Listen to the Weekly Radio Readings by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member
Recorded January 2020
January 5, 2020: Today’s story comes from a 1998 issue of the Reader, which was a small Roseau County newspaper. The story was written by Jeri Thompson.
The year was 1939. A young writer by the name of Jack Alexander was driving along the international border between the United States and Canada for a story for The Saturday Evening Post.
It was late fall and Alexander was listening to a Winnipeg station, which was broadcasting news on the war effort. His mind wandered with the broadcast to how different it was to be traveling along the border of a foreign country – Canada- with no cause for alarm, while in Europe, any border crossing could result in instant death.
The subsequent story of Alexander’s trip was fodder for an article that appeared in the January 6, 1940 edition of the Post. It is hard to imagine the area at that time, but delightful to follow along on the trip and see the comparisons that are made between different areas
When Warroad was visited, the merchants had just completed a “goodwill junket” that they made frequently by bus. These merchants would travel to border Canadian villages, purchasing sweets locally for the children… listen to hear the rest of the story.
January 12, 2020: Recently the name of Kenny Grand, a well-known and very likable character in Roseau’s history, came up in conversation and there were many amusing stories told about him. He worked for years for the Post Office. You might also remember him from Langlie’s Hartz Store. I decided to look at the Roseau County Museum and see if I could find any stories about him in his family file there. I found this Roseau Times-Region article from May 20, 1971, telling about some changes in his schedule.
When the new rail service went into effect, it ended a career of 22 years of driving for Kenny Grand, Roseau, whose trips through snow and sleet; hot and cold, had become a way of life for the man who also worked full-time at the post office on between four and five hours of sleep at “cat nap” intervals.
Kenny started driving from Thief River Falls to Warroad on May 6, 1949, when he would pick up Minneapolis Star-tribune newspapers for delivery to towns along the route.
He would leave Roseau before 3:00 AM in order to meet the train at Thief River Falls at 4:00 AM and get the papers back for early morning delivery. He drove this route until April of 1967 when the destination of the newspapers became Fargo, North Dakota… listen to hear the rest of the story.
January 19, 2020: Last week, I read an article about Kenny Grand and his 22 years of driving daily to Thief River Falls and then later Fargo to pick up newspapers for delivery. That job ended for him in 1971, but he kept busy with many other things, including grandchildren. One of those grandkids was David Erickson, son of Pam and DeVaughn, and when he was a little fellow, he wrote an essay about Kenny for a school project to share why grandparents are special. His essay was in the Roseau Times-Region and I’ll read it now.
My Grandpa’s name is Kenny Grand. To me he is “Grandpa Grand.” He lives in Roseau about half a mile away from me. I feel very lucky to have two terrific grandpas still living and I love them both very much, but I decided to write about Grandpa Grand because he is older and shorter! He babysat me when my mom and grandma would go to Grand Forks to do some shopping. He would dip my pacifier in whipped cream when I would get fussy. He thinks it’s hilarious when I have to help my parents with computers and other high tech devices. Sometimes we talk about the war. In WWII Grandpa was in the Army medical corps. He took x-rays of injured soldiers and was stationed in England. He also enjoys telling stories of the “good old days.”…listen to hear more of the story.
January 26, 2020: Roseau County has had a higher than average share of inventors through the years for an area of its size. Today I read about an invention in 1930 in an article in the April 25, 1930 issue of the Roseau Times-Region. It was named “Arcast,” and it was said the Local Invention Will Revolutionize Welding of Cast Iron by Electriic Process.
A new article is being manufactured in Roseau at the Roseau Machine Shop which promises to revolutionize the welding process of cast iron. The process was invented and the patent applied for by L. B. Hartz and Gust Nyquist. A quantity of the new article was made up and the two men made a flying trip to the large centers of the state, returning last week, with the purpose of interesting the large concerns in their product. They met with much encouragement and as a result are now turning out electrodes as fast as they can get the necessary materials from the eastern supply house…listen to hear more of the story.
Thank you to for letting us share the history of our county with your listeners.