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NEW ULM -- A memorial rock will be dedicated in Turner Hall Park Saturday, Nov. 19 for long-time manager, the late Richard Runck.
The 4:30 p.m. dedication including an oak tree and engraved rock is part of the Stiftungsfest (Turner Hall Founder's Day) celebrating the history of Turner Hall.
Following a 5 p.m. social hour, and a 6 p.m. meal, Dr. Daniel Groebner will present the history of Turner Hall Theater at 7 p.m.
Runck was a New Ulm High School graduate who studied poultry science at the University of Minnesota and served six years in the Minnesota National Guard. After college, he worked four years for the Armour Co. in St. Paul before returning to New Ulm in 1964.
For most of the next decade, he raised turkeys on the family farm.
He began managing Turner Hall on an interim basis in 1978. He continued working there for decades.
"I was brought up around the history of this place, so I guess I'm more concerned about this place," Runck said an April 25, 1988 New Ulm Post Review story with a headline that read "Rich Runck: Sparkplug of Turner Hall."
"There's no other organization like the Turners nationally. It's success is due to the people in New Ulm that kept it going. Credit it to plain, hard dedication," he added.
Richard said Turner Hall made a positive contribution to New Ulm, helping bring money to the community.
It's not easy cooking for several hundred people eating in two parts of Turner Hall at the same time.
According to an Aug. 29, 2004 story in The Journal written by Kremi Spengler, Runck was trying to fix a short in a big fryer decades ago that knocked him off his chair. At the same time, a small fryer Turner Lady "Porky" Reinarts was using as a replacement, burst into flames.
Runck ran Turner Hall "with a pencil in one hand and a wrench in the other" as he described it.
Turner Hall has fed a number of distinguished guests to say the least. The list includes governors, a Catholic bishop and members of the U.S. Congress, the German Bundestag and the German Ambassador to the United States.
Runck died at 83 on May 12, 2021 at his home.
(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@
nujournal.com).