Glenfield, That's Where to

Hang Out Thursday!

July 1983 - Thousands of people traveled to Foster County in order to celebrate the area's 100th birthday July 9-17.

The weather cooperated as visitors enjoyed beautiful sunny weather throughout the schedule of events. The attendance record in Foster County was not the only record broken last week, but Carrington also hit a record weather high when the temperature climbed up to 100 degrees on Friday, July 15.

People journeyed from great distances to reunite with family and friends during the Foster County Centennial. According to registration forms the furthest visitor was from Saudi Arabia.

They were Kathleen and Joel Zimmerman with their sons, Matthew and Andrew. Once Carrington natives, Kathleen is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Rathe and Joel is the son of Phillip Zimmerman.

Joel works as a microbiologist training Arabs in his specialized field at Riyahd, Saudi Arabia.

Several visitors participated in the Centennial events scheduled over the weekend. Estimated figures show the largest  attendance was at the Hoover Air Show Sunday afternoon in which 2,500 people watched aircraft stunts in the sky.

Over 2,000 attended the Tom Netherton concert Sunday evening, a total of 1,700 people attended three night showings of the Vaudeville show, and 1,700 more also viewed the Centennial Historical Pageant's three night showings.

Six hundred visitors attended the Art Show held in Carrington throughout the weekend while 180 rekindled friendships at the Old Timers Luncheon. On Saturday evening 510 people enjoyed the teen dance as 160 showed their steps listening to the music of Myron Sommerfeld.

And the biggest parade Carrington has ever seen was viewed by thousands of people who lined the streets along the nearly three-mile route through Carrington.

The float entitled "Little House on the Prairie" from Carrington and New Rockford won first place in the Most Effort category, with Grace Lutheran Church of Carrington winning second place.

In the Most Beautiful float category the Chieftain, Carrington received first place honors and El Zagel Mystics, Jamestown won second place.

Grace City's Sod House won first place for the most original float in the Centennial Parade and Central Steel Building, Carrington, was awarded second place.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 105

Helen Johnson: Depicting 1883-1914

I grew up on a farm at Glenfield but now reside in Mandan, North Dakota, where I work full time on my artwork out of my home.

I graduated from NDSU with a degree in Home Ec. I've studied art at Moorhead State College, Jamestown College, various workshops and through private instructors.

Having grown up in Foster County, I was excited about doing a mural painting for the Courthouse.

The painting I've done depicts the period from 1883-1914. When I began research, I kept wishing I had lived during those early days so I cold have been an eye witness to some of the events of that period.

With the help of the County Commissioners and Lefty Wenstrom of Carrington, I was able to find out some of the events, projects and buildings which were an important part of the beginnings of Foster County 100 years ago.

At the North Dakota State Historical Society in Bismarck, Mr. Forest Daniels, formerly of Sykeston, assisted me in finding history and pictures of homestead shacks; sod homes, as well as the tar paper type I used in the painting; pictures of railroad construction, which went through Foster County in 1883; and a picture of the Kirkwood Hotel of Carrington. This hotel was originally constructed and destroyed by fire in 1883. It was then reconstructed and burned again in 1920.

The homestead deed used was that of Wendelin Zink who homesteaded in Foster County in 1895. The deed was received from Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Zink of Bordulac.

The Foster County Courthouse which is still being used today was built in 1907. When I took pictures of the Courthouse for color references, I was amazed at all the copper that had been covered with paint for many years, but has now been restored to its original beauty.

Although the pioneers' lives were filled with hardships and tragedies, our ancestors appreciation of beauty is evident in the old buildings, some of which are still in use.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 106

Gladys Munson: One In a Million

June 4, 1980 - The sign on the door says "don't knock, walk in." Upon entering the kitchen you find a women mopping her floor - no not an ordinary woman but a woman who does her work from a wheelchair - a woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Gladys Munson, who has been bound to a wheelchair for 16 years, is full of courage and laughter. She is handicapped but she doesn't let that stop her from living and enjoying life to the utmost.

"I don't want to be considered handicapped, even though I am," Gladys said with a determined smile.

