Time is running short to submit info for new Grygla history book

Information is being gathered for a history book to be printed in connection with Grygla’s 100 year anniversary. Stories in the book that were published in 1992 centered around the earliest pioneers who settled the land and started the town. Material for the new book could include stories from the next generation of natives who lived here or from people who moved to Grygla later. These stories could include memories of events and happenings in the decades that followed the early settlement. 

For instance, do you have any particular memory of modernizing from gas lamps to electric lights or from the outhouse out back to indoor plumbing? Do you remember when loved ones came home from the war? What did you do for entertainment before television? Do you recall any memorable events at the old Mar-bel hall? Who played for most of the dances in the old hall? Do you have any memories regarding the former bowling alley, the old adult baseball team or the drug store in Grygla? Did you tip toilets on Halloween? Did you get stuck in the mud or have to fix old fashioned car tires on a road into town? What did you learn from the old party-line telephones? Do you remember riding the bus to Goodridge High? Do you remember when the road was finally paved all the way into Grygla, connecting Thief River Falls, Roseau and Bemidji? Do have any stories to tell about the big flood in the spring of 1950, or the blizzard of 1966? What do you remember about the progress of the 70s? Were you among those who traveled to the state capitol to urge the state legislature to give approval for the high school in Grygla? Did you watch the progress when the city water and sewer project was underway?  Remember the outlandish clothing of the 70’s (mini’s and maxi’s, huge bell bottoms and pastel leisure suits)?

Everyone has stories: some hilarious, some mysterious or unusual, some just interesting. These stories would not only make good reading in our history book, but would also to give a lasting picture of what life has been like here in decades past. 

Photos of interest are also welcome.

Time is running short, though. Information needs to be gathered soon so that the book can be organized. Please call Joy Nordby at 218-294-6122 or Sheldon Peterson at 218-294-6176. You can send photos and texts to Joy Nordby, PO Box 13, Grygla, MN 56727 or email joynordby@gvtel.com.

The following is a clip from Joy’s story about the old Gamble Store:

When news reached us (by radio) that work was underway to put up a television transmitting tower at Fargo, my dad ordered an RCA television set from Gambles and put it on display in our store. He also installed an extra high antenna on our two-story building that was way above the trees and chimneys. People around Grygla were very skeptical. They would look at the television set, shake their heads and say “we’ll never get a picture here, it’s over 90 miles as the crow flies.” Dad was optimistic about it and ordered a couple of different TV models that people could look at. I was in eighth grade at the time and I remember that there was a discussion about the TV question in school.  My teacher, Mr, Stennes, was one of the unbelievers. I remember that for weeks all we could see on the display model was a test pattern, but even that seemed miraculous. Every once and awhile we would receive a freak picture from Minneapolis/St. Paul, probably when the wind was strong in the right direction. At last the day came (in 1953) when the power was to be turned on. That evening the store filled up with people to see “I Love Lucy” on WDAY television. It seemed utterly amazing. The first people in Grygla to buy television sets from our Gamble Store were the owners of the three “beer joints,” as they felt it would be an attraction for customers. Most days you couldn’t watch a program for very long before the TV screen would be covered over with what looked like a snow storm. Still, we couldn’t take our eyes off of the TV set and waited for the storm to pass over so the picture could return. Every once and awhile dad would go up on the roof and turn the antenna just a bit in one direction or another.