UPDATEd 1/22/2024
the parking lot is finished!
God's hand orchestrated it from the beginning!
Read the story below.
Thank you to owen & steve blaufuss
for shooting the photos & drone video below
tHE PARKING LOT STORY
from 1983 to 2023
The first classes for grades 9-10 began in August 1983 in a rented storefront in downtown Northrop.
Groundbreaking for the present school building was held on August 19, 1984. The commitment of many people, and hundreds of volunteer hours, helped to build the 15,000 square foot school building. The dedication ceremony for the new building was held at St James Lutheran Church, Northrop on August 25, 1985. Due to construction delays, the start of the third school year was delayed twice with classes beginning on September 5, 1985.
Construction of the Lutheran Activity Center/Gymnasium began on July 11, 1987 so that MLHS could host their own athletic events.
In 1998 the two-story LAC addition was constructed within the facility. It houses the PTL concession stand, a classroom, storage rooms, and an upstairs weight room.
Thousands of people have gone in and out of MLHs since 1985. In 1995 an AAL grant funded a black-top strip which was in front of the entry. After a few years this deteriorated causing potholes and ice jams.
Groundbreaking for the present school building was held on August 19, 1984. The commitment of many people, and hundreds of volunteer hours, helped to build the 15,000 square foot school building. The dedication ceremony for the new building was held at St James Lutheran Church, Northrop on August 25, 1985. Due to construction delays, the start of the third school year was delayed twice with classes beginning on September 5, 1985.
Construction of the Lutheran Activity Center/Gymnasium began on July 11, 1987 so that MLHS could host their own athletic events.
In 1998 the two-story LAC addition was constructed within the facility. It houses the PTL concession stand, a classroom, storage rooms, and an upstairs weight room.
Thousands of people have gone in and out of MLHs since 1985. In 1995 an AAL grant funded a black-top strip which was in front of the entry. After a few years this deteriorated causing potholes and ice jams.
Over the years snow, ice, and mud often caused problems for guests visiting MLHS. Potholes caused issues. People sometimes got stuck in the mud and/or snow. There were times when people put plastic bags over their shoes to get from their car to the building because the mud was so deep. Tiling was installed in the parking lot to help with the drainage. Many loads of gravel were hauled in to help with the muddy situation. Guests often parked on the lawn because we were short of good spots. Mud and gravel were tracked in the building constantly.
In 2015 an anonymous donor came to us and said, “First impressions make a big difference (even though they don’t save souls) A good first impression might not make people enroll, but a bad first impression will definitely turn people away. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.”
That generous person rolled over an investment that was used for new front entry windows, seed money for building the greenhouse, and pouring a concrete driveway in front of the school.
When the concrete was poured, he came and stood in the middle of the driveway and said, “This makes me so happy! This is really nice. I am so glad that you did this.”
The winter of 2022-2023 was an especially difficult one. The bus companies warned that students would have to be dropped off at the end of the driveway if conditions didn’t improve.
What does God have planned for all of us? We do know that if we stand on Christ, the Solid Rock, He will take us through storms and we will be with Him at the throne someday. MLHS has weathered many storms in the past 40 years. Budgets constraints are all-to-often at the forefront of those storms. Raising funds for daily operations and student tuition aid gets harder and harder each year. Special projects get put on the “wish list” and are shelved indefinitely. Nevertheless, it is clear that our Lord wants this ministry to succeed. Countless miracles have happened over the years assuring us of God’s presence in our world.
During the spring and summer of 2023 an interesting scenario unfolded before us….reminding us that God is in control and that He works through His people. Go back to 2015 when an anonymous donor paid to concrete the driveway because he felt first impressions are very important….
· March 1, 2023-Principal Paul Steinhaus requested that bids be gathered to concrete the parking lot.
· March 10, 9:00 a.m.-Several contractors were contacted and given general square footage and asked for an estimate.
· March 10, 11:00 a.m.-A $27,000 check arrived from the donor who paid for the 2015 concrete driveway. “What was God doing here?”
· March 23,-The NLSA Accreditation gave us their final report. They said that the one thing that students and parents said they would like to see improved on is….THE PARKING LOT.
· April 1,-Notification was received of a $29,830 estate gift coming later in the year which must be used for school needs other than general operating. “What was God doing here?”
