​​Audrey Ryti Tack grew up in Cokato primarily in the house that was next to the Green Giant Canning plant (today it sits between Dollar General and ProCare along Highways 12). The Ryti family moved into the house around 1930.  Audrey stated that most families in the area had boys, with only the Bergstrom girls that were nearby for her to play with. Audrey remembered having to cross the  railroad tracks on her walk to and from school.  At lunchtime, she would have to return home because there were no lunches served at school. Girls at that time wore saddle shoes, skirts, and occasionally slacks. They also did not wear T-shirts, mainly blouses and sweaters with dickie collars.  Jeans did not come into fashion until after World War II.

Written by former Cokato Museum Director Irene Bender

​ The Cokato Museum has lost a wonderful friend. Margaretha Hedblom used wonderful to describe everything about Cokato. She gave meaning to Ha'lsa Dem Darhemma (Greet the folks at home). Margaretha Hedblom, a teacher, researcher, genealogist, tour director and director of the Kulture Center in Malung, Sweden, became the best ambassador for the Cokato Museum. Most of all, as director of the Cokato Museum, I was privileged to become her friend for forty years as she connected local people to their relatives in Sweden and brought many tours to the museum. She had endless energy as she made the heritage, we share come alive. She passed away January 31, 2024, Malung, Sweden.

Women in the 1890s - 1930s battled social stigmas, pegging them as physically and mentally inferior to their male counterparts. Unable to vote, most women could not hold certain jobs, or participate in sports, the majority of women were molded from birth into the role of housewife. As a result, many women found their education and skills neglected and underutilized by society.

For women seeking to unearth their buried talents, clubs provided them with an avenue to address social and political issues near to their hearts. The same was true for the women of Cokato.