Missing St. Cloud Gnome Reappears After 40 Years
MY GNOME WAS STOLEN
"The Irish have their Leprechauns, the Germans have their Gnomes, and Norwegians have Nisser," said Suzanne Toftey, A well-known Minnesota artist from the St. Cloud area, in an interview she did with KARE 11 many years ago.
The story of her stolen Gnome was brought back to life this year. The story of the Gnome is heartbreaking and hope-making all at the same time. You can watch the video below.
GNOME MISSING FOR 40 YEARS IS DISCOVERED
According to the story, over 40 Christmases ago, The handpainted plywood Gnome that stood in Suzanne's yard was stolen. She reported it to the police and they sadly told her that they were sorry and that it was probably hanging in some college student's dorm room; never to be seen again.
But as luck would have it, the Gnome has apparently had quite a life story to tell.
THE STORY OF THE GNOME
Suzanne and her husband had stopped to eat at an Arby's, and across the parking lot in a strip mall, she spotted her Gnome.
Her husband couldn't believe that it truly was the missing gnome from their yard, but upon closer inspection, there he was. Standing outside of Uff-Da Records, which before they closed due to the pandemic, was located at 80 33rd Avenue South in St. Cloud.
According to the story, Suzanne's husband was a little gruff with the owner, Jeffrey Pederson, who also is proud of his Norwegian heritage, and had picked up the welcoming Gnome at a garage sale about 10 years before it graced the doorway of his Uff-Da Records store. He said that the person he bought it from had also bought it at a garage sale.
Jeffrey wanted to do the right thing and asked Suzanne if she would like to have her Gnome back. Suzanne decided that the Gnome looked like he was right at home, and decided to leave him where he was, welcoming people to Uff-Da Records.
A STORY FULL CIRCLE
The most touching part of this story is that when Uff-Da Records sadly had to close recently due to the pandemic, Suzanne woke up one morning, and her Gnome had been returned to her. This Gnome that has apparently had quite a life, had been delivered back to her after all. That is truly a bit of Christmas Magic.
If you want to see some of Suzanne Toftey's amazing artwork, you can find designs all over the internet, or by clicking HERE.