Longhouse, Old Ad Memory Scrapbook
We are collecting your memories of the Longhouse/Old Ad buildings! To submit a brief story or memory, e-mail it to bethany@bethanyinternational.org, with the subject line of "Longhouse memory." We reserve the right to edit for content and length.
"In late October 1947, a permit was granted to build a one-story wood frame residence (a second story was added to the plans later), with a basement under the north half of the building. Preparing the basement required a lot of work, and it was December before the framework for the footings was ready for pouring. As the footings were being filled, a severe snowstorm warning was issued. Calcium chloride was applied to the cement to prevent freezing; however it was realized that a heavy snowfall would at least hamper, if not completely stop the construction. After the day's work was done, many prayed, asking God to intervene. The next day, a map in the newspaper showed the path of the storm on both sides of the city, with the headlines 'Storm Bypasses Minneapolis.'
"Everyone aided in the construction of the new buildings. The Bethany motto had become, 'If you've ever seen it done, you're the man to do the job!' After the children were put to bed, the staff women painted walls, laid tile on the floors and plastered sheetrock joints.
"The building was just about finished when Arthur Mouw, a missionary conference speaker from Borneo (Kalimantan), told about the natives living in long houses, so it was decided to call this building the 'Long House,' as the name seemed to fit."
-From Bethany's archives, submitted by Halvard Strand
"We moved in when the building was new. The day in June 1948 when the Bethany family moved from Bethany House in town to 'the Farm' in Bloomington, the Strands moved into the second ground-floor unit with the Lovestrand family. Each family had two rooms sharing the living room and bathroom. Seven years later, we moved upstairs for another five years, so I spent about 12 years growing up in the Longhouse. My small room upstairs was later remodeled into a bathroom.
"My most vivid memories of living there revolve around our family and other 'staff kids.' I celebrated my 5th birthday two months after the big move to the farm. To me it was great always having playmates close by - literally in the next room. We played in the unit, on the spacious campus, in the surrounding fields, and in the woods. There was always activity.
"We always had a Christmas tree in our unit on the ground floor and in the upstairs living room. When we lived upstairs, my grandparents also lived in one of the rooms, so I had the marvelous experience of being surrounded by family and the closeness of the community. It nourished a sense of security and protection that I later learned was a rare privilege.
"Now the Longhouse is gone - demolished. But it was time. It had served us well. Hopefully whatever replaces it will carry that same rich sense of joy and security for future generations of Bethany kids. But that is a quality of people, not the building."
-Paul Strand
"Just a couple of weeks ago I stood in 'my' old room and took pictures. It was the third unit of the long house, the west side room where my twin brother and I slept in for 17 years. Talk about memories.
"After all, we got to be the first residents once again in Bethany's booming building program. Just one year before we had been the first residents in the first building built, the Old Ad in 1947. Instead of sleeping with mom and dad, I now had my own room, quickly shared with David, Darlene, Darrell, and Dale. The room was so small that we had two bunk beds and one crib, and Dave and I would jump from the top of one bunk to the top of the other. When we were 12, I built my first piece of furniture: a triple bunk bed which saved us precious room and now we could have a table in our room, because Darlene and Dale had moved into the other 12 foot square room. It was from that apartment I watched the old barn burn down after being struck with lightening. From that room we snuck down to the river to swim in when the room temperature reached 100 degrees. From that room I watched the auditorium being built where later I dedicated my life to serve the Lord. Outside the room was a speaker connected to the switchboard where the operator could listen in when mom and dad were in staff meetings every Monday night and find out if we were fooling around instead of sleeping.
"We had no telephone, no carpeting, no kitchen, no television. We had access to a refrigerator outside in the maintenance room and sometimes we could have cereal for snack at night. Underneath us was the laundry room, later turned into the barbershop and ping-pong room, so everything was real handy for us - especially our playmates who lived just about a whisper away and who were ready to play ball, build another fort, watch another building go up, or a million other things outside that tiny apartment home. We lacked for nothing, including hundreds of eyes watching us like guardian angels, ready to mete out corporal punishment on our many misdeeds (we got spanked a lot).
