Gossip Friday: Gracious and Friendly

From October 1941:

There were lots of stories growing out of that visit to South Dakota by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. But the best one for my money concerns the Sioux Falls people who talked to Clark and Carole in Watertown.

Olaf Pederson a Metz baker, and Maxine Dement, his girlfriend, a maid at the W.E. Perrenoud home, were accompanied by another couple as they took a rural school teacher back to Watertown after a visit here. They stopped at a filing station for gasoline. 

“Well, have you seen Gable and Lombard?” asked the station attendant, just to make conversation.

“No,” chorused the Sioux Falls people, “are they in town?”

“Sure, right over there at Dr. Harper’s house.”

Just for fun, the local people drove to the doctor’s home. Pederson got out of the car, just on impulse, and rang the bell. Dr. Harper answered the door.

“Are Clark Gable and Carole Lombard here?” Pederson asked. 

“Yes, they are,” said the doctor courteously. “Would you like to see them?”

“Sure,” said the unabashed Pederson

Clark and Carole came to the door. Not only that, they came out to the car and talked for five minutes or so to the Sioux Falls people. They left an impression of graciousness and friendliness.