WEBVTT 00:00:06.389 --> 00:00:08.630 Alright, hello and welcome to "Hangin' Out with 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:11.449 Bob." I'm your host, Bob Edholm, and we're here 00:00:11.449 --> 00:00:14.109 for another great podcast with one of my friends. 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:20.519 "Hangin Out with Bob" is a podcast where guests tell 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.679 us their stories, where they grew up, where they 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:24.620 lived since then, what they're doing now, what 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:26.679 kinds of shows they stream, which kinds of books 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:28.899 they read, which kinds of teams they cheer for, 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:31.140 kind of music they like to listen to, and yada 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:33.320 yada yada. And the more laughs we have as our 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:34.840 guests share their lives, their stories with 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:40.500 us, the better. With that said, let me introduce 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:43.200 my guest today. He's Jon Lawrence, my friend 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:47.960 from Northeast Minneapolis. Let's listen to that 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:50.439 applause, Jon. They're loving you already, so. 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:53.299 Thanks for being here with us today. Glad to 00:00:53.299 --> 00:00:56.060 be. Okay, Jon and I have known each other for 00:00:56.060 --> 00:00:58.539 about at least six or seven years, I'm guessing. 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.600 It all started at a bus stop in downtown Minneapolis. 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:05.519 I learned that he and I both worked at Voya Financial. 00:01:06.010 --> 00:01:07.950 And the reason we caught the same Metro Transit 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:11.310 bus from work, the 11, it was 11, right? 11, 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:13.349 yeah. Yeah, because we both lived in Northeast 00:01:13.349 --> 00:01:15.670 Minneapolis. And it also turned out that we both 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:17.769 had an interest in sports, especially the local 00:01:17.769 --> 00:01:19.750 teams like the Twins, the Vikings, the Gophers, 00:01:19.769 --> 00:01:22.969 and so on. So I'm going to step back for a few 00:01:22.969 --> 00:01:25.670 moments and I'll let Jon, or my guest, John 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:27.150 Lawrence, tell us a little bit about himself. 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:32.060 Oh, wait, just a second. I got one great joke 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:34.599 for you. Speaking of buses, what does the bus 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:38.099 driver say to the frog? I have no idea. "Hop on." 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.120 Not funny. All right. Well, without further ado, 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:46.280 I forget to turn the volume level up on that. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:48.439 Without further ado, take it away, Jon. It's 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:51.099 all yours. Tell us about yourself. Sure. Uh, 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:53.920 Jon Lawrence, I grew up in Northeast Minneapolis. 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:57.019 Uh, I still live there. In fact, uh, I live in 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:00.040 the house I was born in, uh, a long time ago. 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:06.560 Spent, uh, my first, uh, 14 years in Northeast. 00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:11.759 My family moved to southwest corner of Missouri, 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:17.979 rural Ozark Mountains, Missouri. And there I lasted 00:02:17.979 --> 00:02:21.680 about a year and a half. It wasn't, you know, 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:26.020 inner city Minneapolis to rural Ozark Mountains. 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:31.340 Wasn't the... the culture change I was looking 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:37.719 for at age 14. So that was a rough one. For a 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.539 year and a half you were there? Yeah, two school 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:46.620 years. This time of year August until the end 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:50.120 of the second school year in June. And then I 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.500 hotfooted it back to Minnesota. Just for the 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:57.159 sake of geography, where was it? What was the 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:01.789 town? The biggest, uh, town near us was Joplin, 00:03:01.789 --> 00:03:04.930 Missouri. Uh, Springfield, Missouri was, uh, 00:03:05.050 --> 00:03:08.210 an hour away, uh, to the east. So, you know, 00:03:08.310 --> 00:03:10.449 we're, we're down in the corner. We were actually 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:14.409 about, uh, 10 miles from Kansas and about 12 00:03:14.409 --> 00:03:17.780 miles from Oklahoma. So right where those three 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:20.560 states come together, that's pretty darn close. 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:23.219 And that's considered the Ozarks? Well, that's 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:26.099 kind of the start of the Ozarks. Yeah, the foothills 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:30.919 exactly. The further south you go, the more mountainous 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:35.180 it becomes. But I assure you, digging holes to 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:39.509 build the fence in that soil, I... found out 00:03:39.509 --> 00:03:41.789 I was in the mountains. It was really rocky or 00:03:41.789 --> 00:03:43.710 stony. Oh yeah, yeah. You couldn't even dig in 00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:46.949 the dirt without hitting a rock. It was ridiculous. 