Link to source: The Baakonen Family Story
Reino Baakonen Family History
Growing up in East Gull Lake on the Baakkonen Farm
By Diane Baakkonen Eksten
I was born in 1946 (a Baby Boomer) after World War II and raised on the Family Farm.
My grandparents came from Finland, I am guessing around 1900. My grandparents’ names were Joseph and Elena Maria (Ritari) Baakkonen. They had 6 children: Reino, Helen, Arthur, Ann, Felix and Hazel. They started building the farm, I am guessing, around 1914. My uncle Felix was good with blasting powder and they cleared out the woods to build the farm. My grandfather worked at the Railroad shops while my father, Reino, and his mother ran the farm. It wasn't that easy to travel back and forth to Brainerd, so my grandfather was not able to come home every night. My grandparents were gone before I was born, so I don't remember much about them. I believe they left Finland to get away from the oppression of the Russians.
I remember my Uncle Ernie sure didn't like the Russians. Ernie Ritari was my grandmother’s brother. He was the Ernie that built Squaw Point Bar, now known as Ernie's on Gull Lake. (By the way, as I was told, Squaw Point was a name given by the Indians in honor of the Squaw of the Chief who was buried there.)
Uncle Ernie was a cement finisher by trade and a real character who loved to have a good time. Squaw Point Bar was the place to go and visit with the neighbors. I remember the great pig roasts and feeds he would have at the end of the summer. But just don't order Vodka in his bar! He would throw you out of the place. Some people thought it was funny, but not Ernie. Vodka represented the Russian's to Uncle Ernie and he would not have it in his bar. I have no idea what had happened before he left Finland but he would have nothing to do with anything that represented Russia.
Another person who would have nothing to do with Russia or Communism was Emil. Any of the old residents of East Gull Lake area would remember Emil. Emil lived in a little white cottage past the cabins at Ernie’s, or the Squaw Point Resort. Emil had a white wooden glider swing by his house. He loved kids and always gave out rolls of “Life Savers” to children. As years went by, this changed to peppermint candy pieces- probably due to the higher cost of living.
Emil helped out everyone in the neighborhood, sometimes whether his help was wanted or not. I remember one time he pruned my Uncle Felix's plum trees after Uncle Felix had already pruned them. Emil would also re-do dad's garden – Emil's way. But you didn't argue with Emil! I think most Finns are that way, including myself.
My dad told me the reason we had a white barn and farm instead of the usual red color was because of Emil. Emil had swum across a river to get away from the Russians who wanted to force him to be one of their soldiers. Red to Emil was the sign of blood and Russian Communism so Emil would have nothing to do with it.
Emil drove a scooter and did lawn care and odd jobs for area residents. Mrs. Baher was so pleased with Emil's work that she bought him a RED scooter. Emil promptly quit and would not speak to Mrs. Baher. My dad had to do a lot of talking and explaining to get Emil and Mrs. Baher working together again.
The women in theneighborhood would bake extra for Emil, especially at Christmas. Emil was sure to visit all the women in the neighborhood during the holidays. I remember one year both my mom and my aunt made pies for him. Emil told my aunt that my mother made a better pie than she did. Needless to say my aunt didn't make him a pie the following year. She gave him a box of chocolate covered cherries instead. We know this because he gave that box of chocolate covered cherries to my mom and it still had the card on the box saying to Emil from my aunt.
Emil had a good heart. After my dad died, Emil would come over and ask if we needed anything. He would help in the garden and tell me what I should be doing with it. In the winter he would shovel out all the mail boxes in the neighborhood. Emil was one of a kind, a very gentle man who was known by all in the Squaw Point area.
Life on the Baakkonen Farm was a great place to grow up. It was however, a lot of work for my parents. We had chickens, pigs, and milk cows. We didn't have goats. Oh, they did have goats once. My Uncles Art and Felix won a pair of goats at the County Fair one year. Grandfather had just purchased a Model T Ford and the goats ate the top off it. My grandfather was not impressed and that was the end any more goats on the Baakkonen Farm.
The cows had to be milked twice a day, then the milk separated from the cream and then bottled. In those days there weren’t convenience stores on every corner, so our farm became a sort of convenient store for the neighbors. We sold milk and eggs. Summers, dad also sold blocks of ice to the seasonal residents. Every winter dad would go out on Gull Lake and harvest ice blocks. He would store the ice blocks in a building we called the ice house. He covered the ice blocks with sawdust and the ice blocks would last through July. Most of the summer cottages in the area did not have electricity and used ice boxes in place of refrigerators. In the earlier years we had one of the only telephones in the area – so the summer residents would give our phone number to anyone who had to contact them. I remember riding my bike many times to one of the summer cottages to give them a message. (Edited note: In the seventies, most of the telephones still consisted of 8 party lines, with two parties sharing “one long” or “two short” rings.)
Our farm was pretty self-sufficient, like most farms of that era. Dad raised hay for the animals. In the early days, the hay wasn't put in hay bales, but hauled loose on the hay wagons. It was great fun to ride on the top of the hay wagons. The hay was raised from the wagon by a series of ropes to the hay loft in the barn.
One of my other great memories was of the Threshing Crew coming to thresh the wheat with their threshing machine. It was an exciting time, seeing neighbors come together helping with the chore. I’m sure it was a lot of work, especially for my mom who cooked for all of them – but to me it was just fun to watch.
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