The piece of petrified rock that has been at St. Mary's Church grounds since 1949 has been moved to the Lake Wobegon Trail head at Holdingford.

John Ebnet’s grandfather, Rienhard Vos, was the original owner of the land where it was found on his farm two miles west and 1/2 mile south of Holdingford.

The approximately 5 foot by 2.5 foot rock was found in a ravine on the southwestern edge of the land. It was brought the St. Mary's Church grounds, by Frank Ebnet, and  George Vos- in 1949.

Dr Larry, Davis, professor of Geology at St. John's University, verified it was petrified wood.

Carrie Jennings of the University of Minnesota Geological Survey said this was the largest piece of petrified wood that she has ever heard of or seen in Minnesota.

This article appeared in the Holdingford Advertiser March 23 1911, looks like it was the beginning of "Blue Laws" in Holdingford.

A week March 30th 1911 later the the Beer Club Association was formed.

If you went to the Scenic Theatre at Holdingford Feburary 16th, 1922 you would have seen 'The Sheik'

 Below are the Dedication notes of Lion's President at the time Jim Guck for the COVERED BRIDGE PRESENTATION FOR MAY 18, 2008.

1) INTRODUCTION:
GOOD AFTERNOON, Thank you for attending our ceremonies today.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jim Guck and am
Currently President of the Holdingford Lions Club

First of all, I would like to introduce our special guests:
Lieutenant Colonel-------------John Herman 367th Engineering Battalion
Command Sergeant Major---Robert Stanek 367th Engineering Battalion
Captain---------------------------John Zacharias 492nd Engineering Co.
First Sergeant-------------------William Klairs 492nd Engineering Co.

Additional key people that have worked with us on this project:
O.I.C Lieutenant --------------------Douglas Hayes
Staff Sergeant-------------------------Mike Cuthbertson
N.C.O.I.C. Staff Sergeant----------Chuck Claude
N.C.O.I.C. Staff Sergeant----------Arvid Dietrichs
N.C.O.I.C. Sergeant 1st Class----- Steven Tyler
Civilian, Battalions Operations-- Jerry Noll

Other Special Guests:
County Commissioner----------------------Dewayne Merick
County Commissioner----------------------Vince Schaefer
Holdingford Mayor--------------------------Ernie Schmitt
Lake Wobegon Trail Association --------Cliff Borgerding
Trails Association---------------------------?

2) I would like to give everyone a little background as to how this project got started.
Covering the old Soo line railroad bridge over two rivers river began in 1999 with an idea by past Mayor, Rosemary Scepaniak. At that time, the railroad was being converted into the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail. Rosemary made a suggestion that maybe it would be a great idea to build a cover over the railroad bridge in the city of Holdingford. So, in 2000 the city applied for a grant, but was not successful. At a Holding in Partnership meeting a brief comment was made to Lion’s club member Joe Christensen, who in turn, mentioned this to the Holdingford Lions Club as a possible project. Lion Bob Pederson was retiring from the army and had worked on construction projects while in the service and thought that there could be a possibility that the army might consider taking on a project like this as an exercise and provide us the labor to put the structure together. So in 2005, the project began to take shape. The Lions Club agreed to tackle this project and formed a committee with Lion Rod Harren & Lion Al Leinen as co-chairs. In 2006, things started to happen. Old plans and grant papers were found and evaluated. Lion’s members Tim Berscheid & Al Leinen traveled to Madison County in Iowa to look at some covered bridges and get some ideas for the design of our bridge. An architect was hired and discussions began with the Army Reserves. In February of 2007, the Stearns County Board of Commissioners, and in March 2007 the U.S. Army Reserves approved the project. During the remainder of that year, plans and design specifications were finalized. In 2008, materials were delivered to Mankato for the 492nd Engineering Company to begin assembling the major structural components that make up the main frame of the structure. On May 2nd the 492nd arrived in Holdingford to start the project, which brings us to today, with a dream by Mayor Rosemary Scepaniak in 1999, to becoming a reality.

3) Now, I would like to introduce Mayor Ernie to say a few words.
(Ernie’s speech, thank you, etc.)
Ernie’s introduction of Lieutenant Colonel John Herman

4) A few words from Cliff Borgerding from the Wobegon Trail

5) My presentation of the plaque that will be attached to the bridge
recognizing the 492nd Engineering Company for their efforts in
the construction of the project.

6) The Lions, and the City of Holdingford want to give thanks to all of the people and businesses that have made generous contributions to this project.

7) Businesses: (As listed on funding sheet)
Northwestern Mutual
Polar Tank & Trailer
The Initiative Foundation
Stearns Bank of Holdingford
Central Minnesota Credit Union
Bernick’s Pepsi
Fastenal Company
Bremer Bank
Avon Bank
Grand Casinos
Plus many others

Organizations: (As listed on the funding sheet)
Holdingford Lions
Holdingford Legion club
Holdingford Sportsmen Club
Holdingford Commercial Club
Holdingford Women of Today
Wobegon Trail Committee
Albany Lions Club
St.Stephen’s Lions Club
Rice Lions Club
Plus many others

Individuals:
Ron Schmitt
Tim & Sharon Berscheid
Al & Philys Leinen
Rod & Linda Harren
Rosemary Scepaniak
Mel Muryes
Ralph Voss
Don Kolb
Vic & Betty Hayes

And to many others not mentioned that have made monetary and personal
time contributions to this project.
A huge thank you to everyone.

