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The Lehners Continued |
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Dedicated to the sunshine of truth, the moonshine of meeting deadlines, and the starshine of Victoria. |
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How did he become equipped for design work? “I had drafting in high school and took home classes,” he replied. “It came natural to me.” After ten years in design, Al made a bold move. “I went into the Sales Manager’s Office and told them I wanted to be a salesman and get commission. They wanted to keep me in design because I was good at it, but finally they said yes.” Said Louise, “In the late ‘70’s Al was rocking and rolling in the business and we had an opportunity to buy a place in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. We went there for winter vacations each year with our three girls -- Mary, Kim, and Gina. In 1979 Tanya was born, ten years after Gina. Tanya made our family complete. In 1981 we took the whole family for a month long vacation in Hawaii over Christmas. Can you imagine that? A whole month in Hawaii! We will always treasure that time. Those were great years.” Liberty Carton became Al’s occupational home for 41 years. “It’s a good company,” stated the super salesman. “Everybody that started there was there when I retired in 2004,” he said. “I retired on July 30th, 2004.” *** The Lehners had their first three daughters while living in New Hope. “I did hair in my shop in that first house and then I told Al I wanted a porch,” said Louise. “He said when I have the cold hard cash he’ll build me a porch. So I did hair every day and sold Mary Kay every evening. I held ten Mary Kay parties in one week and made $1,000. I took ten $100 bills and rolled them up into a frozen pea box, gave it to Al and said, ‘Start building the porch!’ He did. It had a cedar roof and was all screened. The kids loved it, but I thought it was time to move.” “I barely had the last nail pounded in the porch,” said Carpenter Al. “So every Sunday I checked the papers and finally found a house in Excelsior, a block off Lake Minnewashta. It was so pathetic, but the location was attractive. There was pea green shag carpet in the kitchen -- shag! -- and a bedroom was painted purple. The grass was three feet tall. But I told Al I had it all redecorated in my mind. I learned from the neighbors it was built well and it just needed cosmetic things. Al worked hard on it and it became a great home. We lived there ten years.” Then it was time to move again. Grass doesn’t grow three feet tall under Louise. This is when the Lehners found Victoria. It was 1990. Louise tells the story. “In addition to hunting and fishing, Al always enjoyed golf and he brought me out here to show me where the Deer Run Golf Course was getting underway. He showed me the lot where he thought we should build a house. I said to him, ‘We’re going to live out here with the oak trees and the cow pies? Really? No!” But Louise had a change of mind. “I had gone to a Parade Home,” she explained, “and I was telling them that Al liked golf and the realtor said he had a perfect spot for us. I couldn’t believe that he brought me to Deer Run and to the same lot! But the price was high. Al said to me, ‘We have three kids in college. How are we going to pay for it?’” Then Al went hunting (again) and the CEO bought the lot. “I put $500 down and told them to hold it for me,” said Louise, “that I needed some time to work on it. Then Al comes home from hunting and says, ‘Maybe we should buy that lot after all.’ I told him somebody had already bought it. He was heartbroken. Then I told him it was me.” Says Al today, “The CEO made another decision without the president.”
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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November 2014 |
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Al and Louise in a 1983 family photo. Tanya, left, and Gina in the front. Mary, left, and Kim in back. |