Big job turns into `Labor of Love'

By Pauline Diede

The Hebron Herald, Hebron, North Dakota, March 2, 1994, Page 7

As the sun continues to shine in our area and the temperatures continue to climb, many homemakers in our area are turning their thoughts to spring cleaning.

At one home on South Maple there is probably another type of cleaning going on - perhaps it could be called "The Thirty-Five Year Spring Summer Fall Winter" clean!

Area author, Pauline Diede, accepted the challenge of collecting the hundreds of articles that she has written throughout the years, reading them and segregating them into various categories. Some will be sent to the library at the North Dakota State University in Fargo; some may be donated to the Hebron Historical and Art Society; others may be used for books which she may compile in the future.

Mrs. Diede has been involved with writing for many years. She has been employed on a part-time basis at The Hebron Herald for thirty-five years. For twenty-five years she gathered local news items for the newspaper, giving her an opportunity to become acquainted with many people in our community which opened many doors to her for opportunities for personal interviews. She especially enjoyed talking to and writing about area pioneers, which grew to be her specialty.

The majority of her articles tell of pioneer times - including the sacrifices people made, their lifestyles, the drama - many things that may teach lessons to us and to future generations.

She diligently saved copies of each article that she wrote, saving them in cardboard boxes that she has stored away. But during this past long and very cold winter she made it her goal to go through each of the boxes, reading each of the stories, and segregating them into different categories.

So after you climb the stairs to the second story in her home you find piles upon piles of articles, some of the newsprint turning yellow with age. But ... each has been recently read, and each put into `the correct pile' where it belongs.

It has been a big job and lots of work but I also enjoyed the hours that it took, re-reading each word - always with this wish, "Never to garbage the mess that has a valuable message!" she stated.

Pauline has been a member of the North Dakota Press Women and the National Federation of Press Women for 35 years where she has earned many writing awards. She has also written five books relating to the early days in the hilly prairie land of western North Dakota. During this Lenten season she has taken on a special writing project.

She owns a placard that states, "Blessed Are They Who Clean Up!" She isn't sure if she will be blessed for the work she is now going through, but knows that she will consider it a blessing when she completes this huge project that has also turned into a labor of love!

Reprinted with permission of the Hebron Herald, Herbron, North Dakota