Dad remembrance pilgrimage: Day 11

Previous entry: Columbus, Nebraska, convalescence

July 20, 2022: Columbus, Nebraska to Windom, Minnesota

My first day of masked and socially distanced riding went fairly smooth. I said goodbye to Randi and Doug in Columbus and headed back toward the Iowa border. My first destination for the day was Sac City, where my dad’s parents grew up and he spent several summers working for his uncle Graf at the Williams Milling Company. Unfortunately, I missed the turn for Blair outside of Fremont and ended back up in north Omaha.

Once I got myself straightened out I crossed the Missouri River in Iowa and headed back north along the Boyer River on highway 30. Riding through the Loess Hills and reminds me a great deal of Crowleys Ridge in Missouri. They have the same clay soil and were formed in essentially the same way. The ride to Sac City was one of the curviest roads I have ever experienced in checker-board-like Iowa.

Unearthing family roots in northwest Iowa

Even though I have never lived in the region, riding through northwest Iowa was a bit of homecoming. Dad has deep roots in northwest Iowa on both sides of his family. The first stop in the area was Lake View, where dad’s aunts Mary and Delores, and uncle Jasper Therkelson ran a variety store for many years.

From there I turned north toward Sac City. Both of dad’s parents were graduates of Sac City High School (now East Sac County Schools). His grandparents lived there until their deaths and he told many stories of the times he spent there visiting his cousins. I have many wonderful memories of family reunions in Sac City as the extended family came together every other Thanksgiving holiday.

A lot has changed since the last time I visited. Both of his parents were buried there after they died in Minnesota. The milling company has since been sold to the Farmers Coop and the Presbyterian Church has now consolidated with the Methodist Church. The Sac City public library was a great resource as I looked up our family history and found us mentioned in the city record books. Librarians are amazing people and the world would be a much better place if we just let them run it.

Armed with the information I had received at the Sac City Public Library I visited my grandparents’ graves, their church, and the mill my great uncle ran before selling it to the local farmer’s cooperative. Unrelated to family history, I also paused to admire the world’s largest popcorn ball. Sac City is home to the Cedar Creek Popcorn Company. The residents of the city have held the world record for generations, but routinely outdo themselves every few years by creating a newer, even larger, ball. The record setting creation lives in a specially built shed right off the highway.

Synod School: where dad would have been

From Sac City I headed toward Storm Lake, the home of Buena Vista University, a school related to the PC(USA). Every summer they host the Synod of Lakes and Prairies Synod School, a week-long continuing education event for Presbyterians throughout the upper Midwest.

Towards the end of his career Synod School became one of the highlights of dad’s summer. He loved both the learning opportunities and the family reunion aspect that allowed him to catch up with friends, colleagues, and former parishioners. Synod School 2022 was held the week after I passed through. Even though dad was not there, several people told me how much he was missed at the even.

First ever visit to Sanborn

My final destination for the day was Sanborn where my dad started elementary school and my grandpa served his first ordained congregation. It was also the place where dad’s two sisters were born. Grandpa served that church in the early 1950s and helped them discern the need for a new building, but took a call in Minnesota before the current building was constructed. The cornerstone from the 1881 building is preserved in the 1960 edifice.

Unfortunately, after struggling for years, the Sanborn congregation did not survive the COVID era. The building is across from the main city park and still remains intact with no obvious sign of what its future might hold. The community apparently has quite the railroad heritage. A mural downtown depicts a huge roundhouse that still would have been operational when dad lived there. There is a retired caboose in the park in front of the church.

The school dad would have attended is no longer there, but the current consolidated Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School is across the park from grandpa’s church. It was enlightening to see Sanborn for the first time. I’ve heard so much about it, but have never had the chance to visit before. It was slightly bigger than I had imagined and much closer to grandpa’s hometown of Sac City than I had realized.

Crossing over into Minnesota

Sanborn is extremely close to the Minnesota border. That night I camped across the state line at Kilen Woods State Park in Windom, Minnesota. Camping was a perfect way to handle the ongoing need for social distancing, but the mosquitoes for which Minnesota is justly famous forced me into my tent shortly after setting up camp and inspired an early bedtime.

Day 11 mileage: 368.1 (1,717.7 total)

Next Leg: Windom to Crosslake, Minnesota