The first impression of Hannaford that Mabel Boe, nee Ronnie, had was a memorable one. It was Easter time, 1910. Arriving from Wisconsin, along with her sister Betsy (Later Mrs. C. B. Kjelgaard), attired in the finest spring fashions from LaCrosse millinery and dress shops, she stepped from the train into a howling blizzard! That Easter storm was enough to prompt most "Easterners" to purchase a return trip ticket at once. But Mabel Ronnie was determined and she adopted the bustling prairie village as her new home.
Employed by the Nordeng and Alm Hotel, Mabel grew to like the community and its people. Frequently she looked from windows of the hotel across the small ravine and admired the neat house on the hill overlooking Bald Hill Creek. This was considered to be the first house in Hannaford and was known as the Groven house for its owners. The spacious lot was carefully landscaped and completely surrounded by a double row of trees and a hedge of caragana. Board sidewalks led from the gate to the front and side porches. Mabel envied the people who lived there, not dreaming that that house was to become a big part of her life, her own home for more than half a century.
On August 2, 1911, Mabel married Swen Boe. He was son of Nicholai Boe of Cooperstown and was then a grocery clerk at the Hannaford Mercantile Store. He later was a traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery company and later an automobile dealer. As a mechanical designer he invented and patented such things as a new type of road grader, an early camper-trailer, and several auto accessories. He passed away suddenly in California in 1968.
It was in 1917, after an interim of farming near Hannaford and Dazey that Mabel and Swen moved back into town and into the Groven house. Seven children were born to this couple. All are still living. They are:
1. Norman, a retired United States Meat Inspector, lives with his wife Martha in St. Paul, Minnesota They have two children.
2. Junice (Mrs. Robert Garross) an employee of Boeing Aircraft, lives in Seattle. She is a widow and has two children.
3. Selmer, known as Sam, has four children and lives with his wife Jean in Fort Worth, Texas where he is a school custodian after many years of doing construction work.
4. Myrtle lives in Saratoga, California with her husband H. Sterling Gladwin, a retired scientific engineer.
5. Orvil, retired from the United States Army, lives in Tacoma, Washington with his wife Muriel.
6. Eldred, retired after a career in grocery store management, lives with his wife Theresa in Seattle, Washington. They have four children.
7. Eldora married Russell Christianson and lives in Jamestown, North Dakota where he is supervisor for the United States Soil Conservation Service. They have five children and Eldora is employed by Sears Roebuck.
In 1969, after more than a half-century in Hannaford, Mom Boe moved to Jamestown and resides at the Central Dakota Nursing Home. No longer does she fire a big iron kitchen range or "cook" coffee, but she has time now for her more artistic talents. She designs and makes ceramic items, afghans, and dolls, which are much in demand for gift-giving. The weathered old house on a hill overlooking Bald Hill Creek now has its doors locked and its windows boarded, but it will never be vacant as it is forever filled with memories.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 128