Biographical Notes re

Charles A. (Chuck) Stone

Page 3 of 3 Pages, of Chapter 12,

A SECOND HOMECOMING
My USAF history caught up with me when I was asked to co-chair the 1977 Lindbergh 50th Anniversary Celebration in Little Falls. This community was the boyhood home of Charles A. Lindbergh and his well known father, C. A. Lindbergh. Lindbergh celebrations were a periodic part of the heartbeat of Little Falls. My partner in this endeavor was to be Colonel Harold Hammerbeck, Director of Maintenance, at the local National Guard Installation, Camp Ripley. Harold and I had already become acquainted and we both agreed to take on the project. There were two parts to this event. One being a major one-day air show on a given day, and, later on, the reception and display of the new Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) Spirit of St. Louis replica aircraft that was on a nationwide tour.

With aggressive planning and community cooperation we had one hell of an air show. We had experimental, antique, stunt, military and regular airplanes stacked up on our local airfield like cordwood. Our ticket sales people underestimated their assigned task. With thousands of people arriving in a shorter span of time then they had anticipated, they couldn’t take in the money and process the cars onto the field fast enough. When the time came to start the air show, we had cars lined up all the way from the airport back into downtown Little Falls. The show started on time and the people that didn’t make it onto the airport got out of their cars and watched the event from the road.

We had purchased thunderstorm insurance that covered a specific block of time. This would bail us out, financially, if a storm prevented us from raising the money to pay for the various performers. At one of our later planning meetings it was suggested that we move the time block forward a few hours to assure coverage during a more critical time period. We did so. As our thunderstorm insurance time block ran out, a giant thunderstorm built with astounding rapidity to the west of the airport. The parachute jump had just been completed. The formal performances completed, we watched this grandpappy sized storm homing right in our our airport. Pilots that had brought their treasured aircraft for both transportation and display, began to panic. Some tied their aircraft down tight. Other leaped in their aircraft, fired up the engines, taxied out and took off in any direction they could see ground clearance. When the storm hit, I joined others in holding airplanes down. With the help of others, we rode the struts of a Piper Cub floating right down the ramp until we could get it tied down. Miraculously, no one was killed or injured, no aircraft was damaged, and I was sure happy to see that day come to an end. The visit of the Spirit of St. Louis replica went according to plan, without difficulty.
Soon after this event, I was asked to do a photo collage mural, containing photos of my own choice, on a new and undulating wall inside the recently remodeled rear entrance to the local hospital. It was the first time I had ever installed photographs directly on a wall with the wet mounting technique. The wall was 18 feet long and about seven feet high. Of the many enlargements I made to choose from, I installed about 265 on the wall. The results were truly heartwarming and satisfying. The display still stands and people never stop commenting that they see a new picture every time they walk by, just as was intended.

While all of this was going on, Nell, Sandie and I had been trying to fulfill our mutual needs to do some serious gardening. When our work schedule began to slow down, we plowed a 60' by 250 foot garden area along the length of the back side of our property and began to plant. As you can see, it quickly got out of hand and we had corn, squash, etc., that we were trying to give away to neighbors. Since that day, our garden has grown smaller every year, but, Nell’s green thumb is always at work, inside and outside of the house.
7' x 18' photo collage, containing approximately 265 prints from my personal photo collection, entitled ?Slices from Life.? After more than twenty years, this mural is still on display inside the rear entrance of St. Gabrial’s Hospital, Little Falls, MN.
Nell surveys what she, Sandie and
Mother Nature hath wrought.
Mid-to-late 1970s time period.
Our son, upon returning from his Alaskan assignment, was sent to Sacramento to finish his hitch. He made the decision not to reenlist and finished his service commitment working on electronics in that area. His sergeant in charge, had a daughter, Cheryl, that caught his eye and soon his heart. They were married in October of 1975 and have remained in that area ever since. When Nell and I decided to take an extended, seven week, trip west in the fall of 1977, one of our stops, for sure, was Sacramento. We visited many old friends along the way and arrived home ready to see what lay ahead.
David and Cheryl Stone, on a delayed honeymoon trip to Little Falls, MN.
Back at home, as I was getting back into a shop project, I did something I almost never did, I read the help wanted ads. In doing so, I learned that the Minnesota Historical Society was looking for a replacement for their current, retiring, manager of the Lindbergh Historic Site in Little Falls . It struck me that my shop and the Interpretive Center and Historic Home would be a great spot for me to invest the next ten years or so. I filled out an application and mailed it in. Out of about 60 applicants, I was one of the number that received a personal interview. I ended up in the number two position, with them hiring a professor from a small northern Minnesota college. I told the Historical Society personnel people that I would return to my current activities, but would be available if they might need me at a later time. As it turned out, the manager of their choice lasted less than a year in the job and they were readvertising the position. I took another shot at it and was finally hired. I took over the position in the late winter of the 1978/1979 winter season. The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) had just completed the construction of a new Interpretive Center, with store, theater and exhibit facilities that looked like a most interesting challenge.

A few years earlier, Nell had been drawn back into her legal secretarial work by a lawyer that was a member of our church. She had found yet another work home where she really belonged and could exercise and stretch her various talents. It soon became a two and then a three lawyer office with three secretaries that helped make the wheels go round. We were increasingly working, worshiping and living a life that was truly of our choice. Our daughter Sandie had graduated from the U of MN with a four year nursing degree and was moving effectively into this new career challenge. Having visited the Lindbergh Historic Site previously, I had a list of ideas that I wanted to carry through in cooperation with my supervisors at Fort Snelling Minnesota, the MHS Historic Sites Division, Main Office. I waded through the snow down the path to the Interpretive Center, put the key in the door and walked into yet another interesting and challenging chapter of life.

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