Our Stadem Families Smorgasbord of Godly Pioneer Family Heritage on the North Plains! Please be seated, and help yourselves! There's more than enuf for everybody, friends, relations, Indian neighbors--everybody is welcome to come and stay as long as you all like!"
PLAIN VIEW HERITAGE FARM WEBSITE ON WWW.PLAINVIEWHERITAGE.COM
PLAIN VIEW HERITAGE FARM,
RURAL BRYANT, SD, PRESENTS:
A BIG LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN ON EARTH!
OUR PLAIN VIEW HERITAGE FARM!
Where the Gate Grandpa Alfred Stadem Lovingly Created
Is Always Open to Childlike Hearts of Love and Wonder!
"You must become like a small child,"
the Father's Son said most plainly.
If you're trusting Him, and humble, mild--
Heaven's gate is open to thee."
ANGELS CAN DANCE ON A PIN, BUT HERE ARE NORSKIES DANCING ON A REAL TABLE NAPKIN! IT INDICATES THAT NORSKIES ARE NOT SOUR PUSSES, SO SANCTIMONIOUS THEY CAN'T DO A JIG ON OCCASION LIKE GRANDPA ALFRED STADEM DEMONSTRATED.
The old centennial Stadem farm is located on the prairie of the North Plains, which the Lakota Indian tribal bands roamed and camped on for who knows how many hundreds of years. They hunted the buffalo, and the Buffalo Mound was on Plain View Farm until that field was bought by neighbors in the sale of the farm acreage. It can still be felt as a mound by walking to it, even if it is not apparent to the eye from a distance. Special thanks go to the Lakota Indian Tribe kids at St. Joseph's school, Chamberlain, S.D., for furnishing, whether they know it or not, the picture we used to greet you.
But first a Gospel Message to all Five Scandinavian Countries!
Sorry, no flag for Denmark at present!
Because Scandinavians colonized and created the Kingdom of Normandy, a fief, later a province of France that was the kingdom of the Normans who conquered England in 1066 under Duke William, that makes those Francophone Norskies at least "honorary Scandinavians" though they jabber in French today of course.
Velkommen! How VERY GOOD to have you come here and enjoy the smorgasbord of delights from our God-given heritage! We love to have you come and visit us on Plain View Heritage Farm! Come on in and let's go into the parlor, where family and friends all gather! Have some refreshments. Mama Bergit's wonderful Lemon Cake is ready to serve with fresh, hot coffee, and rich farm cream and sugar as you like. The doughnuts are hers too, and go well with the Norske coffee! Now, everybody please give full attention, so the great-grandkids can hear about our golden Norwegian heritage and our legacy of faith in Christ of Plain View Farm from Papa and Mama's daughter Estelle. She is going to give us her exciting account in "God's Little Acres"! God bless you as you all join us in the Parlor to hear Estelle. Listen! She's just starting...
Please Enter Here to the Parlor
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL STADEM DESCENDANTS AND FRIENDS OF THE FAMILIES:
We have moved from the Yahoo-based platform in the sense of activity, since Yahoo mandated a change that would cost us substantially, and we do not feel the cost justified, so we have moved over to Angelfire our active presence, so to speak. Our www.plainviewheritage.com site will continue and can be used for viewing and downloads and reading and enjoyment and sharing with others. We just are shut out from the Site Builder that allows us to add or make any changes. We thank God that we had enough warning and time to transfer most all our files from Yahoo, so that we can begin to base the on-going Saga of the Stadems on Angelfire and add to our Angelfire Plain View Farm, not to mention Prairie Farm, and Butterfly Productions Home Page. Although we have been on Angelfire for many years, it is really like a new beginning. God bless these pages anew for your enjoyment, learning, and edification! Amen!
So here is our first addition, Roberta Ginther's unique poem and the scripture she found in Mother's writing:
"Our Ladder to Heaven,"
by Roberta Lee Ginther
We are climbing Jacob's Ladder, Soldiers of the Cross!
We are not climbing alone,
for in Christ we suffer no loss.
We have the Holy Spirit, and Heritage, and Faith of our mothers and fathers.
Praise Jesus, our Heavenly Sunshine, who died on the Cross to save us,
making us dear sisters and brothers!
