Winona Post 50th anniversary special section

WINONA POSTWINONA POSTWINONA POST

Making history for over 50 years

by CHRIS ROGERS

Fran and John Edstrom were still finding their way in life when it all started. Just two years into their marriage and fresh off a stint in Seattle — the rain didn’t suit them — they landed back in Winona in fall of 1971 with nothing to do but return to jobs they didn’t care for:

John teaching high school and Fran bookkeeping for Peerless Chain. As Fran recalls, someone at the Hal Leonard Music Store suggest ed, “Why don’t you do an adver tising flyer for the downtown?”

“We didn’t know anything,” Fran said. “We were so naive we thought we could sell this adver tising and keep the money and the Daily would print this for us. They told us, ‘Go fly a kite.’”

At that point, the idea was just a one-off flyer, but as the young couple searched for a someone who could print the handbill, they came upon the newly founded Rochester Shopper.

The idea of a free, ads-only paper seemed like a brilliant business to the young Ed stroms. “It seemed to us that they were rich,” Fran said, laughing at her former self. The Rochester Shopper later went out of business.

So Fran and John launched their own pennysaver, the Win ona Shopper, on Nov. 3, 1971.

The first editions of the Wino na Post featured ads from local businesses for Electrolux carpet cleaners, the latest musicians of fering nightly entertainment at the Hot Fish Shop’s Fisherman’s Lounge, and cutting edge personal electronic calculators from the Winona Typerwriter Co. The Shopper offered free classified ads to their new readers, who sent them in in droves for every thing from eight-track players to purebred sows. “Dear Friends, we would like to thank you for the great response to our free classified advertising offer, and especially those who called or wrote in their congratulations on our first issue,” the Edstroms wrote.

During the Christmas shop ping season, local businesses were happy to advertise with the fledgling paper, but when the long freeze of January and Feb ruary rolled around, the money started to dry up. Things got desperate. “John came home late after work and sat down at the kitchen and said, ‘We have to stop,’” Fran recalled. “I think we owed around $10,000.” The couple was on the verge of bankruptcy.

“He said, ‘I don’t see any way we can pay this back,’” Fran continued. “I said, ‘John, I just read an article that 80 per cent of businesses that go out of business in their first year could have made it if they hung on a little longer. What does it matter if we owe $10,000 or $100,000?” Either way, they would burn so many bridges they would have to leave town, Fran figured. So she told John, “I think we just have to keep going and try to think of ways we can make money so we can pay this back.”

One of John’s favorite uncles, Ev Edstrom, sat down with the young entrepreneurs to go over their business plan and give them some advice. John and Fran shared what they were earning and what they were paying for design, printing, and delivery. “Well, there you are are,” Ev said, as Fran recalled it in a 40th anniver sary history of the Winona Post. “Just do all that yourself, and you’ll be making money instead of losing money.” Fran and John whined, “But we don’t know how.” Ev retorted, “Learn. You’re smart.”

Just figure it out, Ev told them, and so Fran and John began the challenging journey of doing just that. Fran looked over the shoulders of graphic de signers at the Rochester Shopper and started doing layout herself. They looked around for other printers, and the two even tailed postal carriers to get insights on the most efficient way to run delivery routes.

It would take a tiff between John and an other printing company to spur the Winona paper to buy its own presses in 1977. John asked one of the Shopper’s graphic design ers, “Hey Mike, how would you like to run a press?” “Oh, sure,” he answered. The company that sold the press sent a trainer to Winona for a week. “Then he left and we had to run it ourselves,” Fran said. “We had to learn everything, absolutely everything,” she added.

What was that like? “Actually, it was kind of thrilling,” Fran said. “We both really like a challenge. So it was really cool to learn something and actually have it work.” She recalled another business executive in town once complaining, when facing a ma jor challenge, that he was never taught what to do in that situation in business school.

“You’re never going to learn this stuff in school,” Fran said. “You have to learn your business yourself.”

Columns, public service announcements, and smatterings of sports and entertainment news rounded out the ads in the early 1970s Shopper — John started his famous Vikings football columns in 1974 — but it wasn’t until 1978 that the Edstroms launched the Wino na Saturday Morning Post and the editorial content of the paper truly began to grow. The Saturday Morning Post had long-form features on everything from the cultural milieu of livestock auctions to histories of Winona blizzards, along with local sports, movie reviews, columns from legislators, and John’s first editorials.

Fran and John hired Patrick Marek part-time in 1978, who was then still in college at Saint Mary’s, to write Bowler of the Week profiles and other sports and news articles.

“I confess I didn’t take Bowler of the Week as serious ly as I probably should have,” Pat rick admitted. The young college stu dent, who had spent most of his time in Winona thus far on campus, didn’t understand the sig nificance to locals. “In those days in Winona, bowling was huge. If you were Bowler of the Week it was a big deal.” People still have their Bowler of the Week arti cles framed, he added. Patrick came to realize, he said, “In theater, there’s no small parts, only small actors. I feel like that’s what it’s like as a reporter. Every story has something interesting, so that was my job to get the reader inside there, to get them excited.”

In the 1980s the paper began to truly come into its own. Fran and John hired Patrick full-time in 1980, and they started adding more writers. The Wednesday Shopper and the Saturday Morning Post combined in 1982 to become the Winona Shopper and Post, and the paper began its first local government beat reporting in 1983.

“We covered School Board, City Council, cop shop, and County Board,” Fran said. “And then people starting

A young Patrick Marek (left) and John Edstrom (right) interview Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer (center).

From Nov. 27, 1985 Winona Post and Shopper Editor Fran Edstrom and Publisher John Edstrom posed for a 1985 issue celebrating the paper’s growth.

Congratulations on 50 years, Winona Post!

We’re proud to have watched you grow from the very beginning. As two community organizations focused on Winona’s future, Merchants Bank and the Winona Post have celebrated plenty of milestones together.

