Senior Focus On ...Darlene Sawyer

 

“I've never been interviewed before,” Darlene Sawyer says, as she contemplates being on the other side of the interview table.

Darlene Sawyer, who will turn 80 years old in July, is well known as a Bagley school teacher and journalist with a history of special accomplishments through her working career. She modestly denies any deserving of the recognition she has received through the years. 

A farm girl who grew up in northern Clearwater County, Darlene learned responsibility early in life as  the oldest of four siblings. Her parents, Dorothy and Elmer Gunelius, often left Darlene in charge when they were tending the farm. 

“I think people do kids a disservice if they don't expect them to be responsible,” Darlene says.

Darlene is a 1955 graduate of Gonvick High School and put herself through a year at Bemidji State Teachers College. She went to work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where she married James Clemenson. in 1958.

Darlene was not anxious to move back to the Gonvick area when her husband was asked to come up and promote the Winsor Lefse business in Gonvick. But with James' promise to her that she could go back to school and continue her education, that was motivation enough for her to move in 1966. 

They had two young children, and Darlene commuted for three and a half years to BSU while James helped with the childcare. 

“I was a dedicated student,” Darlene says. “I graduated in 1969 with a BS degree in English, and minors in Psychology and Social Studies. When I graduated, there was a shortage of teachers. I was looking around for a job when the Superintendent of Bagley schools called the principal here to interview me for a teaching position. I got the job as the high school English teacher. I was also assigned to be the school newspaper advisor, and stayed in the position for 29 years.” 

In the meantime, Darlene says she didn't know anything about newspapers. So she took a class at BSU in Journalistic Writing. 

“I liked it,” she says, and that started her on a lifelong journey of teaching and writing. 

In the summer of 1970, she applied for a scholarship, all expenses paid, for “Inexperienced High School Newspaper Advisers,” which was sponsored by the Wall Street Journal. 

Darlene got a letter indicating she was chosen as one of 25 recipients of the scholarship, and traveled to Radford College in Radford, Virginia to attend the two week intensive training taught by a professor from Columbia University. 

“We were divided into five groups and our assignment was to produce a small newspaper of four pages each. We gained lots of ideas about learning to produce a high school newspaper. That was  really special to receive that scholarship and be there.” 

“We used Polaroid cameras for the school newspaper at the time, which were very expensive to use, so I wrote a grant for two 35mm cameras and darkroom equipment, which we received. Don Nordlund, who was a military photographer helped me a lot with setting up a dark room. So many kids were interested in the dark room, we quit that and turned it over to the shop department.” 

“We won first prize at the BSU Journalism Conference in the 1970s which was run by Jim McMahon.,” Darlene says proudly. “Angie Mankie was the editor of the school paper at the time, and she and I were invited on a paid trip to the State Capitol to a press conference.”

Some of her students won essay contests run by the Minneapolis Star Tribune in the 1980s, which was very rewarding for her as a teacher, and a tribute to her ability to guide her students. 

“There was a very close knit and talented group of teachers here, and a lot of camaraderie you can't replace,” Darlene says of her years spent teaching in Bagley.

“When I was a member of the Minnesota High School Press Association I received an award for 25 years of service,” another milestone of achievement for Darlene. 

Darlene's husband died in 1974, quite a shock in her life. In 1983, Darlene got remarried to Don Sawyer who had worked in law enforcement. He moved here from the West coast in order to obtain land and farm. They were often chaperones at the school dances. 

“I inherited another family at that time who have been very good to me. And now I have a total of eight grand kids in our blended family. Every summer for 25 years we went out west to visit where Don had lived.” He died in 2010. 

Darlene enjoys traveling too. She's been to Boston, New York City, the East and West coasts, also  England, France, Italy and several other countries. 

“My favorite place is England, because of the history,” she says. 

From 1969 through the present Darlene has had a connection with the Farmers Independent who published the school newspaper for Bagley High School during her teaching and school newspaper years. She enjoyed working with the Beltz editors. 

“When Tom Burford became the editor of the Farmers Independent here, that was very helpful. I learned a lot from him,” she says. “He is a really talented and honorable editor.”

“Tom asked me to do a few stories when I retired, and I just loved it. A lot of the stories I do now are about my students! It is very satisfying.”

“Friends ask me why I keep doing it, and I say, 'I love it'. I don't quilt or play cards, (but I do like to play scrabble). I also love reading and most kinds of music, swimming and camping in summer. 

“But writing is my creative outlet. I like periods of solitude when I write.”

In 2009, Darlene was nominated for the Clearwater County First Lady, which she says meant a lot to her to receive that honor. 

In May of 2014 Darlene had some very serious heart issues when she had surgery for a ruptured ventricle.

“I almost died,” Darlene ponders about the experience. “But I was always a step ahead in recovery, and after several weeks in the hospital, then several weeks at a nursing home for rehab and at my daughter's in Minneapolis, I returned home. They told me I was tough.” 

And she is very motivated. Her goal was to cover the fair for the newspaper that summer. She hooked up a camera and notebook to her walker, and made it to the fair as planned! 

“I am a real believer in goals,” Darlene says. “You may not reach them, but don't sit and think about how bad things are for you. It was good therapy for me to come to the fair.” 

Currently, Darlene is a member of Gonvick American Legion Auxiliary, NELL Board, a Trustee on Samhold Lutheran Church council, and Vice President of Samhold women's group.

To the older people in the community, Darlene encourages them to do what they can. 

“I don't  want you to give up. Keep doing your creative activities – they are good for you. Do things you enjoy and travel while you can.” 

“We all have challenges. You may wonder if you're doing the right thing. But looking out for your community and doing what you can is the best thing anyone can do.”

“Now I have been associated with the newspaper for 48 years, and covered the high school graduations here most of those years. I tell Tom my goal is to make it to 50 years. I just hope I can keep my mental factors and keep writing!” 

“I love what I do. I've had to cut back a little, but I'm not ready to quit.”