An Active Ballroom and Historic Church; The Story of St. Anna

St. Anna is a small town tucked between St. Anna, Holdingford and Albany in Central Minnesota.  The town is unincorporated and located along County Roads 9 and 154 in Stearns County.  To help tell the story of St. Anna I was joined by longtime residents Ron and Patty Schminda and Alan and Leroy Dobis.

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St. Anna, like much of Central Minnesota was settled in the late 1800s with the first settlers coming mostly from Poland in 1869.  The Church of the Immaculate Conception is on the National Register of Historic Places.  The first church was built out of wood in 1887 but Alan Dobis explained it burned down due to a furnace fire and the one that is standing today was built in 1902.  He says the cemetery was moved 300 to 400 feet east to accommodate the new church.  Dobis says the church that is standing today was made out of stone and brick so it wouldn't burn down again.

St. Anna didn't have a blacksmith, or lumberyard but they did have the St. Anna store which had groceries, farm supplies, tools and many other things.  Alan Dobis indicated it was a gathering place that also had a dance hall upstairs.  St. Anna used to have a bar across the road from the church and a 2-story schoolhouse as well.  The schoolhouse building is still standing today but has been converted into apartments.  The schoolhouse had a gym on the lower floor with 2 classroom up above.  St. Anna used to have 2 options for gas. One was at the St. Anna store and the other was across the road where the current St. Anna convenience store is located.

St. Anna like many small communities in Stearns County had many people making moonshine.  Dobis says due to the difficult economic times in the 1930s people had to find a way to make it financially.  He explains the area suffered through drought at that time and dealt with the depression.  Moonshine presented an opportunity to make some money. Dobis says many people in the area cooked moonshine but also spend some time in the Federal prison when they were caught.

Another big part of the community of St. Anna is the Pelican Lake ballroom just down the road from the church and the store along the shores of Pelican Lake.  The longtime owners of the ballroom are Pat and Ron Schminda.  Ron's parents owned the Pelican Lake Ballroom before Ron and Pat took it over in 1974.  He says his parents bought the ballroom in 1938.  Ron's parents also owned and operated the former St. Anna Store next to the church.  Many communities had dance halls and ballrooms but lots of them didn't last.  Ron and Patty say hard work and changing from old time dancing to hosting weddings and events has helped them survive over the years.  Pelican Lake ballroom continues to do a Tuesday chicken fry every week and hosts weddings and events.

In 1980 the ballroom was host to professional wrestler Kenny "Sodbuster" Jay.  Ron recalls the wrestling event being a lot of fun and Kenny won his match.  Kenny was from just north of St. Anna and he graduated from Holdingford High School.  Jumping Jim Brunzell was also at the event at Pelican Lake Ballroom in 1980.

If you'd like to listen to my full conversations with Pat and Ron Schminda and Alan and Leroy Dobis they are available below.

Alan and Leroy Dobis

Pat and Ron Schminda