Hunter, North Dakota: bicentennial community, 1976

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: North Dakota State Library 2014
• Subjects: Golden Lake; Homestead; Norway; Round Lake; Steele; The ''Y''; Todd; Beaver Creek
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndsl-books/id/7763

For the next four summers he worked for Mr. Garrett and in winter he did various other things, but building was what he liked best to do and in later years he became a contractor and builder with a business of his own, known as the Wenaas Construction Company. In October 1931, he was married to Alice Margaret Bjerke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel D. Bjerke of Hatton, North Dakota. She was one of nine children, born on her grandfather Bjerke's farm, located about ten miles west of Hatton, on March 14,1912. When she was six weeks old, her parents moved to a farm of their own in Golden Lake Township, Steele County, North Dakota., six miles southeast of her grandfathers farm. Part of this land was virgin prairie and the sod had to be broken for farming. Alice's father, Daniel D. Bjerke, was born in Northwood, Iowa, his parents having come from Norway in 1870. Alice's father told of his coming from Iowa with his parents to Valley City in 1881 and then in 1882 they traveled by covered wagon across the prairie north eastward to their homestead in Beaver Creek Township, Steele County - having to ford the Sheyenne River and other streams as there were no bridges at that time. Alice spent her girlhood on this farm in Golden Lake Township, located only a few miles from the lake which has now become a very good fishing lake. She attended a one room school, until 1920 the large four room Golden Lake Consolidated school was completed, built just a couple of blocks from their farm home. This school had an enrollment of from 50 to 60 students at this time and she also received her first two years of high school there, completing her high school education in Hatton, N.D. When Alice was eighteen years old, her parents moved off the farm to the Mayville area and later they settled in Hatton. Alice met Marv in the Mayville Community at a Christmas party. In those days it was customary for the young people and even some of the older ones to go "Julebaking" or Christmas fooling as it is sometimes called, during the Christmas holidays. The young folks would dress up in costumes and masks and go around to different homes in the area, who would invite them in, trying to guess who they were and offer them treats. The group would usually end up at someones home for an evening of entertainment and dancing. Alice and Marv spent the first three years of their married life in the Mayville area - where Marv worked on farms and they lived with his parents. This was during the depression and building was at a stand still. Their daughter Phyllis Marilyn was born in May of 1932. In 1934 they were asked to come to Hunter, by Harold Garrett, and join him in a partnership, building and repairing farm buildings. From that time on, Hunter has been their home. In 1935 their son, Donald Keith, was born on October 3rd. Marv and Harold Garrett spent the next eight years building barns and homes in the surrounding area until with the coming of the second world war, lumber became scarce and there was no more building to be done. The Wenaas's then bought a trailer home and went west to build Navy and Army bases in the spring of 1942. While working on the Farragut Navy Base in Idaho, they lived in Coeur-d-Alene, and here their second son Reggie Gene was born on December 2, 1942. The next summer they lived in Bend, Oregon and Marv worked at the army base there and when completed they moved on to the San Francisco Bay area building homes and apartment buildings there. In 1944, they came back to Hunter and after a short while, Marv started his own construction company, employing from ten to twelve men in his crews for the next 20 years. He built many churches, banks, schools and homes in Hunter, Arthur, Mayville and Portland areas, and other communities. Then in 1968 he quit contracting and went to work for Crane Johnson Lumber Company at Mayville, where he is presently employed. Marv has been active in all civic affairs of Hunter, serving as mayor of Hunter for one term, head of the volunteer fire dept., Board of Hunter Lutheran Church, was Hunter Marshall for several years and is a member of the Hunter Masonic Lodge. Alice Wenaas is presently an employee of the Security State Bank, has served as president of A.L.C.W. of the Lutheran Church, and member of the Town and Country Homemakers. Both are active square dancers, being members of the Y-Prominaders Club of Fargo, and the Dakota Dancers of Hunter-Arthur. They were state president of the North Dakota Square Dance Clubs Inc. in 1971-72. The Wenaas's have a cottage on Round Lake, Becker County, Minn., which they built in 1952, which they thoroughly enjoy, spending most every summer weekend there together with children, grandchildren, and other relatives and friends. Their daughter Phyllis married Morrell Dickson in December of 1950. They live on the Dickson farm, seven miles west of Hunter with their family of four, Ricky, Randy, Mark and Wendy. Oldest son, Donald Keith, married Connie Ranstad of Hunter; he is a graduate of NDSU, served two years in the U.S. Navy and now lives in Fargo, N.D., where he is the supervisor of purchasing and transportation of the Fargo Public Schools. His wife Connie is a medical technician at St. Lukes Clinic in Fargo. They have two sons, Michael Jay and Steven Keith. Our youngest son, Reggie Gene, is a graduate of Mayville State Teachers College and received his masters degree in Library Science at St. Cloud, Minn. He married Myrna Moss of Erie, N.D. in 1960 and they have four children; Todd, Teran, Troy and Tanya. Regg has been with school systems in Fertile and St. Cloud, and is now a Media Specialist at the John Adams Junior High School in Rochester, Minnesota. Regg, having worked with his father in construction and building during his youth seems to have acquired the building "bug" too, during his summer vacation he spends his time working on new homes and they have now completed their third home. They live in these homes for a year or two, sell them at a profit and then begin all over again. Page 14 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.