That hometown newspaper has been in the Deis family for as long as I can remember. I’ve been aware of at least three family editors with other family members having involvement. Local columnists had area followings. Sports teams were a big deal in small towns. The city baseball team is still competitive and the ball field has had several renovations in the past 80 years. Much of the community showed up for high school basketball, football, and baseball games. As members of the band, my sister and I were involved because the band played, except for baseball and wrestling. My brothers were both football players as well as band members.

Growing up in a small town offered so many opportunities for us to expand our horizons. There was a place for everyone who was interested. We had excellent musical training from band director Del Ingvalson and Luther Kolstad, choir director. The band marched in summer parades as well as at football games. Fall and Spring concerts were city-wide events. 

Back to the Hub. In recent months a new column has been added to the weekly paper. Titled “Growing Up In Gaylord,” it chronicles the writer’s youth in the 70s and 80s that closely resembled the 50s and 60s. I look forward to those articles each week to reflect on those experiences. The whistle that blew at noon and six each day is no longer there. It was a reminder of mealtime and we dropped whatever activity had us in its clutches in order to be present for family meals. The “Indian Trails” along the lake provided many adventures when our imaginations brought us there. School lunches were one of his topics. I regularly went home for lunch as it was only two blocks away. But occasionally when sloppy joes or pizza was on the menu, I stayed.