Listen to the Weekly Radio Readings by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member
Recorded December 2018
December 2 In 1954 on this same date the Roseau Times-Region had this interesting story about a boy lost in the woods during hunting season.
Robert Torgerson may be only 15 years old, but he proved last week he has a level head and can take care of himself in the big woods. In fact, he’d put a lot of grownups to shame with the way he prepared to make the best of a tough situation.
Robert had been hunting deer near the border north of Roseau and was hot on a fresh trail when he realized he was in the middle of a big swamp and not sure of his location. It was about 3:00 PM and night was not far away.
Like all good woodsmen, he carried a compass so he started north for the border. Things were going fine until…
December 9 This story comes from Marcella Eklund Woidtke’s history of her mother Emily Erickson’s family. Emily’s parents Arne and Mathilde Nelson lived northeast of Badger in the early 1900s.
On a cold December day about two or three weeks before the Christmas holidays, Arne butchered a couple of pigs and a beef animal. The meat was then preserved as previously described (by freezing it and storing it in a snow filled barrel). The hay was all hauled home…
December 16 & 23 I’ll read a story today from Hazel Wahlberg’s book “Remembrances”. It tells the story of Bob Bergland, United States Secretary of Agriculture during the Jimmy Carter administration. Bob’s funeral was held yesterday and the community has lost a charming and interesting man. He and his wife Helen were members of our Roseau County Historical Society, and served on our Board for some time also.
This story included in “Remembrances” was written by his mother, Mabel Bergland.
Bob Bergland was born in Roseau Minnesota on July 22, 1928, to Mr. and Mrs. Selmer B. Bergland…
December 30 Today some of my story comes from a book called “Keeping Christmas” by Kathleen Stokker and it describes the tradition of Julebukking. The name literally means “Christmas goat” in Norwegian and the tradition was brought from the Old Country and often practiced in the rural areas. People would dress in ridiculous fashion, often cross-dressing, and go in groups to their neighbors’ homes, making a commotion, but not speaking until they were recognized, then partaking in refreshments served by the homeowners being descended upon. Often the kids were scared by these mysterious visitors, and it was usually done between Christmas and New Year’s time.
Karen (Dahl) Lislegard, Otto Lund, Anna Halvorson & Ole Halvorson.
Photo from Sheila Winstead Collection
Thank you to 
for letting us share the history of our county with your listeners.