On the 18th day of August 1974 the descendants of Anna and Thorsten Thompson met at the Bill Boadwine farm to celebrate the 100th year since the Thompson’s homesteaded that farm. The reunion actually began on Saturday the 17th with the arrival of Mrs. Edwin Thompson (90 years of age) from California.
Her daughter Ruth accompanied her. James Thompson (85 years) arrived by bus and train from Detroit. His arrival was unexpected as he had not been well.
James and Anna had a great visit that morning as they had not seen each other since Edwin and Anna’s wedding in 1905. Before the gathering was complete the original families would be represented as well by Mrs. Henry Thompson of Wisconsin, Mrs. Anna Fossum of Lyons, and Mrs. Selma Eitrheim of Baltic. One brother, Ole, was in ill health and unable to attend and Art Baalson (husband of Nora) of Sioux Falls was recovering from a stroke.
That Saturday afternoon and for several previous days much activity took place on the old homestead as the four families of Selma Eitrheim arrived to help with preparations. The grove north of the houses was cleaned; a banner was painted to hang above the driveway. There was also a lot of motorcycle riding.
The mowing, raking, etc. was just a finishing touch or two on the great job that Bill and Esther had done for weeks before to have the place in shining condition. Many errands had to be run that Saturday as picnic tables, etc. had to be hauled too the farm in Bill’s new horse trailer.
Much activity centered around the garage that day as Clarice supervised the installation of the picture gallery. The garage was newly scrubbed by Bill’s power water sprayer and now some sheets of plywood transformed it into quite a gallery. Anna and Thorsten’s pictures dominated the display of pictures arranged by each family group and Clarice’s heroic looking family tree which could trace the family back to the year 1500 and down to the latest great great grandchild.
As a steady stream of cars arrived all day as relatives brought food and other paraphernalia for the big celebration the next day. Jim and Dan made a little stage of concrete blocks and lumber and placed it north of the houses where the program would take place on Sunday. A sign was painted and installed ½ mile east to keep strangers from missing the turn.
The first official gathering of the reunion took place in Sioux Falls at Walt and Mary’s Restaurant starting at 6 P.M. As people entered the private dining room, Joan and Clarice Eitrheim handed them a copy of the family tree and the family history. Susan, Elizabeth and Kristi Eitrheim handed out covered wagon badges, which identified the wearer, and the family he/she was a part of. Clara Haugo was the hostess of the event and had special napkins provided for each person. At the close of the dinner everyone drove across town to Erling Haugo’s Park Ridge Bank for an evening of good conservation and getting acquainted.
The entire group was together at the farm at 11 A.M. the next morning, but at about 6 A.M. that morning, the farm was rocked by a violent hail and windstorm. No serious damage was done, but the banner over the driveway had blown down and had to be washed and rehung. Branches had to be cleared out of the area north of the houses for the picnic area, but everything was done and we still were able to hold church. At 11 A.M. the cars began to arrive. Some of the relatives had attended church at West Nidaros or Willow Creek and many had brought food for all the eating that was to take place that day.
The first step for many was the picture gallery in the garage. Most had a few extra snapshots to add to the older pictures of the families. The name tags came in handy, as not everyone knew everyone else. The chairs which had been so vigorously washed that morning now held about 135 people and the ladies moved impressive amounts of food to the long table north of the house. The conversation was good and brisk.
At about 1:15 the program began. Rev Norm Eitrheim made some remarks about the significances of the occasion and used some passages from the history of the family. The occasion called for some bad skits which were badly acted but in the right mood from the occasion; a group of singers sang “Dakota Land”, and a painting was presented to Selma Eitrheim from the California branch of the family. Each family group was then introduced and stood in front of the crowd to be identified. At the end of the program a professional photographer took a group picture. By about 2:30 the pressure for a ball game reached a fever pitch and everyone interested were loaded into Bill’s pickup and several cars to make the trip to the west pasture. The ball diamond had to be cleaned of “cow pies” and bases were laid out with some lack of accuracy. The game was slightly marred by the lack of confidence both sides displayed in the umpire’s eyesight. Wayne French stole second base! He was second basemen at the time and was made to put it back. Everyone got back in the pickup about an hour and half later, tired, but very loud in their enjoyment of the occasion. When everyone returned, we ate again, of course, and the coffee and conversation flowed. It was late in the evening when he first cars left, and the usual remarks were that it had all been too brief and that in another 5 years, we should do it all again.