Holmen Area

Historical Society
Summer 2021 Volume 27, Issue 2

IN THIS ISSUE Archive Report 2 Board business 4

Eighth graders’ history book 1 Programming 3 Memories 5
President’s message 2 Midwife program 4 Supporting HAHS 5

Eighth-graders release history book

The Holmen Middle School eighth-graders not on-
ly lived history; they made it. They wrote about their
experiences lived during a pandemic. With assistance
from the Holmen Area Historical Society, the essays
were compiled in a book titled, Living History,
Holmen Eighth Grade Students Respond to 2020.
The students held a book release/signing June 1 at
the middle school to celebrate the accomplishment.
The book contains 125 essays written by eighth grad-
ers who shared their experiences with the COVID vi-
rus and virtual learning, getting tested for the virus,
taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest and being
dismayed with the January 6 insurrection at the na-
tion’s capital.
The Holmen Area Historical Society assisted in the
project by covering the printing of the book. Holmen Middle School eighth graders (left to right)
The project began with a conversation between Cody Olson, Chloe Herlitzke, Hope Lawry and Alex
HAHS program coordinator Lynne Valiquette and Guggenbuehl signed each others’ copies of Living His-
HMS National History Day coordinator Dayce McAn- tory, Holmen Eighth Grade Students Respond to 2020
drews. Last July, Dayce informed Lynne the school’s during a book release held June 1 at the school.
eighth graders wouldn’t be able to present NHD pro-
jects at the historical society’s April 2021 meeting. Early in the second semester, the school’s language
arts and history departments asked the eighth graders to
The middle school students wouldn’t be working journal about their lives as lived in the current events of
on NHD projects during the 2020-2021 school year the year.
because the school was adapting it teaching approach
to meet social distancing recommendations making it The students were given a list of topics that included
difficult to work on the history projects. Along with the pandemic, Black Lives Matter movement, the January
that situation, NHD decided not to hold competitions. 6 insurrection and the 5G innovation. From their research,
the students wrote a short one-to-two page historical nar-
For many years, HMS eighth-graders have worked rative.
on NHD projects as part of the organization’s compe-
tition. NHD is a non-profit education organization Fifteen of the eighth-graders read their papers May 3 at
based in College Park, Md., that offers a year-long a program held at the Holmen Area Community Center.
academic program to engage more than half a million Friends and family members attended the presentation at
middle- and high-school students around the world in the center’s first intergenerational event. The young histo-
conducting original research on historical topics. rians’ papers related the personal experiences of receiving
an education virtually, coping with family members who
Lynne and HAHS President Barb Anderson en- became infected with the virus and undergoing testing for
couraged the school staff to urge the students to keep a
record of their experiences during a significant histori-
cal worldwide event—the COVID pandemic. Students’ book, continued on page 6
 President’s Message
Dear Holmen Area Historical Society friends,
I hope this newsletter finds you well and vaccinated. As
we have told our eighth graders, it has been a historical
year. Maybe consider writing a book or story to pass on to
your relatives about this year and how it has affected you.
We must pass our stories on and not make excuses. It is
easy to say, “no one wants to hear my story” or “I’m too
busy.” Maybe include memories of stories that were told to
you from your parents or grandparents. This is priceless.
Thank you to Bob Hoffman who shared his story with us in
this newsletter. What an amazing story and memory of his
first year of teaching.
Collaborating with the eighth graders and their teachers
in the production of their book, “Living History: Holmen
Eighth Grade Students Respond to 2020,” has been so re-
warding and enlightening. I wish everyone could have the
experience that a few of us have had when we have gone to
the classrooms and delivered treats and gave pep talks. We
were inspired as we listened to their essay readings at the
Community Center (which is still available through their
website and YouTube). Please consider buying their book
which will be available to the public after June 1, 2021. We
are having a book release and signing during the last period
of school. Let us know if you want a copy and we will re-
serve one for you. They will be sold for $15.00.
Lynne Valiquette has been working to schedule our pro-
grams for the remainder of this year and they are included
in this newsletter. Please mark them on your calendar and
pass the dates to friends and family. The Holmen Commu-
nity Center is a beautiful and welcoming venue for our
meetings. We appreciate the collaboration of working with
Jacob Hart, his hospitality and reassurances with technical
support. Thank you to Lynne for keeping our programs in-
teresting and informative.
Thank you to Barb Johnson and Pam Hanson who con-
tinue to collect, archive and store our community’s histori-
cal items. Included in this newsletter is one of the most re-
cent items collected, a quilt from Doris Jick a Holmen art
teacher for many years. Maybe someone has a memory of
working on this quilt. Please share if you do. A big thank
you to Pat Mc Knight for all her work getting these letters
published and ready to be printed.
If anyone has time or wants to get more involved in the
board, offices, collections, or web site, please let us know.
We are a group that needs everyone! If we can share the
workload, it becomes lighter for everyone.
Take care and we look forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely, Barb Anderson, President HAH

