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It has been six 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 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. 

Live from Here this week is a live show from New York City.  Special guests include The Lumineers, Raphael Saadig, Sarah Jarosz, Jeff Daniels, Aparna Nancherla and Maria Popova.  Enjoy the show. 

“I was born to have fun”.  Leone Larson Hagstrom 1922-2013

Category : General

Comments Off on September 13, 2019

This note was cut and pasted from my son’s website, The Outdoor Report.  He wrote it in 2013.

“In our family, Labor Day weekend means a trip to Uncle Brian’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 lead 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

Walleye Willie, age 4 at the time,  is showing off his catch.  The picture of the shoreline was taken by Erik’s wife Jena this Labor Day weekend.  As always, a great time was had by all.

Live from Here this week is live from New York City at the Town Hall.  Special guests include Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Natalie Lafourcade, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sarah Jarosz, Matt Braunger and Holly Laurent.  Enjoy the show.

“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

Category : General

Comments Off on September 6, 2019

Ninety eight years ago today, a boy-child was born in Pretare, Italy. A village in the Apennine Mountains on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.  Anthony Caponi grew to be a giant in the art world.  In his lifetime, Tony created hundreds, maybe thousands of sculptures, many of them from rocks.  He also established the Caponi Art Park and Learning Center in Eagan, Minnesota.  Google the park and you can enjoy videos of Tony and his favorite fans, the children.

Forty six years ago today, the “Granite Trio” was dedicated on the mall in downtown St. Cloud.  The Granite Trio was commissioned by the St. Cloud Community Arts Council, which became Visual Arts Minnesota.  The SCCAC was lead by the late Arlene Helgeson.  Arlene found out that the mall was going to be redesigned to become a two way street once again so the city was planning on moving the Granite Trio.  Arlene told the city that she would chain herself to the rocks in protest.  The rocks stayed where they were and now the street winds around them.

Seventy six year ago today, another boy-child was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, 25 miles east of Upsala.  In his lifetime he sold Herman Miller office furniture, Xerox copiers and 15 second branding messages on Minnesota Public Radio.  For almost twenty years now he has been helping folks to “get the word out” about their companies and special events in central and southwestern Minnesota, Sioux Falls and Sun Valley, Idaho.  A picture of these two boys as they appeared in 2013, on the eve of a celebration of the “Granite Trio”, is attached.

Live from Here this week is the last of the reruns for a while.  The new season kicks off from New York City next Saturday. 

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your wild and precious life?”  from Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”, a poem beloved by Arlene Helgeson.

Category : General

Comments Off on August 30, 2019

“Welcome Class of 2023”  This is posted on the sign at the entrance to the St. John’s University campus. Yesterday, the Sexton Commons fountain area had tables set out with coffee, juice and plates of cookies fresh from the bakery. For many this was a family affair. Most young men and women were accompanied by one or both of their parents. In the fall of 1961,  I arrived on campus of the University of Minnesota, Main Campus. Coming from a class of 33 in Upsala and going to a class of thousands was overwhelming. Ma had moved the family from Upsala to south Minneapolis, in part, to make it easier for me to attend college.

My two quarters at the “U” were a disaster. The Institute of Technology was certainly a bad choice. My worst performance was in English 101. Every week I would turn in the blue composition book and every week I would get a “D” or a “F”. Not paying any attention to Miss Krier in 11th and 12th grade English class at good old Upsala High had caught up with me.

The highlight of the fall of 1961 was the Gopher football team. They were coached by Murray Warmath and lead by quarterback Sandy Stephens. They compiled a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. On New Year’s day 1962, they beat the UCLA Bruins by a score of 21 to 3 in the Rose Bowl. When I came home to Upsala that spring, defeated and broke, Bob Soltis nicknamed me “Murray” and he called me “Murray” from that time forward.

