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Emily Quartemont, dance leader for August Camp, and her cousin Graysen Brady invite virtual participants to join in Seven Jumps. By KARRI BRADY
Every year, many of us make the trek to Tyler, Minnesota for a week of Danebod Camp. We drive from varying distances - through the corn fields, past the wind farm - until we see the iconic, brick folk school tower off in the distance. That first walk around the campus enlivens fond memories of camps past and eager anticipation for the week to come. This year, like most summer gatherings, camp was canceled. Pretty much everything we do at Danebod spreads COVID-19: singing, dancing, discussing, hugging, joke telling, and the laughing that results - everything - spreads the virus. In a year when people have lost their lives and livelihoods, missing a week of Danebod Camp may seem small, but it was pretty big. Especially for those of us who have been going for decades – and that’s almost everyone over twenty years old. Reactions to the pandemic have been individual and personal, and generally fall into two categories: the immediate and the long term. In the immediate, our gatherings moved outside or online; we stayed home, learned to social distance, and got good at washing hands and wearing masks. But the long term is ever-changing and uncertain. We don’t know when the pandemic will end, what changes are permanent, and, for Danebod campers, when we’ll be together again. So, in the immediate, we mourned; then we looked ahead, transferred plans to next year, and went about our lives. But as August approached, we couldn’t ignore the longing, the call to Tyler. We were going to have Danebod in whatever way we could. And we did. Campers worked together to create nightly, virtual sing-alongs with Rita Juhl at the piano, leading songs from World of Song interspersed with videos of campers singing at home. Our dance leaders posted “dances of the day.” Kits for woodcraft and heart baskets were delivered for crafting at home. We met online for a discussion, social hour, camp member meeting, and even a trip to the Kronborg. Some families found a way to gather in smaller groups to create mini-camps. We used social media to connect us all through pictures of æbleskiver, tie-dye shirts, frikkedeller, camps of years past, and each other. By the end of the week many of us felt like we’d almost been to camp! That week of “Danebod at Home” reminded us what we all know to be true— we may hold camp in Tyler, Minnesota but the essence of Danebod is not there. Danebod is not the folk school building, the gym hall, pop stand and pavilion. It’s not the church, the history, the food, or the World of Song books. It’s what happens when we’re together - the exhilaration, the joy, the acceptance, the connection. That’s what we carry in our hearts when we leave camp every year - the Danebod piece in each of us. Sure, it may seem smaller when we’re not together in person. But it’s in there, and in this year of multiple challenges, we need our Danebod piece more than ever. Come to think of it, couldn’t the world use a little Danebod right now? - to know what it’s like to chain around the gym hall and look forward to dancing with someone new or greet the day singing "Golden Light of Morning Bright!" to listen with an open heart to a discussion that challenges your own thoughts and beliefs or discover and share your skills on a craft project! How many people could benefit from an afternoon nap in a lawn chair or delight in paying a ridiculous amount of money for chocolate chip cookies because it supports a good cause and it’s fun! Missing camp hit us hard because it’s such a part of us. It was like we lost a piece of what makes us who we are. It’s also why we were able to have camp anyway. Danebod will always find a way, because camp is inside of each of us. Please visit danebodfolkcamp.org/next-camp/ to check out our “Danebod at Home” sing-along videos. karricatur@aol.com
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Erling Jørgensen Grumstrup died peacefully following a stroke on September 8, 2020 at Atterdag Village, Solvang, California. He was 100 years old. The month and day of his death is also the month and day of the birth of the renowned Dane N.F.S. Grundtvig in whose spiritual tradition Erling lived. A man of diverse interests and activities, Erling sustained an exuberant joy for living right up until the end of his life.
Born on January 26, 1920 to Aage and Kamma (Jørgensen) Grumstrup, Erling grew up on the family farm in southwestern Minnesota with five sisters. He attended grammar school at the rural Star School in Lincoln County and graduated from Tyler High School in 1939. The Grumstrup’s were a musical family, and when Erling’s high school music teacher encouraged him to study music after graduation, this spark led him to develop a lifelong avocation in solo and choral voice. The Grumstrup’s rich social and religious life centered around the campus of “Danebod,” a church, folk school, and gymnastics hall established by Danish immigrants at the south end of their railroad town. At age nineteen, when Erling’s parents lost their farm during the Great Depression, he moved with the family to West Denmark, Wisconsin, another Danish settlement, where they became active in the West Denmark Lutheran Church. Here he met his future wife of sixty-three years, Selma Utoft Henriksen. They married in 1944. Besides farming with his father, Erling also worked in nearby Luck for his brother-in-law Alf at Utoft Feed & Seed and later moved to Superior, Wisconsin to learn the machinist/toolmaker trade. When World War II broke out, Erling enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific with the 5th Marines. He was wounded in action during the invasion of Iwo Jima, followed by hospitalization and recovery in Guam and Hawaii. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps with a Purple Heart in 1946. Erling and Selma then began their long marriage and family life in Circle Pines, Minnesota, which originated as a cooperative community in the Danish tradition. There, just north of the Twin Cities, Erling helped develop and build a new church, St. Mark Lutheran, and he served as the congregation’s first president. Professionally, Erling worked first as a machinist and toolmaker, then for the remainder of his career as a quality assurance representative for the federal government. Meanwhile, his wife Selma cared for the home and growing family of five children. Using the GI Bill, Erling followed his call to study voice by attending the Minneapolis College of Music. Over the years, he sang in many choirs, including the Minneapolis Choralaires and the Minnesota Chorale. He also sang countless solos throughout the region for weddings, funerals, and other events. After retirement in 1976, Erling and Selma moved back to West Denmark and enjoyed thirty-one more years together, actively participating in the West Denmark Church and other community organizations, building a cabin in a remote area of Colorado, and enjoying the outdoors as they camped and hiked. Erling’s hobbies and activities were numerous and diverse, especially after he retired. He stayed active year-round with long-distance running, cross-country skiing, bicycling, and hiking. He took up poetry writing and opened a blacksmith shop in his garage, creating decorative iron pieces. Following Selma’s death after a long illness in 2007, Erling moved to Atterdag Village in Solvang, California. This was a burst of new life for Erling for the next eleven years: living with other seniors in a comfortable and dynamic setting and traveling extensively with his friend Bente Ellis to gatherings of Danish-Americans, concerts, and even New York City. In 2018, Erling was particularly grateful to fly with other veterans to Washington D.C. for the “Tour of Honor.” The surviving family includes Erling and Selma’s five children: Phillip Grumstrup (Birte), Paul Grumstrup (Mary Lou), Judy Grumstrup-Scott (Tom Scott), Karin Grumstrup, and Kathy Grumstrup (Michael Bing), eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. A celebration of Erling’s life will be held at West Denmark Lutheran Church at a future date. Suggested memorials are the Danebod Folk Meeting, c/o Danebod Lutheran Church, 107 Danebod Court, Tyler, MN 56178 or the West Denmark Lutheran Church, 2478 170th Street, Luck, WI 54853. |
Editor InformationBridget Lois Jensen Archives
March 2023
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