Happy New Year to Everyone!

Joe Vink (left) and Mel Elliott having a good ole' time together

Duxbury News
Toni Williamson
Toni@DuxburyNews.info

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you rang it in with loved ones and friends.
One thing we notice in our little community is that regardless of which local township you live in, “all roads lead to Duxbury” (I think I just discovered a new bumper sticker!). We may be “itty bitty” but the history reaches far and wide. Just don’t blink!

My husband and I stopped in the Duxbury Store for lunch and to meet with Fran Levings, Clerk for New Dosey Township. She was meeting with him to give information to update their website, NewDoseyTownship.com which he administers for them. After concluding our business with Fran, we went on to have lunch.

While enjoying our meal we chatted with Mel Elliott from Arna Township and Joe and Bev Vink, proprietors of the Duxbury Store. They reminisced about current and past times, showing pictures of the area from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.

Mel is a hearty gentleman and was celebrating his 73rd birthday, enjoying the Duxbury hospitality. He shared that he has lived and farmed just East of Duxbury all his life, except for a brief stint in the military and that he and his wife Eleanor have been married for 53 years. He chuckled that he and Eleanor were recently celebrating their 53rd anniversary, when the female of a young couple that was sitting nearby came up to Eleanor and asked how she could stand being with the same man for so many years! She responded that she was Swedish and he was Irish. A match made in heaven!

Joe, who will be 83 years old in March, grew up in Wisconsin, near Turtle Lake and came to the Duxbury area when he was 16 years old. Bev laughed and shared a story that around that time he asked his mother if he could smoke. Of course, she told him “no”. She said he listened, never asked her again, and has never smoked. Gosh, I wish if children today would listen like that!

Bev got out several photo albums and showed pictures of the roads and other activities from beaver trapping in the 30’s and 40’s to a picture of three small sweet little cherubs, one named Gary Vink when he was about 5 or 6 years old. Bev loves to share stories about the good ‘ole days. She said that back the 40’s and 50’s about ½ mile east of the store used to be under water every spring. Her father had to take a rowboat on the road to meet the mailman so that he could bring him across to deliver the mail.

Joe, Bev and Mel shared so many stories about growing up in the area, that it would take several other articles to share all of them all with you. We all laughed and truly enjoyed hearing their stories as they spoke of the experiences from the past. They talked about the changes they have seen and what is also constant. One thing that I noticed that was constant, was their deep long lasting friendship which has lasted more than half a century. It was a pleasure to be there with them to share the special moments of friends reminiscing about memories growing up together.
Well our baby, our 26 years old son, just got married on January 3, 2009 to a lovely young lady who grew up in the Blue Earth area. About 50 family members from both sides gathered at our home for a beautiful ceremony and wonderful food. It was fun meeting new family members as we danced the night away. Besides our family, children and grandchildren, we now have another daughter!

Outside continues to be cold and like it or not, we are having a good, old fashioned winter. The season is bringing the whir of snowmobiles on their way to various destinations. Please be careful out there. This is the most snow we have had in a long time and the enthusiasm to hit the trails and blaze away is very tempting. Remember to ride careful and have fun.

Got any old photos or stories? Please send them to my email address. I would love to share them with everyone.

Thanks for reading!