For rural young folk of the past, ‘coming home’ was much more than Friday night lights on the gridiron

by Kim Pederson
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This closeup photo of 1956 PRHS Homecoming Queen Donna Larson (Haugrud) radiates the natural beauty of young women and the elegance of homecoming coronations back in the day. Her simple crown and scepter made me smile, probably made by the art and home-ec classes. I recognized this young woman because she would marry Wayne Haugrud, raise her family here, and teach Sunday School at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pelican Rapids in the 1970s. I was in her 8th-grade class. She made me think the man hanging on the Cross might be someone I wanted to know better. Maybe that’s why I think she looks like an angel, or at least a fairy godmother.


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