25 Years Ago - 1985

Officials in Staples were officially informed Wednesday morning by Burlington Northern that the run-through for local railroad employees will begin with the 30 local railroad engineers on August 16. Local notices to railroad emp l oyees inform them

that they

intend to “Hold” for

a ruling from the state attorney general’s office.

Dumping of garbage at the Killian Landfill in Villard Township is slated to cease August 15 under orders of the state Pollution Control Agency. Landfill operations have been going on at the landfill since it opened in 1972, after the U. S. E.P.A. rulings closed Staples’ open burning dump. No plan exists yet for the disposal of local garbage.

John Kincaid has been named Jaycee of the Month for July, according to Staples Jaycee President Jim Rollins. Kincaid was noted for his outstanding work in the planning and construction of the new Jaycee dunking booth.

50 Years Ago - 1960

The H. C. Price Company has opened an office on the east end of First Avenue and will be open during the laying of the gas pipeline starting now and expected to continue for up to three months. The population in town has swelled by 130 to 140 people as crew men have rented rooms in private homes, apartments and mobile trailers. The company will also employ 60 to 70 local people as they continue the line from Little Falls, through Staples to Wadena.

Four additional blankets were given away last by Batcher’s Department Store to persons who correctly answered their telephones in connection with their blanket sale. The blanket winners were Mrs. L. M. Dyer, Mrs. Roy Anderson, Lambert Klose and Mrs. Mabel Hunsinger.

REMINISCENCES: I’d like to tell you about a Staples person who other than my parents and family had a huge influence on my life. Her name was Gladys Dodge. Those of you from here way back when already know much about her, but those of you who came here after 1965, never had a chance to experience her. She left her mark on many of us living here.

She was a Staples teacher and her influence on me began in the school year of 1962-63. She was the “commercial studies” teacher at Staples High School. This means that when you were a sophomore she taught you typing - not keyboarding but typing. Then if you continued in the commercial studies field she would have taught Gregg Steno I (shorthand) in your junior year and in your senior year, you’d have had Gregg Steno II as well as the option of adding another class she taught, which was Business Machines, Operation and Repair. So in my senior year she taught me for two class hours per day, plus one after school practice hour.

She will always be “Miss Dodge” to me. I can’t even imagine calling her by any other name. She had an incredible reputation for turning out the best of the best students and was well known in the Twin Cities business community. This may be hard to believe but even during the 60’s you just didn’t arrive in the Cities and check the want ads. If you wanted to be hired by a reputable firm in the area you were lucky enough to be able to find housing, you went to an employment agency. If you presented your credentials, a high school diploma and transcript showing commercial courses you had passed regardless of what grade you’d had, you had a job.

Please don’t laugh but when I was in her classes she had manual typewriters and maybe four or five Smith Corona Electric. It was a new era. We were juggled about getting experience on both manuals and electrics. Only those who have done it know how huge the difference is between the two. Suffice it to say, you pounded the keys on the manuals and then lightly touched the keys on the electrics - and they were all loud.

There were many senior girls who signed up for Steno II in my senior year. There were only seven of us who remained in her class to complete the course and graduate. It was her final year but not her finest. She had reached retirement age and had to finish with the class of 1965 to receive her pension. At this point I will not go on about her final year. I will say that those seven of us were tried and tested and we all have something we will never forget that not any other of her students experienced. In this we are a small private club.

Miss Dodge was known for her strict, no-nonsense approach to teaching. She not only taught us business, she was all business. Miss Dodge was a stickler. From her we learned that never, ever would you have more than two corrected errors on a document or letter. You must achieve perfection. From her we learned that continuity was the key for good typing and not starting and stopping. We also learned proper deportment, where to put your hanky and what was proper dress at the office. You never shorted your employer by fooling around for even a minute or stopped working and you always gave him absolute control and respect. So we learned proper hair styles, acceptable behavior away from the job as well as an incredible work ethic. I have never forgotten. I have noticed that some of my typos have gotten through to publication and am properly mortified when I see them.

I saw her tear over once when I was a sophomore. My sister Marilyn’s first child, a baby girl, died. I had to miss part of her class to go to the funeral and had to ask to be excused. I went to her desk and was about to speak when she said, “It’s okay, go ahead. Please tell Marilyn how sorry I am.” She had tears in her eyes when she spoke. I never forgot that.

I have used her well taught skills throughout my life and still take phone messages in shorthand. I will never forget her nor I bet, will my classmates. Rest easy, Miss Dodge.

To contact Margo call

218 894-3742 or stevenmargo77@msn.com,

501 2nd Street, SW, Staples, MN 56479.