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Above an ordinary door in a busy hallway at Chisago Lakes High School you’ll see the simple words: Alumni Room. Tucked in a small room just beyond that door lie a rainbow of school colors, a wealth of memories, and 150 years of history of the Chisago Lakes School District and its predecessors, the Chisago City, Taylors Falls and Lindstrom-Center City-Shafer schools. The next time you see that door open, you’re invited to stop in.    

“People who visit the room often are surprised to learn that Chisago City and Lindstrom once had separate high schools,” says LouAnn Mattson. Mattson and Noel Stensrud, both of Lindstrom, have been the key movers behind the Alumni Room project. Both women serve on the board of the Chisago Lakes Area Community Foundation. Utilizing space provided by the school, the Foundation created the Alumni Room in 2010 “to celebrate the rich history of education in the Chisago Lakes area.”  It is only one of many local Foundation-sponsored projects. (See sidebar.)

In the Alumni Room you’ll find memorabilia from the earliest one-room schools, the Lindstrom-Center CIty-Shafer School (known as Chi Hi), the early Chisago City Schools and the modern-day Chisago Lakes Area Schools—from the era of the Trojans to the Wildcats.

“When we started, we were inspired by the extensive alumni room at the Taylors Falls School,” says Mattson.

Mattson, a retired Lakeside Elementary School teacher who grew up in Chisago City, is the daughter of long-time Chisago City football coach Jim Molnar. She began by contributing many items from her family collection as well as items she unearthed from school district storerooms. As alumni became aware of the room, they began donating personal treasures tucked away in attics, closets and cedar chests.

Today the Alumni Room in Lindstrom displays everything from basketball and band uniforms to letter sweaters and pep club beanies, from fascinating photographs (some begging to be identified) to a collection of school newsletters and yearbooks dating back to the 1950s. A bright array of school colors cover the walls—the red and white of the former Chisago City Indians on one wall, the blue and gold of the Chi Hi Bulldogs on another, the green and gold of the Chisago Lakes Wild Cats on the third and the blue and white of the Taylors Falls Bluejays on the fourth.

The oldest item in the Alumni Room collection is a 154-year-old document written in English and Swedish recording the organization of the Franconia school in 1861. Other printed items in the archives include early day teachers’ contracts, one-act play books and handwritten commencement programs contributed by alumni spanning three generations. Among the most unique pieces on display are the dress and homemade cape worn by the Chi Hi Homecoming Queen of 1935.

Donations of time, money and memorabilia make the Alumni Room possible. Mattson points out that cash donations can be made in honor of a graduate or retiree of the school district, or in memory of departed alumni. Honored persons’ names are then displayed on the Alumni Room wall. Proceeds of these donations go into the Foundation’s Chisago Lakes School Endowment Fund. (See sidebar.) When it comes to donations of memorabilia, Mattson says anything and everything is welcome. “We’ll accept any items related to the local schools, including photographs,” she says. “We are especially looking for school newsletters and yearbooks published prior to 1950.”

Donations to the Alumni Room can be dropped off at the Chisago Lakes Area Chamber office at Linden Street and Highway 8 in Lindstrom during regular business hours.

“We try to open the Alumni Room to the public during special events at the school, and we would like to have it open more often,” says Mattson. “This month we’ll have the room open at the Fall Musical if we can find enough volunteers to staff it.” If you would like to assist with the Alumni Room, call Mattson at 651-257-6270.

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