The value of preserving our history cannot be overstated. Recorded history gives us a sense of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. I recently had the privilege of meeting North Branch Alum, and local historian Max Malmquist.
Max graduated from North Branch High School in 1958, and was the class valedictorian. Max has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame Award by the North Branch Alumni Association, and by Anoka-Ramsey Community College as a Professor Emeritus.
Max values providing the opportunity for everyone in our community to learn about our local history. Max has lived in North Branch his whole life. His dad was a mortician, and growing up Max worked alongside his dad hearing about the people and events that make us a community.
Max was kind enough to share his four volume history series of our area, and I have been perusing local history ever since! In reading some of the old news clips and stories about North Branch Area Public Schools (NBAPS), it is awesome to see how far we’ve come as a school district and as a community over the last 200 years. Max’s history books are available at our local library, and for sale at Bob’s Barber Shop and Merchant’s Cafe.
Honoring our past provides an opportunity to appreciate how far we’ve come! For instance, this news release from the North Branch Review on November 6, 1930, announcing the very first district bus ready for business:
“Beginning Monday morning of next week a school bus will begin a trip carrying pupils to the local school. L.A. Nordgren purchased a bus and will make his first trip next week. The bus will go to Sunrise, Peaceful Valley, and Harris to pick up pupils already signed up for transportation.
“About 23 pupils on this route will use the bus. Mr. Nordgren has been properly bonded and licensed and will make scheduled stops on the route. The bus will leave Sunrise at 7:30, stop at the J.J. Ide Farm in Peaceful Valley at 7:50 and will leave the Harris depot at 8:10, arriving at North Branch at about 8:30. The return trip will begin as soon as school is out and the pupils are free to leave.
“The bus is a regular school bus body on a Model T Ford chassis. Mr. Nordgren expects to install a standard transmission in the near future to give the bus more speed and power with which to battle possible bad winter roads.”
I can only imagine what a relief it would have been for some of the district’s more rural families to have access to a school bus for the first time!
We have come a long way! NBAPS now covers roughly 187 square miles, which is serviced by 28 regular school bus routes and another six special education routes, morning and afternoon. Most of the approximately 2,200 students we transport every single day ride in 77 passenger buses outfitted with heat, security cameras, and crossing gates; LED external lights and even a strobe to enhance visibility.
North Branch Area Public Schools has a long, rich history and I am so grateful to see it captured by Max in his priceless series. Recording history is a time consuming task. Max invests his time in recording our history because he is invested in people. In our conversation, it stood out to me how much he knew the details of people that have served our community and wanted their stories to be told.
Honoring the past provides an opportunity to appreciate how far we’ve come! Max, thank you for your dedication to our community and the impact you are making by recording our community’s history. Skol! Vikings!
Dr. Sara Paul is the superintendent of North Branch Area Public Schools.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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