100 YEARS!

100 years, that's the milestone that Trinity Lutheran Church at Torquay, SK celebrated on Sunday. We gathered at 1:00 for the opening of the cornerstone which was last opened in 1990 at the 75th anniversary.  I was so proud of my granddaughter, Abbey Johnson of Weyburn, who played "Faith of Our Fathers" on her trumpet just before the opening by Bob Cranna and Blair Daae. Phil Risto went through the items as part of the anniversary program that followed the worship service. Many of the items were in Norwegian as that was the language common to most of the charter members who came together on September 26, 1915 to establish this congregation.

Trumpet solo by Abbey

Phil Risto, Pastor Danny Krauss, Blair Daae, Bob Cranna

Items from the cornerstone

It was a hot day and we were thankful for ceiling fans and cooler air blowing up from the basement through furnace vents. 

The oldest person attending was Dorthea (Ribling) Sabin who is 96 and an active member of Trinity congregation.  She rarely misses a Sunday service and is often found doing dishes after our coffee fellowship.  The guests who came the farthest were Frances and Paul Risto from Pembroke, Ontario.  Their son Phil is the president of Trinity council and was the emcee for the program.  Good job, Phil! It was great to see many representatives of families who have been members of Trinity over the years - Salte, Fonstad, Johnson, Bergum, Grimsrud, Listoe, Andrews, Moberg, Halvorson, Daae, Tenold, Hurren, Pederson, Erickson, Cranna,Yergens,
Friess, Marcotte, Skjonsby, Dugan, Risto, Forrester, Terrett, Sovdi, Hagen.(If I missed any,please let me know so I can correct this list.)  Former pastors had family members present too - Precht and Harmon. Close to 170 people signed the guest book. That in spite of expected conflicts - the Bod reunion at Mainprize, two weddings in Alberta - Anita(Mossing) and Barry Kuntz's son, Sandra (Fonstad) and Wayne Arnold's son plus the end of the school year which means holiday time!

It was great to have several former pastors in attendance and to receive greetings from them in person, plus two video greetings and several written ones. (Alan called some of them sermons, not greetings!)

Intern P Mathieasen 1956-1957

Pastor Ed Hedlin 1972-1980

Pastor Carlyle Johnson 1985-1987

We enjoyed singing several favourite hymns during the service and program.  Abbey played her trumpet along with "God of our Fathers".  The Daae family sang a capella "The Love of God", one of my favourites.  We look forward to hearing them at the July 1st Jamboree at Oungre Park tomorrow. (After we watch the Blue Jay game in the morning with special guest, Don Cherry! Tune in at 10:30 to catch the pregame special)

"God of our Fathers" with trumpet

The Daae Family singing "The Love of God"

Following the service and program a delicious supper was served by EB's of Estevan.  It was great for us to be able to visit with friends and family and not have to be on kitchen duty!

We didn't order plates or mugs as souvenirs but special Christmas ornaments with a view of Trinity Lutheran Church were available to purchase, along with key chains.

Trinity Congregation has been served over the past 100 years by:

*Rev. O.L. Falkeid                                    1912-1917

*Rev. R.H. Voldal                                     1917-1920

*Rev. C. Hoversten                                   1925-1928

*Rev. O.R.A. Tollefson                             1928-1930

*Rev. A.K. Odland                                    1930-1939

*Rev. A.K. Haugen                                    1939-1944

*Student F.O. Haugen                                1944-1945

*Rev. J. Precht                                           1946-1951

*Rev. J.B. Stolee                                        1951-1956

Intern P.E. Mathieasen                               1956-1957

Student V. Haas                                         1957-1958

*Dr. S.T. Jacobson                                     1958-1963

Rev. R.T. Day                                            1963-1966

Rev. L.C. Gilbertson                                  1966-1970

Rev. N. Harmon                                         1971-1972

Rev. E.T. Hedlin                                        1972-1980

Rev. F. Westerhold                                    1981-1984

*Rev. A. Tysseland                                    1985 (Jan. to June)

Rev. C. Johnson                                        1985-1997

Pastor C. McDougall                                 1998-2011

Deacon B. Schultz                                     2011-2013

Pastor D. Krauss                                        2012 - present   

*deceased

I moved to Torquay in August of 1966 after Howard and I were married on July 23 in my home town of Frontier.  So I have been part of Trinity congregation for almost half of its fifty years.  Back in the days of smaller family farms and larger families we were a thriving congregation with a large Sunday School. The closure of Torquay School a few years ago has also made an impact on our congregation as young families prefer to be close to school and sport facilities for their growing children.  Several families have moved to Estevan for that reason. 

 Although we no longer offer Sunday School, our congregation supports Club DJ led by Cindy Daae and several parent helpers. Over thirty children were registered this year. They met at Trinity every Monday afternoon after school.  More than eighty people attended their club windup this spring with model car racing a part of the finale.  The cars were put together and painted in unique ways by the students with help from parents.  Several of these children sang a medley of songs for us.  When they went up to sing, Ashley was quick to join them as she knew several of the girls from attending VBS the last two years.  By the way, it will be offered again at Trinity from August 17 - 21 from 10 am. to 12. Ages 5 to 13 are welcome.

Club DJ singers

Many quilts and afghans were on display on backs of pews on Sunday.  Our quilting group met every Tuesday from the beginning of January to the end of March.  Most of the 101 quilts have been distributed to Lutheran World Relief, St. Joseph's Hospital and care homes in Estevan as well as to relief agencies in Regina.

It was suggested once that we should have a mirror on the west wall of the entrance of the church.  When the congregation presented Alan and me with a cake and a gift of money after we were married, we decided to buy a mirror in honour of our February 14th wedding. Thanks to members of Trinity for your gifts and a special thanks to Blair for finding hooks and getting it hung in time for this celebration.

Now to some things not related to the 100th.  Alan had never seen a wood tick until Sunday evening.  When he took his tee shirt off, I noticed some blood on his back around a blackish spot. Sure enough, it was a tick had had fastened on tightly.  I was able to pull it out and put rubbing alcohol on it.  We will watch to be sure it didn't spread lyme disease!

Today we were blessed with showers for much of the day.  So far the total is 1.3 inches, such a blessing.  It's just sad that it wasn't a general rain as showers vary so much and some don't get anything while others get a good soaker.  

I will close with Canada Day greetings to my Canadian readers.