00:03:47.050 --> 00:03:49.150 Okay, so once you came back, then you finished 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:51.889 high school? Yeah, finished up at Edison High 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:55.409 School, Northeast Minneapolis. Spent a couple 00:03:55.409 --> 00:03:58.530 years there, you know, junior, senior year. I 00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:02.680 was taking care of my grandparents. My grandfather 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:06.020 was terminally ill at the time and he didn't 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:08.360 last much longer after I got back to Minnesota. 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:14.719 And then my grandmother, I would say split time 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:20.939 at best in Minnesota. I would say I was there 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:25.120 on my own for a good part of the next several 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.220 years. You know, had to grow up a little bit 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:30.699 fast, you know, take care of all the bills and 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:32.779 all that sort of thing. And while I was still 00:04:32.779 --> 00:04:34.980 in high school. Yeah. Now, and then after high 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:36.740 school, um, what did you do that? Where'd you 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:39.480 go then? Um, well, let's say I bounced around 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.420 quite a bit. So right after high school, um, 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:47.120 spent the summer working for Dean Phillips, actually 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.220 his dad at Phillips and son's liquor business, 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.100 uh, liquor distributor in Minnesota. Yes, exactly. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:57.199 Loading trucks. And then it was off to, uh, for 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:02.279 a planned four years of college football in in 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:09.240 back in Missouri which was aborted by about three 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:14.389 years and nine months we we weren't quite ready 00:05:14.389 --> 00:05:17.509 to be a college student at the time. And this 00:05:17.509 --> 00:05:20.269 was an era when you actually had to go to school 00:05:20.269 --> 00:05:24.589 and make grades to play football. So. Wow. Okay. 00:05:24.750 --> 00:05:26.829 Okay. That's kind of how that went. But then 00:05:26.829 --> 00:05:28.810 where did you did go to college already? I did. 00:05:28.990 --> 00:05:35.209 I did. So let's see after after that. Mechanic 00:05:35.209 --> 00:05:37.589 school, worked as a mechanic for a few years. 00:05:38.310 --> 00:05:41.970 I went to mechanic school in Anoka, worked as 00:05:41.970 --> 00:05:52.850 mechanic. I did a little time in a factory and 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:55.970 eventually started going to college at night 00:05:55.970 --> 00:05:59.449 school. Which school? Minneapolis Community College, 00:06:00.009 --> 00:06:03.089 um, which was right in my backyard practically. 00:06:04.449 --> 00:06:07.009 Um, did it got a two-year degree there, went 00:06:07.009 --> 00:06:10.889 on to, uh, Mankato State now known as Minnesota 00:06:10.889 --> 00:06:15.029 State, Mankato. Uh, finished up my, uh, uh, four- 00:06:15.029 --> 00:06:19.689 year degree in political science. Um, I had several 00:06:19.689 --> 00:06:22.990 majors during those years. Uh, but, uh, yeah, 00:06:22.990 --> 00:06:25.649 uh, concentrated on pre -law, thought I was going 00:06:25.649 --> 00:06:28.420 to go to law school. I was paying for all this 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:32.639 on my own and I looked at the price tag of law 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:37.439 school and that didn't look feasible at the time 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:41.319 for me. So it was off into a career. And obviously, 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:43.639 I knew you, too, were working at Voya, but you 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:45.480 worked at some other insurance companies as well? 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.600 I did, actually. While I was in college, I worked 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:53.839 for a security and communication company, worked 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:57.120 my way up into management there. a few years 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.959 after college doing that. A friend called me 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.699 one day and said, Hey, Prudential is looking 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:06.839 for underwriters. I think he'd be good at it. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.319 I know a guy over there. Do you want to go over 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:12.439 an interview? Um, about that time I, I had to 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.259 buy a house and cell radio was making, probably 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:18.139 wasn't going to cut it. So I, uh, I moseyed on 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:21.459 over there and, um, yeah, they, they liked what 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:24.300 they saw and, and my underwriting career was 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:27.800 launched. So seven, eight years at Prudential, 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.439 another, uh, 12 years. at a company that was 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.699 known as Fortis when I first started, but they 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:40.120 went public and became Assurant Health. I worked 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:44.500 there for 12 years. Obamacare put that company 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:48.060 out of business. It was some unfortunate decisions, 00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:51.920 but essentially every sick person in the world 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.100 signed up for our insurance and we hammered losses 00:07:56.100 --> 00:08:00.879 right away. So then, I went to Voya. where I've worked 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.920 for eight and a half years. Yeah. Okay. Great. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.220 Great. Alrighty. Um, you've told us a little 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:07.519 bit about yourself, Jon. I want to know a little 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:09.620 bit more about the neighborhood, specifically 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:11.240 the neighborhood where you grew up in Northeast 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.259 Minneapolis. Kind of describe what part of Northeast 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:16.759 that is and then what, what you did there growing 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:18.379 up and where did you hang out? Where did you 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.300 and your friends play baseball or what'd you 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:22.980 do in the winter time? Where'd you go sledding? 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:26.800 That kind of stuff. Yeah. So, um, my, uh, uh, 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:32.590 youth was, um, really spent in and around Marshall 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:35.309 Terrace Park, which is right next to the NSP 00:08:35.309 --> 00:08:40.409 power plant, now known as Xcel Energy. There 00:08:40.409 --> 00:08:44.409 was a park there, a neighborhood park, and there 00:08:44.409 --> 00:08:47.570 were a lot of kids around my age. We played sandlot 00:08:47.570 --> 00:08:52.429 baseball in the summertime. We would play occasionally, 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:57.049 mixing some... tennis court hockey in the summertime 00:08:57.049 --> 00:09:02.190 and then you know. on ice hockey all winter. 00:09:03.009 --> 00:09:04.529 When you say tennis court hockey, was it broom 00:09:04.529 --> 00:09:09.110 ball? No, it was floor hockey. It wasn't ice, 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.190 you were playing on the tennis court. In the 00:09:11.190 --> 00:09:13.850 summertime there was no ice, so we made do with 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:18.570 what we had. Tennis ball and hockey sticks and 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:22.230 a couple of nets. For the benefit of Millennials 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:24.090 and Zoomers, tell them what sandlot baseball 00:09:24.090 --> 00:09:29.110 means. Sandlot baseball is not organized by any 00:09:29.110 --> 00:09:32.379 organization. There's no adults involved. It's 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:34.740 a bunch of friends getting together, picking 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:38.919 up sides. Usually you didn't have nine guys per 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.480 team, so you'd modify the rules to make it work 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.700 for the number of players that you had. And many 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:50.460 an afternoon would be spent completely... No 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:53.600 pressure involved at all and just just fun and 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:56.379 it was great fun I I feel bad sometimes because 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:59.019 when I go by all the ballparks and softball diamonds 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:01.179 here in Northeast and Columbia Heights, they're 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:04.399 always empty. I mean, I never see, like, impromptu 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.240 pickup games It's always got to be like organized 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:09.600 where you know, the parents are there and you 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:11.720 know, they got officials But we we were on our 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.179 own. We thought absolutely we learned how to 00:10:14.179 --> 00:10:16.960 work together and play together Just just get 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:20.700 may do with what we had. So, yeah, it's unfortunate 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:24.340 today's youth were dealt some not-so-good cards 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:26.559 either. I mean, you know, there's, you know, 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:29.799 a danger element that exists for kids being on 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.059 their own compared to, you know, earlier years 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:36.200 when the neighborhood trusted one another. And, 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:40.419 you know, so that was, you know, we were enabled. 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:43.340 Because of that degree of safety, whether or 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:46.879 not it actually existed, um, you know, the parents 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.360 felt safe to let their kids play on their own 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.620 and not have to worry about them. And it is a 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:54.399 different time. I acknowledge that, but it's, 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:57.100 you know, kids didn't have, we didn't have phones 00:10:57.100 --> 00:11:00.460 to keep us busy or video games. And our folks 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:02.759 would basically just, uh, tell us to go and play 00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:04.860 and then come home and it was dark out. Right. 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:06.659 We live by a park. I remember in Columbia Heights. 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:08.279 And when it got to be dark out, if we weren't 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:11.799 home yet, my dad could whistle, you know, and 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:14.019 we could hear his whistle like, you know, blocks 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:15.980 away so we knew it was time to get home. You 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:18.460 had better at that point. Different times, I 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:21.840 guess, in that respect. So interesting thing 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:23.799 about neighborhoods. I've mentioned in a previous 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:25.519 podcast, Jon, that in the neighborhood where 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.279 I grew up in Columbia Heights, about a mile north 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:31.059 from here, it was a golf course until the 1940s. 