Travels to Waseca

When I was putting together a recent Looking Back at Waseca Sports History Waseca Alums site feature, I noted that Warren ‘Chick’ Gray had been the manager of the Waseca Chicks baseball team before he managed the Waseca Braves baseball team in the 1950s. Do you know the history of the Waseca Chicks baseball team? I assume the team’s name was the origin of Warren’s nickname. Am I right?

  Waseca Baseball Club, baseball team and bat boy, posed after a game, lined up on a bench; (front row) Bob Kujath (bat boy); (on the bench) unknown, Roy “Red” Myers, Herb Sponberg, Warren “Chick” Gray, unknown, Immanual Mueller, Albert Groebner, Bob Gray, R.G.”Happy” Lowe, George Johnson, Clem Bauman, Ed Fiebiger; (standing) Don Herbst.

   Waseca Baseball Club; posing outside L-R: (front row) Clem Bauman, Immanuel Mueller, R. G.”Happy” Lowe, Al Bell, Jim McDermott, Albert “Allie” Groebner, Emil Scheid; (back row) Don Herbst, unknown, Ed “Fat” Fiebiger, George Johnson, Herb “Ike” Sponberg, Bob Gray, Warren “Chick” Gray, Jack Connelly, Helder Munson.

The photos of Waseca’s 1938 and 1939 baseball teams are courtesy of the Waseca County Historical Society. What were the names of the teams in these years?

It may not be too late to get tickets for the  2007 Waseca High School Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet.

The 3nd Annual Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for 7 p.m., Friday, March 30, 2007, at Waseca Lakeside Country Club. Tickets can be purchased at the Waseca High School Activities Office for $15 each. Contact Scott Shafer at 507-837-5535.

I received an email today from John King, president of the Waseca Central High School Class of 1957. He said the class will hold their 50th class reunion in conjunction with the Waseca Homecoming Celebration September 21-22, 2007.

King expects about 80 classmates and guests to attend the parade and homecoming game on Friday and attend their reunion dinner on Saturday.

If you need more information on the reunion, contact Jim Larson, Judy Lorig Joecks or Ruth Ann Lewer Priebe, the Waseca members of the reunion committee.

The National Weather Service in St. Paul is interested in having people who witnessed the Black Sunday twisters of 1967 in Waseca add their personal experiences to the story they are compiling. The information is being collected for a web page chronicling the events of the day and its aftermath.

The question the weather service is posing is: Did you, or someone you know, experience the Black Sunday tornadoes of April 30, 1967?

Karen Trammell, a forecaster at the weather service’s Chanhassen office, and co-worker Tony Zaleski are compiling information on the tornadoes, and they are looking for stories and photographs from Waseca residents who recall the tornado outbreak.

Stories and electronic copies of photographs may be sent via email to Karen Trammell. Hard copies can be sent to the National Weather Service, 1733 Lake Drive West, Chanhassen, MN 55317. Weather service staff will also consider making a trip to review your material in person.

Read about the tornado in the Mankato Free Press: 40 years ago: A killer storm in Waseca ‘Black Sunday’ left 13 dead in southern Minnesota

I received an email quite some time ago from Diane Walthers (SSA 1966) asking whether WasecaAlums.com was available for Southern School of Agriculture (SSA) students and graduates? I thought it would be a good idea to post here on that topic. The short answer is, “Yes, we welcome members from the Southern School of Agriculture!”

I’ve set up a department for the Southern School of Agriculture, Waseca, on the school pages, I’ve  got a few post cards of the school in Vintage Post Cards under Schools, and I include mentions of Southern School of Agriculture events and happenings from Waseca papers in the Looking Back at Waseca History and Looking Back at Waseca Sports History weekly emails and articles.

If you aren’t a member, check out Recent Looks Back. You can sign up on the WasecaAlums.com site to receive an email every time a new weekly ’Look Back’ is posted (upper right corner).

If your Southern School of Agriculture class is planning a reunion, provide us information on it and we’ll post it. We’ll even try to help locate missing classmates.

Are the classes of 1957, 1962, 1967, and 1972 planning reunions in 2007? Provide us information and let us know what we can do to help.

Would SSA graduates like to be invited and involved in the Waseca 2008 All-School Reunion? Let us know your thoughts by making a comment.

I have a Google Alert set for “Waseca.” Today I got a Google Alert for a Albert Lea Tribune article that mentions Waseca’s 1918 state basketball championship. The article recounts how, in 1919, Albert Lea beat the Waseca team twice and went on to become state champions that year.

“About the time World War I was ending in the late fall of 1918, the Albert Lea team started off its season with an impressive 69-14 win over the Osage, Iowa, basketball team.

The next two games were with Waseca and won with scores of 16-11 and 19-11. These were significant victories because Waseca had won the 1918 tournament and was considered to be the top basketball team in the state.”

If you’re preparing for a reunion for your class, here are a few tips on collecting contact information:

• Collect phone numbers and email addresses when you collect your contact information. (Here’s a MS Excel form you’re welcome to use for your class list. MS Excel format document for collecting contact information on classmates)
• If you’re just getting started and don’t have a current list of classmates, get a copy of the list from your last reunion or contact the Waseca All-School Reunion Committee for their 1998 list of classmates.
• Contact known family and friends. Ask others if they know of family or friends who may remain in contact.
• Do a Google search for the classmate at their last known address, e.g., firstname + lastname + city + state abbreviation. If unsuccessful, search on the last name and consider contacting people on the list to see if they have contact information for the person.
• Use TheUltimates to search.
• Post a list of your missing classmates on this blog and on People Search at WasecaAlums.com.
• As you go along, distribute your list of classmates to the classmates who have email so they can keep in contact and perhaps get motivated to help locate still missing classmates.

