Ostmark Lutheran Church-ELCA, rural Watkins, will dedicate its new bell tower Sunday, May 27, with special guest, the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The bell tower will be dedicated during the 10:30 a.m. Festival Worship Service on the Day of Pentecost, which is also part of the church’s annual Homecoming Celebration over the Memorial Day holiday. A roast beef and chicken dinner will follow the worship service. The Ostmark Men’s Club will serve the meal and the women of the church will provide desserts. There will be a free-will offering. The church will be open for guests and visitors from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, May 23-27. Hosts will be available for tours and to answer questions, refreshments will be served and restrooms available. “Many of our congregation’s extended family members and friends come back to the area to decorate graves of loved ones in the cemetery that borders Ostmark, and the adjacent Mission cemetery,” the Rev. Melinda Melhus said. During her first year as full-time pastor of Ostmark, Melhus said she spent most of the week prior to Memorial Day in the cemetery visiting with those who came, often from outside the area. “Many had not been inside the new church since it was rebuilt after the former structure burned in April 2000,” she said, “simply because it was not open when they came to decorate graves during the week. People shared stories about how the old church was never locked, they could picnic on the grounds and use the restrooms. Beginning the next year, the Evangelism Committee started hosting the Open House and having a Homecoming Celebration worship service on Sunday, followed by a church dinner. In the process, we have developed a list of more than 150 extended family and friends who have a connection with Ostmark. This year’s celebration will be extra special because of the bell tower dedication and with both Bishop Chilstrom’s presence and participation.” Originally from Litchfield, Chilstrom has ties to Ostmark from his youth. Special music will also be part of the service, including a new hymn written and sung by Ostmark member Ryan Rice of South Haven, a music student at Drake University. He will dedicate the hymn, “Ostmark” to the congregation during the Homecoming Worship Service. “The refrain speaks about the importance of the bell at Ostmark because it meant so much to my grandmother and others in the history of the congregation,” Rice said. “The melody is strong and firm, almost like a march, because of the stalwart people who established the congregation and built it up for over a century-even after two fires.” Ostmark’s musician, Sandy Brown of Litchfield, will play both organ and piano. Will Leafblad, rural Watkins, will play oboe. The free standing bell tower was part of the original design for the new church structure but the funds weren’t available at the time to build it. Donations for the $79,000 structure have come primarily from memorials and honorariums since a push for the project was made some three years ago. The congregation voted to move ahead with the project, even though they had to approve borrowing about $10,000 to complete the project. “It doesn’t make sense from a financial point of view,” John Nelson, rural Watkins, building committee chair said to the congregation. “But if our forefathers and mothers thought it was important enough to build an 80-foot steeple on the old church, how can we not move forward and do the same for this one.” Construction on the bell tower began last fall. The hole dug for the foundation was six feet deep and 20 feet in diameter. Sixty thousand pounds of concrete were poured into the foundation which cured for one week. Three legs support the 53-foot tower. Twelve bolts were set into the concrete to hold the tower at the base. Each of the tower’s three legs are anchored by four bolts. The tower legs were constructed in Sioux Falls, S.D. Each of the tower’s three legs weighs 13,000 pounds, for a total of 40,000 pounds. The tower legs arrived by semi-trailer early the morning of Oct. 11. “Two cranes were used to set the towers, which was pretty impressive,” according to Bob Hermann, rural Forest City, a member of the building committee who has coordinated the project. The tower legs support a 10-foot high white cross at the top of the tower. Lights on the tower and at the base will shine on the cross at night. Carillons and a bell hang below the cross at the top of the tower. “The tower will be visible from distance throughout the countryside around Ostmark, much like the old church’s well-known steeple,” Pastor Melhus said. “It’s like a lighthouse to draw the people in and to send them back out into their mission and ministry in every day life.” The carillons have played seasonal music through Thanksgiving, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The bell has called people to worship and has tolled at funerals of several longtime members who have been buried this year. The ground had to settle through the winter, but members have been working in earnest the past few weeks to complete the project in time for the dedication. Numerous Ostmark members have donated their time and energy to the project. Ostmark members Justin Butterfass and Duane Vinar, both of rural Watkins, did the brickwork for the lighted sign at the base of the tower. Brick to match the current structure had been saved for the project. Vinar, a member of the Building Committee, was also involved in the overall design of the sign. Chris Christofferson, a member of Ostmark who works for an architectural design firm in Minneapolis, drew up the overall plan for the space at the base of the tower. The dominant design of the pavers follows the outline of the church’s stained glass windows. The windows are a significant part of the new structure because they were made out of old glass to replicate the windows that were destroyed when the former church building burned. Patio blocks were laid by David Johnson and his crew from Grove City. Duane Finger, Finger Electric and Repair, Kimball, was the electrician on the project. Sod was laid by Riebe Sod Co., Darwin. Fred Rau of Stockmen’s Green House and Landscaping, Litchfield, served as landscape consultant. Hermann planted the shrubs with the aid of Building Committee member Amy Christofferson, Kimball. Landscape rock was provided by members Jim and Karen McCarthy of McCarthy Gravel, Inc., Litchfield. Together with his wife Betty, Hermann found the benches and planter barrels. Flowers were planted by member Judy Moen, Litchfield. Members are especially excited the old Ostmark bell has been used with the new tower. It is 40 inches tall and was set down in the center of the tower, 2 feet off the ground, so people can walk around and touch it, Hermann said. The old bell was the only thing that survived the fire, although it was cracked from the heat. Harlan Johnson of rural Litchfield welded the pieces back together. The new bell tower is the second phase of rebuilding for Ostmark Lutheran after the former church structure was destroyed by fire April 1, 2000. Curtis Construction of Fargo, N.D., is the same contractor used for both the tower and church. Company owner Russ Handegard was also the design engineer. The present church structure was dedicated June 23, 2002. Building Committee members, in addition to Nelson, Hermann, Christofferson and Vinar are Brenda Boline, rural Watkins; Kyle Christensen, Kimball; Gloria Boline and Doris Redepenning, Litchfield. Edwin Hallberg has been the primary photographer and historian, on hand to record the many phases of the construction. He has provided both historical data and photos for the worship booklet which also tells the story of Ostmark’s bell tower project. Members of the Evangelism Committee who direct the annual Homecoming event are Joyce Burgstaler, chair, Mary Jane Arens and Jan Nelson, all of Kimball; Pixie Mumford, rural Litchfield; Hallberg and Pastor Melhus. Dave Johnson, rural Watkins, is congregational president. Ostmark is located 12 miles northeast of Litchfield, off of Highway 24, or 7-1.2 miles s
outheast of Watkins. For more information or directions, call the church at (320) 693-8450.
