Michaela Handke/ Winonan

More than five years ago, Don Trester bought his first trolley in hopes of remodeling it and taking people around Winona to help them learn about the city. Trester suffered a stroke shortly after his purchase and he would never see the trolley become a tourist attraction for Winona as he had hoped.

Trester’s close friend, Clarence Russel, finished the project in his memory and now runs the Trester Trolleys, continuing to promote the city of Winona, as well as inform the locals about the history they are living within.

“A local might say there isn’t much going on here, but yet I could spend five minutes telling you things going on and not even scratch the surface,” Russel said.

Becky and Darrell Koenen, tourists from Aplington, Iowa, made a trip up to Winona with Becky’s sister Vicky and her husband Gary Beer. They had been to Winona before but decided to come back and learn a little bit about the area.

“This tour covers more than I thought it would,” Becky Koenen said. “I think a lot of this information isn’t just beneficial to tourists or people passing through, but also to people living here.”

After realizing one trolley was not enough for the city’s demands, Russel said he added another trolley to the business.

“I got another trolley so when one trolley wasn’t working I had another trolley to fall back on,” Russel said. “Never would I realize that two wouldn’t be enough when I booked two weddings at the same time on the same weekend, and one didn’t work right.”

The trolley tours run the most on Saturdays for $10 a person. Russel also takes special requests from time to time during the week, where people can rent out the trolley. The trolley has been rented in the past for weddings and more recently for a ride up Highway 61 to celebrate a birthday.

Russel said he also partners with local events such as the Cemetery Walk where he shuttles people around to learn about Winona’s history and the various important people within its history.