On this date in 1974, there were no classes at Minnewaukan Public School. Although that Tuesday was not a holiday, nor a storm day, the students had the day off. The Minnewaukan Fire Department had lost its Fire Chief. And the Commercial Club, which promoted business in the area, the Quarterback Club, and the Presbyterian Church had all lost one of their hardest working members. One of Minnewaukan’s most loved and most prominent citizens, Glen Schmid, had passed away. The funeral was being held at the Public School since it was the largest venue in town.
They put up folding chairs and pulled out bleachers to accommodate the large crowd. Mourners came from miles around to pay their respects to Norma, the widow of Glen, and their 4 children. The crowd remembered Glen as a man who was happy-go-lucky, smiling, and always ready to tell a joke.
Glen had worked all his life at Schmid’s U-Save grocery store, where he was the manager. His mother, Hazel, was the owner. Glen drew customers to the store not only for the groceries and the top quality cuts of meat, but for the ambience, the atmosphere, and Glen’s jovial personality. The store had been a landmark on Minnewaukan’s Main Street with its pressed-tin ceilings and hardwood floors, big shop windows and dirt-floored cellar.
“City Market!” Hazel would say, when she answered the old black telephone on the large wooden counter. An old fashioned cash register sat on the end of the counter, where Glen or Hazel pressed the giant buttons and cranked a handle to deposit their earnings. Customers could purchase a dozen oranges for 79 cents, buy a Snickers bar for a dime, or just come in to chat. “Put it on my account” most customers would say. The Schmids knew most of the customers by name. They weren’t just customers, they were friends as well.
“The Shop,” as Hazel referred to it, managed to stay open a few more months after the passing of Glen. But with no one there to manage the place, no one there to cut the large sides of beef, and with customers missing Glen’s laughter, “The Shop” just wasn’t the same; and Schmid’s U-Save closed its doors after 70 years in business.
Dakota Datebook by Jill Whitcomb
Sources:
Benson County Press- Thursday, April 11, 1974
Hazel Schmid