Roberta's Mother and Stadem Matriarch, Pearl Ginther's verse she wrote out:
"Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His Holy Name. Psalm 33: 20-21"--
Note: Significantly, Mother Pearl changed singular personal pronouns to "our," which Sister Roberta points out includes us all then in the blessing of this verse! Roberta's wonderful poem also includes us all--Ed.
All Nine Stadem Offsprings--(L to R, by Age) Pearl, Bernice, Myrtle, Cora, Alida, Estelle, Arthur, Ruth, Leroy
Eldest Stadem Grandson Darrell R. Ginther's special account on-line. Please go to both parts for what life was like on the Dakota prairie and how folks and kids amused themselves in homespun ways in the Good Old Days. These books are also available on Amazon Kindle for a slight charge for the e-book to reimburse Amazon and also provide 37 cents a copy to a fund for the farm.
"The Old Horse and Buggy Days," by Darrell R. Ginther
"The Old Horse and Buggy Days," Part II, by Darrell R. Ginther
Please check out the Tribute to Myrtle Stadem-Svanoe, Alfred and Bergit's daughter, which has now been illustrated. A most remarkable person, her legacy lives on in manifold ways. Check out this tribute find out some of the many ways she made a big difference in the world! The Svanoe Central page has all the Svanoe family listings. As with Darrell Ginther's historical account of two North Plains farms, Grandpa John Ginther's and Grandpa Alfred St Stadems, you can access his Aunt Myrtle's wonderful letters on Kindle about life and marriage and ministry and how she married Bill Svanoe and they moved to Waterloo, Iowa, and started a family while ministering to physical and spiritual needs of the people there.
Tribute to Myrtle Stadem Svanoe, by Nephew Ronald Ginther
Svanoe Central
The 2008 Reunion was a great success! The picture shows it, as there were more than 70 attending (some not at the same time or as long as others, so not all made it in the group picture. Pearl Stadem Ginther, seated at center, at that reunion was 99 years of age, the Matriarch of the Clan. She turned 100 Sept. 13, 2009! Then 101 Sept. 13, 2010! And six months later she graduated to Heavenly Glory!
Pearl Stadem Ginther, pictured here at age 99 (September 13, 2008, abiding in this mortal world until 101 years of age and six months as frosting on her life's cake!) the Eldest Stadem of the Alfred and Bergit Stadem clan, was taken right after the Reunion to see the all wood Norwegian stav church over in the Black Hills, re-created after the original over in Norway which goes back hundreds and hundreds of years. Some stav churches are 800 to 900 years old! This one shows its young age, for the wood is still light of color and not weathered. The all-wooden gift house (which the food storage was in, originally, over in Norway) was sent direct from Norway, and was built in the 1800s, but it hardly shows any age yet. But the stav church, of course, is the star attraction, and thousands see it each year. Pearl Ginther is in the center of the family, pictured with some of her great grandchildren.
We still have Stadem relatives over in Norway, and living on one of the Stadem Farms! Brita Stadem was Sjur Stadheim's sister, and descended from her are cousins who still reside in one of the Stadheim farms. Aalaug Ese is Brita's descendant, and she has an actual working farm pictured on their website, producing various delicious berry crops, sheep, eggs, and garden produce. The website has not been worked on since 2008 or so, so the non-functioning part at the top can be ignored, and just go to what is working further down the page, which has pictures for you to enjoy from the Stadheim Farm, as well as contact information, which can be accessed at:
The Stadheim Farm in Vik, Norway
Stadem/Vorseth Cousin Barbara Benson and her husband visited Aslaug Ese and her husband Oddbjorn in 2000, and conducted genealogy research in Vik and other sites of the Stadem roots and our ancestors. They took pictures of the Eses' beautiful farm over in Vik, and included them in the Stadem Genealogy book that Barbara Benson compiled dealing with the line of Sjur and Oline Stadheim and their descendants.
Our ancestors, the pioneering emigrants Sjur and Oline Stadheim and their family sailed bravely (with faith in God enabling them to make this great venture) from Norway on one of those sailed boats in the early 1860s and traveled via Quebec to Northwood, Worth County, Iowa, where they settled for a time. They then moved from there to South Dakota, where, a generation later or so, Alfred Stadem, grandson of Sjur, was born and married and raised the family that is chiefly featured on these Plain View Farm websites, as Alfred Stadem is the founder of Plain View Farm in rural Bryant South Dakota, together with his beloved wife Bergit Holbeck Stadem. Cousin Barb's genealogy book is a wonderful labor of love, and only a limited edition was produced for the Stadems and Vorseths and others who wished a copy.
