DHA LXII
(5/6/2004)

Viborgians Ada (Rasmussen Oakland (now of Sioux Falls) and Paul Jensen, furnished DHA News with the following from Reminisce-Extra magazine (April, 2004).

"Free movies were special.

"My Great Uncle, Anton Jorgensen, came from Denmark to Viborg, South Dakota, with his parents and siblings in 1892.

"Their first home was a dugout with a grass roof. It burned down when the chimney got too hot, and they loast everything but the clothes on their backs.

"The moved into a house after this, but it, too, but it, too, burned to the ground. * That house was eventually rebuilt.

"Anton and his brother Charles, opened a hardware store in VIborg. Later, Anton moved to Salem and opened a movie theater there that he and his son operated for many years.

"When Uncle Anton hosted family reunions in the '40s and '50s, he'd open the theater and show free movies for us kids. I thought that was special.

"-(Signed) Patricia Jorgensen Palagi, Seattle, WA."

*Mrs. Palagi called long distance to inform DHA news this additional tidbit about that second Jorgensen house to burn.

"The night before the Jorgensen's second SD house was burned down, her grandfather, as a late teen, had just been paid for some employment. When he went to bed that night, he placed his money under his pillow or mattress, and told his brother, who shared the bed, 'If something happens tonight, like the house burning down, make sure I take my money.' The house burned down that night, and he did take his money!"

Note: Mrs. Palagi's Jorgensen families are recorded in the families section of the Viborg Centennial (1993) history book (1992).

Ada Oakland, in her letter enclosing the clipping, related the following similar recollection of childhood gift movies, similar to Mrs. Palagi's:

"In regard to movies, I remember when we visited my Uncle Pete and Aunt Sena in Irene, where he had the theatre and drug store--so sometimes is would be a movie, or a treat from the drug store. He was known as Long Pete, and they had no children, but were good to us."

Opal (Christensen) Larsen informed DHA News that she well remembers as a small child attending those silent movies.

LRL Question: Does anyone remember what year(s) that Eskild Lund brought free tickets for a Shirley Temple movie to children of rural (at least) schools? Meaning, of course, that then, if the parents took their student(s) to the movie, the parents had to buy ticket(s).

Enterprise readers may be interested to know that when requesting permission to quote the above Reminisce-Extra, a bit of additional Viborg information, from previous DHA news columns, was included for possible use in Extra.

Extra promptly granted permission conditional on Mrs. Palagi. Before the Extra permission was opened, Mrs. Palagi called this writer long distance with permission. She showed great enthusiasm, resuting in a 10-minute call. She has been sent copies of some columns, and will be sent a copy of this issue of the Enterprise.

That is the first experience for this writer that obtaining permission to reprint from a publication, when permission was also to be from the author. A novel and gracious extra service by Extra employees. In appreciation, Extra is also being sent a copy of this Enterprise.

Mrs. Palagi sent DHA News more information, and promised even more in the future. Minga Tak.

Readers of DHA News that have an extended interest in historical, country, local, and home-oriented reading, amy like a bit of information about Reminisce Extra and its sibling productions. To the best of this writer's recollection of them the first of the herd was started years ago by Mr. Roy Reiman, of Greendale, Wisconsin. He had a novel idea, which everyone told him would not succeed. He planned to start a magazine with NO commercial advertising. He had to finance the first issue himself, but it was instantly popular. Since, he has started a herd of similarly successful sibling magazines for his Reiman Publications stable. He had another novel practice, when a magazine became popular, and requests came for every month instead of every other month, he instead started another similar magazine in alternate months. I have recently been told that the Reiman Publications herd is now a part of the Readers' Digest family of publications.

Some of the Reiman publications include Country, Country Woman, Reminisce, Reminisce Extra, Birds and Blooms, A Taste of Home.

The Reiman publications that I've seen, all have a historical, country and local, and home-oriented content. Should any reader of DHA news with sigh editorial and/or subscription address (and price), I have the information for Country, Country Woman, Reminisce, Reminisce Extra, and A Taste of Home. If interested, write to the address at the top of DHA News (Lester Lauritzen, RR2 Box 117, Centerville, SD 57014), or find me in the Centerville, SD, telephone listings.