Today’s column (gift link) is a recent favorite, mostly because I got to hang out with one of the most entertaining people I’ve met in the last few years. Rosanne Omersa recently-retired as an administrative assistant at the Eveleth campus of Minnesota North. She was there when it was Mesabi Range College and started back when it was the Eveleth vo-tech. But that’s not how I initially met her.
During COVID-19, Rosanne took up playing the button box accordion. With some lessons and hard work, she quickly became pretty good, posting videos. I met her at a holiday party where she pulled out the accordion for some traditional Slovenian tunes. Unfortunately this was after I took my Great Northern Radio Show off the air, but Rosanne was definitely someone I’d have booked on my variety show.
In more recent months, Rosanne inspired me with the way she’s used music to navigate hard times.
Today, you can read a column about hard times and good times. Polka music can be a spiritual balm, not only here on the Range, but far and wide if we open our hearts to its danceability.
Read “Hard times call for the healing power of … polka?” in the Thursday, July 2, 2026 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