When you’re done, distribute your list of classmates to all classmates so they can keep in contact.

I’m certain the Waseca 2008 All-School Reunion Committee will also appreciate receiving a copy of your list of classmates as they prepare for the 2008 All-School Reunion.

If your group – reunion, banquet, fundraiser – is holding a Waseca event, Waseca Alums will consider donating free one-year WasecaAlums.com membership certificates to your group. The certificates can be given away as door prizes or auctioned off as a fund-raiser for the group.

Contact Chuck Lucas for more information. Provide us the name of the group and the number of Waseca people expected to attend the event.

Happy St. Urho’s Day. It’s probably just a coincidence that St. Urho’s Day falls on March 16th, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. St. Urho is the Patron Saint of Finland. Read all about St. Urho and his exploits I don’t remember many Finns in the Waseca area but my mother had Finnish ancestors and there are lots of Finns in the area of our cabin in St. Louis County.

I’m spiffing up the look and functionality of the ‘Travels to Waseca’ blog at WasecaAlums.com by using WordPress Blog. I hope you like the new look and features. It’s free, it’s open to Waseca Alums members and non-members, and you can post your own entries and add your own comments, but you have to register here separately from Waseca Alums.

The blog is moderated. That means that your posts won’t show up until I, or my designee, approves them for posting.

Feel free to post messages on any subject. But, be nice – no profanity, no name calling, no commercial posts.

Best regards,

Chuck Lucas WHS 1959

  I just heard from Larry Lutgens that Cleone Bauman Sutlief (WHS 1962) died today, Tuesday, March 13th, in Waseca. She had been living in Dublin GA with her husband, Rollie Sutlief (WHS 1961).

Update: Cleone’s obituary is available at the McRaith Funeral Home web site and has been published in the Waseca County News. Cleone’s memorial visitation will be held at the McRaith Funeral Home in Waseca on Friday, March 16, 2007, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. I’ve posted Cleone’s complete obituary in the In Remembrance department at Waseca Alums. Our sincere condolances to the family. Chuck

The Waseca Central High School Class of 1962 will hold their 45th class reunion Saturday, July 21, 2007, in Waseca. Larry Lutgens has asked for help in locating missing classmates from the Waseca High School Class of 1962 so they can be invited to the reunion. According to Lutgens, the following are among the missing: John Anderson, Nancy Campbell, Curtis Fritz (last address in Chandler AZ), Naomi Hanson Gray (last address in Verona WI), Judy Krause Kuhns, Bob Krenke (last address Green Bay WI), Margaret Krueger O’Rourke, Sharon Kruger Lewer, Linda Lowery Cierpiszewski (last address Bainbridge Island, WA), Marigail Lundberg Ragan, Dennis Quickstad (last address Van Werth OH), Kathy Ruedy Benson, Larry Torgerson, and Cheryl Volling Larsen.

If you have current contact information, or clues, on any of the missing classmates, please send me an email or send Larry an email. Thanks.

A graduate of Sacred Heart High School mentioned to me that some SHHS graduates were upset that the Waseca Hall of Fame didn’t include SHHS students. Since he mentioned that, I’ve learned more about the Waseca High School Athletic Hall of Fame (and I’ve posted information about the program and their inductees on the Waseca Alums site).

My opinion is that the Waseca High School Athletic Hall of Fame program was appropriately started by WHS and the WHS Booster Club to honor their student athletes, coaches, and others and I understand why it’s limited to Waseca High School. That said, it’s my opinion that if there is the interest and support necessary, there should be a separate Sacred Heart High School Athletic Hall of Fame and a separate Southern School of Agriculture Athletic Hall of Fame to honor the athletes and coaches of these schools.

(As an aside, I also think there should be a Hall of Fame for exceptional achievement in any area by graduates of the three Waseca schools, SHHS, SSA, and WHS. If I remember correctly, several graduates of Waseca schools were honored during the 1998 All-School Reunion for their exceptional achievement following graduation.)

I’m willing to assist in getting additional Halls of Fame started in any way I can.

The 39th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration and Parade sponsored by the Irish-American Club of Southern Minnesota was held Saturday in Janesville. A new Miss St. Patrick and Miss Irish Rose for the coming year were to be selected from the 5 contestants. The contestants included Nicole Frisk, Mankato; Sammie Hoehn, Waseca; Molly McLaughlin, Mankato; Samantha Passer, Blue Earth; and Carrie Sommers, Waseca. (As published in the Waseca County News.)

Who were the chosen ones?

Update: Molly Rose McLaughlin of Mankato was crowned Miss Irish Rose and Sammie Hoehn was crowned Miss St. Patrick during the Irish-American Club of Southern Minnesota’s celebration last Saturday in Janesville. (As published in the Waseca County News.)

Have a happy, and safe, St. Patrick’s Day next Saturday!

  St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Waseca, Minn. 1909. Courtesy of the Waseca County Historical Society.

The Waseca school board is considering the future of the Waseca Area Learning Center (WALC) because of the expense of the program. Deanna Bendix (wife of former WHS teacher John Bendix) wrote an article from the perspective of the at-risk students being served by the program for the Waseca County News.

I suspect Ms. Bendix’s perspective on the topic was influenced at least a little bit by her husband. I know at least one story of how Mr. Bendix personally went out of his way to help an at-risk student during his teaching years before there was such a thing as the WALC. There are undoubtedly other stories about Mr. Bendix and other teachers. Care to share?