01/20/2026
Located west of Newfolden in what was known as Ellerth was Bethesda Lutheran Church and its 1911 Confirmation Class as seen in the photo included Alfred Johnson, Edwin Gjerding, Iver Harstad, Ragna Harstad, Bernard Elseth, Ingvald, Rokke, Emil Dyrud, Otto Harstad, Viola Goplin and Palma Windahl. They were confirmed in Norwegian on July 2, 1911 by Pastor Lofthus.
What an adventure it was to get this photo taken. The next day after confirmation the class had to be in Newfolden at 7 am to catch the south bound freight train to TRF. Emil Dyrud came with a wagon pulled by horses. They all loaded up and off to Newfolden to catch the train. They arrived in TRF by about 11 am. They first had dinner then spent a couple hours at the photographer studio. Then it was to wait until 3:30 in the morning to catch the flyer back to Newfolden arriving at 5 am. Emil Dyrud went to the livery to get the horses and hitched up to the wagon. Some of the kids sat on the spring seats and others rode standing. Ingvald Rokke was so tired he laid down and was thrown and knocked out when the horses je**ed on the wagon. They loaded him up and continued on unloading kids along the road until they got to Harstads. By that time it was 9 am. It was 4th of July and someone in the neighborhood was having a celebration. Emil left Ingvald there and went on to the celebration.
