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Museum Staff, "The Fire Chief's Worst Fire," Firefighters to the Rescue A Century of Fires in Cokato, 1896-1996 (Cokato Historical Society, 1996) 39-40.  Cokato Hotel Fire, June 8, 1977. Being a volunteer fireman for 31 years is quite a record. Lyle Severson became a fireman at the age of 23 at the urging of his father-in-law, Eldon Wessman, who was a fireman. He served as chief from 1976 to 1981. As long as he is able to pass the yearly physical, he wants to continue on the department, especially since he and Alvie Cole are vying for a friendly record of service.
His biggest challenge was the Cokato Hotel fire. The alarm came in about 2:30 a.m. on June 8, 1977. By noon the structure was ready to collapse. Firefighters were on the scene until that afternoon when the scene was turned over to investigation by the state fire marshal's office. It was a traumatic time since five lives were lost. He knew the victims as good old guys who lived in the only affordable housing for single people at the time. Carlton Lee. "It Was The Night The Bank Burned." Cokato's First Century (Cokato Historical Society, 1979) p. 35.  "I hear a fire siren!" A Cokato fireman was sitting down to a Christmas Eve supper in 1935. It was a blustery night. A snow-clad gale howled out of the northwest. As the night wore on the temperature was to drop to ten degrees below zero. Fire had started in the basement of the Community Drug Store, located next door to the First National Bank building, facing Third Street. George Butcher, who operated a restaurant south of the bank corner, facing Broadway, heard sounds of explosions. Through a window he saw smoke pouring from a basement window of the drug store. He phoned in the fire call.
Article by William A. Eliason from the Cokato Historical Society's newsletter In the Midst Of, December, 1985, Vol. 3 No. 4.  1910 Temerance Corner Youth League Gymnastics Club. William Eliason is front row far right Having been invited to contribute something on the above subject I am glad to offer some reminiscences from my early teens (on the 23rd of November [1985] I was 89).
Our rather sudden interest in athletics may have been a result of the success of Finland's entrants in the 1912 Olympic Games, in several gold medals won by them in the long distance races. Be that as it may, about that time an athletic club was organized, which held its meetings at the Temperance Hall—a center of the Finnish community. The leader of the group was my neighbor Peter Thompson, who was a respected farmer and well qualified to be an athletic director, since he possessed an admirable physique. |
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