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When John Bohmer moved to Brooten in 1894, there was one small lumber yard where some material could be purchased. He saw the need for a stable, quality lumber yard. He then purchased property and built the Bohmer Lumber Co. which is the current Bonanza Valley Lumber Co. building, hired Evan Foss to operate it until 1922 when his son Quirin Bohmer better known as Q.N. or “Corny” managed the yard. He was the father of John O. Bohmer.
Corny was very active and built many homes in Brooten. He temporarily took over the Minneapolis Moline farm line of machinery and the Hudson Motor Car Agency. However, he loved the Lumber business, so he purchased a strip of land at Lake Linka where he developed the great swimming beach, built a store, and many small cottages. But that is another story.
Albert Bohmer another son, (better known as Albie, father of David) had been working in the bank, but took over management of the yard in 1927, then decided to purchase it in 1935, and took on the Pittsburg Paint franchise, and also became the dealer for Evinrude Outboard Motors. He operated the yard until his death in 1953 when it was sold to Standard Lumber Co of Winona in 1954.
Standard Lumber Co. hired several operators during the next few years. Jay Provencher, Guy and Ruth Paulson, Marvin Lemcke and Rick and Brenda Lintel all took turns operating it. Standard Lumber decided to sell the yard and the stock in 1981 to Rick Lintel and a partner who purchased it and changed the name to Bonanza Valley Lumber co. It is now the only remaining lumber yard in Brooten.
During the years from 1927 until he died in 1953 Albie Bohmer owned and operate the yard. These were some very trying times. These were the years of the great drought and depression. There were many unemployed men just hanging around with nothing to do. The front office of the yard was a gathering place for carpenters and painters. There were half a dozen chairs to sit on and there was time for visiting and waiting for a job. Ole Stone a carpenter and Clarence Rengle a painter were two of them.
My friend Ole says work is fine if it doesn’t take up too much of your spare time.
Albie saw the need for a hand saw filing machine, as in those years all carpenters used hand saws and they had to be sharpened regularly. There were no skill saws or automatic hammers at that time. Everything was hand work.
Albie also caught a baby crow, had its tongue split so it sounded like he could talk. Later he did the same to another crow.
My friend Ole said if that crow could talk out of both sides of its mouth then more people could listen. It was the center of attention. I’m not sure about the talking part of it, but the crow did sound different. It was part of history and very interesting. Our Bank has always been part of every Brooten development through the years, we are proud of what our bank did during those pioneer days to make Brooten what it is today. Right Dave?
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