of the 1965 Twins. The Twins beat the Dodgers in both home games but the road trip to LA was a bust. The Dodgers swept three games on October 9, 10 & 11. Back in Bloomington, Mudcat started game 6 in the Metropolitan Stadium and the Twins beat the Dodgers 5-1 to even the Series.
Dad was able to get me a press pass for game 7. I was worried about being challenged about my status as a reporter, so I stopped at a drug store and bought a note pad and a nice ball point pen. The press pass worked and they even gave me a box lunch. Sandy Koufax shut the Twins out in game 7, allowing only three hits and striking out 10. The final score was 2-0.
Twenty two years later the Twins won the World Series in dramatic fashion in the Hubert H Humphrey dome.
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help a man with the wrong mental attitude.” Thomas Jefferson
Bonus quotation: “Toddler’s Creed: If I want it, it’s mine. If I give it to you and change my mind later, it’s mine. If I can take it away from you, it’s mine. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine. If it’s mine, it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what. If we are building something together, all of the pieces are mine. If it looks like mine, it’s mine.”
October 11th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
Today is homecoming in Upsala. In my day it was the Upsala `Cardinals’, but some time ago Upsala football merged with Swanville and now it is the USA (Upsala Swanville Area) `Patriots’. I plan on being there in my letterman’s jacket.
I was an overweight freshman on the Upsala Cardinal football team in 1957. Freshmen wore the old uniforms and helmets and we did not win any fashion awards. John Atkinson, a senior running back, ran with his knees pumping up and down high and hard. He still managed to make yardage. In practice, I would simply bounce off of his knees. The memory of the pain is still with me. That was the year when no other team even scored on the Upsala team. Clarissa got to our three yard line, but our defense held.
A couple of years ago, the 1957 Upsala football team was inducted into the Upsala Sports Hall of Fame. I was one of nine of the twenty-nine original members of the 1957 Upsala Cardinal football team who showed up for our induction into the Sports Hall of Fame. One of the guys, Dave Chuba, came all the way from Ohio. Bob Soltis was the quarterback and captain of the 1957 team. That year Bob was named to the All State Football Team.
It was the second year that inductees were chosen for the Upsala Sports Hall of Fame. Bob’s brother Ralph was chosen the previous year and another brother John, who was a junior on the 1957 football team, accepted an individual award for his brother Bob. There were lots of Soltis boys and they all played football. No one lifted weights in those days, they just threw bales of hay all summer. Us “village kids” had a tough time keeping up.
“GO PATRIOTS”
“Man’s finest hour is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle victorious.” Vince Lombardi’’
October 1st, 2021 by Gary Osberg
In October of 1956, Ma was 36 years old. Two months earlier she had given birth to her sixth child, a boy. Our family of eight lived in a small house at 1620 Colorado Avenue in St. Louis Park. Dad had just smashed up his third car in as many years. Ma’s mother, Grandma Ramlo, drove her 1952 Chevy down from Upsala, placed Dad in the backseat and drove him to the Chemical Dependency department at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. She said, “He is a veteran, he is a drunk and he is your problem now.” Then she packed us all up and we moved into the apartment above the Ramlo Grocery in Upsala, Minnesota.
The one bright spot for me was that I would not have to serve the 20 hours of detention that I had racked up in eighth grade at St. Louis Park Junior High. I had two paper routes in St. Louis Park, so I was able to buy a brand new Schwinn complete with a tank, a horn and mud flaps. The first day of school I rode my shiny red and white bike to school. When I got out, the tires were flat. That evening I stripped the fenders and all other fancy stuff off of the bike. The kids left my bike alone after that.
Next Friday is homecoming at Upsala. I plan to be there in my shiny red and white lettermen’s jacket. I will not sit too close to any cute single women that are wearing a blue suede jacket with fringes.
“If you are going to expect, you have to inspect” Grandma Ramlo
September 24th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
Once again we have had to cancel our MPR Net Team annual sales retreat at Breezy Point. Hopefully next year this awful pandemic will be only a memory.
