Carl Oleson was a long-time institution around the Glen Lake area.  After serving 11 years in the Coast Guard, he and Ruth began The Sportsman Shop in 1948. Ruth explains their 37-year ownership of the store as follows: 

      "The best part that really made the business survive was that Carl was so willing to tell people where the best place to fish was and how to go about it--He was so good at doing that… In the days before fish finders and all the gadgets, somehow he had the instinct to know where to go to get the fish… On opening day of bass season we wouldn't open the store till 8:30 (to go fishing).  But you didn't have any peace because he put the boat in by the Narrows Bridge, but everybody was looking to see where Carl Oleson was fishing--and the next thing, on all sides there would be a boat anchored.” 

In winter, “he was the first one and the last one" on the ice.  Sometimes he pushed a boat out onto the ice.  "His secret was, 'I take it out and it looks more dangerous than it really is, so nobody comes out and bothers me.’"

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