· April 10,-Using the two gifts mentioned above as seed money, the Board of Directors voted to launch the “Christ, the Solid Rock” Parking Lot project. It was decided to go with Diamond Concrete and Construction of Spirit Lake who has a reputation of doing quality work and being generous to Christian ministries. Their bid was the lowest, coming in at $280,000.
· April 22,-The project was launched at OH! What a KNIGHT! Dinner Auction and the Exit Basket raised $23,700 for the parking lot.
· April 25,-The first two weeks in August were set aside with the contractor to pour the concrete.
That generous person rolled over an investment that was used for new front entry windows, seed money for building the greenhouse, and pouring a concrete driveway in front of the school.
When the concrete was poured, he came and stood in the middle of the driveway and said, “This makes me so happy! This is really nice. I am so glad that you did this.”
The winter of 2022-2023 was an especially difficult one. The bus companies warned that students would have to be dropped off at the end of the driveway if conditions didn’t improve.
What does God have planned for all of us? We do know that if we stand on Christ, the Solid Rock, He will take us through storms and we will be with Him at the throne someday. MLHS has weathered many storms in the past 40 years. Budgets constraints are all-to-often at the forefront of those storms. Raising funds for daily operations and student tuition aid gets harder and harder each year. Special projects get put on the “wish list” and are shelved indefinitely. Nevertheless, it is clear that our Lord wants this ministry to succeed. Countless miracles have happened over the years assuring us of God’s presence in our world.
During the spring and summer of 2023 an interesting scenario unfolded before us….reminding us that God is in control and that He works through His people. Go back to 2015 when an anonymous donor paid to concrete the driveway because he felt first impressions are very important….
· March 1, 2023-Principal Paul Steinhaus requested that bids be gathered to concrete the parking lot.
· March 10, 9:00 a.m.-Several contractors were contacted and given general square footage and asked for an estimate.
· March 10, 11:00 a.m.-A $27,000 check arrived from the donor who paid for the 2015 concrete driveway. “What was God doing here?”
· March 23,-The NLSA Accreditation gave us their final report. They said that the one thing that students and parents said they would like to see improved on is….THE PARKING LOT.
· April 1,-Notification was received of a $29,830 estate gift coming later in the year which must be used for school needs other than general operating. “What was God doing here?”
· April 10,-Using the two gifts mentioned above as seed money, the Board of Directors voted to launch the “Christ, the Solid Rock” Parking Lot project. It was decided to go with Diamond Concrete and Construction of Spirit Lake who has a reputation of doing quality work and being generous to Christian ministries. Their bid was the lowest, coming in at $280,000.
· April 22,-The project was launched at OH! What a KNIGHT! Dinner Auction and the Exit Basket raised $23,700 for the parking lot.
· April 25,-The first two weeks in August were set aside with the contractor to pour the concrete.
· May 4,-The Class of 2021 voted to give the balance of their class funds ($856.06) to the project. Pictured at right are Caleb Schultz, Emma Shane, Lucia Sampora, Michaelah Petrowiak and Josh Bergt.
· Principal Steinhaus; Board Chairman, Greg Sokoloski; Board Treasurer, Garrett Schock; and Director of Development, Marge Thiesse signed over 500 letters of request that were sent to businesses, alumni, and possible new donors.
· At the spring meeting the PTL voted to give $25,000 to boost the project.
· One newly married couple gave $1,000 which was their wedding gift money. “What was God doing here?
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· On the last day of school, Freshman Braden Roiger filmed a parking lot commercial in only one take. (left)
Within two hours after his commercial was posted on Facebook someone drove up to ML and donated $2,000 because she loved his commercial so much. |
· Without being asked, the Fairmont Sentinel ran an article about the project on June 24th.
· On July 3rd a $10,000 check arrived in the mail from a couple in Iowa who did not know anyone at MLHS nor had ever visited the school. They were impressed by the story in the Sentinel and were so happy to be a part of this project. They have visited the school twice since that time. “What was God doing here?”
· Another couple gave $10,000 of their inheritance to the project.
· In June and July gifts came to MLHS—almost like manna from heaven. By July 1 we thought we were only $91,000 short of our goal and we had 1 more month to pull it all together.
· Then it got a little more crazy...because of logistics, the contractor, Dean Madigan, asked to move the pour date up by two weeks to July 14. Even though we had been working hard, we didn’t have all the funds needed. Do we do a partial pour? Do we pour the whole thing (because it’s not going to get cheaper) and hope to raise the balance?
