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01-20-2022 HPC Packet Regular Meeting Heritage Preservation Commission AGENDA Thursday, January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m. Elk River City Hall The Elk River Vision A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. CONSIDER AGENDA 4. CONSIDER MINUTES 4.1 November 18, 2021, Regular Meeting Minutes 5. GENERAL BUSINESS 5.1 Elk River Documentary 5.2 Elk River Aviation Article 5.3 Additional Projects and Updates 6. ADJOURNMENT Meeting Protocol No sidebar discussions No interruptions State your concern Ensure you understand Don’t take things personally Adhere to time limits Come prepared Ensure all are heard Meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission Elk River City Hall Thursday, November 18, 2021 Members Present: Chair Lance Lindberg, Commissioners Michele Cole, Zachary Griffiths, Tony Mauren, and Debra Mortensen Members Absent: Commissioners Mike Hangaard and Joshua Fox Others Present: Planning Manager Zack Carlton and Councilmember Garrett Christianson 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Lindberg. 2. Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Consider November 18, 2021, Agenda Moved by Commissioner Mortensen and seconded by Commissioner Mauren to approve the November 18, 2021, agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Minutes of September 16, 2021, Heritage Preservation Commission meeting Moved by Commissioner Mortensen and seconded by Commissioner Griffiths to approve the September 16, 2021, meeting minutes. Motion carried 5-0. 5.1 Elk River Documentary Commissioner Griffiths reviewed the progress on the documentary. He stated they have completed B-Roll footage that will be used in the documentary and have completed images included in Commissioner Mortensen’s book with modern counterparts. He stated next steps will be completing commissioner interviews at city hall with cable TV filming staff; Zack Carlton will email the commissioners to schedule the interviews when Commissioner Griffiths is ready to include them into the documentary. Commissioner Griffiths stated he would be the narrator of the Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Elk River City Hall November 18, 2021 script and some sections would be discussed by the commission members. He stated other members of the community would also be involved. Commissioner Griffiths stated he is still working on obtaining the images and a cost for use of the Sherburne County History Center photos to be used in the documentary. He hopes to be securing the final cost towards the end of the month and thought it would be about 50 photos. Mr. Carlton noted on the photo request form from the Sherburne County History Center that the city is non-profit and therefore may not be required to pay for the photos as they would be used for educational purposes in the documentary. Chair Lindberg noted John Houlton recently completed a PowerPoint presentation with some historical photos. The commission discussed others in the community that would be beneficial to interviewing for the documentary. The Commission discussed the script and determined the project would ideally be completed by Memorial Day. Commissioner Mauren provided some comments and feedback on the script to Commissioner Griffiths. The Commission discussed various topics, historical information, and other resources that could provide stories to be discussed in the documentary. 5.2 Additional Projects and Updates Commissioner Mauren updated the commission on the history of aviation article in Elk River and will be finalizing the article and official photo by the end of the year. The commission was very pleased with the article. 6. Adjournment There being no further business, Chair Lindberg adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Heritage Preservation Commission at 6:40 p.m. Minutes prepared by Jennifer Green. Tina Allard City Clerk Lance Lindberg Heritage Preservation Commission Chair This article was made possible through the Sherburne History Center archives, resources from the Chicago History Museum, and detailed research conducted by Jennifer Green at the City of Elk River. Elk River and the Golden Age of Aviation Reports of Charles Lindbergh’s safe arrival on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean on May 21, 1927, travelled around the world in a matter of minutes. For a new generation of aviators, the world must have instantly seemed a little smaller, the possibilities a little clearer. Excitement around this achievement, along with advancements in plane technology and surpluses of aircrafts and pilots coming out of World War I, propelled the aviation industry to new heights. Decades before the country would see the formation of the Interstate Highway System, there was a growing interest in air travel. During a recreational flight over Elk River in June of 1927, a journalist for the Sherburne County Star News noted the juxtaposition this created when he reported, “[We] saw in mid-river the ancient ferryboat transporting a team and wagon, and this emphasized to me more than ever the wonders of aviation and the rapid progress which has been made…” The increasing number of flights over the United States, ranging in purpose from flying circuses to the innovation of commercial airmail, meant that it was plane engines that put some of that “roar” into the 1920s. Six months after the last piece of tickertape fluttered to the ground from the parade celebrating Lindbergh’s flight, four men from Elk River were preparing for takeoff into what would come to be known as the Golden Age of Aviation. Advertisement from the Sherburne County Star News - June 7, 1928 Recognizing a growing market in aviation services, the Elk River Aircraft Company was created by local businessmen who planned to provide commercial transportation as well as sell planes. Initially they purchased a used Curtiss airplane and spent three months rebuilding it. Finally, on a May afternoon in 1928, the company’s Steve Bernard and Cate Thomas did one last check of the safety connections, tightened the oil lines, and double checked the wing attachments in preparation for its first test flight. The final inspection was performed by Gene Shank, a highly regarded local pilot who had recently earned notoriety in the aviation community after he flew in a loop a record breaking 318 times over the course of three hours. The first member of the company to ride in the