TCC History
History
Over thirty years ago several folks were sitting around in the shade on a hot summer afternoon one weekend. Those were the days when things seemed simpler. We hadn't heard of the internet yet and very few of us had cell phones. Several of us dusted off old instruments and began to get together on weekends. Anyway, somehow one thing lead to another and gradually summer weekend jam sessions were born. These musical interludes were just for fun and spawned this magical musical camaraderie.
At the same time Tralalla, as a place, was in it's infancy. It hadn't yet become a town. It was, more ore less, a rural area with relatively few families with farms and a few homesteads. As the years passed, more and more land was purchased and developed and subsequently families moved in. Small businesses began to appear and Tralalla became incorporated as a town in 1978. Schools were built, and over time a sense of community was beginning to emerge.
Sometime in the mid 1980s (nobody can really remember when), several folks got together and decided that creating a community club was a really good idea. So Bob Werlacher and Tim Spreight started scouting around for a place that might loan some space for a club. They found that space in the basement of the local corner grocery store, Terkelson's. The basement was cold and damp, but had lots of room and even boasted an outside door as an entrance. Bob and Tim could envision a comfortable cozy space that could become a reality with a lot of elbow grease sprinkled with some construction know how.
What happened next was so organic and amazing. Bob Werlacher was a member of that early magical musical jam session group. He had started sharing what he was up to with his musical buddies. Fortunately these friends were also community-minded folk and they jumped on the bandwagon with a great deal of zeal and enthusiasm. Sometimes, it pays to be young and look at the world from a "glass is half full" perspective. These friends decided to give it a whirl and after many car washes, bake sales, work parties, wiring parties, painting parties, and whatever fundraising ideas they could come up with, Tralalla Community Club had a clean, bright, finished basement (With their own telephone, no less!) space to call home. It only took three years.
As time passed, the community kept growing and an ever changing parade of fundraisers and community club events became part of the norm and charm of everyday rural Tralalla life. Now as you all know that as time passes, folks age...they move a little slower...some friends leave, and new friends arrive. That is true in any community. All those folks that started the club began to see that TCC had outgrown their basement home at Terkelson's. In fact, the club had so much "stuff" that it was being housed in various members garages and storage sheds. Fortunately for us, Barb Terkelson had it all catalogued in a binder with where it was located. Need less to say, being strung out all over the place doesn't work out so well for an organization.
Enter Papa Terkelson or, as he was affectionately known in the community, "Pops." Well, Pops had heard Barb talking about the community club over the years and had attended many a TCC event during that time. He felt that TCC had caused the community to come together in a good way. It gave Tralalla a strong sense of identity and predicated good things for the town's future. So Pops, in his own forward thinking move, decided to do something about it and moved things along. Pops Terkelson owned several buildings here in quaint, quiet little Tralalla. In 1996, Pops decided to donate one of his properties to the Tralalla Community Club.
So now you know how we ended up in the storefront on Main Street. (As seen here from the back...a long time ago.) The new digs needed a lot of TLC and true to our community spirit, folks chipped in with their time and expertise. Over time things improved little by little and this is how TCC came to be.
