“It had always been in the back of our minds to do another one,” Mary Beth says. Gilsdorf was the creative force behind the establishment of the Street Faire in 2001. Mary Beth Gilsdorf (third from right) with a group of her friends and fellow Street Faire at the Lakes volunteers. ![]() While Norby’s Department Store did its best to stay ahead of modern shopping trends, establishing a website shortly after Mary Beth started working there, the internet shopping revolution took a large toll on the downtown brick-and-mortar business, and Norby’s closed its doors in 2018 after more than 112 years. Megan, meanwhile, is in the midst of completing her senior Capstone fashion project at Arizona State University, where she will graduate in the spring. In the years since graduating from Detroit Lakes High School, Kendra has conducted poetry workshops for the Historic Holmes Theatre, where she has also been involved in directing some summer musical theater camps for kids she has also been active in Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre, including a recent stint as stage manager for the fall production of “Young Frankenstein.” Mary Beth beams with pride as she talks about her daughters’ accomplishments: Kendra’s, in the world of community theater and fine arts, and Megan’s, in fashion and design. Kendra’s sister, Megan adds: “She (Mary Beth) says that Kendra and I are her best work, which is true in the sense that she and my dad inspired us throughout our lives with all that they do for others and for this community, and we strive to do the same… I am truly blessed to have grown up with the parents I have.” ![]() “It’s hard for me to sum up how awesome I think she is.” “I couldn’t be more proud, honored and blessed to call her my mom,” says Kendra, Mary Beth’s oldest daughter. “From serving on committees to volunteering at events to driving the train on major projects, she always brings a smile and endless energy to make our community a better place to be.” “Mary Beth’s love and pride for Detroit Lakes shows through in every project she is involved in,” says another longtime friend, Becky Mitchell, who’s the director of the Becker County Museum. In honor of Women's History Month, three of the lakes area's "leading ladies" - (from left) Sharon Josephson, Mary Beth Gilsdorf and Dixie Johnson - were asked to speak at the Becker County Museum in Detroit Lakes in March of 2018. ![]() She’s incredibly creative in thinking about what this community needs and how to do it.” She’s an engineer, but not a totally straight-line engineer. “While everyone thinks of Hans as the artist in the family, I would say that Mary Beth is just as much of an artist, but in a very different way. She can envision what this community needs, and she’s not afraid to work hard to make it happen,” Amy continues. “Her roots in this community are deep, and she has a great love for the community and for the region. She grew up in Detroit Lakes and went off to college in Arizona and then lived for a time in the Twin Cities, but her path brought her back to Norby’s Department Store, and back to DL. “It’s surprising how many ‘roads’ really do lead to DL - but more than that, I think the statement says a lot about Mary Beth. “Of course, I kind of laughed at that, and then I found it to be somewhat true,” Amy says. When Amy first met Mary Beth after moving to Detroit Lakes in the early 2000s, one of the first things her new friend told her was that, “All roads lead to DL.” “Mary Beth was right out there in the lake, pulling flowering rush stalk by stalk.” “The DNR had kind of pooh-poohed (the idea) that the weeds could be pulled and it’d make a difference, but look at it now,” says Amy Stoller Stearns, a longtime friend of the Gilsdorfs. Mary Beth has taken on a number of community projects of her own, too, including the establishment of a new summer art festival, Street Faire at the Lakes (in 2001), and leading a campaign to “Crush the Rush” - i.e., eradicate the flowering rush that was ruining Detroit Lakes’ famed City Beach. ![]() “We complement each other well.” Matriarch of ‘The Gilsdorf Girls’ “Hans and I don’t have a lot of overlapping skills,” she says. She has had a hand in more than a few of her husband’s projects over the years, mainly on the logistics end. “I was worried about Hans at first, but he’s found his people,” Mary Beth says with a smile. (Detroit Lakes Tribune File Photo)įrom the “Sunny in DL” sunfish sculptures to the creation of the Detroit Lakes Ice Palaces, and numerous creative endeavors in-between, Hans has made his mark on the community, and continues to do so. Mary Beth Gilsdorf, right, with her siblings and co-owners of the former Norby's Department Store, Jean Anderson and Michael Norby, in the store shortly before its closure in 2018.
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