Progress family & home
“ neighbors.
Perla Garcia and her sister, Jennifer Deleon, 4, have lived at their home at 220 Pearl St. with the rest of their family for almost one year. Colleen Harrison/albert lea tribune
I love my
It’s
usually a quiet street.”
Meet the pearls who live on Pearl Street By Sarah Stultz
sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com
H
ome to people of all walks of life, Pearl Street in Albert Lea represents generations of the city’s history. Nestled between Washington Avenue on the northeast and Front Street on the south, the street is only a block away from the heart of the city in downtown Albert Lea. On the northeast part of the street, a few houses down from the end, is former 5th Ward Albert Lea City Councilor John Severtson, 66, who is retired from Enderes Tools and lives with his wife, Becky, 60, who works at St. John’s Lutheran Community. John, who served with the Marines in the Vietnam War, was on the council from 1985 to 1989 and from 2005 to 2009. With a desire to be in public office, he ran once for the office of 3rd District Freeborn County commissioner and four times for the office of Albert Lea mayor. He also has served as the commander of American Legion Leo Carey Post 56, as chairman of the local Beyond the Yellow Ribbon group and as a member of the Albert Lea Planning Commission. He said he and his wife have lived at 214 Pearl St. for close to 40 years. Their house is known as the one with the American flag on a pole in the front yard. He has had a flag up since about 1992, he estimated. Nearby is a sign that says “Support and pray for our troops.” Right outside of downtown Albert Lea, he said they moved to Pearl Street in the first place because of its convenience to several downtown amenities. At the time, there were multiple theaters and they were within blocks of the former Red Owl grocery store. They even went to church right across the street. “To me, it was the easiest thing,” he said. “It was a convenient place to live,” he said. Since they moved in, Severtson said he has seen changes take place on the street. He said he thinks it is starting to become more rental property. Some of the houses on the south end of Pearl Street have been torn down and new ones have been built in their stead. Next door to the Severtsons at 220 Pearl St. is the Garcia family, made up of Ricardo, 19, mother Juany, sister Perla, brother Erik Deleon, 11, and sister Jennifer Deleon, 4. Ricardo said the family has lived on the street for less than a year and moved there
1992
Moo Pla Soe, 2, sits with his grandmother in their home at 246 Pearl St.
DOOR DOOR by
This is the door at 137 N. Broadway to Goldman, Sturtz & Halverson law offices. It is downtown next door to the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center.
Year Pearl Street resident John Severtson estimate he put up his flag in his front yard.
Pearl Street in Albert Lea features all kinds of diversity. from somewhere else in town. He said everyone mostly stays to themselves on the street, though during the summer there are often children playing outside. He commended his neighbor, John Severtson, and said the two help each other out when they can. Further down the street in a duplex on the other side, at 231 Pearl St., lives Patrick Scott, who has lived on Pearl Street for about six years. Scott, 47, drives a school bus for Albert Lea Bus Co. and has routes that serve both the high school, middle and elementary school, he said. He also works at Zumbro River Brand. Scott said he grew up in Albert Lea and moved to Washington state when he was 18 years old. After about 10 years, he returned. “It’s not a bad neighborhood,” he said. “It’s fairly quiet.” Scott owns a 9 1/2-foot-long Argentine boa constrictor named Jasmine. He said he has had her since she was two weeks old. “I got her basically as a black worm,” he said. See PEARLS, Page 7
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Houses on Pearl Street in Albert Lea
9 1/2
Length in feet of the Argentine boa constrictor owned by Patrick Scott
ide? What’s ins
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