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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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CLICKSTART 952-902-2014 |
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by Sue Orsen As a little boy he hung around the Victoria Lumberyard because that's where his dad worked. "My dad was the manager in the lumberyard for decades," said Fred Plocher. "He worked into his late 80's." The little tyke watched contractors order building materials, check plans, and coordinate construction, mostly for residential homes. He watched builders deal with the weather, with prices, and with various home designs, large and small. He also watched his father manage the lumberyard as though it were his own. "It was a great education," says Fred today . Victoria has always had an abundance of carpenters over the years, more than most communities, and many of them purchased their lumber in Victoria. The lumberyard was a busy place, a successful business, and it is likely responsible, in whole or in part, for Fred becoming a developer of residential neighborhoods. It became sort of second nature to him. "I worked there every summer and on Saturdays in the winters," said Fred, who spent nine months of each year attending the Victoria Public School, learning other ways of the world. "I got my Social Security card when I was 12 years old," he said. "The pay was around $90 a week for 60 hours." During the 1950's, which is the era of young Fred's tenure at the lumberyard, that pay, which amounts to $1.50 an hour, wasn't half bad. Young girls were getting 25-cents an hour for babysitting, drive-in attendants were getting 50-cents an hour for car hopping, and farm workers were getting $1 an hour for baling hay. "Actually, I got $96 for the week," Fred clarified. "I remember it was $96 because one summer I lost my whole paycheck at a carnie game at the Carver County Fair. I was just devastated. Richie Wagener was the town cop and he went and talked to the guy, and then came back with half my money for me. That was a big deal." Fred's dad, usually identified as E.B. Plocher, spent time fishing when not at the lumberyard and he did not instill in his son a love of fishing. However, it was not for lack of trying. "Dad liked company when he fished on Schutz Lake, and he'd sit there for hours and I could hardly stand it," said Fred. "But his friend Ben Wartman had a fishing boat on Smithtown Bay on Lake Minnetonka and that was fun because we caught fish." Fred spoke of a favorite photo of his dad. "He's sitting in a boat, he in front and me in the back. He's got a straw hat on, a cigar hanging out of his mouth, and holding onto a cane pole. That's what I looked at all the while the fish weren't biting." When Fred was little he was interested in being a forest ranger. "Later on," he said, "I thought I'd like to invent something and then form a company to manufacture the invention." Well, in a manner of speaking, Fred grew up to "invent" new neighborhoods, several of them, providing hundreds of beautiful places for families to live. Fred was drawn to develop. *** Fred was born on March 1st, 1940, the tail end of six children: Wilfred, Dorothy, Jean, Pat (Ed Jr.), Marion, Fred. In naming his siblings, Fred told that his brother Pat acquired the name because he was born on St. Patrick's Day. "He was a World War II veteran who built a plane in his basement, a real airplane. When it was finished he excavated a path to the basement and hauled it out in three pieces."
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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July 2012 |