Geneva Swan holds up a canvas showing main street in Balaton during the early 1900s.

BALATON — There’s only one Balaton in the entire world — and both former and current residents are proud to be celebrating the town’s 125th anniversary.

Like so many other small towns in southwest Minnesota, Balaton has a rich history — a history that has been recorded and shared since its incorporation in 1892.

“We have a lot of history here,” said Pam Johnson, one of the charter members of the Balaton Area Historical Society. “It’s just amazing. You don’t always get to hear it unless you come here (to the Balaton Area Historical Center). I just love history and finding out about the different families. I love looking at the old buildings to see who owned them and what they were.”

Johnson was instrumental in organizing a project that recognized the quasquicentennial milestone.

Sponsored by BAHS, the project entailed collecting histories for the past 25 years — basically a 125-page supplement to the 428-page centennial book that was published in 1992. The Balaton centennial book included 577 family histories, while the new supplement has about 235.

“It’s the biggest thing we planned for the 125th,” Johnson said. “It mirrors the centennial book. They turned out good. They just delivered them a week ago, so they’re going to be hot off the press. Hopefully we’ll sell a lot. We ordered 300.”

A lot of changes have taken place in and around Balaton in the past 125 years. Charter member Jerry Schlenker remembers watching films at the Gem Theater.

“You used to be able to see films there for a dime,” he said. “We thought it was horrible when it went up to a quarter.”

Charter member Larry Sloan said he appreciates that BAHC now serves as a place to preserve and display history.

“It’s sad when I think back to my childhood and all the old stuff that is gone,” he said.

The BAHS was formed in March 2009, with 51 charter members. The building that now serves as the historical center was purchased in June 2011.

“The building is over 100 years old,” charter member Geneva Swan said. “It started out as a garage to fix vehicles. O.B. Nash owned it. He would be Judy Wee’s great-grandfather.”

After changing hands a few times over the years, the building became known as the Victory Christian Church.

“Our church bought it in 1984 and we were here 21 years,” Johnson said. “Then it was the Yankton Country School until the BAHS bought it in May 2011.”

Using a large display case donated by Mark Schwanebeck, Swan recently highlighted four popular locations in Balaton — the Pla-eatorium (cafe), Roller Drome (rollerskating rink), Gem Theater and Western Mutual Insurance Company.

“Western Mutual is there because it is the oldest business in town,” Swan said. “It was founded in 1894.”

Swan admits that she really enjoys setting up displays, but that she equally likes reminiscing about history with the other volunteers at BAHC.

“The biggest thing we miss is the school,” she said. “It changed the fact that people my age don’t know the young people from this area anymore unless they’re attending our church. We used to see them walking down the street and we’d know them. I miss that.”

Sloan said he’s noticed that less people, especially kids, attend church.

“Over summer, kids have cut way back on coming to church,” he said. “Come Sunday years ago, towns were all closed down except for church. The gas stations, hardware stores and grocery stores were all closed.”

Swan said some restaurants would be open to serve Sunday dinner.

“You couldn’t even get gas,” she said. “There was no shopping.”

Swan’s husband, Daryl Swan, said during World War II, the gas stations were not allowed to be open on Sundays.

“They rationed gas,” he said. “They shut them down.”

Balaton used to have five gas stations, but currently has one.

“(Benson’s By the Lake) is doing well because they’re on a main highway and they offer a variety of services,” Johnson said. “Convenience stores were not heard of years ago.”

Daryl Swan managed the Farmer’s Cooperative Creamery Association from 1960-1989 and was mayor of Balaton for 20 years, beginning in 1966. He noted that times have certainly changed. Thus, some businesses have become obsolete. Stafne’s Station, which was open for more than 50 years, is a case in point, he said.

“Stafne fixed tires all day long,” Swan said. “The tires are made that much better now, so you don’t see many flat tires anymore.”

Swan also pointed out that people, especially children, didn’t come to town except for on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

“The town would be plump full on Wednesday and Saturday nights,” he said.

Beva Walters a seventh-grader when she started working at Tenhoff’s Drug Store, one of the oldest businesses in Balaton. Charles Tenhoff bought the drug store from Ludwig Eng in 1919. The business was purchased by Gregg and Becky Baker in 1989 and eventually closed in 1995.

“Beva sold popcorn from the popcorn machine out front on Wednesday and Saturday evenings when the stores were open to accommodate the farming community,” Johnson said, reading from the new supplement book. “From that job, she went to washing dishes and serving ice cream. She still worked at the drug store when Bakers owned it.”

Walters then worked at Balaton Specialties until it closed in 2014. In all, Walters worked for more than 70 years on main street in Balaton — and even more amazing, it was all on the same side of the street.

“She’s worked over 70 years on main street,” Johnson said of the incredible feat. “She’s almost 88 now but worked up until Balaton Specialties closed in 2014.”

Ironically, Walter’s daughter (Peggy Tutt) is on the same track. She’s been a long-time employee at the Balaton Dental Clinic, which is on the same side of the street as where her mom spent countless hours serving the community.

Beva Walter’s husband, Bob, has an astonishing statistic of his own — he’s been a Legion member for 70 years. You won’t see either of the couple tooting their own horns, however. They’re very humble people.

Balaton has also had a number of centenarians — people who have lived to at least 100 years old. Ruth Anderson holds the record for the oldest resident.

“Ruth held the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living twin,” Geneva Swan said. “She was 112.”

When she died in 2011, Anderson was not only the oldest surviving twin, she was also Minnesota’s oldest person, ninth-oldest in the United States and 23rd oldest in the world.

“Even when she was older, Ruth liked to play Scrabble,” Sloan said. “She wore out the game. So they wrote to the company and they sent her an ivory set.”

Anderson not only loved the game of Scrabble, she was really good at it.

“They couldn’t beat her,” charter member Shirley Wendland said.

Stella Tisue nearly reached her 108th birthday. She served as grand marshal for the centennial parade 25 years ago.

“Stella was born in 1888 and died at the age of 107 in 1996,” Swan said. “She was really spry until real close to the end.”

Unofficially, Inez Wendland is the oldest living resident currently. She’s 98. Lila Anderson is set to be 96 in August. Frankie Johnson is also believed to be around 97 years old.

“One of the things we noticed about the longevity is that most of them have been school teachers,” Pam Johnson said. “There’s Lottie Gempler, Esther Helmke and Amy Brown that I can think of off the top of my head.”

Staying active seems to be key to living a long life.

“There must be something about staying active that keeps you young,” Schlenker said.

Swan added that she thought being active does help. Her mother-in-law lived to within six weeks of her 99th birthday, she said.

“You also have to be with people,” Swan said. “I have to be with people. I can’t imagine not having people around.”

Swan kind of chuckled when several charter members began talking about country schools.

“Oh, dear,” she said about District 52 memories. “I remember the boys chasing us with snakes and gophers.”

There was also talk about no running water or indoor plumbing.

“You haven’t lived until you’ve had to go outside to use the outhouse when it was 20 below,” Schlenker said.

Many residents are or were also part of the military. Lester Chandler, who died last week at the age of 85, served his country in the U.S. Army.

“We were married in 1956,” Betty Chandler said. “Of course, I got pregnant shortly afterwards. He got home for a leave and we thought Steve was never going to be born. Lester had been home for a whole week. Steve was finally born on Palm Sunday. Lester had to leave for Fort Sill on Monday.”

Chandler went to visit her husband in August.

“His parents took Steve and I down there,” she said. “I ended up getting pregnant again. Lester was sent to Germany for a year, so he didn’t see Steve for almost 11 months. He didn’t meet Brian until he was 5 months old.”