Outside Looking In

Minneota Nice

Like I mentioned before in this column, there's Minnesota Nice and there's Minneota nice.
Several weeks ago, Kristjan Schram sent me an email from his home in Reykjavik, Iceland, requesting that someone show them around Minneota when he and his family visited from Iceland. Even though they had never lived in Minneota or this area, they were married here 28 years ago because his great-great grandfather had helped build the historic St. Paul's Lutheran Church and they felt that should be the place they get married.
I volunteered to drive down to Minneota and show them around and introduce them to some of the people in town (See story on Page 8).
Before their arrival, I wanted to give Kristjan, his wife Elizabeth Nunberg, and their three children, Gunnar Francis, Karvel Agust and Eva Bjork, something to remember Minneota by when they returned to Iceland. I stopped at Gislason's Hardware and spoke with Barb and Dave and they had a coffee mug with "Minneota" on it for sale, so I purchased that. Dave then donated a Minneota magnet to give to the Icelanders.
I then walked across the street to City Hall and spoke with City Administrator Shirley Teigland and she gave me a large city map to give to the Icelandic family.
While we were corresponding on Facebook a few weeks before the group's arrival here, Kristjan's told me his favorite food is blueberry pancakes. So, I called up City Hall Bar & Grill manager Jordan Dressen and asked him if it was possible to meet their request, even though that wasn't an item that's on the menu. Jordan happily obliged and won Kristjan and his family over with "the best I've had" pancakes made with fresh blueberries.
While we were eating, Kristjan's wife, Elizabeth, sent her children over to Gislason's Hardware to buy some flowers to place on the Schram family plot at the cemetery. She also wanted to know if anyone had tulip bulbs she and Kristjan could buy and plant at the cemetery.
I made a call to Joanne Myrvik because when I come into town, I drive past her and David's house and always notice the nice flowers she has. Joanne said to stop over and she would give me some bulbs. When I got there, she already had them dug and placed in a bag. She also handed me a digging tool for them to use to plant the bulbs.
Before heading out of the restaurant, we exchanged gifts. I was given a beautiful hand-carved wooden pelican from Iceland and a large bag of Icelandic chocolates.
The next stop was the Minneota Public Library, formerly the Big Store, where library director Gail Perrizo gave them a little tour and showed them some historic literature that included Kristjan's great-great grandfather's name.
At the cemetery, Kristjan planted the bulbs. Before pouring water over them, he blessed the water by kissing the bottle. Elizabeth then placed the bouquet of flowers in front of the Schram family headstone.
The family expressed several times how everyone was so nice to them.
Thank you to everywhere who made their brief stay here enjoyable.

Filing time
Filing for mayor and city council members for the City of Minneota began on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022 and will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.
One mayor seat for two years and two council seats for four years are open for election.
Filing can be done at the City Office located at 129 E. First Street.

Salt sales
The Minneota Football Boosters are selling 40-pound bags of softener salt as a fundraiser for the Minneota football program.
Diamond Crystal extra course solar salt bags are $7.50 each, and pellets with softener care formula bags are $8.50 each.
The items can either be delivered on Sept. 3 or picked up at Brad's Market on that day.
To order or for more details, call Jordan Fink at 507-829-3578.
See ad on page 4 in this issue of the Mascot.

Contact Us

The Minneota Mascot
Address: 201 N. Jefferson
Minneota, MN 56264

Phone:(507) 872-6492