1971

Winona Post, known then as The Winona Shopper, issue.

Merchants Bank renovates and expands building, leading to placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Giving food drive, which Patrick and the Post have covered annually for the past 33 years.

Merchants Bank

Winona Post hires and salesman, Patrick Marek. 1989

1980 Merchants launches 24/7 PC-Banking, Mobile Banking’s great-grandfather.

John Edstrom, co-founder, wins his

Sklenar Editorial Awards of Excellence. He was recognized a second time in 2004.

Merchants Bank continues to be a community partner in Winona as we grow our regional footprint.

Patrick buys the Winona Post from Fran Edstrom, co-founder.

Mayor Mark Peterson

Congratulations to everyone at the Winona Post on your 50th anniversary. This is a terrific milestone and should be recog nized and celebrated.

The Post has always provid ed excellent coverage of local news, events, obits, advertising and more. The Post can always be counted on to be there when the City Council, School Board or county elected of ficials have meetings. They cover all the boards and com mission meetings, as well. While I haven’t always agreed with some of the editorials, I appreciate that the Post con tinues to take positions on local issues and to hold people responsible.

The Post has always generously given its resources to help the local nonprofit and business community. Whether it’s promoting a special event or news you can be sure to find it first in the Post. The Post has always been able to hire good reporters who take their jobs seriously and understand what they are doing is making their community better.

On a personal note, I also want to thank the person who delivers my paper. The paper always lands on my top step!

Congratulations again and all the best on your next 50 years.

From: WNB Financial President and CEO David Vaselaar and WNB Holding Company President Jack Richter

To our friends at the Wino na Post: Our team at WNB Fi nancial would like to extend a well-deserved congratulations to the Winona Post as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Since 1971, the Post has tirelessly re ported on local news, events, and community happenings, and we’ve truly admired your commitment to keeping Wi nona informed.

Further, we’d like to congratulate Patrick Marek for con tinuing the newspaper’s legacy. With his unwavering ded ication to the Post’s roots and his ongoing innovation, the newspaper has grown and thrived.

Please join us as we say congratulations on this great achievement! For 50 years, WNB Financial has enjoyed a valuable partnership with the Winona Post, and we thank you for all you do for our community.

From: Winona State University President Scott R. Olson

Congratulations to the Winona Post on your 50th birthday, from your friends at Winona State University!

Like all birthdays, this mile stone offers us the opportunity to reflect on the past: on the his tory of the Winona Post and its many contributions to our community.

Since 1971, the Winona Post has been a vital informa tion source for residents across the region. From covering issues in government and promoting community events to highlighting local athletic teams and profiling its leaders and citizens, the Post has worked diligently to promote the essence of Winona and what it means to be part of this community.

Our two organizations have both have spent many years serving the Winona community. We share a common mis sion to improve our world through learning, making Wino na a great place to live, work, and learn.

It’s impressive that the Winona Post has remained such a stalwart purveyor of the written word at a time when many news organizations are struggling to find their path. I at tribute this record of success to the talented and tenacious publishers, editors, writers, salespeople, press operators, and other contributors who have upheld the Post’s mission to serve its readers with in-depth reporting and inspiring features.

As you celebrate 50 years of success, you have every rea son to be proud of your past and excited about your future … and so are we.

From one institution improving our world to another, we thank you for your impact and service. Best wishes for your continued success over the next fifty years from all your friends at Winona State!

From: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota President

Father James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D.

In Saint Mary’s 110-year his tory as an institution of higher learning, remaining faith-based has been core to our educational mission. This has not wavered.

As John F. Kennedy once said, “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.” Thus, as a Lasallian Catholic university, we take this goal seriously as we nurture and guide students to be ethical leaders who exemplify character as they pursue the truth in all things.

It is in this light that we congratulate the Winona Post on its 50th anniversary. We celebrate the similarities be tween our two institutions of long-standing, particularly our shared pursuit of helping people learn truth. We appre ciate the Winona Post’s dedication to offering an array of perspectives while providing balanced coverage about our community. We thank them for sharing important informa tion and bringing stories to life for readers.

Saint Mary’s is a proud member of the Winona communi ty, and as such we are grateful to the Post for including us in their coverage. Whether a student feature, athletics cov erage, an opinion piece, a new academic program, or news of campus improvements, your reporting on us (and the other educational institutions in the area) clearly affirms the importance the Post sees in higher education.

A community is strongest when we share ideals for the common good and pursue values aligned to achieve this, always with an eye to respecting the dignity of each person and with hope for a better tomorrow. In this spirit we of fer hearty congratulations to publisher Mr. Patrick Marek (a Saint Mary’s alumnus from the class of 1979) and the Winona Post for being stalwart members of the Winona community. We look forward to what the next half century holds for all of us, together.

From: Minnesota State College Southeast President Dr. Marsha Danielson

On behalf of everyone at Min nesota State College Southeast, I would like to congratulate the Winona Post on your 50th an niversary! While newspapers across the country have strug gled, the Winona Post has prospered, always clear in its focus on local news and in-depth reporting.

Congratulations are also due on the recent redesign of your website, making it more appealing, easier to read, and easier to navigate. This extends your impact far beyond the local area. All this, and your publication is provided free of charge to the public; delivered to doorsteps in the nearby area and available online without a paywall. This is a pro found benefit to the community you serve.

Like Minnesota State College Southeast, you’ve grown and changed over the past decades. We even share in com mon a name change along the way (more than one, on our part!). Your thoughtful coverage of higher education issues over the years has helped us tell our story, and we are grateful.

Today, the Winona Post is positioned to thrive and grow in the next 50 years, and we look forward to your contin ued success!