One of the cabins at Breezy Point that is available is the 11 bedroom Fawcett House. It was Breezy Point Resort’s founder Captain Billy’s personal residence. My mother, Bernice “Bee” Larson was a nanny for the grandchildren of Captain Billy Fawcett in the 1930s. She had a bedroom in the Fawcett House and spent the winters in Los Angeles with Captain Billy’s son Gordon Fawcett, his wife Vivian and their two children, Gordon Jr. and Dennis.
Wilford Fawcett, better known as Captain Billy, was a millionaire publisher from Robbinsdale, Minnesota. His most famous publication was the Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang magazine. The book “Humor Magazines and Comic Periodicals” noted that “Few periodicals reflect the post-WW I cultural change in American life as well as Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. For much of the 1920’s Capt. Billy’s was the most prominent comic magazine in America.”
Captain Billy purchased Breezy Point in Pelican Township, from Fred LaPage in 1920 and soon the main lodge was built along with his personal residence. The original lodge was destroyed in a fire in June of 1959. Of course he rebuilt the lodge and the “Fawcett House” still stands. With 11 bedrooms it is perfect for large family reunions. It was recently renovated. For details on rates and golf packages, go to www.breezypointresort.com
“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we know what to do with it. Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” Emerson
September 17th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
On September 15th 48 years ago, I attended an auction on the north side of Cedar Lake west of Upsala. Widow Agnes Olson was selling her house and moving to Cambridge. Gust and Agnes had lived there for many years. They were both teachers in Cambridge and I don’t think they had any children. Things had just started to go well with my office furniture career and one of my clients who worked for Red Owl was very encouraging. He owned a cabin on a lake in northern Minnesota. My banker was also encouraging. He knew that my saving account was not very hefty, but he suggested that I attend the auction and see what happened.
When we got there, my wife Marcia took me into the barn and said, “I want this place Gary and here is how you win at an auction. When it is your turn to bid you not hesitate. You react immediately. Understand?”
I did not even have the $3,000 cashier’s check with me, so I had to speak to the local banker prior to the start of the auction to get his ok. I promised that if I was the high bidder, I would go to town and get a check from my mother-in-law. He thought about it really hard, but he finally agreed. I am sure that the fact that my dad and he were great friends, and had both worked for Farmers State Bank in Upsala before the war had an impact. Thank you Roland.
The auctioneer milked $50,500 out of the only other contender, and when he turned his attention back to me, and asked “Fifty one?” I did as instructed and simply nodded my head. The other bidder, Lee Bolstad stormed away and was quoted as saying “Rats, that kid will never quit.” Needless to say, that day changed our lives. One never knows what a day will bring. By the way, when I came back with the check, Agnes handed me the keys. No need to wait until closing in those days.
“The years teach much which the days never know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
September 10th, 2021 by Gary Osberg
It has been eight 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 Upsala so he could 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 owns 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
September 3rd, 2021 by Gary Osberg
The “Celebration of Life” for Marcia Julia Rudie Osberg, which was held last Friday, was great. Had we scheduled the event for Saturday instead of Friday, the tent that we got from General Rental in Albany would have ended up in Bowlus. One report was of a home owner on Cedar Lake losing 50 trees to the storm that came through central Minnesota on Saturday morning.
Miller Carlin Funeral Homes did a great job. The tent was pitched in Borgstrom Park next door to the funeral home. Jordie’s Trail Side Café from Bowlus catered the affair.
The music was provided by the Harren Sisters who were part of the original Rainbow Children, a group that Marcia had created to provide music for the Saturday night Guitar Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Upsala. They were accompanied by Pat Hamilton a professional singer and guitar player from Colorado . Pat is the sister of my brother Brian’s wife Jean Marie Hamilton.
The eulogy was presented by our son Erik. (A copy of the text is attached) Erik and Jena’s daughter Leah followed her dad and even provided the various voices that Marcia used to address her loved ones.
Be sure to hug your loved ones often. We never know when we will leaving this wonderful world.
“Oh pfft, they’re great kids, they’ll be fine.” Marcia Osberg
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