Notebook
October 27th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Tomorrow I will reach a milestone.  For twenty-four years I have represented Minnesota Public Radio in central Minnesota, western Minnesota and southwestern Minnesota as well as Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Sun Valley, Idaho.  I love this job.

In April of 1999, I was promoted to sales manager of the Xerox agency Albinson in Minneapolis.  I lived in Upsala at the time, so I would leave home at 4am every Monday. I rented a room from my cousin Kevin in Golden Valley.  I would return to Upsala on Thursday evening and work from Albinson’s St. Cloud branch on Fridays.

On July 13, 1999, I had supper with my son at Byerly’s in Golden Valley. I told Erik that I would keep the old parsonage house in Upsala, but I was planning on moving to Minneapolis, since I had my dream job with a great product and I would be making a very good living. 

The very next day I found out that the owners of Albinson didn’t like the new contract that Xerox had presented to them, so they decided that they didn’t want to be the Xerox agency anymore. They would no longer need a sales manager. My boss told me that I should pack my things and they would pay me thru the end of the month.

I spent the summer of 1999 painting old buildings in the Upsala area. I drove to Randall and went to the back room at Bermel’s Shoes & Boots, the local Red Wing boot dealer. I picked out a good pair of sturdy work boots and started climbing ladders. My first job was painting the Post Office in Upsala and then I painted an outbuilding on my cousin Dave’s farm. Per my brother Bill’s instructions, I used oil-based primer and latex paint. He let me use his power washer. The two buildings that I did the summer of 1999 still look good. The boots are in pretty good shape too.

In August of 1999 I read an ad in the St. Cloud Times for a “Development Officer” for Minnesota Public Radio. I didn’t know what a “Development Officer” was, but it turned out to be sales. A perfect fit. It took two months and seven interviews to get this job, but it worked out well. Compared to “slamming boxes for Xerox”, this is more fun than it is work. I have no plans to retire anytime soon.

“It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul” From the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.

October 20th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

I spent a lot of my youth in Upsala, Minnesota.  There were “Farm Kids” and “Village Kids”.  Some were “summer kids”. They were kids whose parent or parents grew up in Upsala and who 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. 

Larry was a “summer kid” and he ended up marrying one of the Upsala beauties.  She was chased by all 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 who died way too young.   

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, the “summer kid”, knew that I had never taken up hunting, but he wanted my son Erik and myself to experience a weekend of grouse hunting up north at “the shack”. Larry 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 13th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Today is Friday the 13th. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, NC, reported that an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business on this day. “It’s been estimated that $800 to $900 million is lost in business on this day..”   Source: John Roach.

According to Wikipedia, the actual origin of the superstition appears to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil – a gathering of thirteen – and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week.

For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as “Witches’ Sabbath.” source: Charles Panati, Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things.

The Viano String Quartet is performing tomorrow evening at the Paramount Center for the Arts.   I hope to see you there.  Tickets are available at www.paramountarts.org 

“A man will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body – The Wishbone.”  Robert Frost  (1874-1963)

October 6th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Today is homecoming in Upsala. In my day the football team was the Upsala `Cardinals’, but some time ago Upsala football merged with Swanville and now it is the USA (Upsala Swanville Area) `Patriots’.  If it were not raining and cold I would be there in my letterman’s jacket. 

In 1957 I was an overweight freshman on the Upsala Cardinal football team. Freshmen wore the old uniforms and old 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 forward 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’’

September 29th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Good morning.  It is great to be back.  My back pain is under control. 

The MPR Net Underwriting Sales Team annual retreat was held at Breezy Point earlier this week. Each fall we gather for two wonderful days of learning and sharing.

One of the cabins at Breezy Point that is available to rent 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-WWI 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.”  Harold Hill refers to the magazine in the song “Ya Got Trouble” in “The Music Man”. 

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 1st, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Dr. Benjamin Mueller says that fusing L4 and L5 will not work. They are already fusing themselves. My only hope is a Medtronic implant. My appointment with the Medtronic rep and Dr. Marx is next Friday at 2pm. I plan on making a comeback.

