Dr. Helmi Harrington’s Note: Yvonne is a multi-talented lady, a long-standing board member of AWAM, donor, and a dear personal friend. Her drawings are often featured as covers and her articles are regularly included in Norway’s “Nygammalt,” the most significant accordion magazine in Scandinavia.
A professional accordion repair specialist, she is a graduate of the 1994-95 ARTS curriculum, for which she wrote the yearbook. At my request, she rediscovered her sketches and wrote about the events leading to her “Coughing Flea” cartoon still displayed in our HARTS repair area. Its title became a synonym for the parsonage residence shared by ARTS students of that year.
“THE COUGHING FLEA”
By Yvonne Marts, “The Accordion Lady of Fergus Falls”
Attending Accordion Repair School required me to find a place to live in Duluth. I stayed two months at the YWCA. That was enough. Helmi opened the manse behind the church/school building, and I moved in there ASAP. Glyn, a student from England, also had a room there. I decided that he and I were not going to cause gossip, so I announced that the manse was now a Student Union, and all the students could come there for lunch, or R&R, or special occasions.
Helmi hadn’t thought of that, but it worked very well indeed, and I have lots of good memories. We named it “The Coughing Flea” (TCF) because Helmi told us, “Don’t ever tell a customer that if they have a problem to bring it back and you’ll fix it. They will hear fleas cough!” Then I drew this cartoon, in October of 1994, later incorporating it into a 2’x3′ complete cartoon, which was framed, and now hangs in Helmi’s workshop in A World of Accordion Museum. It depicts the technician as a puppet, controlled by “Kof,” the Flea, and his minions, the special tools which the technician is learning to use. The Technician must “dance to Kof’s tune.”
This particular course ran from September of 1994 until June 1st (graduation) 1995. It was at The Coughing Flea that I had the ideal situation. My housemate loved to clean house, and I had a car for running errands. He, from England, had a lot to learn about Duluth, Minnesota. One day I had eaten lunch at the Duluth Grill (only 4 blocks from the school) and brought home a large fresh generously frosted brownie. Glyn had never seen one before, but fell in love with brownies.
The next time I took him grocery shopping, I introduced him to Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. From then on every week, and in his suitcase going home to England, his list included two boxes of brownie mix. He shared with the other guys, of course. (The class consisted of five men and one woman, me.)
We had holiday parties and our graduation party at TCF. It was just a great place. I had set up my computer and typed papers for Les Haanpaa, 45, a mechanic, who gave me a nickname, Friddle. Why? I have no idea. Pete, 35, was a graphic artist. Gary, 36, was an electrician wizard. Glyn, 55, a handyman. Dan, 21, perpetual student and dreamer. And Yvonne, 62, retired teacher. Helmi, 51, and husband, Duane, 50+, were the outstanding instructors. What a year!”
