| Summary: | Preface - - - This brief history of litchville is in tribute to the memory of the men and women who have gone on before us, who braved the privations and exhasting demands of pioneer life to change a prairie wilderness into a land of fertile farms and comfortable homes and those who founded a town to serve the spiritual, mental, physical and social needs. We of today owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. If the first 50 years of Litchville's history can be said to have been devoted to the town's development, the last 25 have been devoted to improvement. Since 1950 many changes have occurred in the city of Litchville. Electrical power has come to area farms, city streets have been paved, an addition made to the school, a new housing development built and a Community Development Corporation formed. In a time when many small townsare inaperiodof decline the town has continued to build and plan for the future. The statements made in the following pages are based on three main sources of information The first "Litchville Story" written by J.W. Jongeward. the memory of some of the children of the early day pioneers and the files of the Litchville Bulletin. The following summary of the past 75 years of litchville contains some of the major and minor triumphs and tragedies which make up life in the community. If it so happens that there are errors in what is written, it is because those writing and editing the story were not aware it was not accurate or because we could find no verification or dispute of that part of the story. Norma Berg (Mrs. Robert Miedema) and Cheryl Olson (Mrs. John Lorenz) colaborated in the preparation of this book. Both are fourth generation descendents of families that came to 'Titchville Country" in 1882. Cheryl is a great-granddaughter of l.ewis M. Olson, who settled in the Griswold area where he was active in community affairs as he was later in the early formative years in Litchville. Her grandfather, George Olson. Sr„ is still alert and makes his home in the Colonial Manor in T.a- Moure. George Olson Jr. Cheryl's father, resides on his father's farm as the generations remain a part of the community. The original farm remains in the family owned by Morris and Alvin Olson, great uncles. Cheryl is a graduate in Journalism from UNO at Grand Forks and is on the staff of the Grand Forks Herald. Norma's great-grandfather, Ingvart Brox, settled with his family in Greenland Township in 1882 as the first settlers in that township. Her grandfather Gilbert Berg was also active in community and political circles. I^eonard Berg resides in Litchville and still works at the Litchville Bulletin, which had been his responsibility for so many years. The original farm also remains in the family, as Albert H. Berg's, an uncle of Norma's, reside there. This book has been prepared for the community's observance of the 75th Jubilee of its founding which was observed June 27, 28 and 29, 1975. seventy-five years in the life of an individual or community is a long time. So included in this book are brief histories of individuals, businesses, schools and churches, to remember their contribution to what we have today and can continue to build with and upon. Enthusastic hopes ran high during the early years of the town's youth, perhaps many were never reached, but litchville Country has been a good community for hundreds of people. People who had their start here or used it as a stepping stone to further advancement. Those of us who live here now or have lived here in the past, love the old town or what il is, not for what it might have been. There have been and will be more plans and preparations made by residents of the community for this coming event, to remember the past - businesses made improvements, events planned and a schedule planned, individuals assigned responsibilities, letters written. All have been made with the thoughts that this should be a time for present day litchville residents and anyone ever being a part of the community. Included in the weekend events are the arrival of a wagon train, a cook-out bean-barbecue, street dance, parade, threshing, all school reunion dinner, community worship service, muzzle shoot and fireworks finale. Each event is very much a part of our heritage - spiritual, mental, physical or social. Thanks are due many people for their contribution to this book. Credit is given to those who lent photos that had been family posessions through the years. Mr. Jongeward did the community a tremendous service as he put in writing the Litchville Story 25 years ago, much of which had been from memory. J.E. Nelson's pictures are invaluable for our reminiscing of early Litchville scenes. Thanks also is due to older members of the community who have provided answers for this book, as we needed them. Then too the design on the front cover was designed by Sandra Peterson and appreciation for the actual' work of getting the book in print goes to the typists, proof readers and collators. In order to tell the entire story would have required a much larger book. It would also have been necessary to do much more research - I feel I should have had much more time for research in compiling this book. Cheryl did the writing and I the research and editing. It has been a most enjoyable task to me, because I've always loved history and this is so much closer to me than class room history. I hope our efforts give others much pleasure as well. Norma Miedema Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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