Ralph's Place

Here is the Grain Belt sign seen over the bar in the photo of Ralph's Place. I bought it at Nick Nilsson's sale about 10 years ago shortly before he passed away.

Driftwood

Some of you may remember the 'Driftwood' north of Williston, a combination curio shop and campground started by Roy and Orpha Hagen sometime around the early 1970's. This postcard shows them standing out in front on a pleasant summer day. In the far right, the corner of the trailer they lived in appears. The main building was from a lumberyard in Williston that was moved out to this location. Sometime later they added onto the west side. As I recall, the tower had 88 wheels that dad collected from various people in the Alamo to Williston area. Much of the rest of material came from a grain bin we tore down on the east side of Alamo except for the four wood poles that were erected by the local electric coop. Although I think they got kind of tired of having to be there all the time when it was open, they also met many people and valued that experience greatly.

Ralph's Bar Key Chain

Shirley showed me one of her little 'treasures', a key chain from Ralph's Bar that she got from her dad (or so she says). Andrew posted a picture of Ralph's bar back a few months ago (copied below). Would it be possible for me to get a higher resolution scan of that picture? Then I can frame it with the key chain for an unusual piece of memorabilia. I wonder what other pictures are out there of the 'olden days' along with assorted memorabilia that eventually get thrown out as garbage? Marilyn - some years ago you showed me an old sign you had saved from the Driftwood: if you still have it, would you mind taking a picture of it and posting it? It's another example of things that have sentimental value but little else. They were created and painted by Cliff Gronfur - a man of great talent.


PS: if you look at the mirror behind the bar, you can see "Ralph's Place' on the glass. It is standing open so you are seeing the front of it (so it appears backwards in the mirror).

Hagens in the 30's

Hi there! I saw Andrea was asking about homesteading. I remembered reading how they happened to settle in Divide County so went back to the books that Ardy posted. From both Arnold and Norris' books it looks like Grandpa took off on his own in 1906 to look for open land. He got as far as Minot and couldn't find anything available so he returned to MN. In the meantime, Tom Larson and Tosten Flaten had homesteaded in Divide Co. so Grandpa returned in 1907 to meet them. As you know, Tom Larson's place is where Mom lives now. Gilbert Halverson traveled with him and they hired a "locator" and it turned out that the land right next to Tom was open. Grandpa then had to walk to Ray to take the train to Williston to file the claim. He then went back to MN to put the crop in. When it came time to start moving then Louis, Grandma's brother, decided to also go to make a claim so he went with Grandpa the 3rd time. Grandma and Arnold didn't come out until a home was built.

This picture is from G & G's 25th anniversary. I'm kind of guessing but Arnold and Norris start out the back row (not positive which is which). Roy and Laurence, Louis Tollefson and Fred?. Next to Fred? must be Tom Larson. Bernice, I believe, is behind Grandpa, then Grandma. Then Pearl? and Anna Larson holding Arvid. There's a couple in the middle with the child that I do not know. Have to remember to ask Mom. Maybe relatives from MN (Casbergs?) Also not sure who else is in the picture that has a hat on but is covered up. You'll have to straighten me out where I am wrong. So just some history tidbits......

Saturday Brunch and Sunday Picnic

Alissa, (Marilyn's Daughter) Bill and the kids visited us for a couple of hours the day before Mother's Day. They were traveling to Bill's mothers, who lives about forty minutes away from us. Now that they have moved to Lafayette, Indiana we hope to see more of them.

We had a Mother's Day picnic at one of the Metro Parks. We feasted on roasted hot dogs and smores. It was a great day!

Runner and Biker

Ethan after finishing 4Th in a half mile race for kindergarten and first grade boys. He did a great job of moving through the pack and nearly capturing third. what a finish! Also, you can see Emily enjoying her bike on the drive way at their house.

backyard fun

Backyard fun photo's of Dana, Hunter (8), Alissa (7) and Jaden (2.93)

Holding hands at Biltmore Estate

We thought this was cute of Ethan and Emily holding hands. Emily likes to walk with Ethan and loves his attention. She will be two on June 24th. John and I are flying to SC for her birthday and will babysit while Aric and Heli travel to San Jose for a few days. Aric has a business trip and will mix business with fun!

Family Photo's - 22 April 2007

The hiking trails at Biltmore are usually beautiful this time of the year. Unfortunately, the cold spell froze the azaleas and the leaves off most of the trees. They are expecting everything to survive but the spring blossoms really were affected by the weather. We enjoy hiking with Aric, Heli and the kids . Emily does pretty well but Ethan is unbelievable at being able to walk long distances.

Festival of Flowers - 22 April 2007

We try to visit the Biltmore as often as we can . The flowers change with the seasons so there is always something new to see. Aric said that all of the bulbs have been removed and they are preparing the beds for roses.

Family Picture

Aric, Ethan, Emily with Heli in the background at one of two soccor games we watched while in South Carolina.

Here are the pictures from our Mother's Day visit to Aunt Eva.
She is doing well, has immense energy, though not so good eyesight.
Of course, she had lots of cake and cookies, plus we had lunch out
at a nice seafood restaurant that specializes in salmon. The picture with the red rhododendrons is from the campus of Pacific Lutheran University, where Arnold taught and where Marilyn and I went to school.

She also shared many family pictures and writings, one that I hadn't seen before. It is an autobiography that Uncle Fred wrote in 1933 when he was just 20 years old. He describes the Hagen and Tollefson families in great detail and with some humor. I believe that Sara Lynn has a copy of this, as the last page indicates that she and Mel typed the autobiography.
A question that I had: Do any of you know how Andrew Hagen obtained the homestead. I'm reading a book entitled Land of the Burnt Thigh about homesteading in South Dakota. There there were hundreds of people vying for just dozens of claims. I know that Andrew and someone else went out before Josie and made the claim and build a "house," but I don't know details of how he got the claim. Have any of you heard or is there someone you could ask. Perhaps Berniece would know.
Love, Andrea

On Vacation

Shirley and I met our daughter Dasha in Cancun recently. Besides laying around the pool, we visited Chichen-Itza and did some snorkeling. The weather was warm and water was perfect for swimming. We all had a nice time.

Sunday, May 6th in Baltimore. We've had these two young guys from Germany visiting us for two weeks. The guy in black is Otfried's 26 year old son, and the fellow on the left is Wojtek, Martin's friend, with whom we were celebrating his 30th birthday. We went to a Bach concert in which Otfried sang and then went out to dinner at a good seafood restaurant. . . finishing the evening at our condos with one or more of the following: 3 choices of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, coconute lemon cake, and/coffee, wine, or beer. Some of us ate or drank all of the above. I have gained 5 pounds during their visit!

Latest of Jasmine

Lanette just sent some new pictures so here are a couple of Jasmine and Josie at home. Grandma is really enjoying being there and will be coming home on 5-14.

Jasmine, Josie and Lannette

Jasmine is just newly born in these pictures so I imagine she has changed a lot in this first week of life. Lanette is recovering but probably not as fast as she would hope. It has been a long pregnancy for her and it will be good when she is feeling "normal" again. She plans to go back to work the end of May and school gets out June 18th or so.

Janie was asking about when Aunt Eva's birthday is. Actually, it's not until July 2. Otfried and I will be out to take her to dinner on Mother's Day, May 13. This picture was taken last year, which we also were there for mother's day. At that time, we visited Lanette who lives not too far away. Who is going to post a picture of that new family addition -- Jasmine Jade Shepherd!