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:36.879 It was called Hilltop Golf Course. And because 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.120 you're from Northeast, Columbia Golf Course, 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.940 that's the one and only golf course in Northeast. 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:45.580 Did you ever golf there or did you ever go sledding 00:11:45.580 --> 00:11:49.539 there in the wintertime? At Columbia Park, absolutely. 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:55.779 I learned to golf. My first full round of golf 00:11:55.779 --> 00:12:01.940 at Columbia was a junior high school activity 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:06.929 day. They used to have, at Sheridan Junior High, 00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:11.090 they used to have a couple of activity days a 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:13.610 year where the students could sign up for whatever 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:16.730 interested them. There was probably 15 different 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:19.570 activities you could sign up for. And there would 00:12:19.570 --> 00:12:22.070 be a teacher or two or three that would lead 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:24.730 that particular activity. And I signed up for 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:31.100 the golf and our egg. activity leader for that 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:33.980 golf. And the guy that taught me to golf that 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:38.559 day was Jerry Wickman, who was a famous guy from 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:42.139 Columbia Heights. He was a pitcher that pitched 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:45.759 three time All -American for the Minnesota Gophers. 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:53.399 And on to play in the New York Yankees farm system. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.450 And I think he made it to AAA before he blew 00:12:56.450 --> 00:13:01.289 out his arm. Later on, he pitched for the Columbia 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:04.820 Heights town ball team and I think they... won 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.039 some championships with that. I remember reading 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.620 about that town baseball team with his kids. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:13.620 A really good team. But that's how you got introduced 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:16.679 to golf, then, through gym class. Well, actually, 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:19.340 Jerry Wickman was my math teacher, my algebra 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:22.899 teacher in junior high school and a really good 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:27.139 guy. He was a friend of my uncle's, knew him 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:30.360 well, so I knew him before I was ever a student 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:34.059 of his. Uh, super nice guy. Uh, good teacher, 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:36.120 too, by the way. Yep. And then the winter time, 00:13:36.139 --> 00:13:37.799 did you go there? They had some great hills. 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.940 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I used to occasionally 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:43.740 go there and slide. It wasn't a regular activity, 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:45.960 but I, you know, it's probably a couple dozen 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.679 times throughout my youth where I went, went 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:50.720 sliding. And you could walk there too. It wasn't 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:54.080 like you had to go across town. So in fact, one 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.600 time I, uh, I was sliding me and my sister, we 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:00.360 get dropped off there and I'm sliding down. This 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:03.509 would be kind of in the back of the park over 00:14:03.509 --> 00:14:06.809 by, I can't remember the name of the company, 00:14:07.490 --> 00:14:10.590 but Zalk Steel. Yeah, there's a Foley manufacturer. 00:14:10.870 --> 00:14:12.909 Yeah, Foley over by. Now it's a pickleball court 00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:16.009 and a whiskey distillery. That's the place. So 00:14:16.009 --> 00:14:18.870 we're sliding on the hill that goes toward Foley. 00:14:19.789 --> 00:14:25.029 Coming down the hill and I hit a tree. Ow! Oh, 00:14:25.230 --> 00:14:27.110 and it knocked the wind out of me and I'd never 00:14:27.110 --> 00:14:29.870 had that sensation in my life and there I'm lying, 00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:32.190 and I don't know what happened to me, but I feel 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:36.210 like I'm dying. And, uh, there just happened 00:14:36.210 --> 00:14:38.789 to be some Army Reserve guys there that were 00:14:38.789 --> 00:14:42.529 doing medical training, winter medical training, 00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:45.970 and they came running over and I was a real-life, 00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:49.549 uh, practice, uh, uh, for them. And did you break 00:14:49.549 --> 00:14:52.970 anything or not a concussion or no, no, I didn't 00:14:52.970 --> 00:14:56.139 hit my head. I hit my ribs, I guess, on the tree. 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.200 I must've moved my head at the last minute or 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:03.220 whatever, but, um, boy. That was quite a sensation. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:05.000 You'll never forget Columbia then, right? Yeah, 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.720 exactly. Did you know, Jon, I looked this up, 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:09.559 I guess, a couple of years ago, but did you know 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:12.679 that that whole area by the golf course was once 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.639 a lake? Yeah. Sandy Lake. Right. Like over on 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.580 the back night, over on the south end of the 00:15:18.580 --> 00:15:21.279 golf course. