NEWS FROM LAKE LILLIAN
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John has kindly enclosed an informative booklet published by an affiliate of First State Bank of Lake Lillian, no doubt the same outfit that sent our original correspondent the 25-cent check that occasioned my brilliant disquisition on corporate cash management and boondock banking (February 24). Lake Lillian, we learn, is the “Gateway to the Little Crow Lake Region from the South.” Despite this, “Finding Lake Lillian has always frustrated many folks. That must have started when recent Rand McNally road maps didn’t show Lake Lillian even existed. And yet a small hamlet named Thorpe, Minnesota, did make the map. Thorpe, located a few miles east of Lake Lillian, consists of a few houses and a grain elevator, which is owned by the family of one of the bank’s employees who lives there now. Unfortunately he constantly rubs the map incident in our face.”
The history of Lake Lillian is filled with Keilloresque poignance. For example, “government land records show that claims had been made by a Peter Furdeen and a Peter France on the shore of Lake Lillian as early as the fall of 1858. They must not have stayed any length of time as none of the early settlers ever heard of them.” Hightailed it out to California, no doubt.
One more thing. Bank president Duane Lindgren “denies that corporations issuing rebate checks choose banks situated in out-of-the-way places to maximize float. ‘One reason we’re chosen is that we’re centrally located. We also try to provide a comprehensive service at a competitive price. That’s the name of the game.’” Whatever you say, Duane. Regards to all the folks in Lake Lillian.