· On July 10th Dean Madigan of Diamond Concrete and Duane Rosburg of Rosburg Construction (right) came to MLHS and did a thorough study of the lay of the land. They found some areas of concrete that needed to be removed before the pour. They measured how much concrete our lot could hold that would give us the maximum parking spots. The final estimate came in at $324.242.10—a whopping $44,242 more than the original. “What was God doing here? Things had been going so well, now what do we do?”
· Then Kai Larson, MN South District Vice President of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, came to ML to drop off a donation check for the yearbook fund. When he heard about our situation with the parking lot he said that LCEF could help us. LCEF offers 0% interest SMART loans to RSO’s and has grant funding available for projects like ours.
· The Board of Directors held a special meeting and wrestled with what to do next. We were on a time crunch and in a dilemma. They decided to move forward with the project in its entirety and trust in God’s blessings.
· Board Treasurer Garrett Schock got the wheels rolling and we now had a clear path for moving forward. The LCEF loan would cover us until we received the outstanding pledges and the $29,000 estate gift later in the year. It would give us time to raise the additional funds needed. “What was God doing here?” He was letting us know that He wants His ministries to succeed and He will use His people to make it happen—if we trust in Him.
· On July 11th MLHS was notified that a family was turning over the ownership of their $50,000+ Thrivent Life Insurance policy to MLHS to help with the parking lot. They were so thrilled to be a part of the project. This gift brought us much closer to the total funds needed. “What was God doing here?”
· On July 17 the trucks started rolling and the concrete was poured. The Diamond Concrete operation was like a fine-tuned machine with one truck pouring, one right behind, one truck leaving the lot and another truck pulling in the lot. This process went on for 12 days with dozens of workers making it happen.
· By August 2nd all the concrete was poured, but we still needed to raise $50,000 to cover the costs.
· Then we realized landscaping needed to completed. Thank you to Duane Rosburg, Mick Thiesse, Kevin Behrens, Montana Thiesse, Dan Petrowiak, Paul Steinhaus, Chase Hillmer, Jeff Flohrs, and Elliot Flohrs for hauling dirt, raking, and seeding grass. This added $500 to the cost.
· Then we realized that we needed more parking lot lights. Thank you to Federated REA for installing another yard light. This added $200 to the cost.
· On August 27th the “On Christ the Solid Rock Praise in the Parking Lot Dedication Service” was held. Pastor Timothy Chase was the officiant and Sophomore Jason Matasovsky served as accompanist.
· Just as Noah started building the ark by God’s instructions when not one drop of rain had fallen, Martin Luther stepped forward with this project with utter, blind faith. The donor of the first strip of concrete said in 2015, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” It is our prayer that instead of seeing a rutted, muddy parking lot with gravel dust gathered at our front door, guests will see an expanse of PRISTINE, SOLID CONCRETE and think “Martin Luther really is a flourishing school.”
Over the years many graduates wanted to start a parking lot fund. As Lisa Beckendorf Stevens (1992 alum and current mom) said “Shoot, we wanted to pave the parking lot when I went here. It’s about time!”
Thank you to all of the alumni who stepped forward and gave (some gave multiple times)!
Thank you to our Board of Directors for their courage and leadership: Greg Sokokloski, Angie Fischer, Stephanie Zellmer, Garrett Schock, Pastor Timothy Chase, Jason Meinert, Shannon Singleton, and Kerrie Bennett.
Thank you to Principal Paul Steinhaus for his vision and faithfulness.
Thank you to Owen and Steve Blaufuss for shooting drone videos and taking spectacular pictures.
Thank you to Diamond Concrete and Construction of Spirit Lake, IA and Rosburg Construction of Welcome for their expertise and dedication to this project.
Thank you to all the people who gave as they have been blessed to this project. Each and every one of you have been an integral part of this amazing miracle and are part of the answer to the question, “What was God doing here?”
Most of all, thanks be to God, who knows our needs before we ask, and is Christ, our Solid Rock!
· On July 3rd a $10,000 check arrived in the mail from a couple in Iowa who did not know anyone at MLHS nor had ever visited the school. They were impressed by the story in the Sentinel and were so happy to be a part of this project. They have visited the school twice since that time. “What was God doing here?”
· Another couple gave $10,000 of their inheritance to the project.
· In June and July gifts came to MLHS—almost like manna from heaven. By July 1 we thought we were only $91,000 short of our goal and we had 1 more month to pull it all together.
