HOW MUCH IS FLUFF?

Inga Thompson, Left, and Front stayed with the Haugen's when she taught at Rosebank. This picture was taken at the final program at the closing of Rosebank School in 1956.

Other teachers in the image are: Back, left to right: Ebba Sagmoen, Lilly (Holson)Rafteseth, Joyce Kron, Millie Mellem, Hilda Silverness, John Pearson, (County Superintendent) and Olger Rokke. Front row: Inga Thompson, Judith Wold, Ida Gustafson, Ruth Shevland, absent is Signe Nelson, who took the picture.
Selmer and Evelyn Haugen and Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Haugen, Harvey and Eileen in a 1919 Chevrolet in front of the Selmer Haugen house in Rosewood, MN

His name was Selmer Haugen. He was a big man with a pendulous abdomen who had white hair, false teeth, and a huge laugh. Before we introduce his life, let's talk about his finesse of auctioning items at the Rindal Church and how he would model the aprons to get the crowd 'up'. Selmer auctioned when daddy bid on a hand made clown stuffed with cat tail fluff. The clown's fluff was fluffy at the time of the purchase, later it would settle in the feet and in the hands and the body would not sit up on its own.

One fall in the mid 50's, mother had a plan to decorate. She lined the floor of the office with pages from the Minneapolis Morning Tribune. She took valuable vases and sprayed them black and the over spray was still there when we moved to town. In a ditch somewhere in northern Minnesota, she picked cat tails to put in the vases. The decor didn't last long, the cat tails had an odor. Why didn't the clown smell, had the cat tails been picked dry?

The idea of cat tail fluff had tucked itself away until an article high lighted itself in an old newspaper. The header was: GRYGLA CATTAIL FLUFF BUYER SETS NATIONAL RECORD. His name was John Gonnering, he purchased and shipped 13 railroad carloads of the material. Mr. Gonnering shipped the product to a plant in Wisconsin.

There was talk about starting a plant in Grygla where the fluff would be processed before being shipped. It appears picking cat tails was a profitable activity for scores of pickers in the community, as well as others north and east of Thief River Falls. In 1944, it was considered a thriving infant industry.

Think about where cat tails grow; rivers, lakes, ditches, swamps. Old Trunks is not the brightest planet in the universe. I kept thinking about all those people with boots or boats until I read the article about the carloads of fluff being shipped to Wisconsin. The harvesting was in the winter! The date of the paper was February, 1944. Now, that made sense, you could walk on the ice! Mother had picked hers out of a ditch in September.

As for Selmer and his wife, Evelyn, Inga Thompson Payne, a former teacher of country school writes, "Let me live by the side of the road and be a friend to man," comes to mind when I think of the Selmer Haugen home.

Selmer and Evelyn were that kind of people, as I recall them. I stayed with them while I taught school at Rosewood. Their home was just a short way by a path through the woods from the Rosebank School. On cold, stormy mornings, I would find the path shoveled and fire built when I got to the schoolhouse. Selmer had been there. After a busy school day, it was a perfect place to come home to. Their great warmth and hospitality was enjoyed by many.

They had no children of their own, but helped raise several nephews and nieces who had lost their parents. They were Urna Engelstad, Chester Engelstad, Harvey Haugen and Elaine Haugen. To the children of the community, Selmer was known as Uncle.

He served on the town board and always served as the auctioneer for the Ladies Aid annual bazaar. He modeled the aprons and the bidding became lively.

Selmer was a friendly, jovial man. Several evenings he entertained us with song. He had a loud, booming voice which literally raised the roof. This was before the days of television.

Evelyn was a gentle, loving woman concerned about the comfort and care of those around her. She loved to read, especially poetry. We shared many a gem together.

This is the way I remember the Haugen's. They made the community a better place to live."

What were those thirteen carloads of cattail fluff used for? Was in insulation? Did they use it for bedding as our ancestors might have? We know the shoots were used to make mats. It is considered medicinal. For those of you who want to eat it, here is a recipe.

2-1/2 cups almonds10 cups water, or as needed2 cups sliced cattail shoots, thinly sliced1/4 cup fresh spearmint leaves or other mint leaves, finely choppedThe juice of half a lemon

1. Cover the almonds with water and soak, refrigerated, 6 hours to overnight.

2. Puree the soaked almonds, about 2 cups at a time, with about 3 cups of the water at a time in a blender until all the almonds have been pureed.

3. Pour the almond-water puree into a colander lined with cheesecloth or thin nylon fabric over a bowl. Twist the top of the cloth and squeeze the remaining water.

4. Discard the pulp and mix the remaining ingredients with the almond milk. Serve chilled.

As for Old Trunks, a good stand of cat tails means top water fishing for bass. There was a stand at the lake one year and you could see where the fish were swimming because the shoots were moving. It was exciting to pop a topwater lure on the edge of the stand of cat tails and feel that bass hook up.

FLUFF IT UP!

e