Courtesy: KVRR
FRANCE (KVRR) – If you owned a television set in the twentieth century, there was virtually zero chance you hadn’t heard of Lawrence Welk.
The son of German immigrants from Russia, Welk was born and raised just outside the tiny city of Strasburg, North Dakota.
“I think most Americans who saw him on TV, they could hear that he had a very distinct German-Russian, like German-Russian-North Dakotan-type accent,” said Rob Hanna, site manager of the Welk homestead. “It kind of showed where he came from. He was proud of his roots. I think a lot of North Dakotans think he embodies the spirit of what it means to be North Dakotan.”
Welk went on to achieve legitimate star status, hosting one of the most popular and long-running television programs of his era.
For these achievements, and for what he meant to the state of North Dakota, Welk was honored with the first-ever Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award in 1961.
“The Rough Rider Award is to recognize North Dakotans who have had a nationwide impact in their field, and who reflect a lot of credit back on the state through their work,” explained Hanna.
And a woman named Monica knew none of this when she took her family, visiting from America, into a French thrift store a little over a week ago.
“I guess what drew me first was seeing Teddy Roosevelt, his face on the plaque. That stood out to me first,” she recalls.
There it was, just hanging out amidst the volumes of other merchandise – the plaque given to Welk for that Rough Rider recognition.
“I was like ‘oh, that’s kind of odd, that Teddy is just chilling in the aisle.’,” she said.
No-one’s quite sure how the piece ended up in such a random location.
“Definitely wondering how that plaque ended up in France,” laughed Hanna. “There’s gotta be a fascinating story behind it – but perhaps we’ll never know.”
Monica says that she’s given the plaque to her mother and stepfather to get it appraised stateside.
If it’s valuable, that could be a pretty sweet deal for Monica, given that she purchased it at the store for just 25 euros which is $29.16.
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