Archive and Collection Update

Your archivists have been busy taking on the job to organize all the books, booklets and magazines that were moved
to our new storage last year. Some of the items were torn and damaged and had nothing to do with Holmen or the Nor-
wegian or surrounding heritages in Holmen. Most were never archived (given a locator ID number). We needed to just
dispose of some of them.
Another project was a nice collection of Holmen High School Year Books. Some years were missing but others had
two or three copies of the same year. Our plan is to offer the extra books to the HAHS members and then the communi-
ty $5 each. We have them organized by year and will also align the booklets that represented the Fifty Year Reunions
that classes have compiled and given to us. The year and quantity that are available are:
You can contact Barb Johnson at
Year # Year # Year # 608 780-6711 or text and arrange for a
pick up. We also now have all the year
1912 – 1928 3 1959 1 1986 -1987 1 ea books on a jump drive thanks to Sue
book Stranc, even our missing hard copies.
1930 4 1964 1 1989 2 One of our newly acquired items is
1946 1 1970 1 1990– 1991 1 ea a large quilt that was made by the
fourth grade class from Evergreen Ele-
1947 3 1972-1973 1 ea 1992 1 mentary School during the 1981-1982
school year with the help of their art
1948 3 1975 1 1993 2 teacher, Miss Doris Jick. She and her
1949 2 1978 1 1994 – 1 ea representative are the donors.
2001
1950 1 1980 1981 1 ea 2007 1 Also received are a few additional
pictures of the Hwy 93 and Amster-
1957-1958 1 ea 1985 2 dam Prairie location taken by A. Olson

