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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Hey. That sounds like it's recorded. But, Jordan, let me in. I'm doing it live. Get you a cup of coffee. glass of Ice Tea, or bottle of water. Let's see what's happening out there. Okay, Mac. You listening?
OK Solberg:This is today's wheat price. I called Havre myself because Harlem wasn't answering. Spring wheat 14 Pro $5.31 a bushel. 550lb Steer Calf, top end, $4.97. A butcher hog in Iowa 67¢ a pound, and a lamb that's fat in Billings weighing a 100lbs will fetch you $2.42 a pound. But guys there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:Today. Today. Let's look at 3 simple words, polio, hardship, and ideas. Hey, guys. Did you ever know anyone who suffered through polio? I did. I actually did. I personally knew 3 people who had polio and survived to tell about it.
OK Solberg:One of them was my dear grandma Hallum. Then there was Palmer Unheim, the post office man. He was the post office man when I was a kid, and then there was Johnny Spencer.
OK Solberg:I actually have a picture of Johnny Spencer in my office. Johnny who had polio and his homemade wheelchair in that picture. Oh, and by the way, this is a really happy episode, so stick with me and don't get bummed out by my 3 words, polio, hardship, and ideas.
OK Solberg:You will at least have a smile on your face by the time I'm done with this little story. So back to polio. Yes. My own grandma had polio, and there's a bible verse from the book of James in the New Testament that says, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Well, polio was a trial.
OK Solberg:For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfast endurance. James 1:2-3
OK Solberg:But guess who else had polio as a child? Frank Mars, you know, from the Mars candy empire? Yes, sirree Bob, Frank Mars.
OK Solberg:Mars Incorporated founder Frank Mars was born to a pair of farmers in Hancock, Minnesota in 1883. He learned how to hand dip chocolate as he watched his mother after he contracted polio as a young boy and wasn't able to help out on the farm after school. So this poor young man had suffered through polio. He got married though. Later on, he had a son and guess what?
OK Solberg:The son ended up in jail. Bummer. Well, Frank Mars bailed his kid out of jail and they go to a malt shop and have themselves a malted milkshake. The kid knows that his dad likes making candy, so he says to him, why don't you make a candy bar that take tastes like this malted milkshake? The idea was placed.
OK Solberg:Frank did it, and Milky Way candy bars were born. Now that is an absolutely true story. You can look it up yourself. And it happened over a hundred years ago, and you can still get Milky Way candy bars today. In fact, I have one right beside me as I write this episode.
OK Solberg:So let me tell you that story. Some of you may remember that in the summer of 1960, when my mother was expecting her 5th child, we rented the 2 story house on 9th Street West. Well, now, Joe and Jill, who will live in the house along with Ben and Molly. Well, in 1960, when I was three years old, we stayed in that house so my mom could be close to the hospital when my little brother Marvin was born. Well, I slept upstairs.
OK Solberg:I slept upstairs in that house, and in the bedroom I slept in in 1960, there was a Milky Way candy bar on the nightstand. You think a 3 year old boy is gonna notice a candy bar? Of course, a 3 year old kid is gonna notice a candy bar, and I asked my mom about that candy bar on the nightstand. And she told me, no. No.
OK Solberg:You can't have it. That's someone else's candy bar because we're renting that house. So it wasn't ours to take. So every night in the month of July, in the year 1960, I would look longingly at that Milky Way bar and know I couldn't have it. It was a rather strong temptation.
OK Solberg:Guys, you know, after my mom tucked me in, I could have turned on the light myself and with her out of the room, I could have eaten that Milky Way bar. But the idea didn't even come into my mind. At 3 years old, I guess I hadn't achieved my devious behavior. Anyway, that's an old story and many of you have already heard it. But this part you haven't heard on Monday, just the day before yesterday, on Monday, 02/09/2026, I parked my vehicle over on 9th Street and walked around and came to my church office.
OK Solberg:After I came out Monday morning, the day I write and record many of these episodes, I opened the door of my car and I am instantly smiling. There on the dash in plain sight is a full size Milky Way candy bar. What about that then? Here, Jill had heard my story of sleeping in that upstairs bedroom, looking at that candy bar and not getting to eat it. Then she went out, purchased one, waited patiently till my car was near their house, and gave me a great heartfelt surprise.
OK Solberg:Thank you very much. I texted Jill immediately. I texted her. I opened my car door and I just started smiling. That Milky Way bar is such a delightful gift.
OK Solberg:That is special and meaningful and nice and appreciated. She texts back, the kids are gonna love reading your reaction. It was their turn to keep looking at a Milky Way bar and not be able to eat it. Well, Ben, Molly, Jill and Joe, that was the gift that meant the world to me. And guess what?
OK Solberg:It's a limited edition, a 100 year anniversary bar. It just doesn't get any better than that. Thank you. It's stuff like that that makes me love Phillips County even better. That's where history meets the present.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.