From: Former Winona Mayor Jerry Miller

For 50 years the Winona com munity has been privileged to receive the Winona Post deliv ered to their homes and busi nesses at no cost. For many of us it is the main, and sometimes only, means of getting local news, event information, cost savings ideas, local coupons, local advertising as well as local opinions on local, state, and national issues.

During my tenure as mayor, and even today, I look for ward to when I can pick up my weekly issue of the Winona Post.

Although John Edstrom is no longer with us, the legacy he and his wife Fran created lives on, and with the efforts of Patrick Marek and his staff, the Winona Post continues to be one of the institutional pillars of our community.

Congratulations to the Win ona Post and Publisher Patrick Marek on celebrating your gold en anniversary! For 50 years you have been a backbone for the Winona civic community, keeping the welfare of its people at heart by printing information that is fair, accurate and meaningful. I wish you all the best now and in the future. Blessed are you!

From: Merchants Bank/Merchants Financial Group President and CEO Greg Evans

Congratulations on reaching the impressive milestone of 50 years of service to the Winona community … certainly no small feat considering the dramatic change and disruption that the media and communications industry has experienced during the last couple of decades.

Your continued viability and relevance is a testament to the ability of locally owned businesses, with owners who truly understand their community and what’s important to their stakeholders, to thrive in times of constant change. Just as you are, we at Merchants Bank are extremely proud to be community owned. Together we have partnered, along with hundreds of others, to contribute to the economic vi tality of Winona, Goodview and the broader region.

Thank you for your continued commitment to cover im portant local news with meaningful depth. Unfortunately, that commitment appears to have been lost by the forces that impact the broader media industry today. I’m glad that commitment continues to be a priority for the Winona Post. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success.

From: Minnesota State Representative Gene Pelowski

Congratulations on the Winona Post’s 50th anniversary.

Local newspapers are an essen tial element of a community’s ability to thrive by sharing local news, events, births, deaths and editorializing when opinions are needed to clarify a course of action.

This the Winona Post has always done.

Congratulations to the Winona Post on its 50th anniversary! As a lifelong Winona resident who was interested in community is sues and public service from a young age, I can still recall read ing the “Shopper” around the house when I was a kid. It is a testament to the strength of the paper’s reporting and its dedication to our community and the region that it is still going strong – particularly with the challenges many local newspapers across the country are facing. The team at the Winona Post should be incredibly proud of the reputation they have built, and I am looking forward to the next 50 years!

From: Winona Mayor Scott Sherman

Congratulations to the Wino na Post for 50 years of local re porting! Through thick and thin, through flood and drought, the Shopper (as it is so affectionate ly known) has helped Winonans stay informed since 1971.

Every Wednesday I await the sound of the thud on my porch step. I peer out the win dow to see a delivery person striding to the next house. I bring the paper inside, take off the orange wrapper, and flip through the pages for info that is pertinent to my job as mayor of Winona.

Then I re-read it. I too wanna know who won and lost this past week, who got engaged, who received a donation and who unfortunately shed their mortal coil.

Every week, there’s someone who’s proud of their kid on the front page or part of a local nonprofit that received a donation. Every week, there’s someone who’s achieved a feat great enough or said something loud enough to land in the Winona Post. Every week, the Post has touched lives.

Thank you to the original proprietors, the Edstroms, and to Patrick Marek for keeping the “Shopper” alive all these years. Thanks to the editors, reporters, support staff and delivery people for 50 years of keeping us in the loop. It’s that loop that helps us remember that we’re all friends, co-workers, patrons and ultimately neighbors who makeup the community that we live in.

From: Winona Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christie Ransom

As the president and CEO of the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce, I value the partner ships that we have with many different businesses and com munity leaders in the region.

Patrick Marek and his team at the Winona Post are one of the partnerships that we cherish and utilize often. Whether we have an upcoming event to promote, a press release to celebrate, or a story that we are interviewed for, the respect and service that we receive are truly exceptional. The Wi nona Post is a bedrock in our community for which we are very grateful.

It isn’t often that we have a chance to celebrate longevity, and this celebration is rooted in integrity and passion as it takes both to endure the test of time. Print journalism and advertising are a vital civic staple and the Winona Post continues to foster a sense of community, empower the in formed, preserve the right of free press, record daily snap shots in history, and produce original, quality news. Thank you, Patrick, and Winona Post team for all that you do! We appreciate you and we congratulate you on 50 years of being awesome!

Now in its 50th year it has also matured into the Digital Age, creating a web-based news organization that reflects in social media what is also on its printed pages.

The value of a local newspaper is incalculable to a com munity. In a world of constant 24 hour, seven days a week news bombardments on social media; the stability of a lo cal newspaper is a constant reminder of the world we live in on a daily basis. Friends, neighbors, schools, churches, businesses and local units of government all are reflected in the pages of the Winona Post.

The Winona Post has survived and thrived for 50 years in this ever changing world of varying forms of commu nication. It is refreshing to see the Winona Post still being delivered to your front door knowing it will be filled with local news.

From: Former Winona Mayor Tom Slaggie

As a former mayor of Wino na, I extend my congratulations to the Winona Post and all of its staff on the 50th anniversary of the publication. ago, when started by Fran and John Edstrom, it was a small, yellow-paged Shopper and has grown into a respected and valued news source for the greater Winona area. Your reporters have been diligent in searching out accurate and concise information about the workings of local government, local area businesses, sports, and the public at large. On a public service aspect, the Winona Post has always been in the forefront of sup porting local charitable events and activities. I have found the Winona Post to be a valued resource for news and activities in Winona and the surrounding areas. The only downfall is that it is only published once a week.

I salute the late John and his widow Fran Edstrom for the work it took to building a Shopper into a premiere news paper for Winona. I further offer congratulations to Patrick Marek and his employees for carrying on this fine tradi tion. Great job to you all. Congratulations on 50 years with many more successful years ahead.

From: Winona Health President and CEO Rachelle H. Schultz, Ed.D.

