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Russell Hanson

Russell Hanson

Grocery Delivery Driver and Penpal

Born: Minneapolis, MN, United States
Heritage: European American

Be honest. If you are always honest, you will not have memories that you regret. Integrity and honesty are critical. Have principals and stick to them.

Russell Hanson

Grocery Delivery Driver and Penpal

My name is Russell Hanson. I was born Oct. 21, 1920, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was born at home. When the doctor came to the house, he had a little black bag that he carried inside to help mother with my birth. Later, a troupe of excited siblings announced that Dr. Lysne brought me to the house in that little black bag he carried in.

My dad drove a grocery delivery truck and my mother stayed at home, taking care of me and my four older siblings. My elementary school was a half-mile from our home and we walked there and home twice per day. Before I started school my older sister would read to me.

I could read books in kindergarten. The very first word I could read was "butter." The second word was Monitor, which is the name of the stove that heated the house. We had to bring coal up from the basement to pour into that Monitor stove to keep warm in the winter-time. the coal bucket was big. It was our job to make sure the buckets were full. If they weren’t full we got scolded.

I was always one of the smaller boys growing up. My dad told me, “you don’t have to be nine feet tall to be a man. a man is one who has fixed principles, stands up for what is right, keeps his word and always does his best job possible.”

In those days getting a pair of long pants was a sign of becoming a man! Normally I wouldn’t have had long pants until I was confirmed at age 13. Since I sang in the boys glee club, though, our uniform was a white shirt with long pants, so I got my pants when I was ten years old. My brothers were jealous of me.

One thing I remember was a terrible storm on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940. I had a light jacket on. It started raining and as it progressed through the day the temperature dropped. by noon we had eight inches of snow. I was driving through snowdrifts delivering groceries to people and it was brutal cold. Some people froze to death. Our groceries all got out, though.

School has been the source of many wonderful memories over the years. I had wonderful teachers and I had made many lasting friendships. I have loved being a pen pal with elementary classes over the years. I have formed many friendships with young students by writing letters back and forth.

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HONOR SONG LYRICS

In Those Days When I Was Young

Honoring Russell Hanson

In Those Days When I Was Young

Prohibition was in infancy
That's all right by me
In those days when I was young
Warren Harding was President
Those days came and went
In those days when I was young
Father, he drove a truck
For the grocery store
To earn a buck
In those days when I was young
According to Mrs. brown
When I was born
I weighed nine pounds
In those days when I was young

In those days when I was young
In those days when I was young
Everybody they went broke
Hard to tell Norwegian jokes
In those days when I was young

We played marbles for keeps
With a trusty shooter at my feet
In those days when I was young
A steely, agate, or a crock
Not one of them store bought
In those days when I was young
Walked to school in a bunch
Sometimes walked home for lunch
In those days when I was young
Folded papers to protect my shins
From those hard blowing winds
In those days when I was young

In those days when I was young
In those days when I was young
To be Norwegian, to be proud
Of who I am, as I am now
In those days when I was young

I recall my teachers’ names
As if it were yesterday
In those days when I was young
Miss Elliot, Miss Buckby
Mrs. Tripp was good to me
In those days when I was young
Miss Kaeppel and Ms. Roll
I got straight A’s from Ms. Lowe
In those days when I was young
Honesty, integrity
Both mean the world to me
In those days when I was young

In those days when I was young
In those days when I was young
Now here I am a special friend
Call me Pal with a pen
In those days when I was young