Article on JANKE, Leona, Swift Co.,MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE:In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormatted by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Judy VanVleet Submitted: October 2004 ========================================================================= Newspaper Article: This is another one without a date – I know that Leona Janke is still alive and living in the Appleton Nursing Home (or she was in August when we were last in Minnesota). Her sister mentioned died in 2002. A familiar sight in Appleton over the years has been Leona Janke riding her three wheel bike to work. Leona has ridden that bike or walked to work in Appleton for 40 years and nine months prior to the change of ownership of Appleton Floral. Leona's first job was working at Doege's Bakery. She still remembers the first day at work. Grandma Doege was going to show her how to roll out sugar cooks. The rolling pin was 20 times bigger than the one at home, says Leona. "The sugar cookies were thick in the middle and thin on the sides!" says Leona. However, in time she did master that skill and many other baking skills. During the war Doege's made hundreds of dozens of cookies each week. Her first hours were 6 a. m. to 3 p. m., Saturdays 4 a. m. to 3 p. m. Later her hours were changed to 7 a. m. to 4 p. m. While Leona was working for Doege's, Pillsbury put on a recipe contest for bakers only, nation wide. She was one of the winners and received a Bulava wrist watch for her recipe for raisin yum-yums. While she was working at the bakery she took a course from National Landscape Institute on corsage work, wedding work and funeral work, and the art of flower arranging. "I had a dream. I always wanted to work in a flower shop – and my dream came true," says Leona. In March of 1963 she started to work in the Appleton Floral Shop for Harold Kath. "I was like a bee," she says, "I went from flour – to flower." In that first May, prom was held on Mother's Day weekend. "Boy, did we work!" said Leona, "but Eleanor Pring helped. She was a life saver and a good moral support." It was obvious that the situation couldn't continue, so Harold talked to the superintendent of schools and prom was changed to a different date. That practice has continued right to the present time. Leona remembers one of the worst Minnesota blizzards in the first part of December, on a Friday. They had planned to begin work on a Saturday wedding that day. "I called Harold, and said I just couldn't walk down, it was too stormy. He said I was to get my butt down there somehow. So I had Leonard Thompson come with the wrecker truck. When I got there I was faced with a big snowbank higher than I was, but I managed to work my way through to the door." Leona remembers that they didn't have any customers, because of the weather, so she was able to get everything done for the wedding. The streets were plowed by the wedding time Saturday afternoon, and everything went off without a hitch, flowers and all. "They were married, and they still are married!", says Leona. Leona also remembers the quickest wedding they ever put on. It was 5 o'clock, just when she was due to go home, when a couple came in saying they wanted corsages and boutonnieres for a wedding. Harold said, "when is the wedding?". They said, "tonight at 7 o'clock." "Harold told me to get to work, and work I did. We made it, boy, was it exciting." Another couple came from Minneapolis to go to South Dakota to get married. They drove by the floral shop and decided they needed some flowers. "We were working on a wedding for someone else. They bought those flowers and were they happy to get such good service," said Leona. Leona says that she loved to work on weddings and give the bride's flowers a special touch. "I was never a bride myself," said Leona, "but they always had my special attention." She also remembers that it was a joy to make a bouquet or bud vase to take to the hospital and bring cheer to the sick. "O, boy, Mother's Day, what a rate race! Yet it was a job to make up flowers for the mothers, especially the FTD specials," said Leona. "To see the sparkle in their eyes when they received their bouquet made me feel good." She says she always tried to do her very best on funeral work, to have flowers displayed with great care "to show them we sympathized with them in their loss of a loved one," said Leona. When Harold passed away, Irene asked her if she would continue to help. That was four years ago. During the years Leona has worked six days a week, and many, many Sundays, but she feels grateful that she was able to do so. Leona says she would like to express a tribute to Harold for asking her to come and work in the flower shop. "I will always be grateful, thankful to the Kaths for making my dreams come true. Leona was born in Moyer township and lived there and in Appleton all her life. She and her sister Millie live together in their home in Appleton and enjoy many joint projects. The day I visited them they were canning. Throughout the house was displayed their needlework projects. It's obvious that "retirement" for Leona will be as full and as varied as her life has been up to now.