After the doctors told Gladys she had multiple sclerosis in 1953, she decided, "I would do what I could for as long as I could and I did."

Gladys was born August 29, 1918, in Montana. After her mother became sick, and her father had died, the family decided to return to North Dakota. Eventually her mother died from the flu in Warwick. Gladys Munson, or Gladys Lovejoy as she was known then, was adopted and raised by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Whitman.

In 1936, she graduated from Warwick High School and began training to become a registered nurse.

"In those days we worked at a hospital to train, this is where we had most of our classes, and only went to the university one day a month for a few classes," Gladys recalled. She trained at Deaconess Hospital in Grand Forks, and later affiliated at a Minneapolis hospital for pediatrics.

"When I was in that school I was in hot water all the time," Gladys laughed. "I remember when I was getting bawled out I raised my eyebrow and then I got bawled out again," she added with a laugh.

After affiliating in Minneapolis, Gladys returned to North Dakota to finish her training. At this time R. N.'s trained for three years in hospitals.

She worked in Grand Forks for three months and then in June of 1941, came to the Carrington Hospital to work. "That was before the Sisters came and took over running the hospital," Gladys said.

It was at this time Gladys renewed her relationship with Edwin Munson, who she had met earlier when she was going to high school but had lost touch. It was on June 1, 1942, that Ed was inducted into the Armed Forces and seven days later, on June 8, Ed and Gladys were married in the Federated Church parsonage.

Right away "We moved to Texas, then (later) Oklahoma," Gladys said. In May of 1943, Ed was shipped overseas so Gladys moved to Havre, Montana, to work in a hospital.

"After Ed got out of the service in September of '45, we returned to North Dakota right away and Ed started farming south of Grace City on the James River while I did private duty," Gladys said.

On the Grace City farm the Munsons had two boys, Eric, born August 25, 1946; and Alan, born June 22, 1948. Later they moved to the Holland farm where Victor was born on June 20, 1949. Mary, their youngest and only daughter, was born December 6, 1952, on yet another farm, the Scaar farm. It was while they were living on the Scaar farm that Gladys learned she had multiple sclerosis.

"At first I lost my eyesight but the doctors thought that it might be from the flu," Gladys recalled about her first symptom. After the doctors finally diagnosed M. S., Gladys took vitamins and medication and recovered her eyesight three months later.

It was at this point that she decided to do "what I could for as long as I could."

Gladys said that was her only symptom for five years so she continued nursing.

"First I had difficulty in walking," Gladys recalled, "as my walking became worse I started losing my balance - but I continued to work for many, many years."

Finally in 1964, Gladys had to give up nursing and her position on the Grace City School Board because she could no longer walk and was confined to a wheelchair.

"Little by little you lose something," Gladys said of her M. S. symptoms.

But just because she had M. S., and was wheelchair bound, Gladys did not start to pity herself.

"When you have four kids you don't have time to feel sorry for yourself," Gladys wryly said.

One thing Gladys is quick to point out and appreciate is the help people give her, especially her husband and children.

"My kids grew up with it (multiple sclerosis), so they automatically helped - you didn't have to ask them," Gladys proudly stated.

"I don't think I missed anything in school the kids went to," Gladys said. In fact, she can recall when mothers would come up to her and tell her that she got them in hot water because their children figured if Mrs. Munson could make it to school events, they could too!

"I guess if their children would have taken them, they could have gone. My kids used to pull me out to the car in a toboggan so we could go in the car," Gladys said.

Gladys is a lady that likes to laugh and when asked what is so humorous she replied, "everything strikes me funny. I laugh a lot. The kids used to get so mad at me all the time. They'd say `Ma, don't laugh all the time.' And I'd say `what do you want me to do, cry?' "

But Gladys is not the type to cry. Gladys is a fighter.

The Munsons moved to Carrington in 1975 from Glenfield. At first they lived in the low income housing because there were no stairs and Gladys could let around with her wheelchair. But later they decided they would like a house of their own so Ed could putter around in the yard. They bought a little house on the south side of Carrington.

"We put in an archway and little ramps between rooms so I could get around," Gladys said.