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I did. As a matter 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.779 of fact, there was a big article one time in 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.139 the Northeaster newspaper about that. Yep. I think 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:28.240 I probably saw the same article. Right. But every 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:29.759 time I drive by there, I'll think to myself, 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.980 actually a little beach or you know they're over 00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:34.960 a hundred years ago because the golf courses 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.659 have been there since like 1916. It's been a 00:15:38.659 --> 00:15:42.059 long time. It was improved by the WPA in the 00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:48.490 30s. Through the seventies, eighties into the 00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:51.309 nineties, before they kind of re -irrigated, 00:15:51.710 --> 00:15:54.110 it became perfectly clear that it was a lake. 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:56.809 Whenever it rained hard. I remember that some 00:15:56.809 --> 00:15:59.429 holes were just completely underwater. That whole 00:15:59.429 --> 00:16:02.789 end of the golf course was a lake for a few days. 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:04.370 You could see geese swimming on what was a fairway. 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:10.580 Well, that's just another example of why they 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:12.860 called Minneapolis the city of lakes, because 00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:15.759 there were so many of them. The city of inadvertent 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.529 lakes in that case. And just for the benefit 00:16:19.529 --> 00:16:21.850 of those of us, those who aren't from the area, 00:16:22.929 --> 00:16:24.629 you know, Minneapolis was called the "City of 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:26.429 Lakes." Yes. And, you know, that was a perfect 00:16:26.429 --> 00:16:28.629 name. And of course, the team that LeBron now 00:16:28.629 --> 00:16:32.129 plays for. Right. Before they moved to L.A., 00:16:32.129 --> 00:16:33.750 they were called the Minneapolis Lakers, and 00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:36.470 rightly so because of the lakes. So I got a sports 00:16:36.470 --> 00:16:38.309 trivia question, Jon, just thought of it today. 00:16:38.529 --> 00:16:42.250 Where was the last Minneapolis Lakers game played? 00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:52.490 And against which team? Well, it's a guess. I 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:54.409 know they certainly played some games in the 00:16:54.409 --> 00:16:56.649 Minneapolis Auditorium. They played some games 00:16:56.649 --> 00:17:02.210 in the Armory. I'm gonna guess the Armory. And 00:17:02.210 --> 00:17:06.480 let's see, what team would that have been? I 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:08.900 had to look this up. I know the year, but I didn't 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:11.319 remember the team. So they were a playoff team 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:14.500 often, you know, championship team many, many 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:17.640 times. So they were kind of winding down their 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:22.220 success, but maybe they were in the playoffs 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:25.539 then. I'm just going to take a guess and say 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:29.440 the Celtics. Well, you're close. They actually 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.359 did make the playoffs that year. Okay. And they 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.200 went to the Western Division finals. Okay. And 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:37.579 their last game at the Armory was against the 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.279 St. Louis Hawks. It was game six. Nice. And they 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.339 got wiped out. It was like one, I wrote it down 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:45.720 117 to 96. Elgin Baylor had like 38 points. 00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:48.079 He's a rookie that year. Right. And a guy named 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.900 Bob Pettit played for the St. Louis Hawks. I 00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:52.400 think he's in the Hall of Fame. He might be. 00:17:52.329 --> 00:17:54.809 But anyway, so they won the division finals and 00:17:54.809 --> 00:17:57.470 then they played the Celtics in the finals, but 00:17:57.470 --> 00:17:59.490 they lost that in seven games. So they're always 00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:02.690 good series. And I think that was Boston's second 00:18:02.690 --> 00:18:04.470 straight championship. And didn't they go on 00:18:04.470 --> 00:18:06.950 to win like nine or 10? I mean, that was in that 00:18:06.950 --> 00:18:08.829 era. They were starting that era. Bill Russell 00:18:08.829 --> 00:18:10.809 was playing and so on. But anyway, I thought 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:13.049 that was interesting. Just that little side about 00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:15.990 sports. So, yeah. Okay. Again, the name of this 00:18:15.990 --> 00:18:18.470 podcast is "Hangin' Out with Bob." I'm your host, 00:18:18.569 --> 00:18:20.970 Bob Edholm. And my guest today is Jon Lawrence, 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:27.390 my friend from Northeast Minneapolis. Um, I want 00:18:27.390 --> 00:18:29.990 to go back to Missouri again. You had mentioned, 00:18:30.009 --> 00:18:31.589 we've spoken before about this, but you told 00:18:31.589 --> 00:18:33.470 me that in that part of Missouri, where you played 00:18:33.470 --> 00:18:34.890 high school, there were actually some really 00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:37.250 good players like division one caliber where 00:18:37.250 --> 00:18:40.349 you played. Yeah, definitely. That