Reply from Leland Hagen (50): BRYAN, TX
Hi Gary,
We returned home yesterday. We had a great trip and got to see many friends and family during our short stay. We stayed with Orvin some and took him with us to Bottineau then back to Kindred on our way home. He saw more people than we did and seemed to thourghly enjoy every minute of the trip. He does know lots of people! We were glad we could take him along.
I know you published some pictures in your blog relating to the festivities in and around the Bottineau area recently, but since I had you hold all emails since 4 July I did not see any of them. I would appreciate it, if you would add me back on your daily list. I will go to your blog and check the recent messages. I should be able to find all the back issues.
Thank you so much for all the great information that you continue to send to all of the Alumni every day. Your dedication is remarkable and appreciated by all .
I also want to tell you that the phone calls to Orvin really
make his day!!! He is amazed that the calls are so clear all the way from the Philippines!
Leland Hagen
Class of 50
Leland: Yes, Orvin is well known throughout the Dunseith, Bottineau & Turtle Mountain areas. That was quite evident with the thousands, not hundreds, of folks that attended his wedding in 1980. I have forgotten the numbers, but more than 2,000 comes to mind. Orvin accompanied my folks to Bremerton, WA in 1978 to attend our wedding too, but we didn’t have thousands at our wedding.
I have all of 2009 & 2010 daily blogs posted on our Website http://garystokes.net/default.aspx As of yet I have not posted all of the 2008 daily messages. Some day I will get that done.
We did not start the numbering of the daily blogs at first. With today’s message there have been 890 daily messages posted. Today’s number is 860. When the actual posted messages reach 1,000, I will advance the daily number to 1,000. On December 26th, we’ll start year four. That’s amazing. You guys have done well keeping this going. My daily email distribution is about 650. We have another 50 or so daily views on our Website too. Gary
Reply from Connie (Zorn) Landsverk: Bottineau, ND.
I attended Alvina Christianson,s 90th birthday party & Alvina looks great for 90. She was ready to dance but there wasn,t any music.She was so happy & really enjoyed her party. I visited with Dick & his wife lois. I went to school with both of them. When I was in 8th grade they were seniors. I met their son Cody today. He,s a nice kid!!!
Connie ( Zorn) Landsverk
Al (Adolph) Longie (61) Spokane, WA
Request from Sharon Longie Dana (75): MIssoula MT
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Hi Gary,
I would appreciate if you would add my Uncle Al (Adolph) Longie to your daily blog.
his address is
Al, It is my pleasure to add you to our distribution. We know that any brother of Willie’s and Ron’s must be a good guy. Gary
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Reply from Ardys Bakken Horner (Teacher): Detroit Lakes, MN
Gary Thanks for all the reunion photos, great to see people I knew in Dunseith again, especially Orvin Hagen and the Campbells. We are having a busy summer of family reunions, kids just left after a week with us, which is always fun, its great living on a lake with “built-in” entertainment, they love fishing off the pontoon and the jet ski. The washing machine gets quite a workout. This weekend we hosted a relative of Arv Bakken’s from Gjervik, Norway. She is a teacher there and great fun as a guest. Ardys Bakken Horner.
Dunseith memories:
From Vickie Metcalfe (70): Bottineau, ND.
Growing Up in Dunseith Then Beyond
Once upon atime, I believed there were 3 churches. Growing up on the farm north of Dunseith I knew there were;The Methodist, The Lutheran and The Catholic.
In recent time, I thank you, Bob Leonard, for the timely explanation which referenced the building and history of the Dunseith Stone Church.
Also this summer, I met Sharon and her cousins, ie. the Erling Landsverk and Borghild Filia clan who told me they were in the area looking at rocks.
“Rocks”, I thought incredulously? “There are people who come to North Dakota to look at historical places like Fort Union or Saint John” ……then, understanding, I immediately recalled my dad and Art Seim discussing those skilled stonemasons who were responsible for many area traditional stone structures built, the brothers, Landsverk.
On a Saturday in July, the Landsverk group gave me another lesson in history. Through their simple explanation of long long ago in Norway, the skilled crafts of wood carpentry and stone masonry came into being part of their identity.
……Aye yes! an understanding why so many Norwegian decent have the “gift” of being skilled artists in wood and rock.
Tonight I heard another story of two little boys, the Dunseith Stone Church, and Shelver Drug.
In years gone by, I was told, there were church services held at the “Dunseith Methodist Church” early Sunday morning then later Sunday night.
This family would go into town twice a day to attend both services. The two young lads,father gave them a shiny dime.
The two boys felt the evening service was too much. So they would tell their papa they wanted to wait,come in last and sit in the back.
Are you with me here? Can you picture those two boys…of long long ago…Probably had their Saturday night bathes. Clean and ironed Sunday go to Church meeting clothes. Slicked back hair, Squeaky clean earnest faces. SHiney dime…?
Yep. They stayed outside. They played. They headed for Shelver Drug. They made it back to church in time to slide into the last pew.
Their plan worked for a time, until one Sunday night the preacher finished preachin before they could slide back in the pews…….and they smelled of licorice.
No more sitting in the back pew. Yep these are stories I was told. Vickie
Vickie, Now we are curious as to who these young lads may have been????? Gary
finished my last radiation treatment on Wednesday! Hopefully I never have to do radiation again. The worst of my cancer treatments are finally over. It is such a great feeling. It is also a little scary because I am not sure what life will be like without having to be going to the cancer center every week for some kind of treatment. I guess I will adjust. Connor and I got home Thursday night and it is so great to be home. It has been about 7 weeks since we have been back here to Kenmare and I really missed it. Patrick had the weekend off and we spent the weekend out a Mouse River Park for a Softball tournament he had set up to help raise money for a family from Antler, ND who recently lost there mother to cancer. The tournament was a great success and a beautiful weekend to spend as a family. Connor sure enjoys being outside. However he spent most of the time sleeping in his stroller while his daddy was playing softball. We are taking Connor to the doctor today for a check-up so I am excited to find out how much he has grown. I will try to write on here again tomorrow to let you all know. Take Care everyone. I better get some lunch befor Connor wakes up from his nap.
“All country School” reunion Photo:
Reply to Neola from Laurel Wenstad (63): Dundas, MN
Hi Neola, That is Diane in the wine top,the blue shirt is my brother Pete. My wife and I are to the left of Pete. I’m the one with the dark glasses, Lynette is right behind Diane. Lloyd Gardner is behind the man with the blue plaid shirt on the right.His sister Linda is the lady on the left side with the red shirt. The tall man in the very back with the gray hair is my cousin Jerry Christianson. To the left of him the guy with the cap is Gary Wenstad and the one his left is Arlen Wenstad. Arlens sisters are the lady in blue next to the lady with the cane. And his other sister is right behind the one in blue. There are others who are shirt tail relatives also, but alot are neighbors and friends from the hills. It did seem like a family reunion with so many familiar faces. It was an occasion I will never forget. Thanks for forwarding the photo. I will keep it in my file. You do a great job on the blog. I really enjoy it. Thanks again, Laurel and Sherri