"And so both the first and second buildings I lived in are gone, including many of the people who helped drive those nails in to hold it together except my father. I watched the old barn burn down, watched the farm house removed, the chapel being bulldozed, the sheds in back go, the chicken coops where I cared for 400 chickens and collected the eggs razed, and now these two buildings. Does it hurt? Sure it does, but Pastor Hegre always said the river flows wider and deeper downstream. We move on to new life with sweet memories. Ah, so very sweet."
-Dan Carlson
"I lived in the Old Ad for the two years after I graduated (in 1987), working at Bethany House Publishers. The second year there was a 'Kiwi Contingent' from New Zealand, who would come over from time to time for pavlova and roast lamb. What fun. However, my very favorite memory is of making 'Christmas fudge' with Maria Wiebe and Kimberly (Yoder) Birkenstock."
-Heidi (Hess) Saxton, class of 1987
"I wasn't a 'staff kid,' but I was fortunate enough to live in the Longhouse one year with Al and Elaine Linder. They had four of their kids there at the time; I am pretty sure they were all in high school or jr. high. Joe, John, Lois and Charlotte were still home. Margaret (Peggy) Potter was my roommate.
"I was working in the lefse department. Around Christmas we put in a lot of late hours to get all the orders filled. I never told anybody about this at the time, but one night I was so tired when I came home that I passed out in the bathroom in the Linders' place. Several years later, I found out that I had apparently been suffering from anemia for a long time. We live and learn!
"I had known Al and Elaine for some time before I went to Bethany, as they had been at a camp for the ASSU in Blackduck, where I was a counselor during my high school years. It was through the influence of people like Al and Elaine, as well as Gary Johnson and Merlin Smith ,who taught VBS at the ASSU chapel where I was saved when I was in the 7th grade; that I wound up at Bethany.
"So, when I got to move in with the Linder gang, it was about the closest thing I could have known at the time. I have many fond memories of that year. It is sad to see the end of an era, but life will go on. Ah, the memories one has of life at Bethany. Brings back many a smile. Now I am a home missionary in the Red River Valley with my husband, Ivan Smith, and God has blessed me with my dream of being a published author."
-Janet (Hallett) Smith
"In 1990, the Longhouse became my first home at Bethany. As a freshman I shared the smallest room with my roommate Mike Ellis. Even at that point the building was old and had some interesting quirks. We used to keep a butter knife above the door to use as a key. We caught mice in the lounges and of course stayed up way too late so many nights. "The Longhouse was cool - it was smaller and more personal than the guys dorm. Late at night we would prop the door open and run to the sally and look for treasure to decorate the Longhouse or our room. The best memories are the people and the relationships. Mike Ellis and I, put together fatefully in 1990, are still best friends, and for that the longhouse will always bring warm memories."
-Herb Goedecke, class of 1994
"Gerald, Pev and I (Stash) Êhave a Longhouse memory...one day while we were hanging out in the lounge (Pev and I) we heard a funny squeaking noise coming from the heater.Ê I'm not sure exactly how we got Gerald involved in this, but he showed up to check it out.Ê It turned out that it was a chipmunk, and he was scared to death, trying to find a way out!Ê We tried to set up a system to catch him, but he eluded us at every turn.Ê I think we ended up with three or four other girls trying to help as well, and the poor little guy was just running back and forth inside and behind the heaters, and across the floor, which of course caused a lot of the girls to scream and jump up on whatever came in handy!Ê Somehow in the midst of all the chaos, Gerald finally got a hold of him and deposited him outside.Ê Needless to say, we were all relieved, and collapsed in laughter all over the lounge (except for Gerald, who delightedly took his leave, happy to be away from a bunch of goofy girls!)."
-Stasia (Saffold) Bergren, class of 2000
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