1937
On Memorial Day the Robbinsdale Concert Band paraded in the services at the flagpole on Victory Memorial Drive and in the parade on Nicollet Avenue in new uniforms made as a WPA sewing project. C. I. Hegg was the director.
Herman Oliver (H. 0.) (Sonny) Sonneyson came from Duluth to become editor of the Hennepin County Enterprise newspaper. The job of editor then was to write all of the news, solicit advertising, assist with make-up on Wednesday nights and on Thursday wrap the papers that went out of the city.
H. E. Westmoreland purchased the plant at 4718 – 42nd Avenue from John L. Suel. Westmoreland changed the name to the Robbinsdale Post on December 8, 1938. Financial problems arose and Sonneyson went to Ironwood, Michigan, for five years. Meanwhile Paul Richter (later to become City Assessor), James Barclay and Associates bought the paper in 1943. Sonneyson returned as editor in 1945. Five years later the name was changed to the North Hennepin Post.
In May, the Robbinsdale Village council wrote an ordinance to restrict trailer homes. Mobile homes were to be restricted to parks with 24 hour attendants and monthly fees at any trailer park to be established.
Robbinsdale High School made an auspicious debut in Lake District Football by handing Wayzata a 14-0 trimming on the home gridiron. Ray Yates tallied the team’s first touch down when he intercepted a pass and sprinted 45 yards to the goal line.
In December, a new 628 foot well was used to pump water into Crystal Lake. The well initially provided the lake with 1,100 gallon per minute. Deep well diesel pumps were installed the following year and water flowed into the ailing lake until the water levels were roughly normal. The following year water from the new well was rerouted to the city’s new water system and tower.
This post is part of a series loosely based on the book Robbinsdale Then and Now by Helen Blodget.