In our last issue, Debbie Sycamore shared her memories, and invited readers to share their own precious moments of the past from Björklunden. Read on to hear what three contributors had to say. If you have something you’d like to share in our next issue, short, long or in between stories are more than welcome along with any favorite Björklunden photos. Please email to: teke.oreilly@lawrence.edu
From Ellen Sayles '83:
My two summers at Björklunden as part of the student work crew were formative, hard work, and a lot of fun. Joe ran a tight ship (or submarine, given his background as a cook on such a vessel). He taught us how to be very good servers for the seminar guests, always requiring us to serve from the correct side, and to be attentive and polite. Helping Judy Paulson in the kitchen was also a great learning experience. I also never expected to learn how to pull off a real Wisconsin fish boil but Joe, always the teacher, made sure we knew how to make it happen. I think it was one of the favorite parts of his job so we mainly watched as he threw gas on the fire. But making the homemade ice cream to go with the cherry pie was our job and we did it with great enthusiasm!
Outside of kitchen and food duties, Joe had us making wooden signage for the property, driving the tractor, mowing down lawns and fields, clearing trails, re-painting furniture, and generally helping out where necessary. I never thought I would drive a tractor or learn to use a miter saw but during those summers I definitely acquired new skills.
And then there were the tours of the chapel dressed in my dirndl and clogs from Al Johnson's shop. I even played hymns on the pump organ in the chapel once or twice! Door County, and specifically Björklunden, continues to hold a very special place in my heart for its natural beauty and for all the growing that I did there. I'm glad it continues to be a special place for Lawrentians!
From Anne Coventry LU '95 (Also implicating Steve Coventry LU '92)
My earliest Björklunden memory was as a trespasser. Breaking two laws, because I was also driving underage. (Ok, three, because it wasn't my car.) This would have been perhaps 1987; I remember being 14 years old at the time. My parents (LU '66 and LU '67) and brother and I were visiting my aunt and uncle, who had a vacation house on Chapel Lane in Baileys Harbor, and my brother woke me very early in the morning with, "get up! You're going to learn to drive." The car was our uncle's bright turquoise dune buggy; it was missing a gas pedal and its steering pulled to one side. I drove it through the woodland property at Björklunden, effortfully keeping my right foot pressed down so that the wires (where the gas pedal should have been) stayed in contact with one another and struggling to make adjustments that would accommodate its wonky steering. This was my first attempt--ever--at driving. My brother rode shotgun and was patient with me, but our cousin, age 11, harshly criticized my driving performance from the back seat, though I returned him (plus the car, my brother, and me) unharmed and hadn't damaged anything in the process. It was a harrowing, exhilarating, extraordinarily memorable event.
Nobody caught us.
My brother and I both followed our parents' paths to Lawrence after that; he graduated in the class of 1992 and I in the class of 1995.
When I got married (in Door County) following graduation, the rehearsal dinner was a fish boil, conducted by none other than Joe Hopfensperger, at a property neighboring Björklunden along the lakeshore. I have since been back to Björklunden (quite legitimately by invitation) to serve as matron of honor in a wedding, to see performances of Shakespeare, and to attend seminars as a LU alumna. I'm even a member of the Boynton Society!
But it all began with a morning's mischief.
The Coventry siblings trail blazing in the 80s.