Since the still relatively recent heavenly homegoings of both Vernon and Barbara, however, we will have to make our own copies. Can you think of doing that for yourself? And possibly others in your families? We have the text, and it can be copied, but we cannot pay for the copying for others at present. Neither did Barbara, though she did the work without any charge and it was a labor of love to make a copy and send it out to a loved one and his or her family.
Everything costs a lefse and a rightse today? Yes, these times are costly! But here is a Scandinavian freebie for you: Unique-y, farm-style stationery from PVF On Our Domain WWW.PLAINVIEWHERITAGE.COM on Yahoo. Just download/copy and print as many as you like, and a gift of such stationery would be a charming, meaningful Christmas gift or a birthday gift, don't you agree?
HILSEN FRA PLAIN VIEW HERITAGE FARM STATIONERY, Two Kinds
THE OLD NORWEGIAN CALENDAR:
Ever wonder what the Norwegians did before the invention of paper calendars?
Really, you never thought of that? You always assumed people had paper calendars? Not so, my friend! They didn't have such modern inventions until maybe the 19th century came along! They had to know when to let the animals out of the barns, when best to plant, when to marry, when to harvest, when to take in the animals from the fields, when to shear the sheep, when to gather in the hay to feed them over the winter, etc., etc. So what did they do for a thousand years, go without knowing what day it was? Hardly! They made calendars out of stone, first, those lasted a long time then. But then they decided stone wasn't necessary and turned to the every-present, handy, easily-worked wood that was Norway's chief asset after cod, cod, and more cod!
Maybe a lot of old-fashioned Norsk kept to stone calendars, but others turned to wood as it was extremely plentiful and cost nothing but the labor to cut it from a tree and could be easily worked with a simple knife every man and boy (and many a woman!) carried on his person.
Imagine, carrying a stone calendar around in your pocket! You couldn't do it, it weighed more than you did! So they carved their calendars on flat sticks! These were portable, and you could hang them on a peg in the house too, for easy reference. And it had other ancillary uses too--for domesticating the younger Norsk! Was that because they could use them, in a pinch, for a handy little paddle for disciplining children for some nifty piece of misbehavior during the long winter season spent virtually housebound? They certainly could be handy in that way. Imagine getting whacked on the bottom with the burning Summer Side or the Winter Side of the year afterwards to cool you down a bit! But wouldn't both halves of the calendar feel pretty much the same, or would one feel warmer (the Summer Side), and the other side (the Winter Side) feel colder? We don't know if we haven't had the experience of them in that way. But we can know how else they were used: Janet Smith's REPLICA of the ancient Norwegian Primstav, and explanations of the dates of the Ancient Norwegian Calendar Stick, called the Primstav, "Winter or Summer Side"
Yes, we said we would be doing the restoring of the often beautiful symbols or Norwegian signs for each month, so please return to see them when they are on-line again--hopefully in this year 2021, not 2050!
Primstav: The Old Norse Calendar Stick, Winter & Summer Sides, with Janet Smith's Explanation
OFFERING A UNIQUE, STEREOSCOPIC TOUR OF NORWAY (WITH NOTRE DAME THROWN IN FOR AN ENCORE), IN CASE YOU MISSED THE TOURS AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY ENJOYED IN COUNTLESS PARLORS ACROSS RURAL AMERICA:
Page 1, STEREOSCOPIC TOUR OF NORWAY
Do return to TAKE A PEEK at "Pearl's Lacery," which features the first of fifty or more laces from Pearl Ginther's collection!