was the one 00:18:40.349 --> 00:18:43.190 saving grace for me. You know, the, the huge 00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:46.849 culture shock. Um, I'll say that the area in 00:18:46.849 --> 00:18:50.180 Missouri where I lived was very religious, very 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:54.160 Baptist. And I don't think I ever knew a Baptist 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:56.799 in Minneapolis. You know, that was just wasn't, 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.200 wasn't the thing. Not that I didn't go to church, 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.339 you know, I went to, uh, Lutheran church when 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:06.099 I was a kid, that's really what my family's religion 00:19:06.099 --> 00:19:08.859 was. But all of my friends, all of my buddies, 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.119 all the kids that played sandlot baseball with 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.259 me were Catholic kids that went to Holy Cross 00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:18.119 School. And several of them were actually altar 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:20.799 boys. So I would go to church and watch them 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:32.450 serve. And sit up front. try to distract them 00:19:32.450 --> 00:19:41.650 and be mischievous. Here's a non-Polish Catholic 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:46.670 kid sitting in the front row making faces at 00:19:46.670 --> 00:19:50.869 the altar boys. That's hilarious. That's hilarious. 00:19:51.930 --> 00:19:56.569 So yeah, so back to the so I played football 00:19:56.569 --> 00:20:03.509 and I was pretty darn good at it. Actually played 00:20:03.509 --> 00:20:06.029 several sports but football was really what I 00:20:06.029 --> 00:20:09.329 was best at. You were lineman, right? I was a 00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:14.410 defensive and offensive tackle much better defensive 00:20:14.410 --> 00:20:19.509 player for some reason. And I was very proficient 00:20:19.509 --> 00:20:22.210 and I got to be friends with a lot of really 00:20:22.210 --> 00:20:24.410 good football players pretty quickly, actually 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:27.470 really good athletes. They were really good. 00:20:28.150 --> 00:20:30.950 So my best friend, my first best friend there, 00:20:31.390 --> 00:20:33.730 the first Black kid I really ever knew, his name 00:20:33.730 --> 00:20:37.930 was Joe Wright. His older brother, Felix Wright, 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:45.680 played for the Vikings. Although at the time 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:49.849 he was playing for Drake University. He led the, 00:20:50.029 --> 00:20:53.309 uh, NCAA in interceptions, uh, the year that, 00:20:53.309 --> 00:20:56.069 uh, one of the two years that I lived there in, 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:58.569 and, uh, there were four, I don't even know what 00:20:58.569 --> 00:21:01.569 division Drake University was then maybe division. 00:21:02.430 --> 00:21:04.250 Well, I remember they were Division One back, 00:21:04.329 --> 00:21:06.289 at least in the Seventies. And I remember Karl 00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:09.970 Kassulke from the Vikings. So I think they were, 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:12.250 yeah. Yeah. From the motorcycle accident, Mankato 00:21:12.250 --> 00:21:14.329 or I think down during like summer camp or whatever. 00:21:14.650 --> 00:21:16.589 But, um, yeah, they did have Division One. Then 00:21:16.589 --> 00:21:18.029 I think they dropped football for a while. I 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:19.710 don't know if he's back again. So maybe it was 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.950 Division One at the time. So anyway, but yeah, 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:25.069 really good. And, you know, obviously I followed 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:29.069 Drake because my friend's brother. Matter of 00:21:29.069 --> 00:21:34.390 fact, I appreciated a new style of music to me. 00:21:34.450 --> 00:21:39.089 Funk was introduced by Felix Wright's record 00:21:39.089 --> 00:21:46.670 collection. You know, of the mid- to late-seventies. 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:50.500 at several albums, and I really liked this music. 00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:52.160 What were a couple of the albums that you remember? 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:57.380 Let's see, there was some Rick James, Gap Band, 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:01.700 the Brothers Johnson, you know, several, you 00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:05.339 know. It was before hip hop. Oh, yeah. before 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:09.200 hip hop. In fact, hip hop happened. Sugarhill 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.940 Gang, I think, came out right before I moved 00:22:11.940 --> 00:22:15.480 back to Minnesota. So, you know, around 79 or 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.079 something like that. But yeah, but this was music 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.180 just before that era. I remember it well. I remember 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:24.539 Earth, Wind & Fire was real big in the mid- 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:28.380 seventies. Right. Yep. So that was, uh, that 00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:32.539 was my introduction to a different type of music 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:35.920 than just, you know, straight classic rock, uh, 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.079 you know, which I had listened to quite a bit. 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:43.599 Sure. Sure. Sure. Well, speaking of that, Jon, 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:45.279 and thanks for filling us in about Missouri. 