As one of the few centenari an organizations in the Wino na community, we at Winona Health know what it takes to re-invent, evolve, and adapt over time and remain strong. Com munity means something special to us and it includes con nection, integrity and focus.

Personal and organizational life happens in the context of our families, friends and neighbors, and there is deep im portance to keeping this in mind, especially in the current state of disruption we all face. Everywhere, it seems, orga nizations, and by extension the people in them, are bought, sold, traded, merged or subsumed as a matter of business.

And that has an impact on communities, especially rural communities. Thus, it is quite a feat for organizations to celebrate significant anniversary milestones these days.

We congratulate the Winona Post on its 50th anniversary of dedicated efforts to ensure news, events, business hap penings, opinions, and other information relevant to our community is available to us all. Like many industries, the newspaper field has faced significant changes and chal lenges. Our community’s voice is something we all value, and the Winona Post continues to share that voice while telling the developing story of Winona. And everyone loves a good story.

From: Most Rev. John M. Quinn, Bishop of Winona-Rochester

From: Former Winona

From: Minnesota State Senator and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller

Fifty years of black and white and read all over

by Fran Edstrom, co-founder

Like an old slide show, scenes cross my mind when I think about starting the Winona Post with my husband, John.

•The one room we rented on the second floor of the building on Third St. in which Blooming Grounds is located now, nothing but two cardboard filing cabinets topped with a hollow core door for a desk.

A landline, a pencil and a pen our only office equip ment. Me, glaring out of the window at Choate’s Department Store across the street, hat ing them for not advertising with our fledg ling business, the Winona Shopper. Going into la bor with our first child, not able to contact John, who was out selling advertising. Waiting.

•Having lunch with John’s Uncle Ev, who had been put up to the job by John’s dad to tell us that if we wanted this shopper thing to be a success, we were going to have to learn to do all the things we were paying to have others do.

•Emerging from our basement office to watch the sun rise on our back porch on Dacota Street, hav ing finally put the week’s edition of the Winona Shopper to bed. By that time, we had taken over all the pre-press jobs and hired our own graphic artists, sales people, had our own delivery system, and employed the lovely Mary Norton (later Up hoff) as our receptionist. It would take an argu ment with the La Crosse printer to goad us into buying our own presses. Mike Schultz learning to run a newspaper press with one week of training!

•Moving to our buildings on Second Street. Buy ing our first computers. Gradually morphing from a shopper into a newspaper.

•Cleaning out John’s office after he died, and three years later, walking out of my office for the last time, after selling the paper to Patrick Marek, longtime sales manager of the Winona Post.

One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. I guess that’s how I got from trying to make some money by selling ads before Christmas of 1971 to having retired from the Winona Post newspaper and seeing it turn 50 years old. Truth be told, we were not at all sure it would turn even one year old, we were losing money so fast as the robust Christ mas retail season of ’71 turned into a dismal first quarter of ’72. Lucky for us, we had good advice, hired good employees, worked hard, and were able to start breaking even, eventually.

I wonder, though, at what moment my job segued from simply a way to make money (but mostly los ing it) to a life as a journalist? When did it become clear to me that the Winona Post was an important part of the community, that we had a responsibility

1971

November 3

Fran and John Edstrom found the Winona Shopper.

1972

January 5

Weekly delivery started.

to the voters and taxpayers of our area?

For many years of our existence, the Post was sneered at for being a free-circulation paper. Our competition was the “newspaper," we were the “shopper,” even after our local news coverage sur passed theirs.

As technology entered our lives in a big way, and the advent of the internet spelled the demise of paid newspapers all over the country (2,000 in the last 15 years), our model of locally owned free circulation began to look better and better. It’s hard to run a local newspaper from 1,000 miles away, as many newspaper chains have discovered.

We are able to maintain a strong circulation for advertisers, while paid papers rely on subscrip tions, which are drying up like cornfields in a drought.

Although this is good news for the Winona Post, it is bad news for small town America. So far, the internet has not been able to deliver small town news effectively, leaving huge parts of the country with no trusted local news source. And no news is not good news when it comes to maintaining com munity and championing democracy.

Big city media and national internet news sites are not going to cover what’s going on in small towns. The only time a small town gets mentioned is if there’s a disaster, or someone gets her arm caught in a toilet.

Without a newspaper to report on how local gov ernments are spending your tax dollars — building a new school, hiring expensive consultants, deny ing your neighbors the right to expand their busi nesses — you don’t have the information you need to make a good decision in the voting booth. With out a newspaper to bring you news about what’s being offered by local merchants, your town risks losing its retail center, and the associated sales tax es. Without a newspaper to chronicle what’s hap pening in your town, you lose track of not only your present, but your history, and rumors are all you have to rely on.

Local newspapers should model good writing, ef fective communication, and honest disagreement. Without a local newspaper, if you want to find out what’s going on, UR outta LUK. Lack of a local trusted newspaper fosters the deep divides evident in our political thought, denies the people easy ac cess to literacy, and contributes to the demise of vi brant communities in non-urban America. There is a growing lack of trust in national media, and huge city newspapers. We feel that reality in our country is a lot more than what happens in its coastal cities.

Were John and I thinking about these things back in 1971? Nope! We just wanted enough money for baby food, dog food and a beer at the end of the day. However, in spite of my youthful lack of ma ture ambition, I am proud of what our baby paper has grown into. Selling it was like putting it up for adoption! It is clear it is in good hands, though, and it is with much satisfaction that I ponder the half century of work from so many people that it took for the Winona Post to still be viable in the year 2021.

Thank you to our readers, advertisers, and em ployees, for their part in this semicentennial cel ebration.

1978

February

Winona Saturday Morning Post launched, with features, news, and opinion.

1981

March 14

Original Julius C. Wilkie Steamboat burns.

1983

June 8

First original news stories on local government.

