The Music Runs Deep

 

For Arland Folstad of Spring Grove, music has always been a cherished hobby, though his primary career was farming.

Music runs deep in the Folstad family.

Ninety-two-year-old Folstad, of Norwegian descent, was born to Martin and Olga (Klegseth) Folstad. Among his siblings were Elmer, recognized for playing the piano with the Cutters; Beatrice, Melvin, Maynard, who played with the Hesper Hay Stackers in 1951; and Charles (Chuck) who played the trumpet. Arland, the youngest of the six kids played the piano, organ, tenor saxophone, keyboard, drums, accordion and harmonica. He also played the guitar but does not have calluses on his fingers to play the guitar on a regular basis. While he hasn’t composed songs, his musical repertoire is extensive as evidenced by the large binder with all his sheet music.

Arland proudly shared a newspaper clipping announcing his father, Martin Folstad, as the winner of Old Fiddlers’ Meet in Decorah. Martin competed against 89 other old-timers.

Married to Lillian Berquam, the couple have two daughters, Carolyn Folstad Haugstad (Carrie), married to Keith, and Judy Folstad-Berg. His granddaughter Emily, and two great-granddaughters, Ella and Amina enrich his life.

Lillian started performing with her husband in 2014 and he has also performed with his daughters.

Arland attended first through eighth grades in Hesper, where he earned his nickname Ockie. Doris Foltz, a student, was known for giving rhyming nicknames to the students, such as Ockie and Jockie, which proved to be a fitting start for a future musician to receive his moniker.

Ockie and his brother Chuck took piano lessons one summer from Alice Selness, who lived on the Stateline Road between Hesper and Mabel. Ockie read from his journal that the lessons cost 50 cents each. Additionally, he took piano lessons from John Bates of Caledonia for approximately six years. Bates conducted lessons at various homes in the Hesper and Mabel area, including those of Norvel and Verna Burreson south of Hesper, Inga Burreson in Hesper, and Clifford Johnson in Mabel. Bates sometimes visited Martin and Olga home northeast of Hesper to give lessons. Ockie mentioned his participation in the Mabel High School band and recalled receiving a tenor saxophone at that time. After taking just six lessons, he got on the “A” band and continued with lessons after that. He had three band teachers and one part-time director during his high school years, graduating from Mabel High School on June 2, 1950.

Ockie keeps a detailed list of all the towns he has played in. Forty-three communities of the communities he has played in are located in the Fillmore County Journal’s distribution area.

He also keeps a three-ring binder filled with sheet music. Ockie is known for playing religious, polka, western/country, and waltz music. He reads music and plays by ear.

In 2015, he played 21 gigs in one month for a yearly total of 126 gigs. At 92, he is still playing at least once a month.

The list of venues and events he has played at include barn dances, shed dances, senior proms, fly-in breakfasts, outdoor church services, nursing homes, retirement parties, birthday parties, wedding receptions, Music in the Park events, supper clubs, ballrooms, the Rochester Golf Course & Country Club, airports, senior meal sites, schools and churches, the Minnesota State Fair, and the International Farm Shows in Granite Falls, Minn., Hastings, Minn., and Nowthen, Minn.

Fillmore County Journal readers will recognize the names of the bands and members Ockie has played with, including the Hesper Hay Shakers (Marvin Folstad and Joyce (Folstad) Bjerke of Hesper); Bob Merry Makers (Bob Vang of Hesper, Leo Willson of Hesper, Clarence Remick of Mabel), and Charlie Hagen of Mabel; Andy and Arland Band (Boyd Anderson of Spring Grove); Starlite Trio (Boyd Anderson and Glen Alstad of Spring Grove); Gordy Tangen of Dorchester); Starliters (Glen Alstad of Spring Grove); One Man Polka Band; Mabel Grenadiers sponsored by the Mabel Legion; The Toe Tappers of Waukon; Lee Hall Band of Canton; and Little Tom’s Band of Cresco.

Ockie said, “I would play with different bands in the same week sometimes.”

Memorable moments for Ockie included playing at the Hesper Centennial in 1951 with the Hesper Hay Shakers.

He was proud to play at the Omni Center in Onalaska, Wis., when his son-in-law Keith and members of the 458th Ordnance Company were celebrated with a homecoming celebration following a 10-month deployment in Kuwait. The event was broadcast live on WKBT. Keith’s wife Carrie added, “The entire unit returned home safely.”

Judy credits her dad’s youthful vigor to his enduring passion for music, with Carrie adding that lifting all these instruments has also been beneficial. Ockie continues to set up his own equipment, including an amplifier that weighs around 50 pounds.

For 92-year Ockie Folstad, music isn’t just a pastime – it’s a lifelong symphony of dedication and joy.