T-Shirts and The Big Woods

The Norseland Community 150th Anniversary Committee met this past week. Here is an update.

1. We have interesting historical data on “The Big Woods”. This will be used in the introduction of our book which will be entitled: “Norseland: Where the Big Woods Meets the Prairie”.
2. Financially we are looking good with a cash balance of $12,675.75 in our treasury. We are grateful to the Schmidt Foundation of St. Peter for a substantial part of these funds. Committee members will be calling on area businesses and asking them to donate. We are registered as a non-profit through the Nicollet County Historical Society so donations will be tax exempt. If you care to donate make checks to Norseland 150 and mail to Myrna Schoeb, 37658 410th Street, St. Peter, Mn. 56082. Your donations are much appreciated.
3. We will be ordering small refrigerator magnets with our logo and the date of the event on them. These will be distributed at the Nicollet County Fair. A magnate advertising our event on your refrigerator door is always a good way to remember a special celebration.
4. Norseland 150 T shirts are being ordered and are expected to be available at the Norseland Lutheran Church’s Syttende Mai dinner on May 17 and Scandian Grove’s Memorial Day dinner which is May 28.
   
   Historical Bits of Information
   During the years of 1874-1876, the farmers in the Norseland area suffered the scourge of grasshoppers. The plague was so bad that one farmer wrote to his relatives in Sweden that he would give up everything and return to his native land if things did not get better. During this time the Minnesota legislature allowed county auditors to pay grasshopper bounties from 3-10 cents a bushel.
   School District 4 residents decided to build a 26x38 foot frame building for a school in 1876. The low bid for the building was $822 by Swan Johnson.
   Country schools were eliminated in the late 1940’s. The state legislature passed a law asking counties to set up school-survey committees to examine the strengths and weaknesses of their local school systems. This was the impetus for consolidation of districts and the end of rural one-room schools. Read more about all of these subjects in our book to be published in 2008. end

Bits of Farm History

The committee has received historical accounts from two area farms which have been in the same family for 150 years or more. The Andrew Thorson farm, now owned by his great granddaughter, Donna Pankratz and the Swen Swenson Jr. farm, now operated by great, great grandson Paul Swenson and his wife Cindy.

History at a glance

The Thorson farm was the site of the formation of the Scandian Grove Lutheran Church.
A house on this farm was constructed from lumber salvaged from taking down a church building from the Norseland Lutheran Church. Pankratz writes the following about the house construction done by Ole Olson. “It must have been the two front doors of the church that he put into the pantry door opening as we had two swinging doors there. Another unique thing was the inside doors were installed upside down so the door handles were lower than normal.”

The Swenson farm has been the home of Registered Holstein cattle since 1885. The farm has also produced governmental leaders. Swen Swenson served a term in the State Legislature, his son Oscar Swenson served many years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and Oscar’s grandson, Howard Swenson served 10 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Read the Rest of the Stories – when the Norseland History book is published next year.end

Sesquicentennial Farms

Information is coming in from area farms that have been in the same family for 150 years or more. Thank you all very much. 150 years has meant drastic changes in the way we farm. Check this site for some dramatic examples! end

With a Little Help From Our Friends

The Norseland Community is large in enthusiasm, but pretty small in manpower. When faced with a task of collecting historical information about the community, the Norseland 150th Anniversary Committee asked for some help. The help came in the way of Sarah Wolter’s Interpersonal Communication Class at Gustavus Adolphus College.

The class assignment was to conduct an interview with complete strangers. Certainly it takes some particular skills to establish a rapport with a complete stranger and then get them to open up and answer personal questions. These are the kinds of skills needed if students want to go on to become journalists. The class needed people who would be willing to be interviewed and the 150th Anniversary Committee needed historical information for our project. A partnership was developed and on March 20 a meeting was arranged at the Norseland Lutheran Church. Our committee lined up 17 people from the area to attend and be interviewed. The class was comprised of 21 students who came to Norseland from the campus. Our committee had prepared a list of topics pertinent to the Norseland Community and students also had an opportunity to pose their own questions. The final product of each interview will be placed on a compact disc and presented to our committee.