· Then it got a little more crazy...because of logistics, the contractor, Dean Madigan, asked to move the pour date up by two weeks to July 14. Even though we had been working hard, we didn’t have all the funds needed. Do we do a partial pour? Do we pour the whole thing (because it’s not going to get cheaper) and hope to raise the balance?
· On July 10th Dean Madigan of Diamond Concrete and Duane Rosburg of Rosburg Construction (right) came to MLHS and did a thorough study of the lay of the land. They found some areas of concrete that needed to be removed before the pour. They measured how much concrete our lot could hold that would give us the maximum parking spots. The final estimate came in at $324.242.10—a whopping $44,242 more than the original. “What was God doing here? Things had been going so well, now what do we do?”
· Then Kai Larson, MN South District Vice President of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, came to ML to drop off a donation check for the yearbook fund. When he heard about our situation with the parking lot he said that LCEF could help us. LCEF offers 0% interest SMART loans to RSO’s and has grant funding available for projects like ours.
· The Board of Directors held a special meeting and wrestled with what to do next. We were on a time crunch and in a dilemma. They decided to move forward with the project in its entirety and trust in God’s blessings.
· Board Treasurer Garrett Schock got the wheels rolling and we now had a clear path for moving forward. The LCEF loan would cover us until we received the outstanding pledges and the $29,000 estate gift later in the year. It would give us time to raise the additional funds needed. “What was God doing here?” He was letting us know that He wants His ministries to succeed and He will use His people to make it happen—if we trust in Him.
· On July 11th MLHS was notified that a family was turning over the ownership of their $50,000+ Thrivent Life Insurance policy to MLHS to help with the parking lot. They were so thrilled to be a part of the project. This gift brought us much closer to the total funds needed. “What was God doing here?”
· On July 17 the trucks started rolling and the concrete was poured. The Diamond Concrete operation was like a fine-tuned machine with one truck pouring, one right behind, one truck leaving the lot and another truck pulling in the lot. This process went on for 12 days with dozens of workers making it happen.
· By August 2nd all the concrete was poured, but we still needed to raise $50,000 to cover the costs.
· Then we realized landscaping needed to completed. Thank you to Duane Rosburg, Mick Thiesse, Kevin Behrens, Montana Thiesse, Dan Petrowiak, Paul Steinhaus, Chase Hillmer, Jeff Flohrs, and Elliot Flohrs for hauling dirt, raking, and seeding grass. This added $500 to the cost.
· Then we realized that we needed more parking lot lights. Thank you to Federated REA for installing another yard light. This added $200 to the cost.
· On August 27th the “On Christ the Solid Rock Praise in the Parking Lot Dedication Service” was held. Pastor Timothy Chase was the officiant and Sophomore Jason Matasovsky served as accompanist.
· Just as Noah started building the ark by God’s instructions when not one drop of rain had fallen, Martin Luther stepped forward with this project with utter, blind faith. The donor of the first strip of concrete said in 2015, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” It is our prayer that instead of seeing a rutted, muddy parking lot with gravel dust gathered at our front door, guests will see an expanse of PRISTINE, SOLID CONCRETE and think “Martin Luther really is a flourishing school.”
Over the years many graduates wanted to start a parking lot fund. As Lisa Beckendorf Stevens (1992 alum and current mom) said “Shoot, we wanted to pave the parking lot when I went here. It’s about time!”
Thank you to all of the alumni who stepped forward and gave (some gave multiple times)!
Thank you to our Board of Directors for their courage and leadership: Greg Sokokloski, Angie Fischer, Stephanie Zellmer, Garrett Schock, Pastor Timothy Chase, Jason Meinert, Shannon Singleton, and Kerrie Bennett.
Thank you to Principal Paul Steinhaus for his vision and faithfulness.
Thank you to Owen and Steve Blaufuss for shooting drone videos and taking spectacular pictures.
Thank you to Diamond Concrete and Construction of Spirit Lake, IA and Rosburg Construction of Welcome for their expertise and dedication to this project.
Thank you to all the people who gave as they have been blessed to this project. Each and every one of you have been an integral part of this amazing miracle and are part of the answer to the question, “What was God doing here?”
Most of all, thanks be to God, who knows our needs before we ask, and is Christ, our Solid Rock!
The donor recognition display will be finalized after 9/30/23.
