The Watermelon War

By G Russell Peterman

The Chrane and Lundeen farm families had been friendly Minnesota neighbors for two generations until the Fergus Fall’s fair board of directors decided to include watermelon judging in the 1926 Ottertail County Fair. Both Gus and Max raised watermelons as a summer cash crop and entered a watermelon. After the first blue ribbon, a buyer paid two-cents more per watermelon for the entire crop. During the depression years, more money was important to a family and made the competition to win blue ribbons more serious. Over the next thirteen years, each farmer won five blue ribbons. 1940 was a crucial break-the-tie year. Both Max and Gus were retiring and turning their farms over to the third generation and wanted to win one last blue ribbon to retire as Watermelon Growing Champion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G Russell Peterman
• Release date: Jun 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005214258

G Russell Peterman

G. Russell Peterman is a graduate of Thomasville, Missouri High School, Southwest Missouri State College, and Vanderbilt University. After retiring from teaching after 30 years, he turned to writing. Gene Russell Peterman writes as G. Russell Peterman. He collected up his forty years of poems and published them. Also, he co-authored with his daughter Kriston Peterman-Dunya four novels (two Historical fictions and two science fictions) and three short story collections. Writing his first novel alone was Luck's Wild, a Civil War story. This novel, Blue, is his second novel written alone and his tenth offering. G. Russell Peterman is married, a father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He believes in community service and has been a volunteer for 41 years. He was elected to the Fire Board of Directors , served 20 years as Treasurer and fire fighter, and earned the Missouri State Certification as a level 3 Fire Instructor. He was appointedTreasurer of the local water district and served for 19 years. He was appointed to the Cape Girardeau County Planning Commission, elected Chairman, and served 2 years.

Book preview

The Watermelon War

by G. Russell Peterman

Published by G. Russell Peterman at Smashwords

Copyright 2021 G. Russell Peterman

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This story is a work of fiction.

Cover by Kai Dunya

Dedication

Remembering my dad planting watermelons as a summer cash crop in the ‘40s

Table of Contents

Introduction

One: Secrets

Two: Found out

Three: Secret Watermelons

Addendum

Other books by the author

About the author

The Watermelon War

Introduction

Ninety-four Septembers ago, two friends, Cole Lundeen and Herman Chrane, dropped out of a westward traveling caravan of ox carts on the North Ox Cart Trail and started side-by-side farms. The friends helped each other build log cabins, log barns, and cut stacks of winter hay and firewood. Later, they built, repaired, and shared a dividing line fence between the two farms from the North Ox Cart Trail south into the swamp.

Both families were charter members of the Hoggatt Community Church and the Ottertail County Grade School number 172.

Years later, the state of Minnesota and Ottertail County built Road 210, a gravel road, east-west generally down the old North Ox Cart Trail. The new road cut through both farms leaving 40 acres on the north side of 210 and on the south approximately 158 acres of farmland and slightly less than 20 acres of swampland. It also cut through their original farm building sites and they each constructed new farm buildings just south of the new road.

In times of trouble, both families sheltered and aided each other, cried together at funerals, in times of joy celebrated together, and other family members moved into the area. The Lundeen-Chrane July 4th picnic on Lake Miltona was a talked about thing.

In their later years, Cole and Herman each selected a worthy son to continue the family farm. At present, both farms are managed by the second generation, Max and Ida Mae Lundeen and Gus and Bertha Chrane, and both old farmers are nearing the time to sign their farms over to a third generation. It is the wish and hope of both that the Lundeen and the Chrane farms achieve Century Farm status.

Things changed in 1926. The Ottertail County Fair Board meeting in Fergus Falls decided to add Watermelon Judging as an event and asked farmers and gardeners to bring their best to the fair. Max and Gus, both planted watermelons for a late summer cash crop anyway and each entered a melon. With Gus’ first blue ribbon, the price per melon received from a buyer went up two cents. After that, both tried for blue ribbons.

Over the next fourteen years, efforts to earn another blue ribbon for bragging rights and a higher income from their watermelon