Bonfire

Dateline Alamo, North Dakota, Fall 1967
Nothing like a bonfire to take the chill off a cool fall evening on the night before the big game. Virgil Bleken is front and center, but who are the rest? Were you there for the big fire?

APS: 1963-64

I don't believe I've posted this picture of the 7th and 8th grade under the tutelage of Mr. Willard. I don't remember much about the guy, but I think he was a pretty good teacher. I hope some of you out there have pictures of other classes taken during this fine school year. And what about the graduates of 1964? What happened to all of you? Did the basketball team do well that year? Were there any adventures or other stories that need re-telling?

All of us need to make a special effort to spread the news of this website, and get other interested people involved. Surely there are all kinds of pictures that could be posted for the enjoyment of all. We are a select few who grew up in a particular time and place (some might say peculiar - although others might say that should be reserved for the people, not the place). By sharing our pictures and stories, we enrich our lives and strengthen the (proverbial) ties that bind us. Friends, classmates, and good citizens: lend me your pictures. We gather here not to bury the past, but to rejoice in it! And by doing so, we restore our fellowship. Please, good readers, resolve with me to find those old pictures, newspaper articles, and other memorabilia, and post them. Share them with your friends here and make the past come alive once more, if only in memory. Your friends beg you: "Please, Please!" we cry! Nay, we demand it of you! Release those pictures; let them go! Or we won't love you any more. Share and your reward will be both immediate and tangible. Friends; I bless you - and hope to see you 'in the pictures'!

Anyone Recognize This?

Well, I could not get it to copy and paste so will do something else and get back to this...There...I got it to transfer over...I should just let this be and see who guesses it but I guess in Alamo it is not hard to guess where the sign could have hung...Ha! Andrew Hagen, Lewis's son purchased it at a sale and has it out in Montana! Pretty cool huh? I must say for as many times as I sat under it waiting for my father, or at the cafe eating one of those wonderful hambergers...well I should have remembered it! Which just dawned on me...Marilyn, can you contact Louise and see if they can send a jpeg of the cafe?? That would be ever so cool...I would like an interior one too...boy...I wonder if I will remember that? I always liked the big booth closest to the door! Ha!

Ralph's Place

Andrew Hagen, Lewis' son, posted a picture of Ralph's bar out on a blog Jane created for the Hagen family (hagenchatter.blogspot.com) and I have reposted it here for the rest of you Alamoites. In addition, Shirley still has a Ralph's Bar key chain she got from her dad. Anyone else have some similar memorabilia they would like to share?

Old Alamo Lutheran Church

Across the street from the school sat the old Lutheran church. At some point it was moved to Williston and now sits just south of the drive-in theater. I don't have many pictures of the interior, but this one taken at Shirley and my wedding gives some flavor. It seems smaller than I remember. I assume all the furnishings, alter, pews, etc., were moved to the new church? I'm sure many of us can remember the many church suppers, etc. While I wasn't big on the lutefisk, the lefse, mashed potatoes, meat balls, and gravy were 'to die for'.

At some point, there were at least two churches in town. I vaguely remember the other one but have no pictures. Anyone out there have any? When the structure was torn down, the basement was covered and, for a while, was used as a youth center (no doubt to keep troubled youth off the street. I don't remember what that looked like. Anyone care to share some memories?

Persons pictured include David Sogard, Loring Johnson, and Steven Holgerson, Shirley's sisters Diane, Marjory, and Barb, and two of my three sisters, Jane, and Gloria.

Eagles Nest

How Many of you have stories of Eagles nest ! I can remember having Appam, or neighborhood picnics there as a 3rd or 4th grader. Maybe it was a field day at school too ?? Does anyone remember where Horse Shoe Bend was at. The fable goes, Paul Bunyan's horse stepped there to make the imprint in the farmland.. smile.

Appam House

How many times did i sit on that roof above the porch !! or get marched down that cellar for a spanking . smile.. Good Ole Appam, with Sam and Kathy Grinolds house in the background I believe.