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| It's been that long already... |
As you know the first step in my "prattle process" is to take a short story and make it much longer by adding my comments and observations. Once I start telling this long story my next step in the "prattle process" is to embellish the facts even more so that in the end I have made a long story even longer. Of course you always need to keep in mind that my prattles are all in good fun and they are not meant to be taken seriously.
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| 125th?.....you just gotta have a cake |
The very long version of my Twin Valley story will be divided into the following 4 sections:
Section 1 - History Lesson
Section 2 - Memory Lane
Section 3 - Then and Now
Section 4 - The Celebration
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Section 1 - History Lesson
Twin Valley, MN: A small town in northwestern Minnesota.....population 821....that's only 47 less people than when I was there back in 1977.....wonder what happened to the other 46 people?
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| Living on the prairie |
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| No rush hour traffic here |
Twin Valley High School: I was a teacher and coach there from 1976 to 1981.
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| Mr. Peterson reporting to duty, sir.....(was I ever that young?) |
Teaching Responsibilities: 7th grade American History, 8th grade Geography, 9th grade Civics, Junior High Physical Education and Health.
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| Mr. History Teacher....."What year was the War of 1812 fought?" |
Coaching Responsibilities: Head boys varsity basketball, junior high football, varsity track (1 year)....only took the school 1 year to figure out that I didn't know anything about track.
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| Mr. Coach...."I just rolled out the ball and let them play" |
Major Highlight: Basketball team went to the Minnesota State High School Basketball tournament in my first year as head coach (1977).
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| The BIG DANCE...1977...St. Paul (Twin Valley in the dark warm-ups) |
My Claim To Fame: During the state tournament, a reporter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, wrote the following..."although no records are kept Paul Peterson, the 22 year old head coach at Twin Valley, would have to be the youngest person ever to coach in the Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournament". Even though 35 years have passed since this statement was written I think it's still true becasue it would be almost impossibe for a teacher/coach to be younger than 22 in March of their first year on the job. If the reporter's statement and my logic are both correct, then I say I'm still "The Guy"....the youngest coach ever!! (until proven otherwise.... and I don't plan on doing any research on it).
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| "Hey....all I had to do was get them to the game on time" |
Major Change: Twin Valley and Gary, MN consolidated their schools in 1985. The new name of the combined school is Norman County East.
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| Tigers are OUT......Eagles are IN |
I know consolidation is needed but I still don't like it because once the consolidation is completed everything disappears from the original 2 schools....school name, colors, song, nickname, mascot, records, trophies, etc. My high school in Zumbrota, MN also consolidated with a neighboring school after I graduated in 1972. This of course means that I now have to face the fact that the high school where I was a student and the high school where I was a teacher no longer exist. I can't find any official record of me ever being at either one of these schools.......makes me wonder if the things I remember happening at my schools ever took place ....was it just a dream?....a figment of my imagination?......a hallucination?.....was I in some sort of drug induced coma during all those years? .....hmmmm....makes you wonder doesn't it?.....
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| I'm sure I'll never see this again.....did it really happen? |
Destructive Moment: In 1996 the high school building in Twin Valley was destroyed by a fire on a very cold winter night. (not a picture of the actual Twin Valley fire)
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| Very sad....my home for 5 years.....gone forever |
My Legacy: There are 2 versions out on the street in Twin Valley and they are as follows:
Version #1 - The state tournament team that I coached laid the foundation that was used to build a very successful basketball program at Twin Valley. The excitement created by my 1977 team may have provided the spring board for sending future Twin Valley teams to the state tournament. The 1985 Twin Valley team, the 1998 Norman County East team and the 2008 Norman County East team all made trips to the state tournament. The 1998 team actually won the Class A state championship. (keep in mind that no Twin Valley team had ever gone to the state tournament prior to my 1977 team).
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| Do you believe in miracles?......YES!! |
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| Dreams really do come true |
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| I was on top of the world.....for awhile anyway |
Version #2 - During my 5 years as the head basketball coach I managed to take a very successful basketball program and drive it into the ground. After winning 23 games my first year the victory total went steadily down in each of the next 4 seasons. Fortunately a new coach was able to rebuild the program and take a Twin Valley team back to the state tournament 4 years after I left town.
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| I took the basketball program from "HERE"..... |
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| ....To "HERE"..... |
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| ...and finally to "HERE"..... |
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Section 2 - Memory Lane
As I drove into Twin Valley that day for the big celebration it suddenly occurred to me that it was almost 35 years ago to the day that I came to Twin Valley for my first job interview at the high school. On the flip side it was also very close to 30 years ago to the day that I packed up my car and left Twin Valley for good. (kind of Twilight Zone-ish).
As I drove into town I proceeded to drive by all of my old stomping grounds...
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| Ahh...the old elevator.....I'm almost there...hope nothing has changed |
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| "What?....a new water tower?.....I hate change!" |
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| Bowling Alley...bowled in a league here for 5 years (that's 35 in dog years) |
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| The Liquor Store.....couldn't go there....not a place for "The Coach" to hang out |
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| The old gym...."The house that Paul Peterson built" (see Version #1) |
As I drove by one of the places I used to live it dawned on me that I was way ahead of my time back in 1976. In today's world it has become very "trendy" to live in condos that are located in the downtown areas of large cities. Looking back I can now see that I was the guy who actually made the "downtown life style" fashionable. One could say I actually blazed the trail for this new way of living when I moved into a fully furnished penthouse condo in the heart of downtown Twin Valley." I was living LARGE and I didn't even know it. I was "cool" long before it became "cool" to live in an old downtown building that had been renovated into expensive condos.
