Advertisement However, the Holmen Area Historical Society recently announced a paperback issue will be published before the end of the year.
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Rector Wall Jr., shared stories of growing up in Holmen with Arlan Helgeson, who used them in his book, "Growing up in Holmen."
Photo by Jo Anne Killeen |
That’s good news to folks like Irma Bratberg Daniels who said about the book: “Arlan writes so beautifully and captures the essence of our long ago, laid-back — but ever so principled — small town of Holmen. The book is a treasure, and if ever there are more printed, I would love a copy.”
Helgeson, now 87, is living near his son Todd in Bloomington, Ill., but was recently hospitalized. He is now in an assisted living center. With Todd’s help, we were able to ask Arlan some questions.
Filled with fun and poignant vignettes, Helgeson’s book recounts his early days at home along State Street, living next door to the Wall family. Helgeson was an only child, so living next door to his aunt and uncle and their six kids provided a lot of excitement for him. His cousin and best friend, Rector Wall Jr., who was two years younger, shared many growing up joys and pains.
The two, and other mischievous youths, would cavort around the neighborhood, getting into things they shouldn’t have, playing in places like the sawmill and the lumberyard and just being kids.
When asked about mischief making in his youth, Helgeson said he didn’t remember playing too many pranks that turned out bad. “It would probably have something to do with pranks that we played on each other or other people,” he said. “But I feel certain that none of them were damaging to anyone’s reputation or welfare or caused them to suffer in any way. (Assuming we didn’t actually blow anybody up when we threw the sodium in the mill pond.)”
It’s easy to picture where they were because Helgeson’s book has a colored-pencil drawing of the village and surrounding farms. Casberg’s Lumber Yard would have been hard to resist for the young fellows, seeing how it was right across the street.
Helgeson said the center of activity was the mill pond across Main Street, now home to Viking Field.
Wall agreed. “We skated, swam and fished,” Wall said. “We even had a ball diamond at the mill pond.“
Helgeson recounts their early exploits in 57 chapters, each loaded with funny and sad stories about a particular person or location or way of life. From the canning factory to the fire truck and the sorghum mill, to school subjects to Boy Scout days, Helgeson conjures up the dirt roads and ice block harvesting of his youth.
He said the most important person(s) that influenced his life were Dr. Olson, the dentist he writes about and “my dear friend and counselor Stanley Roberts, who roomed with us for about four years when I was in my early teens.”
“We were all one big happy family,” said his other dear friend, Wall. “We celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving together. If we kids got sick, Tillie (Helgeson’s mother) was over helping.”
Wall, who is now 85 and still lives in Holmen, said he has read the book a couple times. “It was fun reminiscing,” Wall said. “It brought back a lot of good memories. It was gratifying.”
Because they shared so many experiences, Wall had a hand in creating the book. Well, maybe an ear is more accurate. Helgeson would call Wall on the phone to confirm events. “He remembers everything so well, and he puts it into good words,” Wall said.
Wall said Helgeson’s voice is evident in the book. “He was a gifted speaker and singer, could write and act.”
The last act of the book has Helgeson departing his boyhood home for college. He attended what was then the La Crosse Teachers’ College (now the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse). Wall said he went to the same college only because he knew Helgeson was there and they could room together.
While Helgeson wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, he did not get into medicine. “The best I’ve done in that line is to describe some of the heroic efforts of others,” he said.
Helgeson served in the Army Air Corps as a radio operator in England before going on to earn his doctoral degree in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife, Candace, came back to the area and taught school in Bangor.
That was the last time Helgeson lived in the area. In 1951, he went to work at Illinois State University, from which he retired in 1982. His career there included stints as dean of the graduate school and interim provost.
“Growing Up in Holmen” is the third history book Helgeson has written. The other two were U.S. history textbooks used in middle schools.
Wall went to the teachers’ college, rooming with Helgeson and six others. After one year, he went into the Navy. Instead of working at his family’s restaurant business (Wall’s Restaurant), Wall went back to school and studied accounting. He worked at several accounting firms until he landed a job at Hawkins, Ash, Baptie, where he stayed for 25 years.
The two men are still very close, speaking almost every day by telephone. Wall plans to make a trip to Bloomington this month to visit Helgeson.
“He was an optimist. He was always so positive about people and appreciated what he learned from them. He taught me patience,” Wall said, “And an appreciation for what you had.“
Helgeson still appreciates what he had. “It seems rather miraculous that, although we lost other high school friends in the Second World War, all of us in the class of 1939 survived it,” he writes in the closing paragraphs of the book.
“We did not do so, however, without great changes in our personal lives. The most important thing I feel about Holmen was the people there were sincerely interested in your attitudes and actions, and that they meant well when they offered you advice. Their approval and praise meant a great deal to me, particularly when it came from my teachers.“
All proceeds from sales of “Growing Up in Holmen” have been donated to the Holmen Area Historical Society.
Those not quick enough to obtain a hardback copy can still get a chance to enjoy the book in paperback form.
Rec Wall (526-3940) and Ruth Scholze (526-3064) are handling ordering and sales of the paperback book. The Holmen Area Library has a copy, as does the La Crosse Main Library.
