Mountain Lake Area Chamber organizes Sunflower/Customer Appreciation Day
Mountain Lake’s Sunflower Day and Customer Appreciation Day was celebrated Monday evening, August 24, with a variety of events in Mountain Lake City Park.
The Mountain Lake Lions Club served up a polish sausage supper in the park’s picnic shelter, while the Mountain Lake Area Chamber of Commerce held a banana split social in the city park gazebo.
In addition, there was a sunflower seed spitting contest in the park, with prizes awarded.
Sponsoring businesses included Maynard’s, Our Hometown Café, United Prairie Bank, Peterson Drug & Gifts, Country Pride True Value, Ten Thousand Villages/Care & Share, KDOM Radio, JSK Bridal, Mountain Lake Floral and the Observer/Advocate.
The special day was organized by the Mountain Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
The city’s close connection to the sunflower began when the “original” Mountain Lake was drained in 1905-1906. That lake was located two miles southeast of the city, and was a mud-bottomed body of water that featured three islands and was more a slough on its west side.
Draining of the lake was done in order to create more tillable agricultural land. That land was first farmed as a spot in which to grow vegetables for the now-long-gone canning factory.
It was later used as the prime location to grow sunflower, whose seeds were locally roasted, salted and turned into sunflower seeds.
These seeds, popular during the mid-to-late ’20s and throughout the ’30s into the early ’40s – were the innovation of the ingenious George P. Neufeld and Reinhold Rupp. Neufeld owned the Mountain Lake Variety Store (later the Ben Franklin Store) and opened up The Electric Roaster Shop in the rear of the building. (Today, Mountain Lake Floral is located in that building.)
Rupp handled the roasting duties, while Neufeld was the marketer, sending the finished product out in vending machines across Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and part of Montana. (One of those vending machines is on display in the depot at Heritage Village.)
They were originally known by their “old country” Russian/Low German name – “knack seeds” – as well as Russian peanuts, but a contest in the local newspaper came up with a new twist. Neufeld settled on the suggested Latin name, “solflora seeds” – “sol” that comes from solar (the sun) which described the flowers’ bright yellow color and “flora” for flower.
In the biggest year for the business, 42,000 pounds of seeds were roasted and salted.
Eventually, the business was sold to the Fisher Nut Company – and became popular as sunflower seeds.
Following is a photo gallery covering the events from the evening:
