A Brief History of Mound, NEWSLETTER the next of the 5 ......Debi Tharalson-Heitz—My best friend’s house (left), Jane Latterelle, was completely destroyed. Her mom, Barb, arrived

Apr-Jun 2020 Volume 23, No. 2

A Brief History of Mound, the next of the 5 area histories.

2020 UPCOMING EVENTS Adhering to the Center for Disease Control recommendations during this time of a global health emergency, the WHS museum is closed to the public and all WHS events and meetings are cancelled through June 2020. WHS looks forward to reopening the museum and rescheduling all programs when it is deemed safe to do so. Tentatively scheduled: Glensheen, at the History Theatre, St. Paul, MN, July 16, 2020, 2 pm, bus and play ticket, $40, updates to follow.

Watch WHS Facebook page & website for details & updates.

6 May 1965 Westonka Remembers the Tornado

Debi Tharalson-Heitz—My best friend’s house (left), Jane Latterelle, was completely destroyed. Her mom, Barb, arrived home from work to find her entire house and her daughters gone. She was hysterical. The only thing left in the lower lev-el of her home was my dad’s 1942 Ford truck. A few doors away, her girls were safe with her sister Bev Swenson.

Bonnie Russell Lundberg—This photo was taken the day after the tornado, 7 May 1965, at Minnetonka Beach on the south side of Co. Rd. 15, about 1/4 mile from the Arcola Bridge. I’m on the left with my friend Kami Seng. What’s left of the Ronning house is behind us. During the tornado we were hunkered down in the root cellar of my grandmother’s house, Emma Kloss, on Brooks Lane in Minnetonka Beach. The ground just rumbled outside during the tornado, lots of us little grandkids all stuffed in the dirt root cellar that night.

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Carole Scherven Williams—Dad, Jon and I walked to Navarre after things settled. Dangerous walk over trees and power lines. What a shock when we got there. Suzi Scherven Lee—Dad, Al Scherven Jr., owned Na-varre Motors, where the Lund’s is today. It was complete-ly demolished. Family members crawled out of the deal-ership basement through the debris. Photo at left: debris from Navarre Motors in foreground; a badly damaged Ronny’s Cleaners in background.

NEWSLETTER

From the Collection

Westonka Historical Society 5341 Maywood Rd., Mound MN 55364 952-472-9800 westonkahistoricalsociety.org

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MOUND CONSOLIDATED &

MOUND WESTONKA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS NEEDED:

1925-26, ’31-32, ‘35-37, ‘62, 2006, 2012

DO YOU REMEMBER this BUILDING?

Exciting news—the IPVHPS received a MnHS Grant of $9550 to cover the cost of an architect specializing in historical properties who will assess the Village Hall to determine building code and structural needs with cost estimates for each task, all in preparation to share the building with the public. This is considered the next step for a clear picture of the renovation project. Members of IPVHPS continue to express their appre-ciation to the community for their generous support. Donations are accepted at MN Lake Bank and go-fundme.com/island-park-village-hall. Follow this hard working group on Facebook for more updates.

UPDATE from — Island Park Village Hall Preservation Society (IPVHPS)

KSTP/5 highlights the History of Tonka Toys Reporter Joe Mazon and photo journalist Monty Stuempert, spent over two hours in the WHS Tonka exhibit. Joe interviewed Pam Myers, WHS Board President, and Ron Pauly, Tonka Toys designer for over 18 years and a stalwart volunteer at the museum on most Saturdays. Monty took stills of displayed items—toys, documents and photos in-cluding the original company logos designed by Westonka citizen Er-ling Eklof, a photo of Lloyd Laumann who donated the first Tonka toy that began the WHS current display, and the framed letter from Presi-dent Eisenhower’s staff acknowledging receipt of a gift from the com-pany of a Tonka truck for his son, David. Meanwhile, Joe was working every minute, writing and re-writing his lines for the introduction of the topic. All this work for a 2-minute piece on the evening news. The resulting program even included vintage content found by Monty of the Roundhouse Rodney tour of the Tonka plant with a clip of the as-sembly line workers and the advertisement of an elephant standing on a Tonka toy to show its strength. To view the broadcast go to the WHS website Home Page for the link. To view the full-length video of the Tonka plant tour, go to YouTube.com and enter “Tonka Factory Tour 1975” in the search box.

NEW IN THE ARCHIVES—Thanks to the efforts of WHS volunteer/board member George Buehl, WHS has been awarded MnHS Grant funding to purchase microfilm. The films of historic publications and reader is a welcome addition to the museum’s Archive Room filled with Westonka history about families, businesses, organizations and schools. All will be available to the public when the museum reopens.

ca 1973

WHS BOARD of DIRECTORS

President: Pam Myers Vice-President: Debi Tharalson-Heitz Secretary: Sharon Corl Treasurer: Liz Vandam Past President: Jeff Magnuson Directors: Jerry Babb, John Bennett, George Buehl, Nancy Oestreich, Ron Pauly Honorary Members: Mary Opheim, Carol Senn, Tom Rockvam

MEMBERSHIP/RENEWAL APPLICATION

_______NEW ______RENEWING

Name________________________________________________________________________________

Address______________________________________________________________________________

Email / telephone______________________________________________________________________

(Circle one) Senior $20 Individual $25 Family $30 Contributing $50 Business $100

Make check payable and mail to: “WHS” 5341 Maywood Rd., Mound MN 55364

THANK YOU to all new & renewing memberships! 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Can you volunteer? Area of interest___________________________________________________________________________


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DONATIONS Amazon Smile Program

Floydene Archer honors the work of WHS Herman Renner honors the work of WHS

Friends & family remember Beverly Kloss Keiser City of Spring Park

Betty & Tuck Richardson honor the work of WHS

LIKE WHS on FACEBOOK VISIT WHS at WestonkaHistoricalSociety.org

Lydia & Brian Botham Pam Cavaliere Cross Family Anne Dorweiler Bob Gasch Harriet Gustafson Ann Haga Debi Heitz Doepner-Hove Family John Malakowsky Magnuson Family Don McGrath Mound True Value Pam Myers

Robert Nygaard Nancy Oestriech Mary Opheim Ron Pauly Philbrook Family Ann Precourt Reintz Family Sandholm Family Schivone Family Richard Seeger Ingrid Shaw Vandam Family Warner Family Joan Wolfe

WHS appreciates support from

WHS Needs You! Volunteers WANTED—

Off-site Display Coordinator Event Planner

Marketing Assistance

Interact with WESTONKA history!

For Details Call

952.472.9800 or

[email protected]

Thank you for— New & Renewing Memberships!

Thanks to hours of volunteer efforts, hundreds of WHS artifacts are now available at the MN Collections web-site, a state-wide shared site sponsored by MN Alliance of Local History Muse-ums (MALHM). At right: 1959 Mound High School Homecoming button.

PLACE STAMP HERE

WESTONKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 5341 Maywood Road

Mound, MN 55364

Membership expiration date follows your name on label above

THEN1908

2019 NOW

1960s

2019

Mound Fire Department


Lee School, ca 1898


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Documents

A Brief History of Mound, NEWSLETTER the next of the 5 ......Debi Tharalson-Heitz—My best friend’s house (left), Jane Latterelle, was completely destroyed. Her mom, Barb, arrived