2 Archive report, continued on page 3

 Upcoming programs
Thanks to our collaboration
with the Holmen Area Com-
munity Center, we have to
resumed our monthly pro-
grams. These will be of-
fered both virtually and in
person. Due to scheduling
issues at HACC, we have switched to the first Monday
of the month for our programs and meetings, with a
start time of 6 p.m. for the program. The program will
be followed by coffee/refreshments and business meeting.
Monday, June 7: (Zoom presentation) “Meatballs &
Lefse: Memories and Recipes from a Scandinavian-
American Farming Life.” Cynthia Bertelsen will talk
about her book which includes recipes, “anecdotes, photo-
graphs, and historical musings” related to the family of
Knute and Ethel Bertelsen. Jacob Hart, HACC Director,
has invited all of our members to attend in person and
watch on the Holmen Area Community Center’s big screen
TV.
On Monday July 5: We will officially resume in person
meetings at the Holmen Area Community Center. We will
take care to social distance and wear masks to protect each
other. It will also be possible to view the programs on the
HACC website via Zoom registration (once the month’s
programs are posted on its calendar) as well as live on its
Facebook page.
Monday July 5: “Story Circle: Something You Proba-
bly Don’t Know about Me.” Several months before she
died, one of our founders, Pauline Van Dunk, hosted a
lutefisk dinner. Always building community and connec-
tions, she asked us to go around the table and share some-
thing we didn’t think others knew about us. It was a revela-
tion! So this month’s annual story circle is in honor of
Pauline. Come prepared to share your story and, COVID
precautions permitting, our traditional root beer floats.
Archive report, continued from page 2
from his plane. This are on the new Facebook page.
I also have created a new place on Facebook with the
help of Jacob Hart from the Holmen Area Community
Center. We still have our original one, but that is a Fa-
cebook Group. This one is a Facebook page and I have
started posting some of our pictures on that site for all to
see. It is a slow process but we will try to get a good
number of photos and stories out on the page for all to
see.
Look us up and see what you think. The videos of
our programs, or a link to them, will also appear on the
“page.” When you visit our “page” please Like Thanks
Jacob for your help.
Barb Johnson and Pam Hanson
Jacob Hart, Holmen Area Community Director, will also
give us a tour of the beautiful new facility.
Monday, August 2: “History Book Fair.” Scott Lee
grew up in Holmen and went on to a 40 year teaching ca-
reer in Trempealeau. In his book, Spiders & Snakes & Rats
- Oh My!, he shares his lived Holmen history, his teaching
experiences, and ways he connected others to the natural
world. Scott will headline this event which will also have
on display other local history books by local authors, in-
cluding the newly published Living History: Holmen
Eighth Graders Respond to 2020.
Monday, September 13: (Note: Second Monday due to
Labor Day on Sept 6) “Holmen Creamery Milk
Truck.” Roger and Dan McHugh’s father, Francis, hauled
milk for the Holmen Creamery. They will share photo-
graphs, artifacts, and stories about this early Holmen busi-
ness. In addition, a replica of the truck he used will be
parked in front of the community center.
Monday, October 4: “The History of a Community
Newspaper: The Holmen Courier.” Gretchen and Dave
Skoloda will speak about the role of a community
newspaper from their unique vantage point as owners of
the former Holmen Courier from 1991 to 2003.
Monday, November 1: “The WWI Diary of William
Niles.“ In November, we recognize the service of our
veterans. Nancy Proctor, former Holmen village president,
will share excerpts from her father’s WWI diary docu-
menting his service with the U. S. Navy. She will also talk
about her frustrating quest for an official flag at his
gravesite.
Monday, December 6: “Holiday Sing-a-Long.” Join us
for our celebration of the holiday season and Holmen his-
tory at our annual membership gathering and sing-a-long,
led by Barb and Rich Anderson. COVID restrictions per-
mitting, bring a favorite family dish to share, as well as an
ornament connected to your family history.
An undated photo shows an early model tractor.
Anyone with information about this photo, please
contact HAHS archivists with the information.
3
 Program relates story of midwives
The Holmen Area Historical Society is again pre-
senting programs with live presenters following
nearly a year’s pause because of directives to social-
ly distance.
In partnership with the Holmen Area Community
Center, the presentations are available virtually.
The first program for 2021 was presented April 5,
2021. Rev. Glenn Borreson was the guest speaker.
Now retired, Pastor Borreson began his ministry
at Beaver Creek Lutheran and went on to serve in
Holmen. Borreson’s talk was about his Norwegian
immigrant midwife great grandmother, Maria Thor-
sen Estenson and other midwives of the Midwest.
Midwives were highly valued during the state’s pio- Maria Thorsen Estenson
Rev. Glenn Borreson neer era.
Borreson researched his ancestors and found his great grandmother had been a midwife in the Pigeon Falls area,
attending about 200 to 300 births. He reported finding documents that stated not one mother attended by Estenson
died during her confinement. One of the slides Borreson showed revealed the contents of a midwife’s satchel from the
archives at Vesterheim, the Norwegian-American museum in Decorah, Iowa.
The video is posted and available for viewing at https://www.facebook.com/holmenareacommunitycenter/
videos/1220427831693759.

