𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 | 𝖧𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝖻𝗋𝖺𝗋𝗒—𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗐𝗇—𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗂𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀

PHOTOS BY NICOLE WK

I hadn’t planned to stay for the Friends of the Pelican Rapids Library “Tablescapes” luncheon  September 20.
 
Over the past few weeks I’d been helping the Friends’ president Mara Davis, the event organizer, finalize details for the printed program and figured I’d just pop in—take a few photos, say hello to the speaker, Amy Thielen (who I’d just heard at Deep Roots the weekend before), and then head back to the office to get a jump on Monday.

But Mara urged me to stay—there were a couple of empty seats, she said. The smell of Thielen’s Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole recipe drifting from Trinity Lutheran Church’s kitchen was already tempting, but the open spot at Jaci Porto’s table sealed the deal. I always enjoy running into her, and the opportunity to sit and chat was a welcome one.

As the afternoon went on, the program kept bringing home a few points: how vital the library is, how a handful of people can shape and impact a small community... and how often those people are women.

One of those women is Joan Jarvis-Ellison, who opened the event by sharing how the library came to be. In 1987, a women’s group and a civic group in Pelican Rapids joined forces to make it happen. The Friends of the Library formed to ensure the library would have what it needed to serve the community, no matter what was going on at city hall.
 
Listening to Joanie, I found myself thinking—not for the first time—how much I appreciate our library. She mentioned that all her friends go to the library, and I realized the same is true for me.

In 2018, we bought a farmstead east of Erhard, planning to move there from Minneapolis “someday.” Like a lot of people, the pandemic in 2020 pushed us to reconsider our priorities.
 
We spent that spring and summer “social-distancing” at the farm. Story Time outside the library in Veterans Park was a lifeline, giving me a reason to get out with the kids and connect with others, and I became fast friends with children’s librarian Nanette Albright.

“Someday” became fall 2021 and we took the plunge, moving to the area full time. When I needed a place for my eight-year-old’s birthday party that winter, we ended up renting the library’s community room. While I wouldn’t recommend it—ten kids playing “keepy-uppy” with balloons is LOUD in that room—the library was there for us and still is.

If my kids need to stay at the office with me, I can send them next door to the library to spend time with Nanette and work on the week’s craft, knowing they’ll be safe and welcome. Some weeks I’m at the library nearly every day—attending meetings, covering events, or just catching up with the librarians.

Walking in, I feel like Norm in Cheers. No one shouts my name—it is a library, after all—but I’m always welcomed, and I always see a friend.

The first group I joined after moving here was the Multicultural Committee, where I met Joanie Ellison, who has helped write grants for or organize twenty International Friendship Festival events over the years. It didn’t surprise me to learn she’d helped ensure Pelican Rapids got its library.

Judy Tabbut, Kathy Bergren, and Ruth Holmgren—all longtime Friends of the Library members—immediately come to mind, too. There isn’t enough room to list all of the things I can think of just off the top of my head, that these ladies help make happen. If you see something positive happening in town, odds are one or more of these women were involved in some way.


The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

There are too many others to list them all in a column that already threatens to become a novel if I let it, but I would be remiss not to mention the late Kathy Knuteson-Olson—or KKO, as she was known by most.

At the luncheon, tables were decorated to honor children’s books. Becky Hill hosted one in memory of KKO. She chose “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything” by Linda Williams—the book KKO had picked before she passed away in late July. Anyone who knew KKO would agree it was the perfect choice. As a former Pelican High School teacher, Friend, and library board member, she touched many lives in the room. The library wouldn’t be what it is today without her.

That brings me to another woman and teacher who has shaped the fabric of the Pelican community.


Unexpected connections form the fabric of a community

At the silent auction, a framed chalk drawing of a painting by Francisco Goya caught my eye.

I’ve always been a fan of Goya’s work and I had just the spot in mind to hang it in my office. Later, as I was packing up my auction haul, Sheri Nettestad told me her husband, Mike, had drawn it in high school while a student of Hazel Hovde in 1970-71. It hung in Hazel’s classroom, along with two others at the auction, for years before coming back to Mike. 

I could tell you about all the reasons I think it’s awesome to have Mike’s artwork on my office wall, but if you know Mike or have read past recent issues of The Press, you likely already know—and this column is for the ladies. 

When you hear so many unprompted little stories from people about someone, you know they’ve made a real impact, and Hazel Hovde is certainly one of those people.
I don’t know Hazel well, but I’ve always enjoyed our chats when she’s stopped into the Press office—usually about our shared love of cats and her years rescuing ferals. She’s a loyal supporter of the Press, sending kind letters and sometimes, out of the blue, a donation. 

Now, when I look at that framed drawing, I see more than a high school art student’s work from decades ago. I see a piece of shared culture and community, passed down—not unlike the library itself—kept alive through the Friends.

The silent auction alone brought in a record amount this year, with donations of over $3k that will go toward funding library books and programming. But the Friends need more hands-on help with things like grant writing, finding and scheduling monthly art exhibits, and building a website for the group, as the longtime members look to pass on the stewardship of the organization to the next generation.

If you’re curious about the Friends of the Library or want to get involved, check out their Facebook page or, better yet, stop by the library. You’ll probably run into a friend. And if you don’t, you’ll have a good chance to make a new one.