Pioneer Picnic honors La Conner coach and Benson/Berentson family Aug. 3

La Conner High School championship volleyball coach Suzanne Marble, a member of two separate state-level halls of fame, is about to add another honor to a thick resume.

Having retired after 30 years from the coaching ranks and on a leave of absence, Marble will receive the 2023 Skagit County Pioneer Association Spirit Award.

She will be recognized Aug. 3 during the business meeting segment of the 119th annual Skagit County Pioneer Picnic in La Conner.

Marble led teams to seven state crowns – a likely eighth title was denied when COVID-19 forced cancellation of the 2020 tournament.

The 2023 Skagit County Pioneer Family of the Year, whose members will also be honored at the Picnic, sport two different names. Some go by Benson, others Berentson.

“We really are one family,” notes Laura Matthews, “only the names are changed.”

Descendants of Atlag Bernsten Dragaland and Anton Bernsten Dragaland have distinguished themselves in Skagit County for more than a century through ventures ranging from agriculture and public service to entrepreneurship and publications to commercial photography and graphic arts.

“Like many who came to this country,” Matthews explained, “names were changed or modified for convenience. In Norway, the naming conventions were to name sons after fathers and daughters after mothers, with the addition of the place name.”

Thus, through the decades, family members bore the names Bernsten, Benson and Berentson.

Matthews said Berent Anton (Big Ben) Benson was first in the family to emigrate to Skagit County.

“His first refuge, of course, was the home of his uncle Anton in Minnesota, where he found farm work and later fishing and farming,” said Matthews.

“He eventually came to the Pacific Northwest,” she said and became the patriarch of a fine family and responsible for many other family members who settled in this area.”

Berent Andrew Benson, known as Little Ben Benson, was born in Minnesota in 1879.

“He migrated to the Edison area in 1888,” Matthews told the Weekly News.

Generations later, Duane Berentson, who grew up in Anacortes, served as a teacher and coach at Burlington-Edison High School and gained election to the state legislature, became Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives and the state’s transportation secretary. The twin span bridge over Swinomish Channel on Highway 20 was named in his honor.

The name of the game on Pioneer Picnic Day is fellowship.

The public is welcome to attend and enjoy lunch, the program saluting coach Marble and the Bensons/Berentsons, live music by John Anderson & Friends and the opportunity to reminisce with old friends and strike up conversations with new acquaintances.

The day begins at 11:15 a.m. with a salmon barbecue luncheon prepared by the “Good Girls” and served by the La Conner Civic Garden Club.

Cost of the meal is $20, which helps support the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner, and includes a commemorative ribbon enabling free admission to the museum through the weekend.

Pioneer Association President Peggy Stowe will open the business meeting following lunch.