Women of Our Savior's Lutheran Church

Left to right, Arvella Sorenson, Mabel Peterson, Margaret Johnson, Gladys Erickson, Huldah Peterson, Ruth Sherry, Martha Hagen and Elsie Olson are posing for a photo outside of Our Savior’s.  

Pastor Norm Retires from Our Savior’s

At Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Westby on Sunday, June 26, 2011 Pastor Norm Rose conducted his last service before retiring. And so for the second time in three weeks, the congregation of OS said goodbye to a well-loved pastor, since Pastor Gary Daines retired three weeks ago. And as is proper for a good Lutheran church, the farewell for Pastor Norm was marked with good music and good food.

Pastor Norm Rose

The worship service was interwoven with music. Bach, Handel, and a lovely rendition of “Beautiful Savior” were contributed by the organ. As opening hymn the congregation surprised Pastor Norm with his favorite hymn, “I Love to Tell the Story.” It made a very special moment for a man who has been “telling the story” for forty-four years. In fact, it was such a moving moment that it took Pastor Norm some time to recover his composure.  

On behalf of WELCA, Lynette Johnson presented the pastor with a lovely wooden plate painted by Karen Hankee. The center of the plate depicted Our Savior’s Church. Lynette thanked Pastor Norm for his years of service at Our Savior’s. This thank you echoed the sentiments of many in the congregation.

The sermon for Pastor Rose’s final service was built on thoughts triggered by the reading in Genesis 22 of the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac. The pastor told the congregation that when he felt the call of God forty-four years ago to “Feed My sheep,” he first answered, in that succinct way of his, “Lord, You really blew it this time! I have no gift for such a calling.” But though our God is a demanding God, He is also an all-seeing and all-knowing one who provides us with our needs, just as He provided Abraham with a ram to replace Isaac as an offering.  And so He provided Pastor Norm the guidance he needed along the path to his long years of service in the ministry. As a fitting conclusion to the sermon, Ron Evenstad sang “How Great Thou Art.”

After closing prayers the congregation repeated the hymn “I Love to Tell the Story” and succeeded again in nearly overwhelming Pastor Norm. And they joined the organ in an anthem postlude of the same hymn, making it three for three and surely a memorable service for the retiring pastor.

A potluck followed the worship service, with a large spread of dishes designed to please the eye and the palate. The great number of hot dishes reminded this writer that “hot dish” and “Lutheran” have been closely linked for a long time.  

Hi from Westby Postcard

Westby

From the program of the 1940 Legion conference in Westby

A bustling little city, with a population of 1,400 busy people, most them are the descendants of the Norse Vikings. Progressive peace loving and hospitable.

During the 1940s, Westby’s State Street had more than its share of ‘watering holes’

Westby is situated in the midst of Wisconsin’s dairyland in Vernon County (named Bad Ax County by the first settlers). Situated on splendid roads and highways which branch out to all parts of the country. U.S. 14 and S.T.H. 27, the last named also known as the “Old Indian Trail” and which winds its way among the rolling hills and country sides of Monroe, Vernon and Crawford Counties, dipping down to the mighty Mississippi past the famous old Fort Crawford and down through the picturesque river city of Prairie du Chien. A few minutes drive from Westby, one can swing down into the lovely valleys of Spring and Timber Coulees, hereabouts called “Little Norway,” and truly a paradise on earth. Thousands of people from near and far every year drive down through lovely valleys to feast their eyes on this scenic wonderland, right here in this or own God’s Country.

Spring fills the air with romance, and so it does also fill these beautiful valleys with fishermen, there to match their wits with the wily brook and rainbow trout which in abundance make the rippling streams their habitat. Many are the stories (fish stories) spun by nimrods who fish these streams in the spring and summer.

Westby boasts of fine churches, modern schools, a well stocked pubic library, municipally owned power and light plant, modern water system, newspaper (The Westby Times), a fine modern creamery with a large patronage, tobacco packing and warehouses, several up to-date food stores, two general merchandise establishments, one dry goods and notions store, furniture store and funeral parlor, bakery and five restaurants, five taverns and a hotel, a new modern $25,000 playhouse (The Westby Theatre), a telephone company, two drug stores, two lumber yards, two coal dealers, two meat markets, a machine and truck body building shop, three garages and repair shops, two implement dealers. Farmers Exchange, and a flour and feed merchant, a shoe store, jewelry store, a paint store, a tailor shop, a billiard parlor, the Vernon Electric Co-op and REA affiliated headquarters office is located here. We have a strong banking institution with total assets well over $1,500,000, a fine City Hall which houses the jail, street department and splendidly equipped fire department, a harness and shoe store. Westby has eight gasoline service stations, four insurance offices, lawyer, physician, two dentists and three real estate dealers, five sanitary dairies, live stock and shipping yard, a hatchery, a plumbing shop and several painters and electricians. There is also an exclusive dress shop, a beauty shop and two barber shops. There is a flour and feed mill, building and contracting firms, a tin shop and several carpenters and cabinet makers as well as many other individual business and professional enterprises such as bulk oil and gas distributers.

City Park
Notice the corner of the band stand on the left.

In 1939 Westby completed the construction of a new and modern High School and gymnasium and auditorium which has a seating capacity of 1000 persons. The enrollment of the Westby Schools for the year of 1939-1940 is 430 and of this number 250 are in high school. Westby has a fine athletic field and public playground, which is well lighted for night games such as baseball and kittenball and is the home field for the Westby High School football team.

Mother Nature has presented Westby with a beautiful natural park situated in a wooded rocky glen in the northwestern section of the city. Thousands of tourists from all parts of the country have visited this beautiful spot and marveled at its natural beauty. Stately oak trees and velvety ferns dot the landscape and flowers in abundance loll in the crevices of oddly shaped rock formations.

Our Savior’s Bids “Farewell”

The Our Savior’s congregation and many other community well-wishers bid “Farewell” to retiring pastor Gary Daines Sunday, June 5, 2011 with fitting encomiums and a standing ovation. The church was filled almost to capacity, with nearly 700 people attending morning worship; even the front row pews were called into service, a sight that is by all accounts rare in Lutheran churches!

Pastor Gary Daines

In the long history of the Lutheran church, music has played an important roll, from the Reformation on, strengthened not a little by the music of the great master composer and organist (and devout Lutheran) Johann Sebastian Bach. And special music was offered throughout the service, beginning with the well-known and powerful Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, played by organist Vanessa Mills. 

Intertwined with the bible readings of the day were vocal offerings: Devi Stoffregen and Emily Breuer sang a beautifully blended duet version of “Here I Am, Lord,” accompanied by Linda Dowling, and Kristi Homstad sang the lovely “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You,” accompanied by Sandy Iverson. Just before the Gospel reading came a stunning a capella  rendition of “Prayer of the Children,” directed by Monte Dunnum and sung by a men’s chorus of about thirty voices, most of them the voices of young men from the area who had been confirmed by Pastor Daines or had been influenced by him during their adolescent years growing up in Westby. The special music continued during the reception of the sacrament as a trio with Deb Easterday, Sharon Olson, and Janice Fortney sang “Nearer My God to Thee” and “When the Roll Is Called up Yonder.”  

Congregational singing resounded in the church for the hymns “How Great Thou Art,” “Lord, Speak to Us,” and the final “God Be with You til We Meet Again.”

“Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; oh, sing praises to the Lord.” (Psalm 68) And sing we did, to praise the Lord and to celebrate as Pastor Daines steps into retirement after decades of service to God, to Our Savior’s, and to Westby.