Lenore Berg

Barron musical legend Lenore Berg will be inducted into the Barron Golden Bears Reaching Their Dreams Wall of Honor at the band/choir concert on Monday, Oct. 25. A reception for Berg will be in the IMC at 6 p.m. and then she will be honored at the concert, which starts at 7 p.m.

Berg is no stranger to the pages of this newspaper. At 92 years old, she has performed at more events with more people than she can remember.

In a 2006 feature story on Berg, she is quoted, “By the time I’m 90, this old time music will be coming back, and I’ll be too old to play it.”

After hearing the quote now, Berg said, “It’s very true, but it didn’t come back.”

But Berg is still playing, mainly piano, and plenty of people are still enjoying her renditions of old time standards.

She grew up in a musical family, one of eight children of Casper and Emma Greenwold. Her father was a violin player and singer, and her grandfather, Ingwald Hanson, played bass horn in the Barron Municipal Band and also accordion. Her cousin, Priscilla Greenwold, was also a big inspiration.

The family lived on Poor Farm Road in the Town of Maple Grove and Berg attended the Woodside one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Barron High School in 1947, and along the way grew her musical skills.

“I think I was born with a musical heart,” said Berg. “A lot of people helped me along the way because they knew I was really interested in music.”

She began playing the pump organ at age 5 and the upright piano by 10. At 16 years of age, Lenore was using her skills as a pianist in a dance band, having been asked to fill in by her own teacher, Francis White.

Another member of the band was Bob Wells, who had a music store in Rice Lake. He loaned her an accordion, which she was supposed have for a week. But she kept it longer because she came down with mumps.

The accordion later became her calling card even more than the piano.

She played in the Erik Berg band, which also included his brothers Gust and Karl, whom Lenore married. The band played a lot of Scandinavian numbers, especially Swedish. It’s was the kind of music Berg likes to this day.

“I love Scandinavian old time music and the old standards of the 20s, 30s and 40s,” she said.

It wasn’t long before she was leading her own band, the Rhythm Badgers, which also included Wesley Olson on guitar and Horace Hodgson on drums.

Over the years Berg has played Sons of Norway and Moose Club lodges; Pines Ballroom in Bloomer, Lyle’s Bar in Rice Lake. She played The Coachman in Baldwin every Friday night for 10 years. And there were many more, from Spooner to Ladysmith to Eau Claire to Minnesota.

Berg had multiple gigs per week, which drew good crowds and a lot of dancers.

Berg once played the Bel-Rae Ballroom along Hwy. 10 in the Twin Cities with Myron Floren, who was an accordion player on “The Lawrence Welk Show.”

Back then Berg didn’t record much music but played live on local radio programs like the Jean Jacobson Show and the Sally Ann Amateur Hour at El Lago Theatre in Rice Lake. Berg was on TV, too, playing on the “Sheriff Bob” show on WEAU.

At a talent show hosted by well-know Midwest broadcaster Cedric Adams for the Barron Centennial in 1960, Berg remembers playing “The 12th Street Rag.”

Berg has even played in Hawaii—on a trip with Barron’s Larry Jerome—and Japan—on a trip to Rice Lake’s Sister City, Miharu.

She also played a local shows—t parties, weddings, even funerals, plus events like the Barron Electric Co-op annual meeting and Dallas Oktoberfest. Solo gigs became common for her thanks to the introduction of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) sound modules which allows Lenore to be a solo act, yet sound like a full band. MIDI basically allows a musician to press a button to access different ‘rolls’ of accompaniment music.

Berg made a good living in music, but also worked at the Barron Farmers Store in the late 1940s and 50s and later at Munsingwear. She has two children, Ron and Ingrid.

Ingrid helped her record albums, including “Life Begins at 80.”

“But we didn’t finish it until I was 82,” Berg said.

About 10 years ago Berg gave up the squeezebox.

“It’s too heavy, which breaks my heart,” she said.

But her piano playing continues to get people’s feet moving.

She has played a lot of nursing homes, usually accompanied by other musicians, like Chuck Kirkwood, Hank Vogel, Ed Thompson and Norm Yamada.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has cut down her gigs. But she’s ready to return to the keys when the situation is safer. Berg has friends to catch up with.

“You make a lot of friends at the places you play,” she said.