“ City Council News: Who will decide how to spend tourism promotion dollars raised in Winona by a new lodging tax? That question brought a delegation of Chamber of Commerce and hotel and motel representatives to Monday night’s meeting of the Winona City Council as the council took its rst step toward implementing the tax locally.”

1974 September 11

First Football Predictions Pay Off.

1979

July 21

Patrick Marek’s rst front-page article, “The $1,000 history lesson.”

1982

July 7

Winona Shopper and Saturday Morning Post combined to become the Winona Shopper and Post.

1991

1986

May 12

Grand reopening of the Julius C. Wilkie after fundraising to restore a new replica.

John Edstrom elected as president of Minnesota Free Papers Association.

From April 27, 1983

A young Patrick Marek talks with Twins start frst baseman Ken Hrbek about his role with 1983 team. Visit WinonaPost.com for more historical highlights.

From March 14, 1981

The original Julius C. Wilkie steamboat at Levee Park was destroyed in a fre.

A 1972 house ad for the Winona Shopper. VIsit WinonaPost.com for more old images and articles.

Lightning strikes How my Winona Post journey began

by Patrick P. Marek, publisher

I am living proof that newspaper help wanted ads work. It was 1978 and I was minding my own business, tuck ing into lunch at the cafeteria (we affectionately called it Gilhooley’s Café) at Saint Mary’s College, when lightning struck. “Patrick, it looks like one of the ads in The Troll was written for you,” said my beautiful girl friend, future bride, and avid newspaper reader Maureen Ran dell. The Troll was a campus daily that con sisted of several sheets of mimeographed paper that usually contained upcoming events and pleas for rides to Chicago.

I brushed my flowing locks out of my eyes (sigh), and read these words: “JOURNAL

IST WANTED: Award winning local paper is seeking part-time reporter to cover league sports and to write fea ture stories. Call Fran at (507) 452-1262.” I was an idealis tic journalism major who longed to change the world with my prose, and was surviving on $10 that my parents were kind enough to send me every week. I called Fran.

Fran turned out to be Fran Edstrom, and she quickly re vealed that the ad was indeed written with me in mind. I was editor of Saint Mary’s student newspaper “The Cardi nal,” and because I had a staff filled with unreliable college students, I often had to write many of the stories myself in order to get the paper to the printer. Fran and John Edstrom printed the Cardinal on the press in the basement of their historic building on Second Street in downtown Winona. Fran saw my stories, liked my ambitious production and boisterous style, and then used one of the first cases of individual target marketing to snare me. My career at the Winona Post had begun.

It was a humble beginning, but I had a blast. One of my weekly responsibilities involved picking up the league bowling sheets at Westgate Bowl, Kobi Lanes, Maple Leaf Lanes, and the Winona Athletic Club. The league results were to be featured in the following week’s Post, and most of the establishments were kind to the long-haired college kid with the crappy car. The one exception was the Ath letic Club. They occasionally acted like I was stealing the results to use for my own nefarious purposes.

Then came the journalistic part. I had to pour through the results and pick one notable kegler who was to be honored as “Bowler of the Week.” I had a bulky “Sid Hartman” style cassette recorder, and I would attach a suction cup microphone to the phone, and call up the lucky bowler for an interview. I tried to give each submission a sense of style and flair, but probably didn’t have a proper apprecia tion for what a big deal bowling in Winona was, and how many bowlers aspired for “Bowler of the Week” bragging rights.

Anyway, it was finals week, and let’s just say that I didn’t give that week’s winner the attention they deserved. Okay … let’s be honest. I mailed it in. I rationalized: “Who reads this stuff anyway?”

That Sunday, I was enjoying brunch when one of my “friends” grabbed a Saturday Morning Post, climbed up

on a table, and began reading “Bowler of the Week” at the top of his lungs in a very sarcastic way to the entire cafe teria. “The weather might have been cold, but (the bowl er’s name is deleted to protect the innocent) was red hot, smashing the pins into kindling while earning his seventh National Honor Count of his career.” Ouch … you get the idea.

It was an embarrassing moment, but it taught me a life long lesson. After that incident I always assumed that ev ery word I wrote was going to be read (and judged) by thousands of people. I vowed that there were no small sto ries, only small writers, and that I would give everything I wrote my best effort.

The late ‘70s was the golden age for league sports in Wi nona, and I had the honor of covering some of the best teams and most memorable games in Winona’s rich his tory. I also was able to spark some relationships that have lasted to this day.

I watched Tom Riska deliver his own form of cardio pulmonary spike massage, while he and Terry Westby, Steve “Ootiba” Peterson, Andy “Arm speed and coordi nation” Blomsness, Henry “Gondorf” Gerth, John Ferden, and Jules Gernes pulverized opponents with the legendary “Big O” Class “A” volleyball team. With a string of state championships and an incredible winning streak in league play, The “Big O” was the best men’s volleyball team in Winona’s history. They were also a bunch of great guys, approachable, and a joy to watch.

I was able to interview the classy Shorty’s pitcher Don Troke and catch Larry Ebert, Mark Patterson, Steve Styba, Rick Gatzlaff, Don Nelson, and Fran Rinn in their primes on Winona’s softball diamonds.

During the winter months, I covered class “A” men’s basketball. The games were held at Winona State, and if I close my eyes I can still see Emilio DeGrazia doing his best Pistol Pete imitation as he raced down the court with his hair flying behind him. Morrie Miller was a bruising force on the boards (and foul magnet), and Major League Baseball scout and talented basketball player/coach Jerry Raddatz always gave a great interview. Best of all, I met an impossibly young John Glowczewski, who was a high school kid hired to keep charge of the stats and scoreboard. He was always helpful when I needed to check my num bers, and he still has the same distinctive smile at Lakev iew Drive Inn that he flashed in those early days.

