History takes center stage at Ambrose

July 5, 2006
page 1

A series of old photographs like the one of Main Street Ambrose (above) have been mounted for display during the Ambrose Centennial this Saturday. Centennial historian Donna Haslett-Nelson, along with Roger Schlarb and his wife, Joy, will host the display at the community center.

History takes center stage at Ambrose

Year’s worth of work culminates with Centennial celebration

By Cecile Wehrman

When it comes to celebrating a city’s centennial, the emphasis often is placed on today’s celebration, rather than yesterday’s history.

But a group of people is making sure history is the centerpiece of the Ambrose Centennial this Saturday, when hundreds of past residents are expected to gather.

Donna Haslett-Nelson and Roger and Joy Schlarb will see a year’s worth of work culminate in a historical display at the Ambrose Community Center, but what visitors see there will be just a fraction of the material they’ve actually collected.

While Donna is the official historian of the centennial committee, Roger is the webmaster and Joy the unofficial cheerleader for both.

All three got involved because they love history.

"We lived in Ambrose in the 1980s and we always loved it. There’s something magical about Ambrose," said Donna.

For Roger, who lives in California, it was a matter of being intrigued by stories of a native son.

"I got interested in Ambrose before I’d ever been to Ambrose when I heard stories from Harry Miller," he said.

Miller was Joy’s uncle. She also grew up hearing stories from her dad and her grandmother.

"I feel that we’re doing something in their honor," Joy said.

Donna and Roger worked in cooperation with each other, taking in information, documents and pictures, all of which were funneled to the website www.ambrosend.com. Donna also conducted interviews with longtime residents and wrote up histories on each. She collected scrap books, high school year books and photos by the box loads to send to Roger so he could scan the material and share it on the website.

"Roger and I were in contact all winter about the things we were collecting," Donna said, and also undertook a project to scan many old original Ambrose photographs on display at the Crosby’s Pioneer Village.

In the process, they’ve created something with value far beyond this weekend’s centennial.

"Several important benefits of this website are that we’ve collected a lot of history and photographs onto one place," said Donna, creating a permanent record of photographs and information that otherwise could be damaged, destroyed, sold, or just plain lost.

A couple of dozen photographs, postcards and other memorabilia from the early days of Ambrose will be part of the display during the celebration and will make more people aware of all of the resources that are now available online about Ambrose history.

"We just have scratched the surface," Donna said, of the material that’s out there, but already, she estimates it would take about six hours to make a complete tour of all the information on the website.

Roger even has information that explains how the Homestead Act worked.

"I did that in self defense because I could not understand what I was reading. You have to understand it before you can understand what the settlers understood," he said.

Roger has also arranged for the printing of two publications on Ambrose. One is a reprint of the booklet "The Blooming Prairie," by Erling Ebbeson, with an introduction by Laura Enerson. The other is "A History of Ambrose," by Delroy J. Gorecki, who collected interviews from pioneers for a college term paper back in 1962.

One hundred copies of each will be available for sale during the centennial, with proceeds to benefit the Centennial Committee and the town of Ambrose.

While the work has been long and involved, it has not been without some perks.

"There have been some really small things that have come up that make it fun," said Donna, including the story of a woman who was recently passing through the state looking for her grandfather’s old house. He was Dave Sutherland, who ran the dray service in Ambrose at one time.

"She found the house," Donna said, sharing the story that her grandfather had written his name "DAVE" in the sidewalk, "So I had to go look at it myself, and now it means something."

Another fun thing was getting people together. As a result of the website, past residents have had a place to share memories and some have reconnected with old friends.

Roger doesn’t know how long the website will remain in operation after the Centennial, but one of the things likely to be discussed during the celebration will be how to preserve all of the information that has been posted there.

The material now is too much to contain on a single computer CD, but that remains one possibility.

"Nothing lasts forever, but I would like to have it there as long as people are interested," said Roger, as well as provide a way for people to access that information long after the Centennial is another memory.

Heirloom quilts on display, too

While others tend to the photographs and memories of Ambrose, Joy Schlarb has attended to other remnants of the community's past.

As a quilter, she was intrigued to put together a collection of quilts from local families.

"We've got 12 to 14 quilts coming in from around the country' she said.

"We'll be displaying those along with little stories that go along with them."

Some are more modem quilts, but a few are from the homestead era.

One brought by pioneer son Melzer Davis is typical.

"His mother made it in the 20s or 30s on a treadle sewing machine by kerosene light," Schlarb said.