Board Meeting Minutes

Called to order: The April 22, 2021 Holmen Area Histori-
cal Society Board meeting was called to order by President
Barb Anderson at 9:05 a.m. at the Holmen Area Communi-
ty Center.
Attendance: Attending were board members Barb Ander-
son, Pat McKnight, Pam Hanson, Barb Johnson, Ruth
Scholze, Mary Sween, and Sue Stranc. Program coordina-
tor Lynne Valiquette was also in attendance.
Treasurer’s report: Ruth Scholze reported HAHS has
received the county grant. She also reported HAHS has 65
members and the number has remained consistent over the
years. Since calendar sales were not conducted last year,
there was no revenue resulting from sales and since there
were no in-person meetings, no revenue as received from
lunch contributions.
She presented the proposed budget for 2021.
Proposed 2021 budget: Discussion was held on the pro-
posed budget. Ruth moved to approve the 2021 proposed
budget. Motion failed for lack of a second and tabled for
future discussion.
Barb Johnson raised the matter of upgrading the computer
used for the archives.
Programming: Lynne said programs have been arranged
except for the August basketball game. She agreed to talk
with Jacob Hart, HACC director, about setting up the event
at the center.
4
Election of officers: Discussion was held regarding hold-
ing an election of officers. With the exception of Carol
Miller, past officers have been continuing their positions
and duties during 2020. No action was taken on the matter.
Eighth-grade history project: Barb Anderson reported
contacting the county administrator’s office about using
county grant funds to help cover the costs of publishing the
Holmen Middle School/HAHS history project.
Proposed 2021 budget: Further discussion was held re-
garding revisions to the proposed budget presented by
Ruth. Following the discussion, Ruth moved and Barb
Johnson seconded to approve the proposed budget with the
agreed upon changes. Motion passed on voice vote.
Adjourn: Barb Johnson moved and Pam Hanson seconded
to adjourn the meeting. Meeting was adjourned at 10:22
a.m.
Respectfully submitted, Pat McKnight, secretary
HAHS Officers:
President: Barb Anderson
Vice President: Vacant
Secretary: Pat McKnight
Treasurer: Ruth Scholze
 My First Year of teaching at Holmen High School
By Bob Hoffman
This is how it began in April of 1952. I applied for the
Science teaching position at HHS. In May I was invited to
an interview with the School Board on a Friday night. On-
ly one board member said anything. He talked about going
to dances above the tavern in my hometown. The board
members were: Claude Nelson, James Haug, Miles Mc
Curdy, Knute Bertelson, Charles Van Loon and the Princi-
pal Harold Ankerson. I received a contract in June which I
signed and returned.
At the end of August I came to Holmen for three days
of in-service. I met with Mr. Ankerson, the principal and
was introduced to the rest of the faculty. Art Sletteland:
Math and History, Audrey Nerby: Commercial, Harold
Mattison: Agriculture, Willis Knight: Music, Hubert
Bland: P.E. and History, Joyce Hanson: English, Harriet
Homer: Home Economics.
I met with Hugh Blank about a place to live for the
year. At the in-service meeting I was informed that I
would also teach American History besides all the science
classes (General Science, Biology, Chemistry and Phys-
ics). I was given the list of class members. I thought I
somehow was in Norway as all the names ended in “son”
besides Snuggerud and Sjuggerud. There were McCabes,
McDonalds, and McHughs. There were 153 students in
High School including 29 seniors. I also learned I was the
trouble shooter for an 8mm projector and the slide projec-
tors.
The first week began with a lot of preparation for each
class. The third day and assembly was held. Harriet Holmen High School. There were many other exciting
Homer and I were initiated as new teachers. We had to do events that happened during the year. I learned more that
a couple of dumb things and answer questions about our- year than the students did.
selves.
Then it began the
daily process of learn-
ing to be a teacher. I
spent many, many
hours in preparation for
each class. The ability
to adjust to all kinds of
interruptions: sickness,
music lessons, pro-
grams, class meetings
and sports activities.
These are things no one mentioned in college.
In November the basketball season began. I was in-
formed that I was the time keeper for every game. I had
the responsibility of setting up the bell system that notified
the timekeeper of a substitution during the game. Each
coach sat on the steps at each end of the gym. The time-
keeper sat on the runway in the middle of one side. Dur-
ing some games it didn’t always work right.
In January the Lutheran Church burned. There were no
houses between the school and the church building. A ma-
jority of the students were members of that church. I
couldn’t see it from where I stood in the room but I no-
ticed all the students becoming very restless. Shortly they
let school out.
When spring came and the baseball season began the
seventh hour was hit hard. I didn’t see one student for 5
days.
Graduation occurred in May that ended my first year at

Ways to support HAHS

Holmen Area Historical Society is a nonprofit with the mission of pre- Memberships
serving Holmen’s past for future generations. Memorials and honorariums Annual
are always welcome to maintain the historical collection and to hold pro-  Individual, $5
grams. You can also support HAHS by renewing your membership and in-  Family, $10
viting friends and family members to join.  Business, $125
Contributions and memberships can be mailed to Holmen Area Histori-
cal Society, PO Box 535, Holmen, WI 54636. Lifetime:
 Individual, $75
Holmen Area Historical Society is on Facebook  Family, $125
Website: www.holmenhistory.weebly.com  Business, $500 5
Students’ book, continued from page 1
the virus, taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest and be-
ing shocked at the Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s capital.
Notes from the Past
Students submitting a paper for the book were presented
with a personal copy. The students held a book signing
among themselves during the special assembly. Media repre-
sentatives covering the book release were the La Crosse Trib-
une and WKBT Channel 8.
HAHS will be providing a copy of the book to the state
historical society for its archives.
Additional copies of the book are available for purchase
by the public for $15. To obtain one or more copies, contact
Barb Anderson at (cell) 608-792-2514.

Two field workers take a break beside an early

model tractor. This undated photo is saved in
the HAHS archives. Anyone with information
about the equipment and/or the people are
invited to post it on the HAHS Facebook page
or send it to Barb Johnson by emailing to
bjohn7630@aol.com.

Holmen Area Historical Society POSTAGE

P.O. Box 535
Holmen, WI 54636

Member/Recipient’s name
Address
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