Taking Flight: A Man and his Stories

This is one of three columns submitted that took third place for column writing in the 2011 Minnesota Associated Press Sports Association Awards for dailies under 20,000.

There are few things better in life than hearing a good story.

It’s why we love movies and books and television shows and newspapers. They all tell a story.

On Saturday afternoon, with sweat pouring down my brow, I had the pleasure of sitting with Buck Burkhartzmeyer for the first inning of a Faribault American Legion baseball game.

Almost all interviews follow a monotonous trend. I ask questions and people answer them in a couple sentences. Every once in awhile they say something interesting. Mostly, they recite cliches. (I also seem to start every interview I’ve ever done by saying “Alright, so...”)

But sometimes you know an interview will be different. As I sidled up to Buck, I knew this one would be.

“Alright, so I know you guys have been friends a long time, did you meet playing baseball?”

And that was it. I let Buck go. He told me stories and I listened. I didn’t even know Austin had scored a run until the next inning.

“Dale has always been a close friend of mine,” Buck began. “We had a lot of fun.”

Buck told me about how he and Dale met in high school. About how they double dated.

He told me how after he would visit his wife at St. Lucas he would go see Dale at Pleasant Manor. Invariably, Dale would be watching the Twins with his Timberwolves cap on and a wood puzzle in his hands. He told me about how Dale loved to play euchre and dance.

He told me about how Norma Bosshart worked at St. Paul Clothier in downtown Faribault and on her noontime lunch break she would sometimes wander into the Burkhartmeyer Shoe Store on Central Avenue.

“I said to her one day, I said, ‘Norma, I think I’ve got a blind date for you.’ She accepted and from there on you can see what happened. They raised a pretty nice family.”

He didn’t tell me, but I already knew Dale and Norma were married for 57 years before she passed away in 2008.

He told me about how they weren’t good enough to play for the Faribault semi-pro team so they joined up with a friend on the Elysian Legion team. During their first game, they both committed an error and the crowd started to boo them. Someone yelled out “Send them back to Faribault!” He told me they were not deterred.

During our entire inning-long conversation I only asked two more questions. I didn’t have to ask. Buck had enough stories to tell. And I’m sure I only took a paring knife to the top of that iceberg.