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| The Bernice Tower......great view of the Twin Valley skyline from my penthouse |
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| Location....Location.....Location |
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| "I can't believe the old car that conked out on me back in '77 is still sitting here" |
After living downtown for 3 years I decided that I needed a change. The pace was just way too hectic for me in Twin Valley's asphalt jungle. Fortunately I was able to find a fully furnished house out in the eastern suburbs of Twin Valley. Finding a furnished place was very important to me because my motto back in those days was "I don't want to own anything that doesn't fit into my car". I stayed true to this creed becasue I wanted to be able to make a quick get-a-away in the middle of the night if the player's parents ever decided they wanted to run me out of town.
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| I called it "The Ranch"....wish I could say the place looked better 30 years ago |
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Section 3 - Then and Now
As you know a good Norwegian boy like me has trouble dealing with change. My trip back to Twin Valley of course forced me to deal with the fact that things do change in 30 years. Here is a quick look at how things were back "Then" and how they are "Now".
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| The Welcome Sign.....THEN |
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| The Welcome Sign....NOW....Tigers?...State Tournament?..sorry, no record of it |
Whenever I visit Twin Valley I always stay at Steve and Renee Radniecki's house. I affectionately call their place the "Radniecki Bed and Breakfast Inn" because I always receive first class accomodations when I stay there. Steve and Renee moved to Twin Valley prior to the start of my second year of teaching. Steve was hired to be a social studies teacher in the high school and the head football coach. Steve went on to have a long and very successful teaching and coaching career in Twin Valley. The school and the community honored Steve for all of his outstanding work by naming the football field after him.... "Radniecki Field"....very impressive. (I don't think the basketball court would have been named after me had I stayed).
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| Steve Radniecki....Teacher/Football Coach.....THEN |
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| Steve and Renee Radniecki......Bed and Breakfast Inn (for me anyway)....NOW |
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| My old high school building.....THEN |
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| The new high school....NOW....my old school is gone...was I ever really here? |
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| The Gym.....THEN....(my 1977 state tournament team) |
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| The Gym.....NOW.....definitely not named "Peterson Court" |
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| Mr. Coach.....on the bench.....THEN...."These guys don't need a coach" |
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| Mr. Coach....on the bench....NOW..."No one listens to me anymore" |
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| Mr. Coach....at The Dance....THEN....officials thought I was the student manager |
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| Mr. Coach.....NOW......"Doesn't anyone remember me?....I did coach here ya know" |
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| Jeff Opsahl...state tourney team....point guard who ran the show |
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| Brad Gibson....Player....THEN....ran the fastest crusher ever |
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| Jerry Kappes...state tourney team....THEN...instant offense off the bench |
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| Jeff, Jerry and Brad.....NOW.....glad to see no one has changed |
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Section 4 - The Celebration
When I arrived on Saturday morning for the big celebration the heat index was close to 100 degrees. Excessive heat for some reason doesn't really bother me so I proceeded to enjoy what I will call "the perfect day".
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| Bring on the HEAT.....I love it!! |
Check out my fun packed schedule.......
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| My schedule was full...I did everything |
Attended the big parade at 10:00 am....worked the crowd that was downtown on main street in the morning....had lunch with some former students / basketball players.....attended a teacher's reunion at the school in the early afternoon....attended a 70's class reunion party later in the afternoon......had supper at the school with my adopted parents, Eldred and Norma Opsahl......worked the huge crowd in the liquor store..... glad handed everyone at the big street dance. (Politicians had nothing on me that day). I basically talked with people non-stop from 9:00 am on Saturday morning until 1:30 am on Sunday morning...it was great! I really enjoyed seeing so many people from my past..... students, basketball players, teachers and old friends. My "Fun Bag" was definitely full when I left town.
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| So this is what the inside of the Liquor Store looks like....(I love working a room) |
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| Gotta go to the street dance... (a few people actually remembered me here) |
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| I needed to ship my "FUN BAG" home....too big...wouldn't fit in my car |
I just love parades and the people of Twin Valley did a great job putting one together because it had everything that was on my "Must Have List" for parades.
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| The old tractors..... |
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| ....the classic cars..... |
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| ....the fire trucks.... |
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| ...and of course the horses.....(you know the parade is over) |
Spending the day in Twin Valley brought back many memories of what it was like to live in a small town. I always enjoyed how the local newspapers in Twin Valley and/or Zumbrota would report on the ordinary comings and goings of the local residents. I'm 99% sure that both of these newpapers would have filed this report on my visit to Twin Valley...Paul Peterson, Maple Grove, MN, attended Twin Valley's 125th anniversary celebraton this past weekend. Paul enjoyed visiting with many old friends and former students during his stay. The 3 day celebration drew huge crowds and "a fine time was had by all" (I just can't get enough of that classic phrase...I've been using it for over 50 years).
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| If they don't want my reporting skills here.... |
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| ...maybe they will here |
So there you have it....a short story that became a long story and a long story that became even longer. My only regret is that I somehow managed to delete several pictures that I took with my phone during the day (user error...I am old you know). Obviously it would have been much easier for me to simply state the following..."I went to the 125th anniversary celebration in Twin Valley because I used to teach and coach there back in the late "70's"......but that wouldn't have been any fun now would it?
