Remembering the 'Reminder'

Many of you remember my grandfather Phil Long. While your memories of him may vary according to popular opinion, one thing that I have both heard about and experienced was that he could yarn a good story. I have heard comments from folks that say stuff like, "Whether you could believe it or not it sure was a good story." He could always get a crowd to respond well whether or not they liked him or not. Just a gift I suppose, but, at any rate, quite successful at getting the job done.

Many of you may also remember the books that he authored as well. All of them written between 1959 to 1976. Well they were all received very well over those years and we, his family, speak often about many of the stories told on those pages. But there were several other sources of his tale yarning that in the last fifteen years we have slowly uncovered. One of them was a little paper that he published for a few years in the late 1950's called "The Reminder." I have found a few folks that remember it but it was only published for a few years and there are not any available today as far as I know but for a few that we found in a box of stuff found during a spring cleaning project a few years ago.(If you have some let us know PLEASE!)

The Reminder was very similar to our Hi-Line Shopper today except for the fact that there were a few articles throughout the paper. Most of them were 16 pages and some were only 14 pages printed on 8 ½ by 14 paper bound by two staples along the left side. He talked about the general goings on around the town such as the newest movie showing at the Villa Theater as well as the one at the drive-in theater that was originally called the Valli Theater, both owned and operated by Carl and Irene Veseth. The Veseths also provided a TV schedule for the week printed in every issue since TV Guide was not available yet. We also saw the announcement of many activities such as Canadian days and International Friendship days. Many businesses advertised of which you may have forgotten such as, The Choo Choo Stop Inn, Lucial's Snack Bar, Don's Shoe Repair, Meadow Valley Creamery, The Cozy Corner Café and Fountain, and even a Checker Cab Co. offering 24hr service in town or country! And of course those we remember well such as Ken's Thrift Way, Coast to Coast and Buttery Foods. There was also a section called "Swap and Sell" that was the classified section. Scattered throughout the publication were little comments and jokes that were fun to read as your eyes skimmed through the paper.

At the very end of every issue was a column called, "Memoirs." This was the section I want to draw your attention to. This is where he used his tale yarning skills and memory to weave a fascinating story of either local interest or historical significance, sometime accomplishing both. As I read through the ones in the eight issues we have left I actually read things I had never heard before in all the stories and tales I heard when I was a young boy; interesting stuff about days gone by.

We hope to share some of this with you in the weeks to come and hope you will enjoy this little piece of Phillips County History as we help you remember... "The Reminder."

Editor's Note: If anyone has copies of the Reminder, the PCN would love to scan them and make copies for Dale. Also, any information on the artist who drew for the Reminder would be greatly appreciated. Call, email or stop by with any information and thanks in advance.