Live from Here this week is the final rebroadcast before the start of the new season.  On September 7^th the show will be live from The Town Hall in New York City.  Special guests will include Sarah Jarosz and Holly Laurent.  Check out the complete tour at livefromhere.org.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts”  John Wooden

Category : General

Comments Off on August 23, 2019

It is another beautiful day on the campus of St. John’s University.   There is a sadness amongst us because our dear friend Father Hilary Thimmesh died on Sunday.  Father Hillary officed next door to me here on the third floor of Wimmer Hall.  I saw him many times during the week.  I always knew when he had arrived, because he would fire up his electric tea pot.  He was an English major after all.  Just last Friday he stopped by to tell me about having learned how to have his computer read his email messages to him.  He was so happy about this newly discovered technology. 

Amongst his many duties, he served as the 10^th President of St. John’s University from 1982 until 1991.   He touched many lives, but I was amazed at his ability to continue to serve.  He was as a floor resident in St. Thomas Hall from 1963 until spring of 2019.  This would have been the first fall that he was not a resident there.   Many of the Johnnie football players were housed in Tommy Hall.  I can imagine the numerous times that he counseled a young man as the tough times were sure to come their way.

There will be a celebration of the Eucharist of Christian Burial for Father Hilary at 3:30 today in Saint John’s Abbey and University Church.

The poem that is attached is dedicated to his memory.

Live from Here this week is a rebroadcast.  The next live performance is on Saturday September 7^th from New York City.   Check the schedule at livefromhere.org

Category : General

Comments Off on August 16, 2019

It is a perfect 10 today.  Sweater weather in August thanks to the cool air from our neighbor to the north, Canada.  I hope to see you tonight at the Downtown St. Cloud Art Crawl.  It runs from 5 until 9.

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 of the entrepreneurs come out of this group as do all of 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 business was Draftech, Inc. a contract drafting service run out of my basement in our home in Coon Rapids. It was not very long before I went 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 1982.

I have a collection of business cards that fills a ring binder.  I started working here in 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.

Live from Here this week is another rebroadcast of an earlier show.  You can see the fall lineup at livefromhere.org 

Oh, I almost forgot, Upsala Heritage Days starts tonight with a free concert in the city park.   The “Best Central Minnesota Small Town Parade” starts tomorrow at 10:30.  Lunch at the Borgstrom House is awesome.  I hope to see you there too.

“We all find time to do what we really want to do.”  William Feather

Category : General

Comments Off on August 9, 2019

In the winter of 1971, I attended a Coon Rapids City Council meeting to complain about the snowmobiles that were running up and down the streets in my neighborhood. I was not impressed with my representation, so that fall I decided to run for the Third Ward Council seat. I had met a few folks at a caucus in 1970, so with their help, we managed to pull off an upset victory. The fellow that we beat was a Vice President of a large insurance company and he was going for his third three year term. I think what did him in was his decision to distribute a legal document with all of his qualifications on one side, filling up the whole sheet, and my qualifications on the other side, taking up not even half of the page.  Things like: “Attended college”.  After all, I was 27 years old when we started the campaign.  It was kind of mean spirited.

One of the guys that helped me get elected was Gene Merriam. We had spent a lot of hours collecting rummage for a garage sale fundraiser, so we got to know each other quite well. The next year Gene ran for Council at Large and he won that seat. Rick Reiter ran for the first ward seat and he won.  In late 1973, we filled a vacancy in Ward 2 by appointing Dave Therkelsen. We served together in the year 1974. It is hard to believe that 45 years have gone by.

A couple of years ago we met for a 43 year reunion. We decided that we were all too long in the tooth to solve the world’s problems, so someone else is going to have to do it. We simply spent two hours sharing stories and laughing.

Live from Here this week is a rebroadcast of an older show.  The new season starts September 7^th from New York.  Check it out at www.livefromhere.org 

“Aside from the strictly moral standpoint, honesty is not only the best policy, but the only possible policy from the standpoint of business relations. The fulfillment of the pledged word is of equal necessity to the conduct of all business. If we expect and demand virtue and honor in others, the flame of both must burn brightly within ourselves…honesty begets honesty; trust, trust; and so on through the whole category of desirable practices that govern and control the world’s affairs.”

James F. Bell

Category : General

Comments Off on August 2, 2019

Last Friday I wrote about my short career as one of the 400,000 folks who had worked on the Apollo project.  After one week on the job, due to my total lack of drafting skills, I was transferred to the Polaris Missile team in the same Honeywell building on Stinson Boulevard  in North Minneapolis.  I was assigned as an engineer aid to Nevin Jahns.