"Pearl's Lacery," Part I
Pearl Stadem-Ginther, born September 13, 2009, passed to Heavenly Glory April 30, 2011, was very, very active in the Tacoma Seafarers Center in the Port of Tacoma, after a long service as financial supporter and attendee of the Ladies Auxiliary every month at the Center, as well as providing over 30 Christmas gift boxes to the Center for giving out to sailors at Christmas. Please go to the tribute page to the Center, which is a vital ministry to sailors coming to the Port from all over the world--a unique opportunity to show them we care, and then they will care what we know about the Lord! Like his mother, Darrell R. Ginther, eldest in the family, who passed to Glory August 13, 2011, served as a volunteer worker in the Center for many years too. Comments about both Mrs. Ginther and son are included in the following tribute page devoted to the Center for Seafarers.
Tacoma Seafarers Center, Port of Tacoma, and Ginthers' parts in its ministry
The Stadems believed in CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. That is why they spared no sacrifice and sent the entire family to the pioneer-founded Augustana school last shining as a beacon of Christian Education in Canton, SD, a high in scholarship and faith-growing institution that was Bible-based and where the students received Bible instruction every day, not just on Sunday. Martin Luther preached that education without God was devilish, we need God for mind culture, not mind culture alone which does not root, anchor, and guide and motivate a child or young person in the Biblical values that will provide the moral compass for a righteous life and a meaningful, productive life in every respect. The Stadems showed us, all of them without exception, what that Bible-based, Christ-centered life is like, for they lived and practiced it 24/7. Sunday and Christmas and Easter Christians are really fooling themselves! They starve themselves and their families of Christian growth and nurture in the Word of God and Christian service to the brethren and the needy. Christian beliefs must be lived and practiced 24/7 or your faith and religion are humbug and a hypocritical show to exalt yourself in the eyes of others. Let us be real Christians, brethren! God is holding us to a final reckoning for our lives and how we treated the Gospel, the Word of God, and others. We want him to be pleased, but our works righteousness or merit can never do that. Only humble channels of his Grace, obedient to His Word, can please him. It is our choice what we will be, and whether we please our Savior and Creator or not.--Ed.
Augustana Academy lives on--in lives, memories
Linking Section:
"Ballad of the Voyage of Faith," Centennial Tribute (1903-2003) to the Voyage of Bergit and Katrine (Tena) Holbeck from Norway to America, by Grandson and Grandnephew Ronald Ginther
Links to other pages in our Family of websites
Stadem Family Saga Home Page--The Back Door!
Photo Album Master Directory
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE ERLING JORDAHL ACCOUNT OF THE OLD BRYANT LUTHERAN CHURCH OF BYGONE TIMES BUT STILL CHERISHED IN MEMORY. MR. JORDAHL HAS KEEP INSIGHTS TO SHARE WITH YOU ABOUT WHAT IS VALUABLE ABOUT THE CHURCH OF YESTERYEAR BUT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF TODAY'S PRACTICES AND CHURCH SOCIETY, THINGS WE MIGHT WELL WANT TO SEE RESTORED IF POSSIBLE:
"The Bryant Church," by Erling Jordahl, friend of the Stadem Family
Valentine's Day Central
The Stadem Families Genealogy
Directory to God's Little Acres by Daughter Estelle
Plain View Farm Road Map Directory
Tributes to Stadem Family Members
Mama Bergit Stadem's Recipes & Personal History
Mama Bergit's "No Omtrint" Cusine and Plain View Farm Cooking
Central for "Giant Footprints" Tribute to Bryant, SD, Pioneers
PVF's Praying for You! Page
Prairie Farm Intro Page
Prairie Farm Home Page, with Recollections of Daughters Estelle, Ruth, and Cora About the Homestead and Farm and their Beloved Parents, Papa & Mama
Butterfly Productions Home Page
Pearl's Carding & Quilting Page
Plain View Heritage Home Page
NOTE: Friends, please feel free to download anything on these pages you want, and you pay nothing for that, we feel it is a privilege to furnish these riches of Heritage and the Gospel given us by God to share with others. We ask you just to respect the content, and add what you like that will not detract from the message or the meaning, or introduce things from the culture around us that are not truly edifying and good. And come again soon! We will be adding to this Smorgasbord many tasty, new dishes and delights!
Copyright (c) 2010-2021, Butterfly Productions,
All Rights Reserved
Copyright (c) 2010-2021, Butterfly Productions,
All Rights Reserved
Last but not least, as the Bible instructs us: pray for the peace of Jerusalem! And for Israel too--which is God's Miracle and Blessing to the nations on the earth!