July 28th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

Fisher’s Club is a restaurant next to a city owned swimming beach on the north shore of Middle Spunk Lake in Avon, Minnesota.

George “Showboat” Fisher was a major league baseball player from 1922 until 1932. He played for the Washington Senators and the St. Louis Cardinals. He was 33 years old when he opened Fisher’s Club. The dance floor was added in 1937. It was about that time that they started serving their legendary Fisher’s Famous Walleye. The secret recipe is still used today. The main dining room was added in 1953 and the porch was added in 1954.

When George Junior came home from a construction job in Greenland to work with his dad at the Club, ‘Showboat’ told his son, “Stick around to help me here at The Club or I’m going to sell it.” Junior and his wife Sally took over in 1959.  It used to be a bottle club. The lockers that the regulars used to store their liquor bottles in are still on the wall with their names on them.  Seeing the names on the wall, one of my guests once asked, “Did this used to be a post office?”

The owners, Cory and Jacob Voss, have added a full service bar. Jacob graduated from Upsala High School in 2011. The summer schedule is to be open Tuesdays through Sunday starting at 11am. Be sure to call for reservations, 320-356-7372.  www.fishersclub.com 

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”  Yogi Berra

July 21st, 2023 by Gary Osberg

“Crescent Cove offers care and support to children and young adults with a shortened life-expectancy, and to their families who love them. Around the United States, there are over 4,700 hospice homes for adults.  Crescent Cove Respite & Hospice Home for Kids is Minnesota’s first and only home designed just for children and their unique needs, and just the third of its kind in the United States. A vibrant and joyful home-away-from home, our goal is to help families feel Embraced, Assured, and Celebrated.”   Source: Crescent Cove website

My brother Brian Osberg is a board member of this wonderful organization.  On June 29th Cathy Wurzer interviewed Brian and Leo’s mother on MPR News.  Here is the link to the story.   

https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/06/29/minnesota-funds-pediatric-hospice-care-at-crescent-cove

If you would like to support Crescent Cove in their mission, simply go to www.crescentcove.org

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”  Mother Teresa

July 13th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

In the summer of 1955, I was 11 years old, and we were living in St. Louis Park. My mother signed me up for bible camp.  I have no recollection of where the camp was other than “up north”.   I got so home sick, that an older couple was enlisted to drive me to Upsala and my Godfather, Ralph Johnson, drove me the rest of the way back home to 1620 Colorado Avenue in his brand new 1955 Chevy.  I turned 12 at the end of August.  

The next summer Ma sent me to bible camp once again and this time I remember packing a carton of Pall Malls so that I could make money selling packs of cigarettes to other campers.  This was the beginning of my “delinquent years”.

I left this off my resume when I applied for this job at MPR in 1999.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land.  There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”  Henry David Thoreau

July 7th, 2023 by Gary Osberg

The 39th annual Hagstrom/Osberg Golf Open Tournament, “The H2O”, will be held tomorrow at the Little Falls Golf Course.

My mother’s sister, Leone, Auntie to me, married Duane Hagstrom, co-owner of Hagstrom Chevrolet in Upsala, Minnesota. Between the two families there were 10 cousins. Auntie’s youngest, Kevin, is a very good golfer and for many years he and I won this best ball event every year. For that reason, we named our team ‘Ming’. After all, we were a dynasty.

Because of my back surgery, all I can do is putt.  When I was 12 years old we lived at 1620 Colorado Avenue in St. Louis Park. There was a Putt-Putt close by and I spent a lot of time there every summer.

In 2020 I was able to sink a birdie putt on hole number 1 and another on hole number 3, so we were 2 under par after three holes.  The rest of the team included Cousin Kevin, my brother Brian and his wife Jean Marie, plus brother Craig and his son Grayson. Craig’s daughter McKenzie drove the cart.  We finished 6 under, which meant that the trophy was back is in my living room for the first time since 2009.

After golf we gather at brother Bill’s house near the golf course for a picnic and the award ceremony. We are fortunate to have a number of traditions in our family.  I trust that your summer will be filled with many family events as well.

“It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”  Mark Twain