A shorter version of the below article was published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune Newspaper:
Early cabin life had profound impact on family’s future
NOVEMBER 10, 2016
The following is a longer, more complete history of how the family cabin, now called Carmonel, came to be.
“THE STORY OF HOW CARMONEL CAME TO BE”
-By Ruth Moen
The story of Carmonel begins in our beloved Norway where my grandfather, Johannes Nydahl, grew up living on beautiful Lake Holsen. He saw that not all the family would be able to make a living on the farm by the lake and, furthermore, he wanted to become a missionary, so he left Norway for the United States at the age of 19. He had heard of Augsburg College and Seminary and enrolled there. Summers, among other jobs, he worked as a lumberjack in northern MN to finance his education. Somehow he was able at that time to buy lakeshore property on a beautiful lake near Big Fork which later became part of Scenic State Park. He never owned a car so, when he married and had a family with six children, he realized they would never be able to really use that property. Later, when he became a professor at Augsburg College, he and five other professors bought property near each other on Lake Minnetonka in an area called Saga Hill and he sold the property up North. The college professors were looking for a way to take care of their families as they had no income in the summer and not much the rest of the year. The story of the adventures of the six professors and their families is told in the book, The Saga of Saga Hill, written by Professor Theodore Blegen, the son of a friend and colleague of Johannes. The heyday of this Minnetonka community was from 1900 to about 1915. However, the time came when Johannes and Tabitha had to sell the place on Minnetonka. At that time, sad to say, none of the children was in a position to buy it, so the cabin was lost to the family.
My mother, Agnes, was one of the six children of Johannes and Tabitha Nydahl. The family would take the train in the spring from South Minneapolis out to Lake Minnetonka and live there all summer. They planted a huge garden and fished every day for food. They walked about a block to West Arm, a bay on Minnetonka, to go swimming. The girl’s swimming outfits in those days included a skirt which had to be pulled up in order to kick. Needless to say, my mother and her two sisters were strong swimmers. They also would go to Excelsior Amusement Park on occasion where my mother loved to ride the roller-coaster. (That roller-coaster has now morphed into the roller-coaster at Valley Fair.) My mother often talked about the fun they had during the many summers she spent at Lake Minnetonka
Meanwhile my father, Clarence Carlsen, was growing up in Marinette, WI on the shores of Lake Michigan. He also swam, fished, boated (including ice-boating in the winter), and enjoyed the outdoors. He eventually came to Augsburg College and Seminary to study to become a pastor. My mother’s family lived right on the Augsburg campus in faculty housing and Agnes and Clarence became friends. Clarence was five years older so he was in his first parish in Wanamingo, MN, when they married two years after she finished South High School.
We know that Agnes and Clarence both loved being by a lake because when they moved from Wanamingo to Minot, ND, they bought a cabin. Now, western North Dakota is not known for a plethora of lakes, but they found a place on Rice Lake. Bev remembers that when Brian was a baby, she and Erling and the boys visited that cabin and it was very primitive—meaning, no indoor plumbing.
After nineteen years in Minot in the year 1945, Agnes and Clarence moved to Minneapolis. They often talked about buying another lake place, but they didn’t get around to it. Agnes, my Mom, experienced a very traumatic two year period when in spring of 1959, Dad had a bleeding ulcer attack and nearly died. After that, he explained their finances to her, put everything in both their names, etc. That was really important because he died six months later in September 1959. Soon after that, she had to buy a house because the new pastor was coming to live in the parsonage. The following June (1960) Tom and I were married and one year later she decided to buy a cabin, the one Erling named Carmonel combining the first syllables of the names Carlsen, Moen, and Nelson.
I will now turn the microphone over to Bev who will tell about the purchase of the cabin in Fish Lake.
The day we celebrate today, May 26, 1961, was written about by Erling and Bev in an essay called BUYING GRANDMA’S CABIN–THE WAY WE REMEMBER IT
Pastor and Mrs. Kenneth Rhoe lived in Barronette, Wisconsin when we lived in Cumberland. Ken and Elsie had owned a small house in Wayzata, Minnesota before he went to Augsburg Seminary. They had a couple of thousand dollars left from the sale of their house and wanted to put it into some property–possibly a cabin in a nice area north of Barronette they had heard about from a parishioner. They invited us to go with them several times to look for property–on Mondays, preachers’ day off. Some of the places we went to weren’t very nice, but some of the lakes were beautiful. We remember a couple of cabins on the north shore of DesMoine Lake which were in very poor condition with a cliff of sand down to the lake, but the lake was exquisite. We went to Johnson Lake, Long Lake, and several others.
Later that year Bev wrote a letter using carbon paper to each family on her side and Erling’s—no response to her suggestion that maybe by putting our nickels and dimes together we could get a place on one of these lakes for $2,000—cabin and lot. We guessed everyone was as broke as we were raising our growing families.
We were surprised when Erling’s mother, Agnes, said one day in the spring of 1961, “I’d like to see those places you looked at with the Rhoes.”
We had a good time on our trips up north. We remember Agnes looking around in dismay at the tumbled-down cabin on DesMoines. She liked the new cabin on Johnson Lake, but the low swampy area back of the cabin would never do for all the small children. We looked at the cabin on the curve on Long Lake, but this was too near the road. We went to other places. At Siren we looked at a cabin on the highway, it would never do even though it was an attractive cabin. On our second trip we went to Webster, to the Tollander Agency. Charles Tollander was very good about bringing us around the area. We saw a new cabin on Clam Lake Flowage and an old home on Devil’s Lake’s west side. The front lawn of the latter had been graded down so there wouldn’t be such a steep access to the beach. There was another new cabin on a little lake; it was a very small lake with no other cabins on it. He showed us several cabins on the big Fish Lake. One on the east side had many steps going down to the lake. Agnes didn’t really like any of them. “Well,” Tollander said, “there is a resort on the west side of Fish Lake which is selling off individual cabins, but they’d be considerably more expensive.” (More than the $2,000 figure we had quoted.) Agnes said she’d like to see them.