It was a great life. I loved every second of my college career at Saint Mary’s. I had a job in my field, and for the first time in my life, I actually had a little bit of money. We were able to occasionally go to the Ground Round for dinner, and buy round steak to put on the grill. Howev er, I longed for the defining “big story,” one that would combine investigative journalism with great storytelling. It seemed like a tall order until one morning when Mau reen and I peddled our Huffy bikes down to a rental house on East Second Street for an omelette breakfast that Matt Hunkler, one of our friends from college and cook at the Jackson Street Cafe had promised.

Lightning struck again. There was a commotion around the tiny rental house. People were everywhere, and Matt and his roommate David Kuhn were the center of attention. After we pried him away from the neighbors, Hunckler ex plained that he had gotten home early the night before and got the urge to clean the basement. He found a tobacco can in the corner that had: “For Israel” scratched on the sides. When he opened the can he discovered $1,000 in $20 bills rolled inside.

After spending 12 hours imagining how he would spend

2001

September 12

“Winona reels at news of attack on U.S.”

1993

August 25

1991

November 27

The Winona Post and Shopper drops the “Shopper” and becomes simply the Winona Post.

the windfall, Matt’s roommate convinced him to call the police. Winona’s finest arrived at the house, listened to Matt’s story, and left with the money. Hunkler began re gretting his decision moments after the police walked out the door. He eventually got a $100 reward for his honesty, the rest of the money was sent to Israel, and I had the fea ture story of my dreams.

Matt’s tale and the story of the man who left the gift for Israel, Polish immigrant Michael Buchner, became “The $1,000 History Lesson.” It occupied the front page of the July 21, 1979, Winona Post, and eventually won first place in the state for best feature story. It remains the story that I am most proud of, and grateful for. I guess I peaked in 1979. (Visit WinonaPost.com to read that story and other historical highlights.)

In December of 1979 I became a lightning rod for the third time. Somebody knocked on my door on Third Heffron (I lived in the “ghost room,” but that’s a story for another time), and said that there was someone named Fran on the phone for me. I was getting ready to graduate, and she asked if I had found a job yet. I admitted that I hadn’t pro gressed past creating a resume. “Why don’t you apply with us?” she asked. I didn’t have a good answer, so I trudged downtown for a job interview with John and Fran Edstrom. John was rather intimidating, and quickly informed me that the Post couldn’t afford a full-time reporter, and that if things worked out, I would have to be a hybrid (I’m not sure he used that word) combi nation of reporter and salesman. I think the title they worked up was “Associate Editor and Business Manag er” of the Saturday Morning Post. I took a leap of faith, accepted the job offer and start ed to work full time for the Edstrom’s during the heart of the Jim my Carter recession in January 1980. That’s when the fun really began.

It’s an incredible and unlikely journey from “Bowler of the Week” writer to publisher and owner of a community newspaper that is celebrating 50 years of service to the Wi nona area. It has been an amazing ride, and I am honored and humbled to be a part of it. I want to take this oppor tunity to thank Fran and John for taking a chance on me back in 1978, and to especially thank Fran for trusting me to continue her proud journalistic legacy at the Post. I want to also thank all of the talented people who have worked for the Post over the years, and especially to recognize our amazing current team.

The Winona Post is a free newspaper, so I also have to express my appreciation to all of the advertisers who have trusted the Post to reach out to their customers over the last 50 years.

Finally, thank you to the generations of readers in the Winona area who have chosen the Winona Post as your local newspaper. We are awed by your loyalty, and pledge to always keep your trust and deliver a quality newspaper to your home every week … free of charge of course!

2012

June 24

2008

July 9

After fundraising efforts to save it and split votes by the Winona City Council, Julius C. Wilkie is razed at Levee Park.

Winona Post Co-founder John Edstrom passes away. Former Winona Post News Editor Cynthya Porter wrote of John at the time, recounting how he and Fran dropped everything to help when one of Porter’s children broke a bone,

“ Inside that no-nonsense exterior was a soft, warm person who was a man, a father, a person who worried for me at my most frightening moment.”

1999

John Edstrom wins the rst of two Joseph A. Sklenar Editorial Awards from the Independent Free Papers of America.

2007

August 18

Flash oods devastate Rushford, Stockton, and many cities throughout Winona, Fillmore, and Houston counties, killing seven people.

2010

April 10

The Winona Post wins a Minnesota Department of Administration advisory opinion, deciding that information about the procedure for a public school superintendent’s performance evaluation is public information.

2014

July 2

Longtime Advertising Director Patrick Marek buys the Winona Post from co-founder Fran Edstrom.

Third Street pedestrian plaza reopened to vehicular traf c.

Owner Patrick Marek and Editor Sarah Squires win a Joseph A. Sklenar Editorial Award from the Independent Free Papers of America.

History

continued from page 1a

responding to our coverage, and then it got to be fun. It was like, ‘Oh, wow, I really understand what being a newspaper is. It’s being a community builder.’” She continued, “All of a sudden, it wasn’t just a way to compete or write, but we really started to develop a philosophy about media and local media and what it should do. We told our reporters we wanted people to be able to pick up our paper and know just about everything they needed to know to be a participating member of the Win ona community and society.”

By the mid-80s, the paper was full of hard news, features, music and entertainment reviews, youth hockey updates, Elk of the Year announcements, and school fundraisers. Letters to the editor poured in, and Fran even wrote some cooking and travel features under the pen name Jacque Aulotte (rhymes with “chocolate” in a French accent). “It’s not fun if you can’t have fun, if you can’t make jokes and have something a little frivo lous,” she said.

While Fran as editor was filling out the pages, John and Pat rick were out making sales calls. “[John] took me under his wing and everywhere he went, I went with him, and I learned a lot from him,” Patrick recalled. Sales and advertising were brand new to the young Marek, but he said, “With sales and reporting, the number on thing you can have is an everlasting curiosity. If you’re a reporter and you’re calling somebody, you’re curious about them. You want to know what made them do the things they’re doing. When I call a store, it’s the same thing. What makes their store? What makes people want to shop there?”