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:47.460 That's cool. Um, the last thing I'm going to 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:49.920 talk about is your favorites, I guess, growing 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.700 up like, uh, your favorite TV show, the type 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:56.480 of music you listened to, maybe the best concert 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.460 you ever saw growing up, the teams that you followed 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:01.819 the closest. Just kind of get a flavor of what 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:05.079 you... what things you were interested in. So, 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:10.240 uh, huge, uh, Minnesota sports, uh, and Vikings, 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:14.079 North Stars, Twins, twins were really big for 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:17.880 me. I, uh, when I was, uh, around 13 years old, 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.359 Jimmy Carter was president. We had something 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:23.059 called the energy crisis going on at the time. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:26.019 And Carter was doing everything to keep people, 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:30.140 uh, conserving gas so they came out with a program 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:34.359 where they subsidized public transportation systems 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:37.059 and at the time if you were an adult you could 00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:49.200 ride the bus anywhere for a dime. Which was discounted, 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:51.660 I think from, from what it had been previously. 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:53.740 And if you were under 18, you could ride for 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:58.640 free. So, uh, by that time I was, you know, had 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:00.900 odd jobs, paper routes and things like that. 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:05.000 I had my own money. Um, so I, uh, would, would 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.859 hop the bus on 8th and Marquette in downtown 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:11.240 Minneapolis right on out to Met Stadium. And 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:15.740 I, I spent a whole summer, uh, going to Twins 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:19.910 games whenever I could. um you know Not too much 00:24:19.910 --> 00:24:22.529 night, night games, but if it was a twilight 00:24:22.529 --> 00:24:25.730 game or any afternoon game, I was definitely 00:24:25.730 --> 00:24:29.130 there. And even a twilight doubleheader, I might 00:24:29.130 --> 00:24:31.529 go see the first game or something like that. 00:24:31.609 --> 00:24:33.250 I still remember those afternoon games at Met 00:24:33.250 --> 00:24:35.309 Stadium. There's nothing better. I just used 00:24:35.309 --> 00:24:37.609 to love those afternoons. So what was the first, 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:40.009 um, record or album you ever bought? Who was 00:24:40.009 --> 00:24:43.349 it by? First album I bought with my own money, 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:49.059 I think was Dire Straits first album. "Sultans of Swing" 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:53.940 on it. I don't know. I liked music before that. 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.359 My folks would buy me albums. What kind of stuff 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:02.299 would you have? I had quite an extensive collection 00:25:02.299 --> 00:25:09.400 of Queen albums. I can remember the evening at 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.200 the "nut house," the Northeast Neighborhood House, 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:14.400 which was a settlement house in our neighborhood 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.559 that had an open gym. The first time I heard 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.619 "Bohemian Rhapsody" and I was transfixed. I was 00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:26.019 like, what is that music? And that's the first 00:25:26.019 --> 00:25:28.559 place I heard it. And I was an instant Queen 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:33.279 fan. And so my folks would buy me every new Queen 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:35.319 album that would come out, which was usually 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:39.670 Christmas time. So what, what TV shows do you 00:25:39.670 --> 00:25:41.849 remember watching? You know, just for the benefit 00:25:41.849 --> 00:25:43.670 of our younger listeners, we couldn't stream 00:25:43.670 --> 00:25:46.170 back then. Uh, you basically had like three or 00:25:46.170 --> 00:25:48.289 four channels to watch and you had to watch it 00:25:48.289 --> 00:25:50.109 when it was on. You couldn't say, "I'll tape it 00:25:50.109 --> 00:25:51.630 and watch it later." You had to, but do you remember 00:25:51.630 --> 00:25:56.109 like, what was "must-see" TV? Well, so, um, other 00:25:56.109 --> 00:26:00.250 than sports, which I watched a lot, um, my big 00:26:00.250 --> 00:26:03.170 favorite was "The Rockford Files." Oh, I'm still 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:05.250 a big fan of "The Rockford Files," even though 00:26:05.250 --> 00:26:07.880 I think it's one of the, uh, better TV shows 00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:12.359 ever made. If you have seen "The Sopranos," it's 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:15.579 essentially the same concept. In fact, David 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:17.819 Chase was one of the writers for "The Rockford 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:21.799 Files," and the guy that created "The Rockford 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:26.220 Files" was a writer and had an important job on 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:28.700 "Maverick," the TV show. And that's, that's where 00:26:28.700 --> 00:26:34.880 it started. So you take a typical cliched type. 