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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021 VOL. 45 NO. 44 www.vadnaisheightspress.com $1.00

HERITAGE DAYS AND MORE: See ‘What’s Happening’ PAGE 10

KEVIN WATSON | SUBMITTED

G.O.A.T.s recruited for park cleanup The Munch Bunch are helping clean the underbrush at Bridgewood Park. The Vadnais Heights public works crew will follow up to clear out the big debris and buckthorn the goats can’t remove. The goats will be brought back a second time when the leaves grow back, which should keep the underbrush clear for a couple of years. SUBMITTED

Craig Martin, former Mariner track standout, alongside the painting of him that was made by Rod Mackay during their teenage years.

Cottage gone, but ‘Uncle Bill’ still summers on Chautauqua grounds The narrow streets in Mahtomedi’s historic district were built more for horse-drawn buggies than automobiles. The quaint neighborhoods, although tightly spaced, feature charming cottages that have stayed in the same family for generations. One of those cottages, purchased in 1932 by Sidney and Frances Harmon, may not be there physically, but it remains in spirit thanks to the painstaking efforts of their sons Bill and John (now deceased) and their cousin Steve Harmon. The property at 71 Pine St. next to Chautauqua Beach was a summer home for the Harmons, a St. Paul family who traditionally headed to the lake around the Fourth of July with their three children. The cottage, built around 1900, was on the 2012 White Bear Area Historical Society’s annual house tour for those who may have seen it and stepped back in time. A description in the guidebook said the authentic cottage was built as part of the Chautauqua Movement out of Chautauqua, New York. "This trend created summer colonies around the nation and Mahtomedi was a popular destination for those seeking morally uplifting speakers, fresh air and exercise."

CARTER JOHNSON | PRESS PUBLICATIONS

The distinctive new home that replaced the cottage, above, was designed to be open and airy to feel like a porch, according to Steve.

For a period, the description went on, the structure served as quarters for the staff of the larger adjacent house that was lost during a fire started by burning leaves in the neighborhood. In 1930, the structure began life as a summer cottage in its own right. Harmon, known as ‘Uncle Bill’ around the neighborhood, is 92 now, and still spends his summers at the cottage. Only it’s a new, 2800-squarefoot “cottage” with modern appliances and fixtures, and building specs that bring the structure up to code. And there is still that great porch.

Bill was sad when it came down, he said, but the old homestead wasn’t worth saving. The walls were paper thin and the wood so rotted that the frame slid off the floor during demolition. He hired Steve to raze the cottage and build a home both could enjoy. “We are two Mahtomedi bachelors who are here for each other during Bill’s summer visits,” Steve said. “I live upstairs, Bill lives downstairs.” Furniture, lamps, the old stove and icebox, and lumber was salvaged from the cottage. The old screen doors were saved and now separate the new porch from a small deck overlooking Chautauqua beach. Harmon is a familiar name in Mahtomedi. Steve grew up in the neighborhood, graduating from Mahtomedi High School. His father James and his grandfather Dr. Gaius Harmon also spent their summers in the neighborhood. Bill’s grandmother had a cabin nearby. As a child, Bill remembers running up and down the hill leading to the public beach, dodging stickers in their bare feet. Summers were spent sailing, swimming and fishing. The cottage was a refuge for the family, especially after Bill’s younger brother was hit by a car and killed at age 5 in St. Paul. He described his mother Frances as

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A huge oil painting depicting a hard-charging runner, rendered in a simple gold and blue color scheme, has been viewed by thousands of White Bear Lake students and faculty over the decades at the high school. Few, if any, of those kids or teachers had any idea whom they were looking at. The painting depicts Craig Martin, a star runner for White Bear Mariner who graduated in 1974. He ran in one state champion relay team that year and met heartbreak in another. The artist was his teammate, the late Rod Mackay. Martin recalls Mackay dabbling in art mainly to honor fellow athletes. He probably painted it from a newspaper photo. Martin, who lived in California most of his working life and returned to his hometown in 2007, heard in June that the painting was still displayed at the school. “I wanted to see it, and my wife, Deb, who’s an artist, wanted to see it also,” Martin said. They showed up at the school he attended nearly a half-century ago to have a look. With the help of a front office worker they eventually located the painting in a long corridor in the eastern part of the campus.

SEE MAHTOMEDI COTTAGE, PAGE 11

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SEE PAINTING, PAGE 11

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BY DEBRA NEUTKENS STAFF WRITER

Painting brings back memories for track star


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