8) I would like to share with everyone today a few facts about the bridge: The actual length is 186’-1 ½”_feet long. That makes it the longest covered bridge in the state of Minnesota. And the 3rd longest covered recreational use bridge in the U.S. It ranks in the top 75 of the longest covered bridges in the U.S. as listed On the national covered bridge list to date. Hours dedicated to the success of this project? Too many to count.

9) Closing statements:
That concludes our ceremony for today. Again, thank you all for attending We will be serving a picnic lunch with roast pig, all are welcome Please allow the soldiers to eat first, they have a long drive home.

Last fall, Thanks to the Holdingford Lion's Club who donated the funds to install a nice window replacing a old garage door that was no longer needed.

President Herman Ebnet with the help of Al Leinen from the Lion's Club did all the work!!

The Holdingford Area Historical Museum building has had a varied history itself.
Before it’s present use as museum starting in 2014 it was the
city’s Maintenance garage, before that
Holdingford school’s Ag shop and school bus repair shop. 1965 to 1975
Many people knew it as the Welna Produce Store, for a number of years starting in 1944.
Originally built in 1915 as a car dealership for Ford and Dodge cars, by Ben Schwieters.

Did you know that the largest piece of petrified wood ever seen or heard of by Carrie Jennings from the University of Minnesota Geological Society, is located in Holdingford?

The following statement was given to us by John Ebnet, Petryfikowane Drzewo
means Petrified Wood in German and Polish
Spellings furnished by John Bieniek, St. Hedwig's Parish

Many people have wondered since 1949, "'What is that rock on St. Mary's Church grounds?" it just sits there
and doesn't say anything. Lawn caretakers have been driving around it for over 50 years to mow the lawn. John Ebnet
found out where it came from, when it was brought io this location, and who brought it here with Herbert Vos' help.
John's grandfather, Rienhard Vos, was the original owner of the land. he homesteaded land of about 500 acres two
miles west and 1/2 mile south of Holdingford The farm land was later divided into two farms the George Vos farm and
the Tom Vos farm. The Zeis Brothers later bought the farm from Tom Vos. Mark Leukam now farms this land where
the rock was found, he is a St. Mary's parishioner.

The rock was found in a ravine on the southwestern edge of the land. It was brought to the area of the farm
buildings, then was brought to the present location on the St. Mary's Church grounds, by Dad Frank Ebnet, and Uncle
George Vos- They used a hand crank wrecker borrowed from Raymond "Whitey" Paggen, and a pickup from Paul
Mager Agency to get the rock to the present location Father Rosenthal was pastor at this time in 1949.
They knew the who and the where, but were not sure about what it was. John Ebnet called a Professor of
Geology at St. John's University, Dr- Larry, Davis, and asked him to look at the rock Professor Davis came on June 16,
2004, and verified that the rock was indeed a piece of Petrified Wood-

The following was provided by Dr. Davis about the piece of Petrified Wood:

. The large section of Petrified wood on display at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Holdingford MN, likely formed
during the last ice age more than 12,000 years ago. 99.99% of all living trees eventually decay, burn or are
eaten and leave no record of their existence. Bur if the conditions are right wood car be converted to stone
while still preserving the original structure and appearance of the wood- In order to be petrified wood must be
buried under anaerobic conditions (no air and bacteria) in silt mud, or volcanic ash, before it can be preserved-
Water with dissolved minerals, usually silica (the sane material which forms the famous Minnesota agates)
must slowly - "soak into the wood where the silica precipitates and fills the pore spaces of the wood in a process
geologists call per mineralization (This same process occurs as minerals precipitate from water in the shower
producing the scaly deposits on the shower stall. In many cases the original cellular structure of the wood can
be seen and used to identify the original wood as oak maple etc- In order to see this pattern in the St .Mary's
specimen a slab would have to be cut by a rock saw and then polished-
This specimen was likely buried in glacial muds near the leading edge of the great ice sheet that once covered the
northern 2/3's of Minnesota The ancient deposits of this period of glaciation can be seen throughout Stearms
County. In spite of the fact *rat less than Lo,6 of all living trees eventuaily undergo per mineralization, petrified
wood can be found in every state of the union. The most famous examples of petrified, wood can be seen in the
Petrified Forest National Park in north Arizona-

This petrified wood specimen is the largest that anyone at the Stearns County Historical Society-v has heard of in
the central Minnesota area. Also, Carrie Jennings of the University-v of Minnesota Geological Survey said this was the
largest piece of petrified wood that she has ever heard of or seen in Minnesota. She is anxious to see it for herself.
John went to the Mark Leukam farrn to see if there were any other specimens in the area where the original piece
of petrified wood was found. No other pieces of petrified wood were found, but a piece of Hematite, about the size of a
football was found This. piece of Hematite weighs about 50 pounds. According to Webster's Dictionary, hematite is an
important Iron Ore. The piece of Hematite is purple in color and is-about a billion years old According to Dr. Davis it
was brought here by the glaciers 12,000 years ago. He also said that it was from the Tower - Soudan area- The piece of
Hematite can be seen at the John Ebnet house if anyone is interested.

