3 minute read
HAGEDORN FAMILY LEAVES A LEGACY IN TEA
By Garrett Gross
In 1976, Otto and Linda Hagedorn, along with their children, moved from Nebraska to a home two miles east of Tea . This was an ideal location for them to set up a distribution center for Linda’s role with Tupperware as the new sales manager for the state of South Dakota . This location also enabled Otto to farm the ground on the quarter of land adjacent to their home.
That fall they started construction of a distribution center on their property which evolved to become a business that is now known as the Lakota Event Hall.
By nature, the Hagedorns were always building and growing their businesses Over time, Linda became the Tupperware distributor for all of South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota . She made regular appearances on KELO-TV with her cooking show, “Down Home Delights with Linda” which featured using Tupperware products and was filmed onsite at the Lakota Event Hall The show aired for more than 20 years and Linda published two volumes of a cookbook with all the recipes compiled over time.
In 1996, Linda got a phone call from the president of Tupperware informing her she was selected as one of three people to help launch Tupperware in new international markets, specifically in India It was an honor to represent the company in a new market like India and a life experience she did not want to miss She spent almost a full year in India creating sales teams and establishing distribution centers in two major cities.
Otto supported Linda’s business by helping every way he could, including sampling all the recipes to ensure quality, while farming and also serving in various community leadership roles as a county commissioner and serving on the Lincoln County Rural Water Board.
In the 1980s, the Hagedorns determined there was a need for industrial space for businesses and factories in the area They felt the ground on the eastern edge of their quarter of their land would be ideal for that purpose . There was a close proximity to I-29 and there really were no other industrial parks in the area at the time They worked on a plan for lots to be plotted and streets to be laid out that included the names of a few of their children, Mindy and Monty, a street named after Linda and even one named after their dog, Leroy.
Over the years, all the lots of the Hagedorn Industrial Park were sold and now 50+ businesses employ hundreds, if not a thousand-plus people “It has been great to see all the jobs created, products produced, and the overall economic impact provided to the area from that development,” said Otto The types of companies range from manufacturing to service-related businesses to retail/warehouses There is room for those businesses to grow and if the Hagedorn family ever decides to convert more farmland to Industrial ground, there still are a few acres that are farmed north of the acreage every year.
This past January, Linda passed away, but she left a legacy of community and business development along with Otto that will long live within the Tea community.
