The Hjelle Ice Company, it all started in 1894. The demand for good ice was great in the days before refrigeration. Ole then realized that an industry could be established here which would be able to produce much more ice then the local demand. Ole saw the opportunity to fill that demand. He contacted the Soo Line Railroad and contracted with them for enough ice to keep his machinery operating most of the winter. Early on ice was pulled up on a platform, loading it on to a sleigh, they pulled it with horses down to the railroad loading dock in town where it was loaded on to box cars. This was too much work for his mechanical genius.

Two ice houses with elevators were built to lower the ice to ground level for the first tier. The north one was used to store ice packed in sawdust for summer use. The south house, which originally was used to store ice, was converted to a workshop and storage area. The plant was converted to diesel with the purchase of a 15 and 20 horsepower engine. They were Fairbanks-Morse single cylinder semi-diesel's from the village of Evansville Minnesota. They had been used to generate electrical power for that city.

The first launch was built by Ole and it was steam powered. Ole's son Elmer purchased the second launch, a 30 footer named Pelican, on May 26, 1921 for $100.00. In the summer the launch was used for tours around Barrett Lake especially during the Old Settlers Reunion on June 24th. On one 4th of July charging 10 cents per ride he took in over $90. My Uncle Larry as a teenager piloted the boat sometimes. Because good clean ice was an important factor, he designed a mower to clear the weeds from the bottom of the lake prior to it's freezing. The first consisted of a long knife-like bar pulled by a barge, which dragged along the bottom of the lake, cutting the grass in its path. But he saw the possibility of a regular mower being run at a depth of three feet or so. When it was completed he mounted it on the back of the barge and then later on the launch, with power being furnished by a 8 hp Briggs and Stratton gasoline engine.

A typical ice-cutting season in the early 20th century went something like this.

The lake grass was first cut in August and then again in October after which the grass was raked out of the lake. In early December, a few of the old hands would start repair work on tools and equipment. They would sharpen chisels, saws, chippers, creepers and tongs. Repairs were made on power equipment, belts, chains and wooden parts of the structures.

When the ice was about four to five inches thick, the head or ramp was bolted to the incline and lowered into the lake. This was only possible after dredging out the lake bottom with a long handled shovel to get proper depth, About the same time, accumulated snow was removed from the future ice field by horse drawn scrappers. This helped the ice get thicker, because of the lack of snow insulation.

The ice field was then marked in 22" by 32" rectangles. At first this was done with horses and an ice plowwith handles like a walking plow. This operation was taken over by power saws Ole designed and built with Model T parts. The field was laid out with a wire stretched across it. The saw had a gauge on it, which would put in each successive cut. These markings or gauging cuts were about 3" deep. When the markings were finished, more of the crew would come in, the ice being perhaps ten to twelve inches thick by this time.