Laura Sanford (middle), former Executive Director of the Watford City Chamber of Commerce, is shown presenting Sharon Olson (right) & Shirlene Lawlar (left) with Certificates of Appreciation for many years of unsurpassed customer service.
John Larsen started more than a business in pharmacy in 1952. He started a family tradition that has stood the test of time for 62 years and spans three generations.
Larsen Service Drug has served as a main-stay business on Main Street in Watford City providing patrons with just what the doctor ordered.
"I think at the time my grandpa saw a need for a hometown pharmacy and it was something he was passionate about. From his passion this amazing tradition grew," said Jenna (Larsen) Wahlstrom, a third generation pharmacist.
Wahlstrom joined the business this past May as a pharmacist following her 2013 graduation from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D. But, her employment at the family store began long before that. She's actually been working there off and on since she was 12, and has memories that date back to her being just four years old. "When other kids were talking about becoming firemen and astronauts, I knew even then that I wanted to be a pharmacist. I always admired what my grandpa and my dad did and I wanted to be a part of that legacy," she said. Today she visits and provides prescriptions to some of the same customers that were around during her earliest pre-employment years in the shop. "Back then I was always entertaining the coffee crowd that gathered there. Today I interact with them as an adult. It's fun to visit with them because many of them were friends with my grandpa all those years ago," she recalled.
John Larsen's pharmacy business began even before 1952. It was in Hope, N.D., that he opened his first drugstore. However, when the town closed up shop, so did he, packing up his family and making a fresh start in Watford City. Together with his wife, Katherine, he helped raise four children, Larry, Laurie, Lyle and Lisa.
The feel of the old-time drugstore he created all those years ago can still be experienced today. Town folks hoping to savor a nostalgic sip of yesteryears can relax around the functional, old-fashioned 1935 carbonic soda fountain that serves as the store's focal point, even today. There, patrons can momentarily be whisked away to a simpler time, when Friday nights were spent drinking malts and flavored sodas in the shop served up by John's wife Katherine, before heading to the movie theater or town dances. Back then a cup of creamy goodness served ice-cold cost a nickel.
At the age of seven, John's son Larry helped with the family business by serving coffee and fountain drinks and washing dishes. Back then, Larry's favorite flavor was Nesbit's orange, the kind made with real pulp. In later years, Larry went off to college and graduated from NDSU's School of Pharmacy in 1983 and went to work with his father. Years later, he took over the family business with his wife, Debbie. Soon, they were working there together, while raising their children, Michelle, Jenna, Christopher and Sean. Currently, Jenna's sister Michelle is a pharmacist in Bismarck, N.D. Her brother Christopher is a student at UND and her younger brother Sean is in high school.
The Larsen family business is centered on both the ideal of serving the community, and of carrying on an inspiring legacy. "People had a lot of respect for my dad. They thought a lot of him. That was part of what inspired me to follow in his footsteps and carry on with the business. I think he would be proud to know his granddaughters also became pharmacists and are carrying on with the tradition," Larry Larson said.
In 1953 John added a clinic site to the store where McKenzie County Memorial Hospital provided patients with immunizations and health care. Those services continued at that site until 1988 when the hospital system constructed its own patient clinic.
In 2003 it was decided that a second site be opened on Main Street in New Town, N.D., a town which had seen its only drug store close down a few years prior.
Over the past 60 years technology has dramatically changed the way pharmacists conduct business. In the early years of the computer age, Larry purchased a computer to help keep track of patient profiles, medications and drug-to-drug interactions. In recent years, the pharmacy has begun to operate with the assistance of a pharmacy robot which fills prescriptions and text-messages patients to let them know when their prescriptions are ready for pick up.
Today, Jenna credits her career choice as being one of the reasons she is able to maintain such a strong relationship with her dad. "It's wonderful and I am so lucky. My dad is my mentor and we have such a great relationship because we get to spend so much time together," she said. "If my grandpa could see the business today and know that we were continuing with his legacy, I think he would have pride and a smile on his face. He would know that we too wanted to make a difference in our community," Wahlstrom said.
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