All Past living Shoreview mayors and current mayor Sandy Martin were at the Community Center on Apr. 16 to officially kick off the city’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Past mayors are, standing from left to right, William Farrell and Jim Olson; seated, Jim Chalmers, Martin, and Dick Wedell. During the 50th Anniversary, ShoreVIEWS is featuring stories about those who served the city as mayor - see two of those stories below. (Shoreview Historical Society photo.)

Shoreview’s first mayor, Ken Hanold, had an inherent urge to help people—probably a major precursor to his accepting the challenge of becoming the city’s top official job in 1957 when the village was incorporated.

"He used to stop and help strangers with car problems on the highway," recalls his wife Vicki, now living in a Minneapolis suburb. "The police urged him to be careful, but he kept doing it."

Ken died in 2000, but was honored with the other mayors at a special 50th anniversary kickoff meeting this past April, with Vicki accepting an award on his behalf.

Vicki (Kurkowski) and Ken both came from farm families. Ken was born in North Dakota, while Vicki’s grandparents farmed in the Shoreview area. Ken eventually operated a six-days-a-week auto garage on Rice St. which also became an expedient early meeting place for the Shoreview City Council.

"He worked hard at being mayor," says Vicki today, "there were the normal ups and downs." She remembers getting launched and first arranging for fire and police protection and other basic city services were among Ken’s most hectic times.

In the midst of his new city assignment, the Hanolds were also busy raising their four young children, Beverly, Greg, Ken and Candi.

"There were some busy stressful times for dad in the job," says Candi, who remembers helping out with sister Beverly pumping gas at her father's station.

"Ken was urged to run for mayor by a local businessmen’s club and his American Legion post. He agreed to be mayor for one term," says Vicki. "He wasn’t much into campaigning." City officials remember the city was starting to grow rapidly, even before the Interstate highway and citizens were needing and asking for services —street, water and utilities.

In later years, Hanold would work as a realtor; at the Arden Hills arms plant; at a chemical firm, an airplane manufacturing plant, and also served in the US Army Air corps. "I think eventually it was the strenuous garage work at the garage, caused him to move to other jobs," says Candi.

In an earlier Historical ShoreViews article, following Ken’s death at age 85 in Oct. 2000, resident Carl Holmberg remembered Ken’s time as mayor: "He was 'a nice guy,' maybe not cut out to be a career politician---a straight ahead person, seeking no favors and giving no-nonsense answers."

Today, Vicki’s dining room wall is clustered with both informal snapshots and formal photos of her husband and family, recapping the big events in their life.

An upbeat person, one of Vicki's main activities is maintaining a colorful flower garden at the seniors residence where she lives. The plot features a wide variety of flowers—from Iris to Hosta. She is used to working the soil and nimbly walks among her many plants. "I have always had a garden, it was part of my growing up on the farm."

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