EVERYDAY PEOPLE
An education in how connections can help anglers
STAPLES - Kevin Grondahl remembers fishing as a kid at the Dower Lake fishing pier when it seemed like it was just planks and a couple of beams.
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Since last month's dedication of a new 600-foot-long, nine-foot-wide pier, however, the Staples native has enjoyed watching a steady stream of anglers using the pier.
"Nearly 45 years ago, I learned how to fish here," he said. "I've always had a real passion for this project.
Kevin Grondahl enjoyed watching anglers who are fishing near the proudest achievement of his career as Staples Parks and Recreation director - the Dower Lake fishing pier (in the background).
Brainerd Dispatch/Mike O'Rourke
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The pier, which cost about $540,000, was made possible through state legislation authored by the late Sen. Dallas Sams, DFL-Staples. Last month a plaque with Sams' picture was dedicated at the pier. The pier is accessible to the handicapped, has a railing and is built over steel pilings with Douglas Fir 2-by-8s. The pier was built modularly for easy repair, Grondahl said. It extends to a point where the water depth is 18 feet.
By most accounts the original pier was constructed to service a water pipeline used by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1906. The park site was leased to the city of Staples in the 1960s and improvements were made to the pier. The city acquired the property in 1996, Grondahl said.
The Dower Lake fishing pier was dedicated to the late Sen. Dallas Sams of Staples.
Brainerd Dispatch/Mike O'Rourke
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Although he doesn't get to fish as much as he likes to, Grondahl said anglers have told him of recently catching walleyes, sunfish, bluegills, crappies and a fairly good (five pounds) northern.
"I myself caught a goofy, cotton-picking bullhead," he said.
Believing that Dower Lake drew users from about a 30-mile radius, Grondahl began his lobbying efforts in the late 1990s. He said just in recent weeks he's seen the park used by an adult group home from Clarissa and a day care center in Bertha.
"It wasn't just a Staples thing," he said. "I always felt it had a regional flair to it," he said.
Kevin Grondahl
Age: 51
Family: Married to wife, Margaret. Together they have a blended family with his four children, her three children, five grandchildren and one grandhcild on the way.
Career: Staples Parks and Recreation director.
Hometown: Staples (2008 population - 3,019) I've always been kind of a home body.
High school: Staples High School in 1976.
Thoughts on grandchildren: They are our pride and joy.
Pets: Three yellow Labs and a miniature Dachsund.
Best advice he's received: Give people a chance and Do unto others...
Career highlight: Helping to coordinate the construction of a new Dower Lake pier.
Hobbies: Fishing -I don't get to do it near enough and hunting - Every season I've got something to hunt.
Once he identified state legislation as a possible funding source he made a point to strike up a relationship with area lawmakers, including Sen. Sams, who he remembered as a personable guy.
"I became their worst nightmare/best friend," he said.
Although unaccustomed to politics, Grondahl knew how to trade favors, when appropriate. One sure-fire way to corner Sams, he learned, was when the lawmaker would show up for the Railroad Days Parade, which Grondahl co-chaired. Sams would invariably neglect to pre-register for the parade.
"But I knew he'd be there," Grondahl said. "I kept a space open."
The 51-year-old has been involved in a variety of civic organizations including past chamber board/special events director, the Lions 2010 Board of Directors, Faith Lutheran Church Council and past president of congregation, community education board member and past president and Jaycees. He is chairman of the Todd County Parks and Trails Board.
A Staples employee since 1980, Grondahl began his city career as a police officer but admitted to finding it difficult to deal with people that he had known for many years in sometimes stressful situations.
"Very few times do you get called to a house for milk and cookies," Grondahl said.
In 1985 he became manager of the city-owned recreation center. In 2003 he was promoted to director of Staples Parks and Recreation.
"I love people," he said. "This is a big-time people job. I have an opportunity to work with quality of life issues."
The Dower Lake Recreational Area, located two miles west of Staples on Thunder Road, is one segment of about 120 acres of parks and open space he and his staff maintain. In addition to the pier the recreational area has a boat access, a beach, a playground, horseshoe pits, two softball fields, a 45-unit campsite with 20 electric sites and the remainder rustic and a sewer dump for recreational vehicles.
"I've always had a real passion for this project," he said.
The importance of the Dower Lake pier project was driven home to him after the dedication when a boy approached him and thanked him for his efforts.
"Dower Lake, that fishing pier is all I got," the boy told Grondahl.