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:39.920 like a cowboy-Maverick-and you, and the character 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:43.920 plays against the, against the stereotype. So, 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:48.640 so Maverick was a guy that. got out of situations, 00:26:48.700 --> 00:26:52.079 not by gunfights, but by fast-talking his way 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.960 out of things and running scams. And Rockford 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:56.880 was kind of the same way. You know, we'd had 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.299 Sam Spade, the macho detective type and a hundred 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:04.680 copies of Sam Spade. And here's Rockford, who 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:06.759 admits in the first episode, he doesn't want 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:08.480 to fight a guy because he doesn't want to get 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:15.140 beat up. Same kind of thing. And "The Sopranos," 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:17.559 uh, little, slightly different, but kind of the 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:20.559 same. So you take this typical mafia boss and 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.779 all the, you know, the stereotypical, you know, 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.960 "godfather" guy. Well, here's this guy who's this 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:29.299 big bad mafioso guy who has to deal with his 00:27:29.299 --> 00:27:31.880 pain-in-the-ass wife and daughter and mother 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:35.819 and all the typical stuff that a suburban dad 00:27:35.819 --> 00:27:38.460 has to deal with. He has to deal with. And, you 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:40.960 know, that doesn't make it to the godfather or 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:43.680 whatever, you know, so that that's kind of. concept 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:46.480 was this, you know, take the stereotypical character 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:48.920 and then, you know, play him against type. "The 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:51.039 Rockford Files." That was one of your favorite 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.480 TV shows growing up. What was the first concert 00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:57.519 you ever saw? Do you remember? There was a couple 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.779 of them, but I can't remember what the groupings 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:01.859 were. There was a couple of them at Met Stadium. 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.720 Okay. Or Outdoors, you mean? Outdoors, Met Stadium, 00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:07.720 you know, the base. It wasn't that Eagles concert? 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:12.119 Eagles. There was an Eagles one. I remember seeing 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:16.349 the Eagles, Steve Miller, Pablo Cruise. Yeah. 00:28:17.029 --> 00:28:19.529 And I don't know if those were all in the same 00:28:19.529 --> 00:28:20.990 concert. I think that was all one. There were 00:28:20.990 --> 00:28:24.029 like sixty-some thousand fans. Yeah, yeah. It was 00:28:24.029 --> 00:28:26.549 huge. And what a party in the parking lot. I 00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:29.750 can imagine. You know, the Met Stadium was special 00:28:29.750 --> 00:28:33.819 because. It was open parking, one parking lot, 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:36.500 not like, not like the downtown stadiums that 00:28:36.500 --> 00:28:39.180 we have now was one parking lot and that parking 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:42.559 lot wasn't part of it. No matter what, no matter 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.380 what the sporting event was. Yeah, it certainly 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:47.480 was. Okay. Again, the name of this podcast is 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.619 "Hangin' Out with Bob." I'm your host, Bob Edholm. 00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:51.599 And my guest today is Jon Lawrence, my friend 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:57.279 from Northeast Minneapolis. This is a blast, 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.079 Jon. It's fun talking about, or fun hearing 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.339 your story, I guess. Listen, growing up in Northeast 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:03.339 Minneapolis, like where I've lived most of my 00:29:03.339 --> 00:29:05.680 life. So, um, and I think we've just scratched 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:07.740 the surface. I mean, we've talked about this 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:09.980 outside the podcast that we could do, uh, and 00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:12.200 we will, we'll do podcasts about music. More 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:14.240 than that, we can talk more about Minnesota sports 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.000 teams, how they've broken our hearts over the 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.299 years. We can go on and on about that, but that'll 00:29:19.299 --> 00:29:22.859 be fun. So, okay. Well, that's about all we have 00:29:22.859 --> 00:29:25.039 time for today, but I want to thank you again, 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:27.700 Jon, for coming here. I appreciate it. Glad. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:29.799 Thanks for the invitation. It's always fun to 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:35.980 get together. You know, I've got so many friends 00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:38.480 or people in mind that I want to have on future 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:40.599 guests as well. Again, we'll get together with 00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:42.799 Jon again, but I've got family. I've got friends, 00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:44.900 people that I grew up with, people that I've 00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:46.640 worked with in the past, people I've had lunch 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:48.859 with, people I've drunk beer with, that I 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:51.119 want to be able to have on future podcasts. So 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:53.099 again, thanks again to Jon Lawrence for coming 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:55.559 here today. And to our listeners, we hope you'll 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:58.380 be back for another person's story on another episode 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:00.960 of "Hangin' Out with Bob." And until then, 00:30:03.819 --> 00:30:04.299 Bye-eeee!