The large piece of Petrified Wood can be seen on the east side of the church property.

By the way, Professor Davis' usual consulting fee is $5,000, but he enjoyed his trip to Holdingford so much that
there wiil be no charge.

Check out our Facebook Page

Check  out the HAHS Facebook Page it has the latest updates.

Even period recipes :)

As the year closes, we have received an anonymous donation of $1,000 to help with the restoration of the museum.  We thank this individual very much for their support and generosity!

We are in the final stages of completion of installing a heating and air conditioning system in the museum.

Cool new addition to the Holdingford museum. A 1954 Rock-ola Jute Box model #1438

The Historical Society had a very pleasant surprise several weeks ago.

The City minutes from 1897 to 1930 which had been missing by best guess for about 80 years were

returned in very good condition.

We are in the process of digitizing them, for future research.

Through the efforts of many of the Historical society members.

The Museum made a giant step forward, creating displays so we were able to be open for

Holdingford Daze July 11 -12.  We had many people visit the museum.

At present the Museum is open by special arrangement

Film crew will be in Holdingford filming for the ‘MINNESOTA 13’ documentary

Elaine Davis, author of the book ‘MINNESOTA 13’  and her film crew will be in Holdingford filming for the ‘MINNESOTA 13’ documentary during Holdingford Daze on Saturday July 12th.

She is also donating a case of 50 books worth $800 to the Holdingford Area Historical Society, with all proceeds going to the HAHS.  Thanks Elaine!

When you come to Holdingford Daze on Saturday the 12th, be sure to visit the Museum.

The HistoricalSociety has a number of souvenirs available for purchase.

Follow the filmmaking on Facebook.

‘MINNESOTA 13’ DOCUMENTARY FILMING IN STEARNS COUNTY'

PRESS RELEASE   6/24/2014 

‘MINNESOTA 13’ DOCUMENTARY FILMING IN STEARNS COUNTY

Local Prohibition history is making the transition from book to film, as documentary filming takes place in various county locations this summer.  

“Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass” follows the colorful moonshine-making history of Stearns County, as Depression-devastated farmers turned to making illegal alcohol. 

The alcohol evolved into a branded product, nationally distributed, with a premium reputation. 

The film explores Elaine Davis’s book ‘Minnesota 13-Wet Wild Prohibition Days,” the history of an elite whiskey produced in the heart of Minnesota during Prohibition years and beyond. 

The documentary also follows the modern-day attempts of organic farmers growing Minnesota 13 heritage corn seed and a St. Paul micro-distiller resuscitating the brand as premium whiskey.  

The film will intertwine and interpret the stories, the lore, ethnicity, religion, local and national law enforcement, geography, farm economics, regional history and insights into why Stearns County didn’t become the ‘Jack Daniels” producing area of the USA after Prohibition ended.   

Documentarians Norah Shapiro and Kelly Nathe are co-directing/co-producing the film. Norah Shapiro is a Minneapolis-based independent documentary filmmaker (formerly a public defender) and owner of Flying Pieces Productions.  Los Angeles-based Kelly Nathe is closely connected to the story, with family and childhood ties to Holdingford and Little Birch Lake in western Stearns County, where significant moonshining took place and Al Capone visited. 

 Filming is ongoing at 11 Wells Distillery in the refurbished Hamms Brewery in St Paul, the Stearns History Museum and Research Center, Baker's Acres in Avon,  the Stearns County jail, the city of Holdingford and other local community sites. 

The documentary has been partially funded with Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds from Minnesota's Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

Follow the filmmaking on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MN13doc.  If you have any unique ‘Minnesota 13’ historical contributions to the film, such as photographs, artifacts, tunnels, blackened cooking rooms, intact stills in place, arrest records, or wish to be interviewed, please contact Elaine Davis with your info.  612 968 1109 or edavis@stcloudstate.edu

"Minnesota 13"

Elaine Davis author of  "Minnesota 13" is on Facebook

Listen to very interesting to podcast of interview of Elaine Davis, KVSC's Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack  ANOTHER SIP OF MINNESOTA 13.

She talks a lot about holdingford people.

Moving City Hall

cir. 1909 .Moving City Hall from the west side of the tracks to the east side of town.

Here are few links of interest:

*The Meier Farm facebook page

 *Holdingford Trailhead of Lake Wobegon Trail

Holdingford High School Class of 1982 30 Year Reunion

Lorraine M. Euteneuer, 89

Annual Tree lighting ceremony.

First time at the Holdingford Area Historical Museum. Organized by the Pedals to Petals Garden Club and the HAHS.

Partial funding from the Initiative Foundation and the H.I.P. committee and the Holdingford Commercial club.

We thought very successful  as approximately 50+  people attended.