Arlene Hagen, who turned 100 Aug. 27, 2021 and Mae Brekken, who turns 100 on Dec. 21, 2021, rode in a golf cart in the parade that drew several hundred people to the town on the Brown and Watonwan County line.

Both women outlived their husbands by a good number of years and both formerly worked at the historical Godahl store. They attribute their longevity to different things.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t expect to live this long by any means,” said Brekken who grew up on a farm about 2 1/2 miles west of nearby La Salle.

“I grew up on a farm, but I never milked a cow until I got married,” Brekken said.

Godahl Day Parade Grand Marshalls and centenarians from left, Mae Brekken; and Arlene Hagen of Godahl talk about how they have lived so long Monday.

Her husband Adolph helped found the organization that has supported Godahl baseball and softball teams for many decades and continues to be a part of the parade.

Mae Brekken said she played catcher and left field for Godahl female softball teams in her younger years.

She admits she’s a bit careful about what she drinks.

“I don’t drink coffee or tea. Just milk and water,” said Brekken.

Arlene Hagen is the sister of the late Dick Hudson of New Ulm who was inducted into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 2012. Hudson also owned the Red Onion drive-in restaurant in New Ulm.

A number of antique cars were part of the Godahl Day parade Monday.

“I lived a good life. I’ve lived in Godahl most all my life,” Hagen said.

She and her husband Stanley were married for 72 years. He died at age 98 four years ago.

“I eat and drink about whatever I want,” Hagen said.

An historic consumers’ cooperative general store established in Godahl in 1894, the Godahl Store closed Dec. 31, 2016 but continues to be used as a children’s daycare, owned by Amy Hanson of Godahl.

The Godahl Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as the Nelson and Albin Cooperative Mercantile Association Store for its significance to commerce.

Harley Blackstad of Garden City returned to his hometown to watch the parade and talked about how valuable the Godahl Store was.

“I remember I couldn’t find a farm sprayer part in St. James but the Godahl Store had it,” said Blackstad who formerly farmed near Godahl.

Blackstad said one thing not commonly known by outsiders about the Godahl Store was that Melvin Nundahl operated a barber shop in the store basement for many years and was considered an excellent barber.

A one-story, wood-frame warehouse stills stands behind the store with a false front and gable roof.

Isolated from the nearest towns by a day’s wagon ride, local residents, mostly Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the 1870s, had limited access to distribute their agricultural products or buy manufactured goods. They created a cooperative business in 1891, establishing a creamery across the county road from where the store is located.

The creamery was such a success, the Nelson and Albin Cooperative Mercantile Association was created on April 20, 1894. Shares sold for $20 each.

Completed in August 1894, the store stocked groceries, dry goods, and tools. It bought local produce and resold goods acquired in St. James and La Salle.

A year later, a warehouse was added behind the store to stock hardware including nails and fencing.

The store served as the local post office and became a gathering place for meetings and social events. One of the first telephones in the area was installed in the store in 1905. A branch of the Watonwan County Library system was later added.

The creamery failed in 1956 as dairy farming dwindled in the area. The mercantile bought the creamery building as a warehouse for feed, seed, and fertilizer.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nu

journal.com).