Something I've always wanted to do!

It's on my "bucket list"...

 to attend one of the few services held at this pioneer church in Lenora, MN

The church is on the 
National Register of Historic Places

The United Methodist Church

I have visited this unlocked gem several times with my dad while on road trips to Southern MN.

I've sat in the original pews of this church, and wondered what it might have been like to attend in the early days. Heated by an old wood stove which sits in the middle of the building as you enter the front door. It reminds me of the wood stove my grandma had on the farm.

There is no electricity, so if it's not daylight then the light is provided by

oil lamps placed in strategic area's  within the church 

There is also an oil-filled chandelier

I Love, love love the alter,

 Behind the wooden rail are candelabra's, a nativity set, a small reed pump organ,

 and a real Christmas tree! 

How often do you see a large American flag on the wall at the front of the church? 

It certainly is a focal point and really pulls in the connection of God and Country.

Weather pending... I am hoping to attend a service this year on December 23rd.

Another bucket list check off.

Historic Church returns to the ground...

The historic Henrytown Lutheran Church has returned to the ground on which it stood.

A fire destroyed the 138 year old church on April 16th, 2015

Henrytown Lutheran Church, Photo from "Google images"

Not just any church but the church my dad attended as a boy. 

Right behind the church is the cemetery were my paternal grandparents and 

Great-grandparents were laid to rest, along with a number of other distant relatives.

Sadly there is nothing but the foundation left of this building in which 187 folks attended on any given Sunday morning. According to news reports, the congregation plans to rebuild, but for now they will travel 11 miles down the road to attend their sister church, United Prairie Lutheran Church near Lanesboro MN. (The two churches share the same minister)

Erickson.... My paternal grandparents

The smoldering rubble of the church is in front of the pines in the center of the photo.

I have visited this church and cemetery many times to pay respect to the graves of my relatives.
 It saddened me to hear about the fire. I just had to go and see it for myself....

Rick and I traveled down to Henrytown, which is southeast of Preston MN, not far from the Minnesota/Iowa border to view what remained of my Dad's boyhood church...

 From the parking lot we notice a make-shift cross made from charred wood,
stones placed around it's base to hold it erect.

 Some walls of the stone foundation remain standing

 still smoldering

 a brick wall remains intact

The winds pushed the fire to the edge of the nearest grave sites.
 Only the grass was singed, luckily no damage to the head stones.

The Church Sign remains....awaiting it's building.

A "Go Fund me" page has been started to help fund a new church building,
just thought I would pass it along in case anyone feels so inclined to help this
small farm community rebuild their church.   :)
Rebuild Henrytown Lutheran Church

Road Trippin'

Saturday mornings you will typically find Rick and I at Caribou coffee. 

Me, with my latte,  Rick with his Diet Mountain Dew.

Oh we talk about lots of things, 

what's going on in the world, hot topics, our kids and grandkids and everyday stuff. 

I enjoy this one on one time, away from the house that is often distracting with things

 that need to be done. No electronic devices....just us!

It is here we usually decide what we should do for the rest of the day 

(If there are no other obligations)

Road trips have become a favorite thing to do, especially winter road trips,

 it's a good time to get out and explore from the car.

Saturday we decided to head south and west of Rochester to a little town called

 St. Ansgar across the boarder in Iowa .

The prairie was littered with these giant windmills, not sure what I think about that. 

They are interesting but certainly take away form the vastness of the open prairie.

I wonder what the farmers think about it....was it their idea, is it something they wanted or was it forced upon them?

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While in the little community of St. Ansgar Ia, I wanted to visit historic Lutheran Church

This beautiful Gem was finished in 1869, it was added to the National Register in 1976 

First Lutheran Church

As you might expect I was giddy with excitement when I reached for the door handle and it was open....YES!!!  So I waved Rick in and we entered this historic church. You cant help but think about all who have entered through the years. As always I was interested in its history, here's just a little excerpt from a website on found on the church

In 1864 work was started on the building of the beautiful stone church which has been the home of the First Lutheran congregation until the present day. All of the early members took part in the building of the church. 

The stone was brought by oxen from quarries south of St. Ansgar. The timbers of native oak, walnut and maple came from 

nearby woods along the Cedar River.

The St. Ansgar Congregation was organized by Rev. C. L. Calusen on

 December 4, 1853, with 79 people becoming members.

 It is remarkable that in 150 years from 1853 to the present day only nine pastors

 have served the congregation.

Click here for more on the history

Looking back

A beautiful chair for the pastor

Simply elegant stained glass windows

Kids packs to occupy busy minds during the service...such a great idea!

Another awesome find...this time in St. Ansgar Iowa,

 I love exploring and learning about the history of these old churches.

Part 2 of our little road trip coming soon...

Can you say B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L

I love Churches, 

big or small, 

in the country or

 right downtown,

 but my favorite are the small simple country church's (with a steeple)

 and the large cathedral type (usually Catholic). 

This weekend Rick and I ended up visiting a beautifully amazing historic chapel

 in Downtown LaCrosse Wisconsin.

 It's one of my favorite things to do, 

venture in and learn what I can about it's history,

 all the while gawking at the  beautiful architecture, 

in awe of detail and hugeness of it all.

