Posted: 12/18/07
Historic photos sought as part of the state's sesquicentennial celebration
By Daniel McGonigle
Argus Managing Editor
When the staff of the Caledonia Argus sat down to discuss ideas regarding the state's upcoming sesquicentennial celebration and how we can celebrate all things of this area, the idea was presented to include local photos and give readers a look back at 150 years of local history.
O.k. the idea was in place but now the pieces of the puzzle would need to be found to make it all possible.
The discussion turned to the historical society and what they could offer by way of old photos.
"We've got close to 19,000 photos," said Shirley Johnson, Houston County Historical Society president. "You are welcome to use any you'd like."
Problem solved.
However, as the discussion continued the staff thought it might be nice to include other historical photos from other sources.
Now this reporter being new to the area couldn't contribute much to the discussion by way of names, but Jill Hahn, office manager at the Argus and life-long resident of the area, suggested Berdell Meiners.
Meiners had been active with the Houston County Historical Society for many years and documented much of the organizations activities in photos.
A photographer since 1945, Meiners came by the hobby in an interesting way.
"Peer pressure being what it is, someone encouraged me to smoke cigarettes," he recalled. "I didn't care for it much, and sold the rest of my pack and bought a camera."
And the nearly 81 year old history buff still takes pictures to this day, albeit now with a digital camera.
Meiners thumbed through albums of old photos of the various things the Houston County Historical Society was involved in during his time with the organization.
His photos are rich with the way life used to be in these parts, from documenting old corn separator machines to the relocation of the old log cabin Meiners has documented much of what has gone on in the county for the past 30 plus years.
"I'm an old timer," he laughed. "My parents used to live in one of those old log cabins. I lived in one for the first three years of my life."
Meiners generously agreed to share his photos with the Argus and their readers and each week during 2008, the Argus plans to run an old photo or two depicting how life was in the area over the first 150 years of the state.
Others encouraged to share too
While on a trip through Peru, Illinois, Meiners and his wife stumbled across some photos of Caledonia.
"It was interesting to find photos of your town over 350 miles away like that," said Meiners.
We here at the Argus realize our readers are a dynamic group who have many stories to tell. We encourage people to bring their photos which depict interesting things about the area in to us here at the office. While we'd like to be able to run every photo, that just won't be possible. However, we will make every effort to run the submitted photos throughout the state's sesquicentennial celebration.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com