Lifetime ban lifted on history duo

Efforts to make amends with Ellendale underway

BY RICK BUSSLER
PUBLISHER
The lifetime ban against two long-time volunteers at the Steele County History Center is being lifted after a mostly new board of directors has taken over.

Lloyd Kaplan and Terry Prokopec, both of Owatonna, met with officials from the history center last week where they were given the news they had been waiting to hear for several years.

“We got the call at noon, and we met at 3 p.m.,” said Kaplan. “We were told that we are welcome any time in the history center and that it should have never happened,” he said, referring to the “cease and desist” order they were served on by a Twin Cities law firm in September 2023 on behalf of former director Jennifer Thiele.

As part of the order, Kaplan and Prokopec were banned for lifetime from the history center. It set off a firestorm of internal battles within the history community.

With obvious hard feelings still lingering, Kaplan said, “Jennifer did a real number on the community.”

After the on-going history turmoil became public during a special investigation by the Steele County Times last November, four board members immediately resigned. At least one more left a short time later. Thiele, the group’s full-time director, left the week prior to publication of the Times’ investigation.

At the time, Kaplan and Prokopec set out to clear their names. “We want to enter the History Center and be a part of Gus’ Station. They need to get rid of the cease and desist,” Kaplan said in November.

Kaplan said he is surprised it took nearly six months longer to see any action resulting from last year’s Times’ investigation, but he has been led to believe it took Effertz a while to sort through everything that has transpired. However, Kaplan said he is still sharing information of things that happened of which Effertz had no idea took place.

Kaplan, 89, and Prokopec, 74, have shared a passion for history of Steele County and Ellendale for many years. Kaplan first became involved with Gus’ Station in 2010, though his love for history goes back many more years. They were instrumental in starting a car show that ran for nine years before it ended by the former SCHS administration in 2023.

Since December, Bryan Duncan, Matt Kottke, Diane Wilson, Dan Gorman and Tait Berg have joined the board. Dave Effertz has taken over as president of the organization, replacing Patty Jessop, who was one of the four to leave in November. Other current officers are Gorman as vice president and Jerry Ganfield as treasurer.

Officials from the history center are also planning to make amends with the Ellendale Area Heritage Society at a special meeting Monday at 3 p.m. at the Community Center in Ellendale. Barb Mrotz of EAHS was part of last week’s meeting with Kaplan and Prokopec at the history center in Owatonna.

Mrotz had previously denounced the Steele County group for its handling of Kaplan and Prokopec calling the stunt “a black eye on Ellendale.” The two volunteers had been involved with the moving and operation of Gus’ Station from Ellendale to the Village of Yesteryear before they were told to stay away in 2023. The situation left many EAHS members bitter and not wanting to have any association with Steele County History Center again.

Kaplan said he has been left to believe that Effertz and others on the new board are hoping to change everything to make Ellendale feel inclusive once again with the county history group.

While Kaplan is relieved by last week’s ban lift, he is still waiting for something perhaps even more important.

“We want an apology from the history center board,” Kaplan said. “We feel good about it, but we didn’t get an apology yet.”

The history board also plans to take up the latest developments at its regular meeting May 18.

Efforts to reach Effertz for comment were unsuccessful.