When I left in March of 1965 to go off to college, they had a going away party.  I was able to find the Polaris Submarine tie clasp and the compass set that they had gifted me, but I must have worn out the briefcase  lugging books.  (that is a joke). 

Now here is where it gets weird.  On Saturday, my daughter Kerry threw her annual “summer birthdays” party at her place in Upsala, the old parsonage that was built in 1892 by the Swedish Mission Church members.  My brother Bill came to the party and he presented me with an envelope that contained many cards that had once been given to me.  A collection of 21^st birthday cards and even some 40^th birthday cards.  I have no idea how it was that he had them in his house.  On Sunday I took the time to go through the stack.  One of the cards was a Bon Voyage card from the Polaris Missile team.   On the back of the card, Carol had written the names of all 38 members of the team.  The only two names that I had recalled where those of the engineer that I was assigned to, Nevin Jahns and the boss Ralph Webb.  There was also a birthday card signed by Carol and Ardyce.  That is how I was able to identify her handwriting on the back of the Bon Voyage card. Weird huh?

Live from Here this week is a rebroadcast. The next live show is from New York City on September 7^th.   You can listen to old shows on the web:   livefromhere.org 

“Think all you speak, but speak not all you think.  Thoughts are your own; your words are so no more.”  Patrick Delany

Category : General

Comments Off on July 26, 2019

Apollo 11 landed on the moon 50 years ago tomorrow.  I have been watching a lot of public television and listening to stories on MPR.  What an amazing accomplishment! 

In 1963 I was a contract draftsman in Minneapolis.  Minnesota Engineering sent me to Honeywell Stinson Boulevard to report to a drafting department.  I had just started on this career and I was self-taught.  The truth was, I was not very good at the task.  It turned out that Honeywell was working on gyroscopes for the Apollo project.  After a couple of days, the department head confronted me and told me that I was the worst draftsman that he had ever met.  He transferred me to the Polaris project in the next building.  I reported to , Nevin Jahns and he took me on as an engineer aid.  My job was to make changes to sepias of drawings.  The simplest of tasks.  I worked hard and I managed to stay there until March of 1965 when I left to return to St. Cloud State College.  At my going away party they gave me a Polaris Submarine tie clasp and a briefcase for my books plus a compass set that belonged to the young fellow that had my job, but never returned to work after a long weekend.  I never knew his name or what happened to him. He must have hated the job.   My good fortune. 

If you go to MPRnews.org you can listen to an interview with Cathy Wurzer and Nancy Atkinson who lives near Upsala.  She has written a new book, “Eight Years to the Moon, the History of the Apollo Missions”.   She was in our studio last Friday, linked to a live broadcast on Maine Public Radio.  She has uncovered a lot of details.

Live from Here this week is a live show from the Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, CA.  Guests include The Tallest Man on Earth,  Lulu Miller, Zakir Hussain, Ganesh Rajagopalan and Gaby Moreno.  Enjoy the show.

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Neil Armstrong  9:56pm central time. Sunday, July 20, 1969  

Category : General

Comments Off on July 19, 2019

The 34^th annual Hagstrom Osberg golf tournament was wonderful.  No, the MING team did not win this year either.  We came in at one over par in the best-ball game.   The winning team was made up of a young grandson Adam, two grandsons in law, Corey and Matt and a son in law Kelly of my sister Kathie Kimpling.   They came in at 4 under par.  Her husband Duaine shared in the limelight.  My granddaughter Kaylin brought T shirts for everyone so that next year, at the big 35^th, we can do the group photo again.   I am hoping to talk my friend Denise into coming once more to shoot a few rolls of film.

If you need T shirts for your group photo, simply check out RealZygoatian.com  

Walleye Willie is now giving lessons on how to catch catfish.  If you want the link to the YouTube video, just ask.

Live from Here this week is another rebroadcast.  Next Saturday they will be live from the Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, CA. 

“Vision without action is a daydream.  Action without vision is a nightmare.”  Japanese Proverb.

Category : General

Comments Off on July 12, 2019