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COMMUNITY EVENTS, THEATRE, CONCERTS: See ‘What’s Happening’ PAGE 17
Painting brings back memories for track star BY BRUCE STRAND SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR
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." For a period, the description went on, the structure
A huge oil painting depicting a hardcharging 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. “It is pretty remarkable that the painting is still there after all this time,” said Martin. “Forty-seven years.” Don Glover, retired from White Bear Lake, was Martin’s coach. He has fond memories of Martin and Mackey as part of a remarkable group of runners at the very beginning of Mariner’s short existence. “Rod did the running portrait of Craig,” Glover said. “He gave it to me and wrote some nice things about me on the back, and signed it. I gave it to the school.” Glover said Mackay wound up in Savannah, Georgia. “He was a track coach there, and had a state champion team once. Unfortunately, he passed away last year.” Martin said about Mackay: “He was a year behind me. He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor. We talked about girls and sports, things like that. I was the captain of the track and cross country teams. He also painted a football player and basketball player, I don’t remember who. I don’t think he was all that big into art otherwise.”
SEE MAHTOMEDI COTTAGE, PAGE 11
SEE PAINTING, PAGE 10
SUBMITTED
Above: The well-used back porch of the old cottage on Pine Street, built before 1900, faced Chautauqua Beach. At right: Steve Harmon with his ‘Uncle’ Bill at the Basilica of St. Mary.
Cottage gone, but ‘Uncle Bill’ still summers on Chautauqua grounds BY DEBRA NEUTKENS STAFF WRITER
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The distinctive new home that replaced the cottage, above, was designed to be open and airy to feel like a porch, according to Steve.