We were shown Nos. 3, 4, and 6 at Buescher’s Resort. Agnes was still uncertain. Then we were shown No. 2. Bev will never forget hearing her say to Erling as she looked at the living room, kitchen and bedrooms, “Well, Erling, I think this is it!” Our three oldest boys and Bev were out in the screened-in porch and Bev remembers thinking, “Oh, dear, what have we gotten Grandma into!”
Grandma bought the cabin from Russell Buescher, making a down payment of $1,400 on a purchase price of $5,925 for the cabin and lot, with monthly payments of $50. The date of the sale was May 26, 1961.
The cabin was so clean and well taken care of. All the beds, dishes, pots and pans, stove, water heater, and refrigerator came with the cabin—a veritable palace compared to most of the other cabins we had seen. The beach was beautiful! A nice green and white boat went with the cabin, too. However, Mr. Buescher said that this would be replaced with a green boat. This was an older one, which didn’t last very long.
We all had a wonderful first summer here. We had to go home to Cumberland a week earlier than planned, though—false labor. Eric was born one month later, August 18, 1961.
Seven or eight years after Mom bought the cabin she enlarged and enclosed the porch for about $4,000. Some of this money may have come from a settlement she made with Augsburg Publishing House two years earlier when the copyright for the book, Prayer, by Ole Hallesby came up for renewal. Mother refused to sign, remembering how hard Dad had worked on the translations of the Hallesby books for very little money. She finally agreed to sign when they paid her $2000. Of that she gave each of us children $100 and so had $1500 left. It’s possible that helped pay for the work on the porch.
Mom loved to be at the cabin and often entertained her siblings and their families. She didn’t often sign the guest book because, after all, she was the host. In later years she would come up when her children and their families were here and she was more of a guest. I found a guestbook entry from 1976 which I think is classic. It talks of family, new and old friends, cabin doings, sad as well as happy times, and then at the end, thanks.
Here are her words:
August, 27, 1976
“Erling and Mathew came to my place Tues. Aug 17. They went to Twin’s game that evening after having supper with me. Next day we drove to cabin. Ruth and Tom and family came on Sun. p.m. so they invited me to stay on with them. Bev, Erling and family left Mon. p.m. We’ve had such a good relaxing time together. One day Bev took me along to visit two retired teachers who live on Hanscom Lake, a short ways from “Trash & Treasure.” Bev had bought some wooden plates, etc. for Rosemaling from them. Their names are Edith Barton and Valborg Skartvedt; the latter taught Phys. Ed. at Robbinsdale and knows Helen Refsell from Towers who also taught at Robbinsdale. One day Bev and I went to the new Beauty Shop, “Kathy’s,” near Main Store and had our hair shampooed and set. She is very reasonable ($3.50 sh. & set, 3.00 haircut). I’ve been here 10 days this time (longest this summer). I was here Sat. when Carl, Helen and family were here with Glenn, Carolyn and family. Then I was here two days (16&17) when Grace & Red & Dan were here—got ride with Randy. It has been both a sad and happy summer. Ragna became so sick—had several strokes—was at Deaconess Hospital for two weeks and two weeks at Luther Hall. On July 23rd she had a massive stroke and passed away about 7 p.m. We are saddened by her death and I surely miss her but we rejoice she could be relieved of her struggles and is now “singing with the angels’ as a couple people told me. I keep busy and enjoy my home at Ebenezer Towers. I’m free to make short trips visiting the children. St. Olaf Golden Age Fellowship made a trip to Johnsville. I also made a trip to Decorah, Iowa with a group from the Towers, sponsored by Sons of Norway. Another happy event—I became a great-grandmother on June 24th—Tim and Karen had a beautiful baby girl—named her Tiffany Brooks and was baptized on July 18th at Faith Luth. Coon Rapids. I’m happy we have this cabin where the children and their families can really rest and relax and enjoy God’s creation and nature. Now we are getting ready to go back to our homes leaving after supper. Thanks again for these 10 days visiting and enjoying the children and grandchildren. Mange Tak alle sammen.”
-Mom
It’s good to have Mom’s own words of how happy she was to have this place for her children and their families. We know she loved us all and we sense her love still.
I thank you all for coming this weekend to celebrate. Not every family could do what we have done in the last 50 years in working to make Carmonel what it is today. A good example is what happened after the terrible storm of July 1. We have never talked on the phone with so many Carmonels in such a short period of time, as you expressed your concern and support. And then help started coming—a generator, ice, water, advice, chain saws and strong arms to use them, a trailer, a brother-in-law with electrical skills, and more. Thank you all!!!
How proud and thankful I am that we are gathered here, having lived out Mom’s dream and having plans to carry on for the next generations.
I close with a limerick written by Andrew’s friend, Lill Robinson of Blue Earth, MN who has been at Carmonel many times.
50th Anniversary—A Golden Time
Carmonel Cabin on Fish Lake
Is a place to relax and a break, take.
It’s been fifty years
Of laughter and tears.
Now it’s time for more memories to make.
Ruth Moen
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration
of Carmonel Cabin, July 30, 2011