Around 1986, Patrick left the Post to become sales manager and eventually general manager at KWNO radio station. “John was not happy that I left,” Patrick said. “He was angry. But you know what, we liked each other so much, so he couldn’t stay angry with me. So we had lunch together all the time and we did a couple shows together, KWNO and the Post.” Eventually, in the early 90s, John convinced Patrick to come back, this time as the head of the sales.

All the while, John was writing the Post’s longest running series, the Viking View columns. For John, analyzing football was a passion. “It ruined my life,” Fran said. “We had to watch every single game.” John would get fired up and yell at the TV when his team lost, she said, “But he loved it. He studied it. He watched it over and over again. He bought books and magazines about football. We could never do anything on Sun day. We practically had to plan our children’s baptisms around whether the Vikings were playing.”

“[John] would record the game or have me record the game, and then he’d watch it like three times and take notes,” Patrick said. “He’d notice things, like more penalties for this guy. I’d say, ‘John, just watch the game!’ But that wasn’t his style.”

Patrick continued, “In those days, the Vikings loved having journalists come down, even us from little Winona.” Patrick and John would show up at training camp and get exclusive interviews with players. “We’d have lunch with them and we could get on the field before practices,” Patrick added.

John was also famous for his editorials, often acting as a champion of fiscal conservatism and a skeptic of government spending, but also an advocate for conservation, historic pres ervation, and local, small business. “He really felt strongly about things. So he would never temper his writing,” Fran said. She sometimes had to rein him in, but she added, “When he was writing editorials, we had a lot of letters to the editor, and they were interesting ones.”

As John became more and more busy with managing the busi ness, Fran found that if she wanted to have editorials, she would need to write them. John pushed her to over come her initial hesi tations and encouraged her to make her points fully and clearly, Fran said, adding, “He was a very good ed itor.”

Fran devel oped a pow erful voice on the opinion page, writing both asser tive editorials and columns, sometimes funny, some times deeply

personal. “The personal things I wrote because it’s a small town. Everyone knows everything about you anyway. So why not tell everyone how you feel about it?” she said. “Everyone knew I had breast cancer before I got the test back, so I thought, why not write about it?” At that time people were rarely open about having breast cancer, a far cry from the awareness it re ceives today, she noted. “With [my son] Jake’s suicide,” Fran said, “I just thought, it would be a good thing — that this is something that can happen and you should be aware and look for signs in your kids of depression, in anyone.”

In 1991, the paper dropped the “Shopper” from its name and became simply the Winona Post. The Post had, by now, won dozens of awards from the Minnesota Newspapers Associa tion, Independent Free Papers of America, and other state and regional organizations for its reporting, design, and editorials. It was and continued to be a launching pad for many talented writers.

In the late 90s and in the 2000s, big box retailers, and later internet shopping, began to change the business landscape in Winona and across the country dramatically, with many of the mom and pop shops that had been the lifeblood of the early Winona Post closing up shop. John and Patrick had to adapt and change their focus, Fran said.

Patrick credited the Post’s ability to survive to a few factors.

“The Edstroms never lost site of the quality of the reporting,” he said. Where newsrooms across the U.S. were slashed, the Post retained its reporting positions. “The other thing was to hit every household with a newspaper that is free of charge,” Pat rick said. “Luckily, we it every household with a great product.

If people put an ad in, it tended to work,” he added. When sub scription-based papers began offering all of their content on line for free, suddenly their print product became worthless, he stated. “At the Post, the focus was always on our print product, and the website backs up the print product,” Patrick explained.

Finally, John always made a point to diversify his advertising base, with a mix of big advertisers and lots of small ones. Big advertisers are great, but if they suddenly go away, the paper can’t be too dependent on them, Patrick explained.

“For years and years, people like to look down on the Post. ‘Oh, the Shopper. It’s free,’” Fran said. “Now it’s like we were geniuses to have a business model that has survived the inter net.”

In 2012, John died at age 65 from lung cancer. “[John] had such a brilliant mind,” Patrick said. “I still miss him … I think when he died that was a huge, huge loss for Winona.”

John had been a student of many languages, and his longtime hunting partner, friend, and Packers columnist, the late Dave DeLano, wrote at the time, “Sometimes Johnny and I would have conversations in Spanish over several cervezas until we got to the point where neither of us made a whole lot of sense, at which time we regrouped back to English … Johnny and I didn’t agree at all about which football team to cheer for on Sunday and we occasionally had political differences, too.” DeLano continued, “But we never really got mad at each other. … It was a great relationship with lots of mutual respect that kept us close all these years, and I miss my friend dearly al ready. R.I.P, amigo.”

In 2014, Fran sold the paper to Patrick, who was then the Post’s advertising director. “It was a sad moment for me, I’ll tell you. It was my life,” Fran said. However, she explained, “I’ve struggled over the years with various health problems, and it just became clear to me and my kids that it was just too much.”

As many local businesses gone by can attest to, finding a new owner who will continue the success of a small business can be a challenge, and in 2014, Fran faced a choice. “If I wanted a really comfortable retirement, I could have sold [to a corporate chain] and made more money, but it was important to me that what John and I built remained local and viable.” She contin ued, “If I’d sold to Lee [Enterprises], they would have just dissolved it … I was fairly certain Patrick would continue running it the way we had run it.”

“I appreciate the opportunity that Fran gave me and the trust she gave me in taking over the reins, but don’t think I don’t call her and get her advice on things,” Patrick said.

“Many times when I make a decision, I ask, what would Fran and John do? I try to use them as a compass, because I’ve been doing this for seven years and they’ve been doing it for 43 years.”

