Photo by Phyllis Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phills joining friends Joyce and Maryann and Gary to visit the spectacular Dane County hilltop where the earliest arriving immigrant Norwegians built their first church in 1852.
Known as “The Hauge Log Church,” the building still survives in amazing detail, thanks to the efforts of a long line of preservationists. The original logs are protected by slab siding and the benches inside show the requisite gender-separated seating and the necessity of paying attention to the preacher lest you slide off the very narrow benches.
The “oak savanna” grounds with its giant old trees are seeded with the remains of Norwegians dating back to the church’s earliest days. A row of grave markers, nearly lost to the smothering of thick grass, might mark children’s graves, it was speculated with more recent markers showing the descendants involvement on the very special “driftless” hilltop.
The stillness of the sunny stroll through the Hauge Log Church grounds was suddenly broken by the seemingly frantic chirping of a huge flock of blackbirds massed in one of the old oaks. The birds intensified their chatter and then flew off in a ragged murmuration to disappear over the hills.
It was such a natural demonstration of life and vitality arising out of a mood of honoring the past and its participants that it set the Hauge visit in a different dimension. It is not all about how it was on a very special Wisconsin hilltop on Oct. 14, 2026! It is all about how it is!
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