Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
COOPERATION POWERED PIONEER HARVESTS – Back in Edison around 1900 farmers and laborers worked together to gather the season's bounty. The evidence is captured here: "Threshing crew near Edison." There was steam power, horse power and people power to bring the crops in.
What's old is new again tomorrow: the 119th annual Skagit County Pioneer Association Picnic, a longtime La Conner summer tradition.
Starting at 11 a.m. Thursday at Pioneer Park, everyone is invited to attend. State Hall of Fame La Conner High volleyball coach Suzanne Marble and members of the Benson/Berentson Family will be special honorees.
Marble will receive the Pioneer Spirit Award for her tireless efforts on behalf of students and athletes here over the past 30 years.
Descendants of Atlag Berntsen Dragaland and Anton Berntsen Dragaland, both of whom were born in the early 19th century, will be saluted as the Pioneer Family of the Year. Since then, family members have made their mark in Skagit County in a variety of fields, with the late Duane Berentson serving as Co-Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives and later as the state's secretary of transportation.
The twin-span bridge crossing Swinomish Channel on Highway 20 is named for him.
Marble, who retired from coaching last fall and is taking a leave of absence from the classroom in 2023-24, guided La Conner net teams to seven state titles and amassed more than 550 wins during her storied career. She also instilled in her charges a commitment to community service and a lifetime appreciation for health and fitness. Always an innovator, she structured a physical education course to include student participation with a group of local retired senior cyclists.
Marble has the distinction of being in two separate halls of fame in Washington state. A 2015 inductee into the coaches' hall of fame, she joined the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame on May 3.
The Benson/Berentson Family has made a name – make that, names – for itself during more than a century in Skagit County.
"We're really one family," Laura Matthews told the Weekly News. "Like many who came to this country, names were changed or modified for convenience.
"In Norway," she explained, "the naming conventions were to name sons after fathers and daughters after mothers, with the addition of the place name."
She said Anton Berntsen Dragaland emigrated to the United States in 1858, three years before the Civil War.
"He established himself in farming in Minnesota, where he welcomed future immigrants as they came here," said Matthews.
Matthews said Atlag Berntsen Dragaland raised his family in Norway. His children included Berent Anton (Big Ben) Benson, the first of his immediate family to emigrate to America.
Berent Andrew (Little Ben) Benson, the son of Anton Berntsen Dragaland, was born in Minnesota and moved to the Edison area in 1888.
The Pioneer Picnic features a barbecued salmon dinner prepared by the Good Girls and served at 11:15 a.m. by members of the La Conner Civic Garden Club.
The meal is $20, with the bulk of proceeds going to support the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner. A commemorative ribbon that allows free museum admission through the weekend is included.
Attendees will be treated to live music by John Anderson & Friends.
Association President Peggy Stowe will call the business meeting to order around 12:30 p.m.. The agenda will include a sing-a-long of patriotic songs, brief reports by association officers, remarks by Marble and Benson/Berentson family representatives, and recognition of the youngest and oldest persons in attendance and the person who traveled farthest to attend.
Reader Comments(0)