Plans for Osseo’s 150th Anniversary Continue with Collection of Old Family Photos
When Annette Charest Noon heard the call go out for old family photos in Osseo, she knew she had to respond.
Ann Schneider, left, with Osseo’s 150th Anniversary Planning Committee, scans old photos submitted by Annette Charest Noon, right, of St. Francis at the Osseo Community Center.
“My dad was one of seven children. He had six sisters, and one of his aunts, Eva Mary, became a nun at St. Scholastica,” said Noon, who now lives in St. Francis and has a lot of family in Anoka and Osseo. “It was a family that spread out from basically Quebec to Osseo MN.”
Noon brought a treasure trove of old photos to the Osseo Community Center one Tuesday afternoon, where Ann Schneider, vice-chair of the Osseo 150th Anniversary Planning Committee, was happy to scan them in to keep as digital files to perhaps be included in a commemorative book.
“We want to capture the history of Osseo, kind of a snapshot of where we are right now as well as where we’ve been for the last 150 years,” said Schneider. She and other committee members will be stationed at the community center every Tuesday and Friday to help scan in the photos that people want to contribute.
“There’s just such a rich history, family history, in Osseo,” said Schneider. “My husband and I have only lived here for 20 years or so, and we’re just struck by how people are so proud of their heritage and they’re just so willing and generous and giving and wanting to share that history with us, so we really appreciate this.”
The planning committee is working on other events leading up to and during 2025, the city’s sesquicentennial year. The plans will culminate at the 2025 Lions Roar, the annual festival that happens each September.
“It’s living history, and we’re just, we’re so happy to be able to share this, to learn from this,” said Schneider. “Clearly we’re learning a lot as we’re digging into this, and to be able to share this with future generations, too.”