We had a personal tour from one of the Sisters , 

It was fun having the one on one time, 

asking questions as we traveled through the church building.

 Mary of the angels chapel is well worth a visit, click on the link to read all about it.

It's full of history, beautiful architecture and excellent workmanship.

Looking back at the rear of the chapel, note the pipe organ in the balcony.

Arches and stained glass windows everywhere

Sorry about the poor picture quality, I only had my "point & shoot"

91 feet above us

You just have to see it for ourself...

more than 100 windows of Bavarian stained glass

Did I mention the hand painted walls,

and the hand carved pews

We were able to also visit the Perpetual Adoration Chapel, (not far from the main chapel).

 Since 1878, at least two Franciscan sisters have maintained a 24 hour prayer vigil for the church. 

The silence was deafening, we sat behind the 2 sisters that were praying, 

they didnt seem to know we had entered the room.... no photos's allowed here.

 and last but not least....

the golden harp.... Sister M played a little for us, it was glorious  :)

Galena (the history)

Rick and I love small Historic towns,  

Galena fits the bill, it is definitely a beautiful town rich in history!

* I started getting a yucky cold virus on Thursday, (the day before we left) but I was determined to go on this trip anyway. Friday night's haunted ghost tour was out since it was late and cold and it was a 1.5 hour walking tour. I decided that might be a better option for the fall, and hopefully 

I will feel healthy next time. By Sunday I was feeling quite crappy, 

so we skipped the "clay thrower" on the way out of town. 

Despite the wretched virus that snuck up on me, we still had a great time!

 There was plenty to do, lot's to see and yummy foods to try.

The History.....

Galena is famous for it's lead mining and steamboats, 

in fact the city is named for the mineral, "Galena" a natural form of lead sulfide. 

It has a population of  about 3,400 and is a very popular tourist destination.

Before we even got checked into our hotel we stopped to explore the Grant House

Yep, that's Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th president. He lived in Galena, in this mansion. 

You can learn more about the years he spent here with his family

Grant House

 The staircases in this home were crazy, believe me, I held on tight in fear of my life!

I be those 4 little ones of Grant had a blast playing on this banister, I know mine would have!

DeSoto house 

(you can click here for a little history)

 The oldest operating hotel in the state of Illinois

This hotel has quite a history, it's all so interesting!

The Dowling House 

 self explanatory

 Main street.....

Main street is full of unique shops and restaurants! We spent most of the day

 Saturday browsing up and down the street.

* * *

We had been on our feet most of Saturday so we decided to jump in the car 

and explore a few of the old building around town.

The old high school

The school was rebuilt in 1905 after being destroyed by a fire. It was sold in 1980, 

people now live in condominiums within the beautiful building. 

Another beautiful mansion...I especially loved the roof and the colors of the building!

The Belvedere Mansion

We drove up to it but it was closed until May,

 I would have loved to see the inside of this giant 22 room mansion. 

The Churches....oh the churches

So many beautiful churches in Galena, many of them are the oldest in the region. 

We decided to attend one of these beauties on Sunday before heading home,

we didn't care what denomination. It was a tough pick but it was decided to go with

the First Presbyterian Church built in 1938

The steeple reaches 125 feet above the street 

( I had a hard time getting it all in the photo)

The pews we sat in were the original, kinda cool I'd have to say :)

 35 people were in attendance, they made us feel very welcome.

A small glimpse into the history of Galena, but wait, I'm not done yet
too much for one posting.  Stay tuned for more fun in Galena :)

Gods' Country (part two)

As promised in my last post, here are a few photo's and personal notes

 on the churches my dad and I visited on our road trip to "Gods' county" last week.

Lenora Methodist Church

Oldest church in Fillmore County

 To find out more about this very cool pioneer church check out this website

Lenora Church History

It's on my bucket list to attend a Christmas service in this Lenora church...

maybe it'll be this year.

 Wood floors, wood slat walls and good old wooden pews, I love that! 

 The church is always open....I love that too.

Heat source...wood burning stove 

 Candle suffer, hanging right by the door as you leave

Yes He is  :) 

 The outhouse behind the church....Gotta love it

*

On to my Dad's home church in the Country near Mabel, MN

 Scheie Lutheran Church

Love the large Stained glass window

Dad's looking for his Confirmation photo

Dad and his identical twin brother Gerald.

I think that's my dad on the Left  :)

*

and last but not least... 

South Fork Church

Dad never went to this church but I love the look of it with the tall steeple and welcoming front door. 

Dad brought us here for a picnic one year when I was a wee one, I still remember the place.   

The cemetery is old and it shows, old weathered wood cross's mark the stones 

that can no longer be read. 

There are 3 cemeteries associated with this church A, B & C.

The other significance of this church is that right across the street

is a barren area amongst the trees (see right in the center of the photo)

This is the spot where sat the South Fork School my Dad attended in his early years.

and yes.... He walked 2.5 miles to school  :)

Love seeing the sights and hearing the stories my Dad has to tell of his youth, 

It's such a beautiful area with so much history! 

As I drove south toward Gods' Country, dad started a list of the places he wanted to show me,
some we saw this day, others's I've seen in past visits.
I love that it's in his own handwriting and it tells the history of his youth.

I'm looking forward to another trip in the fall with Dad to Gods' Country.