The first time I crossed paths with Nancy Martinsen, she gently chastised me for walking across the old Indians logo in the school hall. I never made that mistake again.
Now, after more than 30 …
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The first time I crossed paths with Nancy Martinsen, she gently chastised me for walking across the old Indians logo in the school hall. I never made that mistake again.
Now, after more than 30 years of first teaching, then selling tickets to generations of Park High School students, parents and fans, Martinsen is retiring from her gate-keeper duties.
Martinsen spent her first five years as an English teacher at the Cottage Grove junior high, then tacked on 23 more years at Park High School. She retired from teaching and spent five years in Ohio caring for her mother. Upon returning to Cottage Grove, she was eager to reconnect with the high school and Athletic Director Phil Kuemmel had just the job for her.
“I’ve seen three generations,” said Martinsen. “I just loved seeing the kids outside the classroom. It was nice. I saw them, and they saw me, in a different light, too.
The ticket taking job has changed considerably over the years, notably since almost most events now require a purchase of a digital pass rather than a cash sale at the gate.
That’s led to an occasional frustrated parent or fan being denied entry. “There are a lot of people in our community that would prefer paying cash,” Martinsen said. “But finance decided not to. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“She’s retiring after 30 years of selling tickets,” said Kuemmel. “She is awesome.”
