Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Denise Rosenau Column, 9/10/2001



As I look around the office this afternoon, I see normally
clean people walking around with mud caked on their shoes and pant legs.

It’s not that they are taking a break from hygiene. It’s
just that they have met with the fun mess we have in front of the Herald/Journal
office in Howard Lake, due to the Highway 12 construction. I know those
of you who live in Winsted can relate.

This construction is, literally, right out our front door.
I have sacrificed by giving up sandals the last few weeks that they can
be worn, because there is no way to be comfortable with dirty feet.

We are, after all, in Minnesota’s “construction season,”
you know. “Construction season,” of course, being our season between
winter and sloppy spring. There’s not much of a chance to wear clean shoes
with our seasons.

These past weeks have been quite an adventure for the newspaper
staff, and I would say, our customers as well, although for obvious reasons,
we haven’t seen many of them.

Most of our business seems to be done by phone lately,
because at various times throughout the day, there are very few ways to
get to the front door. To visit us, you need to be creative.

This morning it rained, and what a sloppy, muddy mess we
had out front.

I just found out that a staff member (who shall remain
nameless) got stuck trying to drive into our parking lot this morning to
come to work. She is very thankful for the help that she received, and was
able to make it in.

I received a call from a customer just the other day, literally
asking how to get in the door. I’m sure she wondered how it was that the
staff got to work.

For us at the newspaper, it is mostly an inconvenience.
For the other businesses surrounding us, however, it is much more.

I have made a pact in my mind to utilize the Highway 12
businesses as much as possible during this time. For some of them, this
construction is devastating.

If it were just a matter of inconvenience for those businesses,
I’m sure they wouldn’t mind being inconvenienced. But for them, that simply
isn’t the case.

The same holds true for businesses on the construction
route in Winsted. I attempted to stop to get gas yesterday, but couldn’t
get to a gas station. I really tried, drove over fresh tar and everything
(sorry to the construction workers!), but couldn’t do it without burying
my car in a tar grave.

I noticed other cars driving in circles, obviously trying
to figure out how to get into the parking lots, just the same as I was.
The attempt was there, but so were the physical barriers.

Now is the time to be a supportive community member, and
visit your local businesses!

We will be back to normal soon, and hopefully, not only
normal, but greatly improved.

After all, our shoes will need the time to dry before winter
starts.

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