Rick Peterson, Tribe of Delroy, 2015 Reflections and Family Update

Rick and Naomi Peterson live in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. This year we celebrated our 35th anniversary.  (Unbelievably, we also celebrated 10 years of retirement from teaching in the Anoka-Hennepin school district.)

RICK

I am involved in many activities in our church. (First Congregational, UCC of Anoka). I have participated in the choir for 33 years. I have also been a part of several music groups, as well as singing solos from time to time. Occasionally, I am called on to lead singing during worship, hopefully with the enthusiasm “handed down” from Delroy! This year I am the chairperson of our Justice and Witness committee. Our goal is to reach out into our community, helping transitional and homeless families, teens and adults in their pursuit of permanent housing and living wage employment. I continue to be interested travel stateside and to other places of adventure. Our family hopes to visit Sweden and Norway this summer in search of our “roots!” I am quite passionate about the Minnesota sports scene, especially the TWINS and University of Minnesota teams. I am healthy and happy and keep VERY busy every day, keeping in contact with family and friends. I have done an equal amount of golfing and gardening this summer and enjoy maintaining our yard/gardens. The spectacular sunsets over Crooked Lake are an added joy to behold!

NAOMI

Naomi fills her days with volunteer activities, many involved in our church. She is the vice moderator this year. Our pastors have recently retired after 15 years of service. With an interim pastor at the helm and a “settled pastor” to be chosen soon, Naomi’s talents of planning and organization will help guide our church in the coming months. Naomi reads the Star Tribune from cover to cover and keeps abreast on issues of the day. She even reads the sports section during the TWINS season!  She has a passion for reading and belongs to two book clubs. Of course, she continues to get a lot of “exercise” in the gardens during the spring/summer months!

We enjoy a good movie or Netflix series, while eating popcorn and sitting by the fireplace in the Minnesota winter.

BREE

Having graduated from St. Thomas Law School, Bree worked in a Minneapolis law firm for three years. She spent her time as a corporate attorney, doing mergers and acquisitions law. (I don’t try to understand her day to day work!) Bree’s sense of adventure has led her to practice law with American firms in London.  She lives in a third floor flat (66 steps) near Holland Park. She returned to Minnesota this summer for a two week visit, along with her friend, Isaac Black. There were several memorable times together; a TWINS game with 13 friends and relatives, segway tours of both Minneapolis and St. Paul; the highlight was a weekend at Steve and Pat’s cabin on Farm Island Lake, with lots of yard games, “four wheeling,” great food and fantastic lake activities.

BROOKE

Brooke lives in St. Paul, by the University of Minnesota campus.  She, and her wife Cathy, reside in a 1925 house with a fenced in yard, which is used to contain their 85 pound Akita! Cathy is a supervisor of chemical addiction counselors at the Hazeldon Foundation. Since her graduation from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Brooke has been employed in several early education settings. Currently, she uses her teaching talents as a educator/nanny for a three year old girl.  We consider Laura our surrogate granddaughter and know she is the smartest, most well behaved child we’ve ever met!  Brooke enjoys her times in her cozy home.  She decorates wonderfully for each season/holiday of the year.  Brooke has studied to be a master gardener and volunteers her time to instruct others.  Luckily, her house came with terraced gardens and a variety of hostas and other perennials. Brooke and Cathy have planted vegetable gardens on their curb and on most of their front yard!

What it has meant / What I have learned from being part of the Otto-Hulda Peterson family

Perhaps, the best way for me to write on these topics is to delineate what has been of most VALUE  to me as I reflect on my days as an Otto’s kid:

I have learned the VALUE OF MUSIC

From an early age, sitting in the front pews of Wood River Baptist, I learned the value of singing!

We always sang age appropriate songs before going off to Sunday school.  I especially remember Irene teaching us the Bible through singing. (I can still sing the names of all of Jacob’s sons, from the music and lyrics taught by her.)  In summer Bible school, we learned lots of songs that still stick with me.  Of course, Sunday evening services were always highlighted by Delroy’s enthusiastic singing. We never sang all the verses of songs, which allowed us to sing more hymns.  He would ask for favorites and we would all clamor to get our favorites sung! We memorized song numbers so we wouldn’t have to go “searching,” which would waste time!

I have told my friends, through the years, that I learned well over 100 gospel songs and, if I’m allowed to boast, I can still sing most of the words by heart. I also learned to harmonize, with others, from an early age. This love of music made my time in high school choir and band so much fun. Later, in Bethel College, I joined the Male Chorus.  We were able to sing in many churches and in 19666, embarked on a six week tour of Europe (getting a chance to mingle with my Swedish folk).  At every Peterson gathering, we sing the Doxology before meals. Also meaningful, has been been gathering in a circle at the cemetery, singing together the old favorite “Wood River songs.”  Singing with cousins at the hospital bedside of a dear aunt or uncle has been so wonderful… so I thank my Peterson heritage for encouraging the love of music!