In the fall of 1977, Gladys decided to get a motorized wheelchair through the Multiple Sclerosis Society because she "didn't want to bother anybody to get around."

Because of her motorized wheelchair Gladys has been able to get around Carrington and be more independent.

"I try to go to each home each week, I go to the senior citizens twice a month and I also sold poppies this year," she said.

Although Gladys gets around Carrington easily enough in her battery powered wheelchair she said, "the holes in the road do cause a problem. But I think I know where they all are now."

Another thing that bothers Gladys in her journeys around Carrington is the street names.

"I wish they would number the streets the way they should be," Gladys said. "They say McKenzie Drive - where in the world is that? I didn't know where Joel Drive was 'til I was putsing around in my wheelchair."

The third major problem faced by Gladys is trying to shop uptown. Gladys said she can get into only three stores and the Ace Cafe. So she is limited in her ability to shop.

Since Gladys uses her wheelchair as anyone would use a car, she said that most drivers react very well to her driving down the street. Although she gets irritated when drivers wait until the last minute to turn on their directionals. "But I imagine that bothers a lot of drivers," she laughed.

Not many people could handle their disability with such a humorous outlook. But like it was stated earlier Gladys is a fighter - she's fighting to live her life not as a handicap but as any other person. And if you watch and talk to Gladys you can tell she's winning her fight.

As Gladys' friend Birdella Beach described her, "She's one in a million." Indeed Gladys is one in a million.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 106

Soil Conservation

The farmland around Glenfield has changed in appearance since the settlement era. The land would appear quite barren to us without the trees that now break up the horizon. Buildings have come and gone, but perhaps no single event has changed the appearance of this area more than the planting of trees. How these trees got here are a part of our agricultural history.

Farmers individually did not have the resources to plant farmstead and field windbreaks on a large scale. Equipment, as well as technical assistance, was needed. This help was to come from the Soil Conservation Service.

Soil erosion had become a nationwide problem in the 1930s. Recognizing this, Congress passed the "Soil Conservation Act" in 1936. This created the Soil Conservation Service as a permanent part of the Department of Agriculture.

North Dakota adopted the Soil Conservation Districts Law in 1937. This provided for the creation of soil conservation districts. The first districts were organized in the fall of 1937.

In 1944, Foster County landowners and land occupiers voted to create the Foster County Soil Conservation District. This would become the agency to help area farmers plant trees and deal with soil and water problems.

Three supervisors were elected: J. H. Lyman of Grace City, A. R. Suckut of Carrington, and Manvil Anderson of Glenfield. In 1946, Lawrence Utke was elected to succeed Manvil Anderson who moved to Griggs County.

At the request of the supervisors, the Soil Conservation Service made available to the district a full time conservationist and conservation aid and a part-time soil scientist and engineer. The SCS also furnished part of the needed nursery stock for the tree planting program.

The first district conservationist in Foster County was Norton Stangeland, who served from 1944, until his death in 1974. Elmer Kosse, conservation aid and technician started in 1948. He was to be directly involved in almost every tree planting operation in Foster County until his retirement after 32 1/2 years.

County extension agent George Stewart was the first secretary of the local board.

Lawrence Utke became president of the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts in 1959, and continued as district supervisor until his death in 1973.

The most visible practice made feasible by the soil conservation districts was the tree planting program. Foster County began in 1945, with 400 trees. The next year 56,300 trees were planted. Annual plantings were to increase every year through 1951 - almost 156,000 trees were planted. Through 1986, over 2,700,000 trees have been planted in Foster County.

Area farmers who have been recognized by the Foster County Soil Conservation District for their conservation achievements include Mr. and Mrs. Arnold McDaniel, Mr. and Mrs. Darold Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Clamats Gader, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Utke, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Walen, Arvid and Einer Ellingson, and Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Lutz.

Today the Foster County Soil Conservation District is still assisting farmers. The number of conservation practices has increased, including changing tillage and seeding methods as well as tree planting.

The tree plantings that changed the landscape in areas like Glenfield Township did not appear without a lot of work. Without the voluntary cooperation between farmers and the soil conservation district, the area would look quite differently today.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 – 1987 Page 107