By George Larsen, a memory written in 1998
It seems so long ago that I got that call. It was about 6:15 in the morning. It was the weekend between seminars. The Peninsula Music Festival sustaining committee had used the lodge for an afternoon tea. It was John Perkins, co-director of µþÂáö°ù°ì±ô³Ü²Ô»å±ð²Ô. He began with a quiet, “Now I don’t want you to get upset. There’s been a fire at the lodge. No one was hurt. But there’s considerable damage.â€
I don’t think my wife Barbara and I spent too much time eating breakfast. We had to get over to the lodge. This was our most special place in the whole Country. Certainly nothing would happen here. But it did happen; the fire would make many changes in the lives of past seminar participants and the many Friends of Venlighaven who would no longer have a Door County home, our extension of the Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ÊÓƵ campus.
We drove down Chapel Lane slowly. We did and didn’t want to see what we must witness in a few short minutes. It was a devastating sight. But no one was hurt, although if the evacuation of the building had taken 30 seconds longer, there would have been dire consequences.
We salute John Perkins and Ann Hodges, co-directors of the Northern campus when the fire occurred. Their diligence and dedication added much to the quality of the dream that has become the reality we once again call µþÂáö°ù°ì±ô³Ü²Ô»å±ð²Ô vid Sjön. And, we extend our thanks to the hundreds of individuals who rose to the challenges the fire presented, and their belief that, like Phoenix, a new lodge would arise from the ashes of the old one.
Lake Michigan and the forests of µþÂáö°ù°ì±ô³Ü²Ô»å±ð²Ô framed by the epic windows of the Great Room in the new lodge.
A new lodge welcomes all year round.
