Renovation – preserving the past for the future

Renovation is usually one of my favorite topics. It involves retrofitting old structures to make them new again. Those assignments involve me talking about and photographing old structures, something the urban explorer in me really enjoys.

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The Harmony, Minnesota, Historical Society is kicking off a fund drive to renovate the old McGlaughlin Elevator, first built in 1879. They’ll host open house events July 3 and 4 from 11-2 each day. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The past and future stand guard at the entrance to Main Street in Harmony, Minnesota. The McMichael Grain Elevator was built in 1879 and stands on the west side of Main Street, where it meets the curve of State Highway 52. On the east side of the street is the much newer and more modern Harmony Agri-Services. A group of Harmony citizens is working to make sure the past and future of grain handling in the area watch over Main Street for many years to come.

Harmony sits smack dab in the middle of Minnesota farm country, so they needed elevators near railroads to process and store harvested grain, as well as move it into large freight cars for transportation. The A. & T. McMichael Grain Company of McGregor, Iowa, built the original elevator structure, one of several facilities they owned and operated in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota. It included the elevators in Preston, Mabel, and Canton, Minnesota.

Farmers drove in here and dumped their grain for storage down through the floor grate in the old Harmony Elevator. The town’s Historical Society is kicking off a fund drive to raise money for renovations and turning it into a historical landmark. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Joel Wolsted bought the facility in 1914, and his family would hang on to it for a long time. He passed on the operation to his son, Ron Wolsted, who ran it as “Harmony Feed and Fuel.” As the new Harmony Agri-Services facility went up on the other side of the road, the old structure was gifted to the City of Harmony and the Harmony Area Historical Society by Jeff and Barb (Wolsted) Soma of Harmony Agri-Services in 2019.

Understandably, the then 140-year-old facility was in rough shape when the historical society first opened the doors. Ralph Beastrom is one of the historical society’s elevator committee chairs. With a laugh, he said the place was “full of stuff” when they looked inside it.

“We had a crew come in and clean the bins,” he recalled. “They went down inside the bins (which are long gone) and shoveled them all out. We also had a soda blaster come in and clean everything up inside the building. There were cobwebs, bird droppings, and dirt everywhere you looked in here.”

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One of the leftover shovels that Harmony Elevator employees had to use to unload train cars by hand in the late 1800s when the elevator was built. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The local Falk Foundation gave the project a grant to help pay for the soda blasting. If you don’t know what that is, it’s like sandblasting, but workers use what’s essentially baking soda.

He said there are a few pieces of equipment left behind, including what are called “fanning mills” that sort the grain. Once the mills and other left-behind equipment get cleaned up, they will become part of the historical site.

Machinery left behind at the old elevator in Harmony, Minnesota. The local Historical Society is raising funds to renovate it and make it a historical landmark the town can be proud of. (Photo by Chad Smith)

“Our overall renovation plan is to work on the outside first,” Beastrom said. “We’ll do the siding and fix up the doors, so they work smoothly again. At some point, the inside will get renovated with some new lighting and some interpretive information. Whether we’ll do anything electronically, I’m not sure yet.

“We also need to get the windows taken care of, which will probably be our next high-dollar item,” he said. “Then, it’ll be time to work on the doors and close any openings that the swallows are using to get in and build their nests.”

The Harmony Historical Society is working with a preservationist in Spring Grove to do the work necessary to get the site into the Historical Registry. “We’ve already determined it’s eligible for the Registry, we just need to get the paperwork finished up,” he added. “That should be completed this year. It should open some doors for extra funding to get the renovation work done.

“Preservation architects have already told us the building is solid,” Beastrom added.

Beastrom, who also serves as Treasurer for the Harmony Historical Society, says the goal isn’t necessarily to restore it to the original condition. The goal is to preserve the building and make it look good because it “sits right at the entrance to our Main Street, and we want it to look good in that spot.”

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Ralph Beastrom gave me a tour on a very windy and rainy day in Harmony. He’s helping to lead the effort to restore the old McGlaughlin Elevator and make it a historical landmark. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The Harmony Historical Society will host a couple of Open House Events over July third and Fourth from 11 am-2 pm each day. They’ll have the interior on display for the public, including some of the old machines and signage as well. The Open Houses will be a kickoff to a major fundraising push for the renovation project.

“We lost an entire year to COVID-19,” he added. “Nobody could come to meetings or get any work done. We hope that the Fourth of July will really get this project going in the right direction again.”

