Just to let you know that I was hit this week with one of the worst sinus infections of my life. I’m usually good for a least one a year. But this one knocked me down for going on four days. It has been going around so I’m not going to go on about it but when you have a column due to your editor it was tough to figure out what to write on and get it in by the deadline. Well as luck would have it, the idea came to me via a facebook post concerning my father in/or about 1958. The post read:

Do you remember your dad saying anything about when he was living in Newfolden. He and some others took the spinster teacher’s car and returned it in the morning… painted pink?

Well I didn’t! But what a way to perk your ears up, while lying down on the couch wondering if your sinuses will ever be the same again. The search begins. Nothing is etched in stone here but I’ve got the general idea of what might have happened. First, Newfolden Minnesota is the correct town. We did live there in the late 50’s and my claim to fame was that I was trusted to take Mom’s grocery list and my Red Flyer wagon and walk uptown to Sethre’s Hartz Store where they filled the order, put it in my wagon and they would always giggle as I walked away telling them to “charge it”! At this time I was only 3 years old. Pretty cool, but back to the pink car.

The superintendent of schools apparently purchased a new vehicle and it was pink. He called it something else but most of the people who remember say it was PINK. The story goes that this elderly teacher had mentioned that she would love to own a beautiful pink automobile. Apparently, someone took notice of her wishes and the plot began. The story I heard is that the owner of the local gas station got the idea of fulfilling her wish and this was the plan they developed. The idea needed my father’s help as he was a professional auto body repair man and had his own shop in town.

I ‘m not sure how many were in on the plot but this is my best guess as to what might have went down. This teacher went to her home and when they were convinced she was asleep they literally committed the crime of auto theft. They took it right out of her driveway! It was hinted to me, since no one locked their car in Newfolden AND it was 1958, they just popped the car into neutral and pushed it to my dad’s shop and got to work. They worked through the night, (and a couple of beers I’m sure) and had sanded, masked, then painted that old jalopy pink and had it parked in her driveway by the time she got up the next morning. I couldn’t find out her initial reaction, but was told she drove the car for months. But the shocker for me was my father never told me this story.

If you’re from that area (Newfolden is 17 miles Northwest of Thief River Falls) and know any details, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop me a line and I’ll be sure to acknowledge it.