The students accomplished in one afternoon what would have taken many, many hours for our committee.
Our event got some publicity that day also as, Ruth Kossner, editor of The Ledger attended and did a front-page story in the Mar. 29 edition. Thanks to all who made this event a success. Community members who were interviewed were: Paul and Lois Bjorklund, Harold and Louise Rodning, Caroll and Elaine Hermanson, Don and Laurie Webster, Bob and Corinne Johnson; Jerry Johnson, Duane Olmanson, Hubert Anderson, Garfield Eckberg, Margaret Norell, Margaret Annexstad, and Beatrice Enter. Willard and Marilyn Bjorklund were interviewed at a later date by a student who was ill that day.

This event continues a unique partnership between Gustavus Adolphus and the Norseland Community. Early settlers to Norseland were responsible for encouraging the location of Gustavus in the city of St. Peter. end

You Been Farming Long?

Remember the poster of the two little boys in their bib overalls? They were standing in the yard, about to kick a bit of gravel with the toe of one of their work boots. One of them had his hands in the pockets of his overalls. The one dimensional poster invited the viewer to imagine that one looked down a bit and then tilted his head back up and looked at the first little boy and asked, “You been farming long?”

The Norseland/New Sweden Community has quite a few little boys that grew into men and then farmed for quite a long time. Farms started over 100 years ago have been passed down from generation to generation. The Minnesota Century Farm program acknowledges those farms and a listing at the Nicollet County Museum indicates 21 farms in the Norseland/New Sweden Area that have been in the same family for over 100 years.
(These are the names of the farm owners at the time Century Farm designation was bestowed. Today, the farms may be officially owned by different family members.)
1. James Allerson
2. Hubert Anderson
3. Martin Annexstad
4. Marian Anthony
5. Robert Bjorklund
6. Wayne Bjorklund
7. William Brandt
8. Garfield Eckberg
9. Carroll Hermanson
10. Ernest Jonason
11. Harvey Johnson
12. Emily Lokensgard
13. Richard Nelson
14. Duane/Marilyn Olmanson
15. Valborg Pearson
16. Allen Quist
17. Warren Rodning
18. Howard Swenson
19. Ellis Thorson
20. Floyd Tungsvik
21. Don Webster
Several of these farms have been in the same family for 150 or more years. These farms will be highlighted in our book. Remember, HISTORY MATTERS.end

Financing the Event

The committee is planning on having T shirts printed. (I hope to have our logo posted here soon. - Hoping that our computer guru, Dick Kinkeade can take care of that task.) We will have them on sale at the Nicollet County Fair or before! Look for our booth at the fair. It will be an opportunity for you to volunteer to help with the celebration. We have secured a grant from the Schmidt Foundation to help defray some of the expenses. Also, Garfield solicited a donation from our State Representative, Terry Morrow. Thank you very much Rep. Morrow!

Garfield has also contacted the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Office and made an application for grant funding. We are covering all the bases as they say. Speaking of baseball, I believe there is some very interesting historical information about Norseland Baseball and Softball teams. If anyone can contribute memories - please send them along. norseland150@gmail.com That's all for now.
Remember - HISTORY MATTERS
end

Norseland Community 150th Anniversary Committee

The committee that is working on the Norseland Sesquicentennial is as follows:

• Co-Chairs: Fred Struck and Garfield Eckberg
• Evie Swenson, Secretary
• Myrna Schoeb, Treasurer
• Pastor Craig Ferkenstad
• Pastor Jerry Lanes
• Dick Kinkeade
• Darwin Gunderson
• Emilie Lokensgard
• Margie Eckberg
• Judy Schultz
• Randy Swenson
• Janel Swenson
• Judy Hanson

The committee has been meeting almost every month since June, 2006. Subcommittees have been designated including: parade, supper, and afternoon events. Anyone interested in helping is encouraged to call Garfield or Fred. Garfield's number is 246-5025. Fred's number is 931-6047.