Maple Lake Lumber Co. turns 50

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Fifty years ago Ken Hennen and his wife, Marge, took a leap of faith when they bought the Maple Lake Lumber Company from the Salzer Lumber Co.
That was back when lumber was delivered by train and in the winter coal sold better than 2x4s.
Ken was a manager for Salzers in his hometown of Watkins until he was transferred to the company’s Maple Lake site. In the mid-1960s Salzer began selling lumber yards, which they owned throughout Minnesota and North Dakota.
Ken had only six years experience under his belt when Salzer owners offered to sell him the business.
“We had no other place to go, so we thought we would give it a try,” Ken said.
That was 1965, the winters were harsh, and the lack of machinery made the work backbreaking.
“Come winter, we didn’t sell a 2×4. It was coal or nothing,” Ken said. “When it froze that was it.
“We had to haul everything by hand. We were in heaven when we got that Weber (fork lift), we could pick up anything.”
The Hennens not only made it through those first tough winters, they turned the business into a thriving one.
Today three generations of Hennens have worked in the local lumber yard and the family-run business is still going strong under the direction of Ken and Marge’s son, Daryl, and his wife, Kathy.
More information appears in this week's Messenger.

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