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VOL. 03, NO. 42
Friday, July 31, 2015
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Peace, love and paddle boarding
'Sup with SUP? Forest Lake hosts standup paddle board fest. P12
Storied storyteller World's a stage for Pony Hall of Famer. P8
Lifelong adventurer, board vendor, instructor all about balance of life Photos by Paul Dols BY MICHELLE MIRON Editor
144-year tradition County Fair historically moved around. P5
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FOREST LAKE — Bored with board sports after 64 years? Not even close. Over his lifetime Randy Johnson has partaken in adventure sports all across the world, living through hair-raising experiences like windsurfing with sharks and landing his hang glider in trees. His past role as co-leader of a thriving board sports business may have been his greatest adventure yet. At the peak of his career Johnson was a forerunner in the worldwide wind surfing and snowboarding markets after co-founding Little Canada vendor The House, a business that now generates sales in the
tens of millions. These days the grandfather of four, age 64, takes a more Zen approach to life. Johnson chooses to live on Forest Lake, running his stand-up paddle board instruction business, focusing on spiritual aspects of the sport and wintering in California to pursue his boarding passions year-round. His most recent project: founding the Northern Lights Forest Lake Paddle Board, Yoga and Music Festival to be held in Lakeside Park Aug. 8. “I feel very fortunate I've been able to have all these years of freedom to do things I really like to do,” he said. “Hardly a day goes by that I'm not on
at least one board, and many times I'm on two or three. My goal is to stay healthy and continue to have new board experiences with my children and grandchildren.” The Albert Lea native started his career as a speech pathologist, formerly teaching at Valparaiso University in Indiana and working for the Ministry of Health in British Columbia. He got into business with his brother in law Jon Magnusson in 1981 when they formed a vendor of wind surfing equipment that turned into The House, the worldwide vendor of outdoor gear based in Little Canada. Sales took off like white wa-
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ter, and Johnson and his wife Jane moved to White Bear Lake the following year. Their sons Davin and Ryan attended Mahtomedi schools. “Our timing was impeccable,” Johnson noted of the business. “The Eurupean market was failing at the time, and we were able to come in and introduce mail order equipment. The dollar was strong … there were closeouts at ridiculous prices, and truck lines to deliver boards at just crazy prices. We kept a low profile from '84 to '87, and came out strong and pretty much owned the windsurfing market.”
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