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Violet Norelius is experiencing mixed emotions. She's eager to hang family photos and art on the blank walls of her new townhome, and she is making plans to spiff up her patio next spring. But she's also a little down about having to leave behind her home of over 50 years. It was splendid to live there, on Bull Lake, embraced by acres of nature, good fishing practically out the back door, deer to feed and birds too numerous to count.

The city of Lindstrom now officially owns 17 acres of property where Violet and her husband Ted spent their lives together. While it was a cooperative, friendly sale and one that Violet thinks makes good sense for both herself and for the public-- it was a life-changing decision.

Ted Norelius acquired the land, used as cattle pasture, around 1945-46 and set to building a home. Ted's mother Martha E. Youngberg-Norelius had died in 1939 and Ted and his two brothers found themselves in charge of the local newspaper that their father once ran.

The Norelius family goes way back in local lore.

Ted's grandfather Eric Norelius is said to have handled the real estate dealings when Daniel Lindstrom acquired papers establishing what is now Lindstrom. Grandfather Norelius also was among the founders of Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in 1854.

Marion Sigfrid (Sig) Norelius, Eric's son and Ted's father, carried on the activist leadership exhibited by his family, and took over the local newspaper from Sam Ringquist in 1908. "Sig" had already worked for daily newspapers in Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Violet recalls she and Ted would "relax" at the end of their work day, by planting trees, adding, "You'd buy hundreds of tiny trees from a government program back then." Anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 trees were set in place by Ted and Violet. Besides the site's woodlands, the property is also special because it wasn't mowed down or overly manicured; beachfront mostly consists of cattails and native plants.

"Ted always said never sell Bull Lake until you are sure it's the right thing, that it's what you want," Violet shared.

She said this purchase offer, sanctioned by this group of city officials, and at this particular time, felt right. She said the current city administrator for Lindstrom has "vision" and the parcel will be treated appropriately.

Her ideal is that her old home site could be kept fairly wild and used for passive recreation, and something that preserves and respects Lindstrom history. The day will come, she continued, when city kids won't see or touch massive trees or glimpse certain birds unless they encounter them in a preserved space.

Violet mused, "Ted loved the outdoors, he'd be very proud of this." Then, as if not to jinx anything, she quietly said it would be nice if the site could be called something like Norelius Park.

The Lindstrom Parks Commission has briefly discussed the future of the site. The members recommended back in May, before the purchase was approved, that it could be a nature area and Swedish Heritage Center of some type. The Lindstrom Parks Commission is most-interested in the property for its historic character, representing the original environment of this area and for its owners' roles in settling and promoting this region.

City Administrator John Olinger said the parks group has only just started "brainstorming" on the future best uses for the site. There is not a name selected for the site.

Violet and Ted were well-known in this community.

She held elected office for 11 years as county treasurer and he was publisher and editor of the Chisago County Press from 1932, until he sold the paper in 1965. Ted died in 1993.

Violet said many dignitaries, especially Swedish visitors (Ted was Knighted by the King of Sweden in 1961) enjoyed Bull Lake hospitality. The coffee pot was always on.

She feels fortunate to have had Bull Lake to call home, and her great desire is that future generations enjoy it as well.

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