Curtiss was L.A. Dare, and by all accounts reported in the Star News “she flew beautifully.” Now the search was on for a suitable location for the company’s airport. Aerial Shot of the Elk River Airport from 1939 next to a modern-day Google Maps satellite image Today the piece of land that became the Elk River Airport is the Country Crossings neighborhood, located south of the Sherburne County Government Center along the Mississippi River. It was dedicated later in May 1928 with an impromptu ceremony, which consisted of a speech from the captain of the 109th Aero Squadron of Minneapolis and an aerial stunt exhibition. Short flights were also available to guests who lined up for hours to be among the first in the community to see their town from a perspective few had in 1928. The Star News reported, “It was a good day for aviation and all those who experienced a flight came away from the field enthusiastic supporters of the flying game.” On the radio the country was learning about Kingsford Smith and his four-man crew who took off from the coast of Oakland, CA for what would be the first ever successful pan- pacific flight. On the shores of the Mississippi, the young Elk River Aircraft Company had a plane, an airport, and a crew, but lacked its own experienced pilot to perform the crucial operations of the business. To their great fortune, Elk River just happened to be home to a pioneer in aviation. Vandie Ludvik in a pusher plane, 1911. Photo provided by the Chicago History Museum Vandie Ludvik was working as a tinner and plumber by the late 1920s, but he had spent much of the prior decade in the air. In June of 1911 he entered an aviation school in Chicago and six weeks later he was a pilot. Planes of this era were typically of the variety known as “pushers” because the propellor, positioned behind the pilot, did just that. The single seat design of these largely wood and cloth aircrafts required new aviators to learn what they could on the ground before taking to the skies alone, where they were at the mercy of strong winds and dependent upon on a 50-horsepower engine. After completing his training Ludvik was hired as an exhibition flyer, travelling the Midwest to perform for audiences. Pusher planes were only capable of a few stunt maneuvers, but in the early days of aviation even routine demonstrations presented a risk. One incident occurred when Ludvik’s plane hit a rough patch of air two hundred feet above a county fair in Iowa and a rough patch of rough ground shortly after. Fortunately for Ludvik he was able to walk away from the wreckage, and fortunately for the Elk River Aircraft Company he continued flying. In 1914 he enlisted in the military where he worked for an aviation school during World War I. He eventually moved to Elk River in 1923 and became the Elk River Aircraft Company’s chief pilot five years later. With an airport established and team assembled it was time for the company to introduce itself to the community. Advertisement from the Sherburne County Star News, August 30, 1928 A few months after Amelia Earhart had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic, two women landed in Elk River after a much shorter flight. The Silver Cloud Harmony Girls of Minneapolis made the Elk River Air Derby the first stop of their national concert tour. The celebration, coordinated by the Elk River Aircraft Company, was held on September 2, 1928, at the airport. As Mayor Thomas E. Beck welcomed the pilots and an estimated 10,000 spectators to the event, he recalled 50 years earlier when he had been in same field behind a yoke of oxen breaking up the soil. While this was perhaps a distant memory for the mayor, it was not a distant reality for the town still relying on teams of pack animals for farm work and ferries for transportation. Mayor Beck offered a few more words of welcome and the festivities began. One of the first events was a hard-fought motorcycle polo match between two teams, each representing one of the Twin Cities. At one point play had to be stopped because an actual fight broke out between two players, but at the end of the match the team from Minneapolis eked out a victory, 3-1. With that the terrestrial activities were complete, and the crowd looked to the sky. A five-mile course had been established for the air race: from the wind cone at the airport, to the Bailey Station school, to Mr. Spear’s windmill, and back. After four laps of low flying, hard banking racing, the winner was none other than Gene Shank, proving he could fly just as well in a circle as he could in a loop. After receiving the Elk River Air Derby’s Silver Cup from L.A. Dare, Shank’s plane brought “Stub” Bressinger 2,500 feet over the crowd where he subsequently jumped out. The parachutist had a successful descent, landing on the ground just as the Cessna did. To finish the event Shank put on an aerial exhibition, performing a few of his world record loops, as well as side slips and spinning dives. For the finale he executed a stunt where he zoomed past the crowd, increased altitude, banked, and brought the plane in for a successful landing all with his hands over his head to prove he had done it with is feet. When the citizens of Elk River went home that evening, they were a community literally and figuratively buzzing with the excitement of aviation. Cartoon from the Sherburne County Star News, August 22, 1929 In a little over a year, some of the most influential figures in the history of aviation and flown pioneering expeditions across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, setting new standards for aviators around the world. In this Golden Age of Aviation air travel became a social and commercial phenomenon and thanks to trailblazers like Cate Thomas, Steve Bernard, L.A. Dare, and Vandie Ludvik, aviation is part of Elk River’s heritage as well. At a time where work and transportation still relied on many of the methods that had been in practice for centuries, the Elk River Aircraft Company helped their community look forward and upward. Works Cited “Local Man Has First Airplane Ride,” The Sherburne County Star News, June 9, 1927. “Gene Shank Tests Out Local Airplane,” The Sherburne County Star News, May 17, 1928. “Yank Aviator Loops the Loop 318 Times,” San Pedro News Pilot, Feb 4, 1928, https://bit.ly/3Jf0gWK. “Vandie Ludvik Pioneer Aviator,” The Sherburne County Star News, September 8, 1927 “First Air Derby Gets Big Crowd,” The Sherburne County Star News, September 6, 1928