Tracy Trivia

Tara’s Takes

Last week, we published our special edition reflecting on the last 150 years of Tracy. With the everchanging landscape in rural Minnesota, any town that reaches the 150 mark should be celebrating. An edition like what we published last week is a labor of love. It’s important to remind people of the roots of our community. It’s a chance to reminisce on what used to be and an opportunity to look at how far we’ve come.

When Per and I discussed doing something for the 150th, he pulled 50 questions from papers of the past. These questions covered a wide range of Tracy topics. Some were easier than others. Some were meant to test your memory or make you do some research on our community. All were meant for fun.

After a summer of questions, all the answers were revealed in the special section last week. Many questions invoked discussion with Per or I over the Box Car Days weekend as we ran into people throughout the weekend.

After a full summer of questions, it was time to tally up the answers. I can say, we didn’t have a single person get every question right. So if you didn’t turn in your answers because they weren’t perfect, let this be a lesson. Always give it your best shot.

Some of the questions were answered correctly by everyone. And honestly, even I, a Tracy transplant, knew those answers. Who is the “Bulldog Award” given out to annually to a TAHS senior named after? Of course, Art Marben. This was our first question, and it might have been deceiving, letting people think all the questions would be so easy.

Of course, most of the teacher questions were answered correctly by all. What sport is Leo “Gabby” Sebastian most known to have coached at THS? The only head football coach I knew until this year was Jason Kainz. But I know the name Sebastian, and I know he’s a football coaching legend in this community.

Along with legendary football status for Sebastian, you can’t talk about music in Tracy without mentioning Clint Peterson. Of course, everyone knew what music instructor is in the Hall of Fame.

These names are engrained in Tracy history. However, there was one Tracy school name that didn’t seem to stick in people’s minds. No one correctly answered the question about the first superintendent. While Swift Lake may or may not be named after the first superintendent (Lee Swift), or maybe after Minnesota’s third governor, it might help us remember this for Tracy’s 200th birthday.

Another question that most Tracy residents knew was who was referred to as “Mr. Tracy” in the 1980s-1990s. While Con Rettmer held that title then, it made me wonder if we surveyed the town now, who would be considered “Mr. Tracy”? Greg Carlson?

There were other questions that many got right and quite a few that were close. Often, the questions that included years were off by just a few. And while I didn’t write the questions, I thought when I looked at the answers, some were trick questions.

If you drive out on Highway 14 right now, you can still see the old “The Pit Stop” sign. This was a common answer given for What shortlived business opened on Hwy 14 in 2000. However, the answer was The Pool Hut.

I moved to town at the very tail end of the Red Rooster era. However, I did come to the Med Club almost every year on my birthday, courtesy of my grandparents. They treated me to dinner with just them every year, and nothing beat the soft serve ice cream at the Med Club.

I also frequented the Dairy Queen growing up because I got to stop and get ice cream every time I ended up in the emergency room in Tracy for stitches. Unfortunately, it was way too common. Even more unfortunate was the fact that they were closed in the winter, so when I did something stupid then, all I got in town was stitches.

After all the fun of the contest, we counted up the correct answers. There wasn’t any one person that got all 50 right. Nikki Phelps had the most correct with 35 and was the winner of the $150 gift card from Midwest Supply. We thank Midwest Supply for partnering with us for this fun trip down memory lane.

After working on the 150th edition, I can better appreciate all the changes Tracy has gone through. It’s more than a Box Car Days town. It’s more than a town a tornado hit. We’ve seen businesses come and businesses go. We’ve celebrated huge victories and mourned even larger losses.

For 150 years, Tracy has continued to be an amazing town full of great people who make it a wonderful place to live. We have a lot to be grateful for in our small town.