By Norma Dittman
and Carol Schreiber
Staff writers
Marvin Nysetvold, Executive Director for Shetek Lutheran Ministries, said on Monday that the waters at the campgrounds are starting to recede a bit.
Due to the many inches of rain received during the early July flood, Shetek Lutheran Ministries had a couple of buildings with water in them, albeit, Nysetvold said, “It was nothing terrible. We did have to cancel this week’s S.O.S. Camp because of the difficulties in getting here.” (Options regarding the re-scheduling of the camp have been discussed, but no solid decisions are able to be made at this time. S.O.S. Camp is for people of all ages with developmental and/or physical special needs.)
The problem with reaching the campground is that there is water over the third dike, creating limited access. At one point, the water over the third dike was 18 inches deep. Nysetvold stated that on Monday, it was still about eight to ten inches in depth over the dike.
“We were just ending the program that ran Sunday to Tuesday. We usually close with worship at noon and a picnic lunch, and then everyone takes off. We had 66 campers here. Our grandparents-grandchild camp was also Sunday to Tuesday. Those folks were here, too. No one could drive off the island,” Nysetvold explained. “We started thinking about how we could reconnect everybody with their families on the other side of the dike. We could have stayed here for quite a while, as there was no real danger, but we needed to coordinate a way off the island.”
Among those on the island were Rachel Mathias, Heron Lake. Rachel is the Day Camp Director, and worked there last summer and this year. “Usually, I am off-site most weeks, but I was on-site for the shorter (holiday) week,” she said.
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