We have been learning about Marland Burckhardt, who grew up in rural Russell. He and his younger brother, David, attended Russell Public Schools.

Marland recalled challenges getting to school during the winter.

“The farm was ¼ mile from the road with a driveway cut into the north side of a hill. Winter winds locked that road in with snow drifts. I remember spending lots of time shoveling with Dad, father-son bonding, I guess. Dad bought a car body with the windows still in and sat it at the end of the driveway so my brother and I could get out of the wind while waiting for the bus.”

Marland’s trips to school changed over time.

“High school was a mix of taking the bus and driving my own car. My grandfather bought me a ’49 Ford, 4-door sedan for my 16th birthday. That was a pretty big deal.”

He fondly recalled a one of his later teachers.

“My favorite high school teacher was Irene Ulviden. She taught English and literature and I liked it. She was a good teacher. I had to give a graduation speech and worked on it with her. She made it presentable.”

There were other faculty who left an impression as well.

“Mr. Mottinger was one of the long-time football, baseball, and track coaches. Our one encounter with history was that Vice President Mondale’s brother was our music teacher for one or two years.”

Marland described his school activities.

“I played 6-man football in junior high — on the line because I was not fast and couldn’t throw the ball. We played 8-man in high school. As a senior I played on the offensive line and called the plays. Balaton, Lynd, and Tyler were our rivals. I participated in distance events in Track for a few years. I should have stayed with that, (Marland laughed) but cars and girls got in the way. I was also in school plays; wrote for our school paper; and was on the annual staff. I was the senior class president and #2 academically, the salutatorian. Colleen Swanson was our valedictorian and is still a good friend.”

Marland recalled activities for younger kids in and around Russell.

“We used to roller skate in the Russell Town Hall. The skates were the kind that had a key and clamped over your shoes. Sometimes they also showed movies in the Town Hall. The school took us to Dead Coon Lake for swimming lessons (Marland chuckled) and I needed them. Camden was a place we’d go for family picnics and school gatherings as well.”

They also enjoyed races at a new speedway near Camden Park.

We went to the Camden Speedway. Spectators sat on the hillside on the north side of the ¼ mile racetrack. It was fun watching racing stocks. The cars were early ’40’s Fords, Plymouths, and Chevys. They had roll bars inside, so were reasonably safe. Sometimes they’d roll or go off the track and into the woods. One driver, Vernon Rokeh, was a Russell High student, so he stuck in my memory.

As Marland and his friends grew older, they ventured farther afield.

“Friends became more important and girls became more interesting. We’d go to movies in Marshall at the Starlight Drive-in and the theater by the Post Office. We frequented dancehalls and did our best to get beer. We’d go to (The Hollyhock) in Hatfield, The Showboat, The Blue Moon, and Don’s Ballroom. Dairy Days, the County Fair, and Boxcar Days were always a big deal. The 4th of July at the Lyndwood Dance Pavilion was a big event. They’d bring in a carnival and we’d watch fireworks they’d shoot from the hills. I remember going to dances there as a teenager. Sadie Hawkins dances there were a big deal.”

A Sunday night in fall of 1956 upended Marland’s family.

“Dad, Mom, and my younger brothers went to Florence to visit Grandma. I had started dating, using a ’40 Ford, 2-door sedan Dad won in a card game. I took my date, Donna, home to her farm and parked in the yard. Her parents and older brother returned and said to come in the house. I thought, ‘Oh, no. I’m going to catch it for parking in the yard.’ They told me about the accident. Dad was broadsided on the right side as he crossed County 2. Mom and my little brother, Alton, were thrown from the car and it rolled. David was in the back seat, but he and Dad were not thrown from the car. Donna’s parents brought me to the Tyler Hospital and I sat with my brother for a long time. Mom and my little brother never regained consciousness. I stayed at Uncle Alvin’s in Russell that night and went to school the next day. One of my brother’s friends caught me after lunch and told me (Alton) had passed. My mother hung on for a week before she passed. We had two funerals a week apart. None of it seemed real. It seemed like a bad dream — something that happened to others.”

Marland reflected on how the accident tore his family apart.

“I wasn’t as sensitive as I should have been for the trauma it caused my family, but I was a 15 year-old teenager. David and I went to live on my dad’s parents’ farm. Not long after that Dad went to California. A year later he returned and took David back with him. I stayed with my grandparents and graduated in 1959. Life would have turned out differently if that accident had not happened.”

©2025 William D. Palmer.