One of the residents
on the top floor was Joe Welk. He was a
cousin to Lawrence Welk. In the late
20’s and early 30’s. Lawrence Welk was not the celebrity he became later on. He
would stay with Joe while his band was performing in the Minot area and many
times at the Pavilion in Riverside Park, now Roosevelt Park. One of the early tenants
lived in one of the basement apartments. She knew him only as Larry, cousin to
Joe. She told my wife that Larry was always trying to get people to his dances,
but she said “he wasn’t that good” so they usually did not go. Years later she
realized that the Larry she knew, was actually Lawrence Welk. Joe Welk kicked
Larry out as he would run up Joe’s phone bill trying to book his band in the
northern part of the state, but never repaid Joe for the long distance calls.
This was verified by Lloyd Heusers, a former teacher at Minot High and long
time member of the Minot Park Board. As a child he lived in the house just west
of our house. His father was a cab driver and a good friend of Lawrence Welk
Pictured is the house as it is today
No comments:
Post a Comment