Square Dancing - Wright County Fair

Larry found a Rondezvous camp at the county fair. The Indian fry bread they served was excellent along with the fresh cooked apple pie! The west end of the fairgrounds was our spot as we advertised square dancing in the small cabin near the school house.





Ace and Dosie visited the little cabin to keep the dancers company as they talked to people about square dancing. We also advertised the Tractor Square dancing on Saturday.

The tractor square dancing at the fair on Saturday was a great success for the second year in a row. Sandy was the caller and the other couples were Marion & Ros, Pat & Richard, Arlie & Joan and Gael & Dave. The dead battery at the start of the second show was the only hitch in two flawless (?) performances.

Big Oaks - Wilson Campout/picnic

The Wilson Clan at the family picnic at Big Oaks


Big Oaks is such a nice campgroud. It is private, yet close to Monticello which is central to our extended family. We brought our small motorhome to use as a base and added two tents, one for the Pat Wilson kids, one for the Paul Wilson kids. Three of Pat's kids (JP was at camp)stayed the whole time (Mon to Thursday).


Paul's kids came Tuesday/Wed and again on Thursday.


The kids rode bikes, swam in the pool, hiked, fished, played cards,and cooked over the campfire.



When it rained, we gathered in the motor home to play games.

Lowe/Fredrickson Family Reunion

Valley City, North Dakota
This was the scene of the family reunion July 4-6, 2008. Many cousins were reunited to exchange family updates and relive childhood memories. The genealogists of the group showed off their charts and family lists. New friendships were formed amid the loosely related groups.
The family stemmed from Norwegian immigrants: Hallvard Petterson Loe (Lowe) and his wife, Kari Pedersdatter Loe. Descendents from four of their children met to reminisce and reconnect.


John Lovell and his daughter, Janet Miller, from Arizona and Alaska represented the oldest daughter's family - Kari Halvorsdatter Haugen (Nelson).
Our family (Marlys Wilson) represented the next daughter, Gertrude Halvorsdatter Lowe Bakke (Baker).
Petter Halvorsen Lowe's family was well represented. One of his daughters married Rasmus Fredrickson. The Fredrickson's were the originators of this family reunion. There were many of those cousins at the gathering.

The youngest brother who lived and married was Peder (Per) Halvorsen Lowe who moved to Alberta, Canada in 1901. Three fellows from that part of the family jouneyed almost 1,000 miles to attend the reunion.

The setting at Riverbend Farm was ideal. Housing on the grounds included a farm house, a school house and camping spots. Others drove from home or stayed in Valley City (3 miles aways) in motels. The main building housed a full kitchen and meeting room where the Saturday evening catered meal was served. The chapel was used Sunday morning for a family worship service. Groups of 'cousins' sat around talking and comparing notes all day and evening on Friday and Saturday. Saturday morning many in the group had a caravan tour to Fort Ransom (1/2 hour away) for breakfast and a visit to three cemeteries and a school house.

Camping with Sky and Mark

After leaving Rosebud Indian Reservation, we headed to North Dakota to attend a family reunion. We spent last Thursday night, July 3, at Fort Ransom State Park near Valley City, ND.


The weather was perfect. The accomodations were great. We set up two tents and had supper.



In the evening we walked near the Sheyenne River. We came to a farm and saw several deer on the hillside and in the fields. They were pretty used to people so didn't run until we got pretty close to them.



We packed up in the morning and stayed for the July 4th Parade at 11 AM. Then we drove about half an hour away to the Riverbend Farm which was the location of the family reunion. But I will tell about that in a separate letter.

Family Mission Trip to South Dakota

Larry and I brought two grandsons, Mark and Skyler, with us to Rosebud Indian Reservation June 29 to July 3. We joined thirty others from two other churches to work at painting and Kids Club for three days. We spent one mornng painting and cleaning up an arbor which will be used for pow wows when it is finished.



We were part of the team that worked at the Kids Club in the afternoons. One morning we painted and one morning we visited a tutoring center.




The other team was a painting crew.



We ended our mission experience with a community meal.

The Youthworks leaders were great!