Brief rush at area stations

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Gas stations in southwestern Minnesota weren't immune to the nationwide gas shortage panic Tuesday night.

At the Crystal Co-op in Nicollet, cars lined up along Highway 99, many with their engines off and their occupants waiting patiently.

"It's a sign of the times," said Ona Smith of Nicollet as she waited in line. "I think it's just terrible."

While Tuesday night brought some unfounded speculation and panic, Wednesday morning marked a return to normal.

Chad Frederick, a clerk at Groebner's Amoco at the corner of Seventh North and Broadway in New Ulm, worked on Tuesday night. The lines for gas began early in the evening and continued until the station closed at 11 p.m. The next morning, he said, the lines had disappeared.

"It was pretty packed," he said Wednesday. "It started at around seven and went until 10. It was like that at every gas station in New Ulm."

Unlike some stations in Minnesota and the rest of the country, New Ulm's service stations did not see any sharp increase in gas prices. On average, the price per gallon of standard unleaded gas rose from $1.79 per gallon to $1.99 per gallon and fell back to $1.79 early Wednesday morning.

Clerks working the night shifts at Sleepy Eye gas stations dealt with similar situations.

Vicky Krohnfeldt of Casey's in Sleepy Eye started work Tuesday at 3 p.m. and left at 7 p.m. The lines for the station's gas pumps kept growing and growing and got progressively worse.

"I just figured that was just part of it," she said. "People were doing what they normally do in a situation like that."

Krohnfeldt said people who flocked to the pumps to avoid the rumored price increase handled themselves very well.

"The acted like they normally would. They were patient, considerate," she explained. "They waited their turn."

The Cenex station down the road from Casey's was also bustling with paranoid drivers Tuesday night. The rush began around 6 p.m. and kept a steady pace until the station closed at 11:30 p.m. A slight morning rush began when the station opened at 5 a.m. but gradually died out.

"It was hell the first half hour," said store manager Maribeth Veit. "I think everybody was just panicking. It seemed they couldn't get it fast enough."

Despite a panic, however, no major problems were caused by the paranoid onslaught. At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Sibley County Sheriff's Department reported that the town of Henderson had completely run out of gas and that lines at pumps were 10 cars deep in cities like Gaylord and Glencoe. Sheriff Doug Schilte said no extra help was needed and the department saw no morning rush.

"Everyone thought it was going up, so they went out and filled up," he said.

Cpl. Jeff Hohensee of the New Ulm Police Department said stations around New Ulm were "obviously busier" but that extra business didn't cause law enforcement any problems.