Duck Duck Goose is well-known enough, to be sure, but rarely in Minnesota, where Duck Duck Grey Duck predominates. We may have found an exception to that rule in the Hill & Lake Press’ mascot! Is it a duck? Or is it a goose? “It is a unique creation of Hill & Lake public art,” says former editor and current columnist Jim Lenfestey. Susan Lenfestey, Jim’s wife and also a former editor, quoted Iris Dement who once said, “I choose to let the mystery be….”
When we first set out to learn more about the history of the mascot, most people involved (none of whom are ornithologists) were unclear as to what kind of bird we were seeing. Less of a mystery is the fact that the present mascot is the creation of Roger Boehm, an artist who contributed many illustrations and artworks to the Hill & Lake Press in the early years. These included small pieces to accent articles, a full-page Happy Holidays Spread for the December 1978 issue, and illustrations on the invitations to the Hill & Lake Press’ birthday parties.
His drawings always featured a lively, caricatured style. Given the picturesque setting of Hill & Lake neighborhoods, it makes sense that local residents would serve as a model for many of his caricatures and so, waterfowl were favorite subjects for Roger from the beginning. One can see the evolution from his earlier work, which attempts greater realism, to the later images of the mascot, which are much more simplified, stylized, and effective. Yet, the Roger Boehm mascot does not make it to the masthead until March of 1979.
Now, you may be surprised to learn that the mascot has its origins not only in the abundance of waterfowl in our water rich community, but in some fiercely fought local politics surrounding them. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, the large population of Canadian Geese at Lake of the Isles had been a nexus for controversy.
Canadian Geese had been essentially absent from the Hill & Lake district from the 1930s until the 1950s, until they began to be reintroduced by various actors working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services. As Susan Lenfestey wrote: “Geese were in the news as they were fairly new to Lake of Isles and people were lobbying the park board to put in ‘bubblers’ so they could have open water over the winter!” These geese clearly had friends.
And yet, they were also considered a disturbing element. At the time, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board was applying to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the reduction of Lake of the Isles’ “nuisance” Canadian goose population, which at the time numbered around 500. The solution, termed “translocation”—a fancy three-syllable word which here refers to moving the surplus geese someplace else— was covered in a pair of articles in October of 1981, where this illustration appeared.
So is it a goose or a duck? We at the Hill & Lake Press feel similarly to the opinion expressed about our mascot in past years and “choose to let the mystery be.” One thing for certain, it is a waterfowl here to stay.
