HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Shortly after Darlene Hanson (now Darlene Sigurdson) of Minneota went into labor at the hospital in Marshall, another Minneota woman, Lucille Christianson, arrived and went into labor.
This was in the evening of Dec. 31, 1956. It became an unofficial race against time to see who Minneota's New Year's baby would be; Cliff and Darlene Hanson or Les and Lucille Christianson.
The Christianson's arrival was delayed when Les, a Minneota attorney, was stopped by a State Highway Patrol for speeding. Upon explaining why he was traveling fast, the highway patrol escorted the Christianson's to the hospital.
"I'm sure dad loved being escorted," said Jim Christianson, his son. "After dad told the officer that his wife was having a baby, it was full throttle to the hospital."
Darlene was only in labor for four or five hours with her husband Cliff at her side before she delivered Mark, who was born weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces at 12:24 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1957.
The Christianson's son, Jim, was born later that afternoon.
"Mark and Jim became friends and classmates in Minneota until we moved to Fergus Falls when the boys were in eighth grade," said Darlene. "And Lucille and I were roommates in the hospital during our three-day stay there."
Unfortunately, Mark was killed in a motorcycle accident on May 2, 2020 at age 63.
"We were really sad that we lost him. Mark and I were friends in school and played sports together," said Jim Christianson, who lives in Marshall. "We were all sad when he moved to Fergus Falls because he was such a good athlete and we could have used him in Minneota."When Mark's daughter, Danielle Ballweg, was pregnant with her and her husband Lonnie's fourth child in 2013, she insisted on naming it after her father, whether it was boy or a girl. They had a girl, narrowly missing on also being a New Year's baby, Scarlett Mark Ballweg was born on Jan. 8, 2014. She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces.
"When we put her in my dad's arms and introduced him to his latest granddaughter, Scarlett Mark, he was pretty speechless," Danielle said. "I'm sure it meant a lot to him. He was there for the birth of all four of my children."
Darlene recalls the local media having a story celebrating the New Year's baby.
"We got a lot of gifts for having the New Year's baby," said Darlene. "I know we got a savings account from the bank and a lot of other things, but I just don't remember everything we got."
Christianson still jokes about coming in second to Hanson to become the 1957 New Year's baby.
"It was a big deal back then. Mark came in first and got all those gifts and I came in second and got nothing. I'm still mad about it," he laughed.

Bot turns 90
Alice Bot of Minneota was a New Year's baby in 1931. The daughter of Laurence and Jen Schmit was born around 8 p.m. on Jan. 1.
"They didn't give my parents anything for having the New Year's baby," she said. "That was back in the 'Dirty Thirties' when no one had any money."
Bot was born in Pringhar, Iowa and eventually moved to Minneota in 1944. She married the late Barney Bot in 1957.
The Bots had five children, although none were born anywhere close to New Year's. Alice now had 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
"I'm not planning to do anything special for my birthday this year," Alice said. "We'll probably just get together as family and have some cake."
Because of the pandemic, the family held a "Card Shower" for Alice in which friends and family could send a card to wish her a Happy Birthday.