“The Good Old Days” -By Tom Kuehne

Minnesota Growth

Sometimes I find it interesting to look back at the ways that Minnesota became a marketer to the world with products that we produced from our land. For Minnesota to grow economically, it needed to produce products needed by consumers, not only in the rest of the US, but also in overseas countries. Since Minnesota did not originally have large industrial facilities to manufacture products, it needed to expand it's agricultural basis.

At first potatoes were thought to be a good basis for production, since our soil produced a large volume of high quality potatoes. This soon lost it's glamour, since shipping potatoes to market involved handling a large volume of weight and a rather low value after reaching the market.

About the same time, spring wheat was found to produce large crops, along with higher prices. However, the milling process used in Minnesota involved using two grinding wheels on top of each other, there was a lot of hulls as part of the product. Winter wheat, grown in states other than Minnesota, produced a more desirable flour being milled in the same way. There were many mills located around the state, with the greater concentration being in the region currently known as the twin city area. The flour needed to be upgraded from animal feed to flour for the home. It was discovered that a different milling process was being used in France, which used steel and porcelain, a flat oscillating screen and a blast of air to keep the flour and get rid of the bran. It was successful by making spring wheat flour to be more desirable than winter wheat flour. This process also allowed more flour to be produced with less wheat. It requires 4 bushels and 7 pounds to make a barrel of flour, which is 196 pounds. Originally, farmers in southeastern Minnesota were able to harvest 30 to 40 bushels of spring wheat per acre, but with continual wheat plantings soon took much of the nutrients from the soil and after 20 wears, the exhausted soil only produced 6 to 8 bushels per acre and many of the original farmers began to attempt to grow corn or sell out and move west.

Some moved to the Red River Valley, where wheat farming produced large crops on a continual basis evidently due to the spring

From the Desk of Pastor Bruce

flooding.

In the late 1880's, dairy farming became very popular. This market was primarily created by the superior quality of the butter being produced. There were 700 creameries in Minnesota by 1900, many of which were Co-ops, allowing the farmer to be financially involved in finished products, which also included whole milk and cheese products.

As we are aware, Minnesota produced an almost unbelievable amount of saw logs. We had large tracts of mature logs and were able to use the natural waterways to deliver the logs to the larger saw mills, sometimes well over 100 miles downstream. The building and expansion in this country created a constant demand for more lumber, which gave the owners of the wood industry profitable.

Iron ore also created an economic boost, but its growth needed to wait for railroads to move the ore to steel mills or river barges.

We had great economic growth from the end of the Civil War to 1900. After that time, it seems that a war was needed to make things really speed up in Minnesota.

For feedback or story ideas, email Tom at tom@swanvilleinsurance.com.

If you need help with Health or Life Insurance or for Senior Health Solutions Contact: Tom Kuehne 320-360-0343 cause people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” Listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and be willing to change sinful habits.

Our church is planning on building a handicap ramp this summer. To do that we need to move our sound system and projector wires etc. to the other side of the sanctuary. It is going to be a lot of work. One thing that we need to do is put two outlets on that side of the room. So, I brought my electrical tester to check one outlet to see if it was live. If it was, the electrician’s job would become a lot easier. As a remodeling contractor, I have used this tester on numerous occasions to see if something was live before removing it. A simple tool really, it tells me if the outlet is “Normal” or if it has a bad ground (which in remodeling older homes was the case), it will also tell me if the wires are backwards. A simple tool to tell me the status of an outlet.

I wish I had a tool like that to check the status of our heart! Sometimes we have allowed sin to enter our lives and we might have a bad ground. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 'I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.'" God did give us a tool, but we need to be willing to listen and obey.

The outlet in question at church was a GFCI, the only thing wrong was that it was tripped. In our lives, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit, confess our sins and live a God centered life. So, in a way, we need to reset our hearts, so we can produce fruit.

-Pastor Bruce Miller from Swanville Bible Church, 320-547-2916

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Diana T. Yorek

Diana T. Yorek, age 67 of Albany, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the CentraCare Hospital in Melrose, Minnesota.

A memorial service was held Wednesday, April 26 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albany with Rev. Anthony Christoffels officiating. Inurnment will be at a later date.

Diana Therese Johannes was born September 22, 1955 in Little Falls, Minnesota to Leonard and Josephine (Maile) Johannes. On May 4, 1979 she was united in marriage to Dennis Yorek in Little Falls. The couple lived in Upsala where she was a daycare provider for many years; allowing Diana to take care of their own children which was important to her. They moved to Albany in 2004 where she began working at Mother of Mercy Nursing Home. She was currently working at Serenity Village in Avon. Diana always enjoyed taking care of others. When she wasn’t working, she enjoyed sewing, crafts, crocheting, doing seamstress work, and most of all spending time with her grandchildren. She never turned down a fishing or shopping trip and liked cooking and baking but left the grilling for Dennis.

She was a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albany.

Survivors include her husband, Dennis Yorek of Albany; son, Robin Yorek of Avon and his long time girlfriend, Rita Robertson of Buffalo; daughter, Nicole Yorek of St. Stephen; grandchildren, Kitana and Mason Yorek, and Kylee and Wiley Nieman; sisters, Alverna (Myron) Voss, Kathleen (Jerome) Ebnet, Delores Pilarski, and Mary Mader; brothers, Gerald (Carol) Johannes, Kevin (Pam) Johannes Allen (Donna) Johannes, and Arnie (Kay) Johannes.

Diana was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, LeRoy and Kenneth Johannes; and brothers-in-law, Martin Pilarski and Robert Mader.

Urn bearers were Robin, Kitana, and Mason Yorek and Kylee and Wiley Nieman. Readers were Brenda Utsch and Mason Yorek. Eulogy was by Lisa Beuning.

Arrangements were made with PattonSchad Funeral & Cremation Services of Melrose.