The total cost of the renvoatioon is estimated at $200,000, so the Historical Society needs help from the public. For more information, you can contact them at hahs@harmonytel.net. Feel free to reach out to the elevator renovation chairs, including Ralph Beastrom, Richard Kiehne, or Vicky Tribon.

To make donations online, go to www.givemn.org/organization/Harmony-Area-Historical-Society, or donors can also mail a check to HAHS at P.O. Box 291, Harmony, MN, 55939.

Rushford Lions Are ‘Everyday Heroes’

Everyday Heroes
Jack and Jim O’Donnell of Rushford, Minnesota, were both selected as ‘Everyday Hero’ award winners. The award usually goes to one Lion from each district, but both brothers were equally deserving so the Lions made an exception. (Photo from bluffcountrynews.com)

Everyday Heroes times two. The Rushford Lions Club had two of their members honored with the Everyday Heroes Award. It’s a prestigious honor usually given to just one member of a local Lions Club. In this case, the Rushford Lions had two members that both deserved the award. They just happen to be brothers.

“Jack and Jim O’Donnell are the Everyday Heroes for the Rushford Lions Club,” said club member Larry Bartleson. “There are more than 50 Lions Clubs in our district and the awards committee typically will only accept one nominee from each club. However, I asked for a received an exemption to nominate both of them. I told the committee I couldn’t nominate one without the other.”

Both the O’Donnells had no idea the award was coming. They both joined the Rushford Lions back in the 1990s and enjoy doing things to serve the community.

“I had totally didn’t expect it,” said Jack O’Donnell. “I had no idea it was coming and was completely surprised. I hadn’t actually planned on going to the meeting, so they had to sort of trick me to get me there.

“I’ve been a Lions member since 1994,” Jack added. “Up to that point, I’d been involved in several organizations while doing volunteer work and helping with projects around town. I was invited by Maury Anderson to join back in 1994. The kids were getting older and leaving the nest, so I had more free time than I had before.

Jim O’Donnell said he was equally surprised by the award. “They had to trick us into going up for the awards presentation. They got Jack and I both up there on the pretext of going out to eat. Instead, we found ourselves at the Lions Convention, where we first found out about it.

“I first got involved in the Lions Club in the late 1990s,” Jim recalled. “I like serving the community. I really enjoy the projects we do, especially when we build something for the community. It’s a tangible thing that will last for a while and that’s really satisfying.”

The list of things the O’Donnell brothers have done, both inside and outside the Lions Club, is quite long.

They’re both members of the Rushford Lions board of directors – Jack is the First Vice President and Jim is a Director.

Culpepper & Merriweather Circus – They help raise funds for the event, a big job all by itself. They also help coordinate the event, along with Jennifer Hengel (also a Lion and Executive Coordinator of the Rushford-Peterson Valley Chamber.)

Hanging Flower Baskets – They help water baskets every week, a big job by itself.

Calendar Sales – They help raise money for local needs.

Rushford Days Pork Chop Dinner – Always a popular event in the community, they helped raise money for local needs.

R-P Crossing Guards – They volunteered as safety patrol at the new school.

Taste of the Trail event – They’ve provided popcorn snacks.

Downtown Music Festival – Another place they brothers have provided popcorn snacks.

KidsSight Eye Screening – They volunteered back in November 2018 at the R-P school with initial eyesight screenings.

Magelssen Bluff Park entrance sign – The O’Donnell’s designed, built and helped to install a new sign.

Crossing Guards – They volunteer for the downtown Halloween trick-or-treating.

Christmas Salvation Army fundraiser – They raise funds at the holiday season for the Salvation Army.

Christmas Parade of Lights – They always help get the float ready.

As if that list isn’t extensive enough, the O’Donnells are planning a project to retrofit picnic tables at Creekside Park to be ADA accessible.

Grace Place Chili & Soup fundraiser – They co-chairs for the project, along with Lion Jim Hoiness to help raise money.

Jack is also a Historical Society member, as well as the Good Shepherd Foundation Chairman.

Jim is also a  City of Rushford council member.

“The best part of being in the Lions is the different projects we do,” said Jack. “We don’t just help around town, either. The Lions gives a lot of money to a lot of different causes. We always have something going on.”

When Jack O’Donnell found out that Larry Bartleson nominated both he and Jim, what was his first reaction? “I told him I was going to get even with him,” he said with a laugh.

Jim O’Donnell said he appreciates the honor, but he isn’t involved with the Lions Club for the accolades. “I just like to serve,” he said.