Where many other local newspapers around the U.S. cut staff, Patrick said, “I’m sure some people could come in and found some economies here … But when I looked at the economies, I saw the employees, and I have a soft heart, I just do. I know this is not a family, but to me it is a family, and it’s one I’ve been a part of for many years.”

“So I came in and tried not to change personnel. And I didn’t make a lot of changes to the paper,” Patrick con tinued. “There’s one area where I feel really strongly and that’s the Marek/Gary Evans rule,” he said, referencing his former journalism professor at Saint Mary’s. “A reader should look at any story and they should get both sides presented in a fair fashion, and when they get done they shouldn’t know how the reporter felt about it.” He added, “When it is a news story, like the Daley Farm or these other ones that are really hot, I feel really proud that we have both sides of it.”

Chris@winonapost.com

Bad city planning once again threatens Winona’s scarce land

Now city officials define “industrial development” as “com munity development,” which is just about anything they want to do.

Perhaps it would have been more honest of the city to correct the obvious local misperceptions of what “industrial develop ment” means at the time they promised it in return for our $4.5 million.

Let the downtown live — reopen Third Street

This editorial was first published on August 14, 1991, when downtown Third Street was a pedestrian mall closed to cars, known as Levee Plaza, and when many downtown businesses were moving to the highway.

by John Edstrom

Last week’s issue of the Post contained two unfortunate items of news for those who love Winona’s old and historic down town. The first was the demise of Wino na’s oldest store, R.D. Cone’s, and the second was the departure of four more downtown businesses to a new strip mall on Highway 61.

This leaves Third Street dangerously close to half empty, and our downtown’s architectural centerpiece, the Choate building, almost totally unoccupied. The architectural anchor of the other end of Third Street between Center and Lafay ette, the Odd Fellows building, also sits virtually empty.

Anyone who owns any of these buildings can tell you that keeping them in decent repair when occupied is a mammoth task, and, that empty, they will fall down as you watch. With business stampeding out of the downtown area, the future of these fine old structures is very bleak indeed. If they don’t generate income, they can’t pay property taxes or fund repair and up keep. Ask any of the owners or managers of these businesses the reason for leaving downtown and you’ll hear one main word: traffic. Without traffic, retail business cannot exist, and traffic does not exist on Third Street, and is tortured and congested in the rest of downtown, because of Levee Plaza.

Back in 1988, after long and careful study, the Winona Chamber of Commerce came forward with a plan for revitalizing downtown Winona. One of the key el ements of that plan was to reopen Third Street to the traffic that is essential for re tail business. The City COuncil approved the plan and funding was in place, through state aid and HRA tax increment financ ing, so that it could be carried out without going to the taxpayers for any additional dollars.

Unfortunately, the HRA withheld ap proval and the issue ultimately went to a referendum that was defeated largely, in my opinion, because the taxpayers mistak enly thought that the funding had to come from the in the form of fresh taxes.

That was not the case then and need not be the case now. The state aid still exists and the HRA still has funding capability.

Downtown Winona’s fine old histor ic buildings can’t survive sitting emp ty, and the possibility of rental housing is not enough to pay for their continued existence. The City Council should track down the funding, revive the plan to re vitalize downtown Winona, and reopen Third Street.

Old-timers like to talk about mistakes Winona has made in city planning. They point, justifiably, to the replacement of the old Post Office with the inefficient one that now stands, built on what used to be Central Park. There is still anger over the fact that rank and file Winonans felt they were hoodwinked by a City Council that pushed the changes through.

Another bad move by the Winona City Council was the razing of several blocks of buildings in downtown Winona during the urban renewal days of the 1970s. The watchwords for tearing down big old river town architecture, filled going businesses at the time, were “progress” and “if we don’t take the feds’ money, someone else will!” Clearly, Winona gained little from grabbing the feds’ money while the grabbing was good.

Currently, Winonans have raised $4.5 million from an extra half-cent sales tax, now sunsetted. In return for paying and col lecting this sales tax, we were promised that land would be cre ated for “industrial development.”

Now to most people, “industry” is manufacturing — heavy, light, we don’t care. The prospect of bringing new “industry” to Winona was attractive enough to the people of the city that they agree to impose the sales tax upon themselves. “Industry to regular Joes means an opportunity to get a good job, make a decent wage to raise a family, and live the good life here in God’s country. Industry, to the retailers who agreed to the tax, means wealth coming into the community, not wealth being drained away.

That little quibble over semantics aside, how does the cur rent city plan to add over 200,000 square feet of discount retail space on Mankato Avenue serve the present and future needs of Winona?

The reason, after all, for creating the new industrial — excuse me — “community” development space is the same it has al ways been: Winona is running out of developable land.

If Winona were running out of water, would we waste it be cause a few citizens wanted to water their flower gardens. No, the city, as do many cities, would have to ration water.

Well, Winona should be rationing land, because we are run ning out of it. It is foolish, and just plain bad city planning, to jump at the first opportunity to get rid of the land we’ve created with our sales tax, just to have it filled.

The entire community raised the money to create new land. The City Council should involve the entire community in a dis cussion about what is the best use of that land. It should not be a decision made behind closed doors and then presented to the community as a done deal.

This City Council and administration will join other histori cally maligned bad city planners who destroyed the Post Office, Central Park, and “urban renewed” businesses right of down town. Future Winonans will bemoan the shortsightedness of the 2003 city leaders who wasted our most precious commodity in this little valley: land.

This editorial republished from August 3, 2003, when the city of Winona was planning to sell much of the land in a new Mankato Avenue industrial park to big box retailers. Edited for length.

by Fran Edstrom

Saint

Congratulations and thank you to the Winona Post for sharing stories, keeping people informed and documenting the history of our community for 50 years!

All who have worked there over the years have provided an important service to the greater Winona area. We’re pleased to be a part of a community that values what matters.

Winona Health Caring for our community since 1894.