I have learned the VALUE OF HOSPITALITY

There was hardly ever a Sunday that we did not gather, as an extended family, to celebrate the birthday or anniversary of a Peterson family member.  I remember, fondly, playing with my cousins at the home or farm of an uncle or aunt.  The hospitality and warmth of each setting was always present. The children were allowed to run free and enjoy the yards and barns and animals.  The food was always first rate; I especially enjoyed the rice pudding made by Parn, Irene or LaVone.   A special memory is eating in the summer kitchens at the Sandberg and Tyberg home.  Christmas gatherings at Auntie Annie’s and Uncle Fred’s house was a joy for a young boy. (How we ever got 50 people in their house is a mystery.…I remember all the windows were totally “fogged up!”)  Running up and down the Sandberg stairs was really dangerous.  I still feel some guilt about stealing spritz cookies from Irene’s pantry.  This appreciation for socializing, so much enjoyed by the Otto-Hulda clan, has left an imprint on my life.  Naomi and I love to entertain family and friends often.  The importance of hospitality and making others feel welcome was so much a part of growing up Peterson!

I have learned the VALUE OF EDUCATION

I have shared with many, over the years, that growing up in Alpha was a definite blessing.

Not just that fantastic education received at our one room school, Alpha Elementary, but the freedom to wander the countryside and explore nature.  (I do think we spent more time at recess, playing ball outside, than in the formal classroom). We were tutored in math and reading by the older kids and returned the favor as we got older. We learned art, music and writing on the Wisconsin radio shows, “Let’s Draw,” Let’s Sing,” and “Let’s Write!”  Our school created Christmas plays for the community, with a makeshift stage and curtain, and everyone got a “part” to play in the program. Of course, there was much to learn away from school, too. Like trapping gophers on Uncle Verne’s farm, (for a quarter a piece), or spearing carp, with pitchforks, during the spring spawn.  What great ways to learn science!   We joined the “city slickers,” like Cousin Paul in the sixth grade. I was not sure if my one room school education could match up!  The Peterson clan certainly emphasized the value of education.  After all, how many of our parents, aunts and uncles turned out to be teachers? (Othelia, Annie, LaVone, Irene and Delroy….wow!)  Many of us found our way to Bethel College, now Bethel University, and others have attended other institutions of higher learning.  Otto and Hulda would be proud of their descendants.

I have learned the VALUE OF SERVING AND RESPECTING OTHERS

I believe the Otto-Hulda farmstead was a place where neighbors and friends gathered together. They welcomed everyone who came knocking on their door!  It could be a neighbor in need, sharing a meal with friends or even extending a helping hand and a meal to a traveling band of Gypsies. The Petersons would labor together with neighbors at harvest time and helped in the organization/construction of Wood River Baptist Church. These qualities of love, respect and service to others were passed on to their children. Whether it be teaching in a one room school, serving as Sunday school and Bible school teachers, being a Sunday school superintendent/song leader, or a requested speaker at women’s church events or in doing “mission work” in the far reaches of Burnett County with the native American families; serving as “house mother” to countless Bethel women or bringing music to life, for audiences, in a barbershop group…. These beloved aunts and uncles were visible example of serving OTHERS.  We knew that they all served as “prayer warriors” for all of our generation of cousins as we sought to find our place in this world. I’m sure we can all agree with the words in Othelia’s favorite song, “Others.” The words say, in closing, “Help me to live for OTHERS, that I may live like thee.”

I have learned the VALUE OF FAMILY

How important it is that we, cousins, continue to share with our children the value of family. I have learned so many important lessons being from the tribe of Delroy. We got together regularly when our parents were living, sharing stories, laughter, eating scrumptious food, and catching up on all of our lives. Even though my parents have been gone for awhile, we siblings continue to get together quite often. It may be a Christmas gathering, celebrating a birthday or anniversary, a summer picnic with MANY yard games and lively competition. Most of you know that my father was a “quiet Swede” who came to life in social situations. Yet, in his quiet way, we all knew that he loved his family very much. He led by example, never having a critical word about any person. He did not enjoy family disagreements and always looked for the positive in every situation. These lessons learned from Delroy, I hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren.

I can’t believe there is a “relative group” that spent more time together! I have wonderful memories of Wood River Church, Wood Lake Camp, Sunday afternoons celebrating someone’s birthday or anniversary. Times at farms (Vic’s or LaVerne’s), Uncle Don’s cabin; Christmases together are all treasured memories.