Today, the town of Somers might not look like much to the casual observer. A collection of houses, a few shops and a couple of restaurants clustered off the highway and next to the lake, a slower speed limit. That's all most passersby see of the town.

But once upon a time, Somers was a bustling hub of industry, featuring a sawmill, railroad tie processing plant, pool hall and hundreds of residents in a close-knit community.

“It was a real company town,” longtime Somers resident Howard Ruby said. “You'd work in the summer at the mill or tie plant so you could buy what you needed at the company store in the winter, then you'd go back to the mill in the summer to pay off your winter debt.”

Although the mill and tie plant have long since closed and many of the original residents have moved away, memories of the “good old days” are kept alive, thanks to the biennial Somers Town Reunion.

“It's always the first Saturday in August, so everyone knows when to show up, and people come from all over to share stories and just socialize,” said Jan VanRinsum, one of the reunion organizers.

“I hate to use the phrase 'old-timers,' but that's what it is,” added Fran Ruby, another event organizer. “We bring them back to town and get together and talk about the old days and where people are now and so on.”

The event was the brainchild of Fay Eklund, another Somers resident who fell in love with the small community and wanted to see those close relationships continue.

“When she decided it was time to pass the reins, we took over. Now it's pretty much us four that organize it,” Fran Ruby said, referring to her and husband Howard, and Francis and Jan VanRinsum. “We've been doing it for more than 10 years, and Fay had been doing it for I don't know how long. Just seems like forever.”

Held at the Somers Fire Hall each year, “admission” is a dish for the potluck dinner and an interest in the town, according to Jan VanRinsum. “You don't even have to have lived here, just have an interest in the town.”

This year, the guests of honor are Francis VanRinsum and Howard Ruby, both original residents of the town.

“I can still remember my milk delivery route,” Francis said. “You'd go through all these little neighborhoods that had their own name and character. The Italians had their area, and the Swedes had theirs and so on. It took me a while to catch on that they were all speaking different languages. I just wondered why I couldn't understand them at first.”

“The town was very different then,” Howard added. “There was even a wall around the whole town, and it closed at night. You can still see part of the wall. At the time, we were a pretty busy place, with the train station right on the lake, and you'd see tugs and boats going up and down the lake all the time. We even had miles of nice sand beach, and people would come down here all the time.”

Over the years the mill and tie plant closed and many of the residents moved on to bigger towns and new jobs. But every other year former Somers residents would make their way back to the little town on the lake and catch up on all that had happened while they were away.

“We were a very social place,” Fran Ruby said. “We would have huge card parties; we had a baseball team that was really good, volleyball every Tuesday night. We were just really close, and I think that's why people keep coming back.”

Jan estimated around 150 people attend the reunion each time, but that number has been falling over the years, and the current organizers wonder how much longer the reunion will happen.

“Not many young people come anymore,” Fran Ruby said. “And the ones that do come back spend a lot of the time at the bar. They have different views about the town, and that's not what we're about. They just had different experiences, and what interests us doesn't necessarily interest them. I think it comes down to our generation and our kids to a certain extent, taking care of each other and having a tighter community.”

But for now, those 'old-time' residents of the area will return to town and relive that sense of community, if only for a day. The reunion this year is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Somers Fire Hall, with the potluck planned for noon. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Reporter Melissa Walther may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at mwalther@dailyinterlake.com.