Thank You to the Northern Bedrock Crew!
During July, Gammelgården Museum hosted crews from Northern Bedrock to do critical restoration work on the Pastor’s House and Stuga, as well as work on the museum’s folk dräkt collection.
The crew by the completed northwest side of the Pastor’s Side.
Ten logs were replaced on this side of the building.
The crew members were chosen from a pool of 70 applicants and are from three states: Minnesota, Colorado, and Kentucky.
The crew by the Stuga. Ten windows were scraped, sanded, primed, and painted.
They all now open and close easily.
The 11-member crew arrived for the first hitch on July 7th, worked from July 8th-14th, and then returned to Northern Bedrock in Duluth on the 15th.
The crew by the southeast side of the Pastor’s House.
One log was hand-hewn and chiseled to size to
replace a section of a log at the top of the wall
that had been filled with 3 1/2 inches of foam.
The foam now has been replaced with a solid log.
The second hitch included 12 crew members who arrived on July 21st, worked from July 22nd-28th, and then drove back to Northern Bedrock on the 29th.
Some of these crew members will be returning for the roofing of the Pastor’s House (September 1st-9th, with work days being September 2nd-8th), and others will return to college or graduate school.
Below are the crew leaders and members who worked incredibly hard during some of the hottest and most humid days of July on the restoration projects and folk dräkt collection. Gammelgärden was so pleased and grateful for all the work that these crew members did during July, and is looking forward to seeing them back again in September!
Adalyn “Addy” Campbell, Crew Member, Kentucky
Addy has done a lot of outdoor work throughout the country – including chainsaw work in Bryce Canyon and doing trail work at Pikes Peak – and can see herself doing work like this for her career. At Gammelgården, Addy enjoyed removing the logs from the Pastor’s House and “seeing the process of shaping them and putting them into” the building. She appreciated “learning how the dovetailing works and how to jack up the building.”
By far, “the heat was the most challenging.” Taking breaks and cooling off in the Welcome House with air conditioning helped her and other crew members. In the evening, Addy enjoyed “finally getting back into reading.” Spending time relaxing and reading at the end of the day was one of the highlights of the experience.
Adam Gooch, Crew Member, Colorado
With one semester left to obtain a B.A. in Interior Architecture and Design, Adam likes the old trades. He thought it was “cool to sharpen tools and chisels,” and to do a variety of “all these small tasks that are adding up.”
Adam particularly enjoyed “doing chisel work on the big rectangle.” This was the top log on the southeast side of the Pastor’s House that had been filled with 3 1/2 inches of foam (for a log that was 4 1/2 inches wide). All the foam, which had been put into the log many years ago, was removed and the remaining log chiseled to a more rectangular shape. This helped to form the new log that the crew shaped to fill the void.
When looking back on the hitches, Adam’s favorite memory was the “first log that went in, and the slip and slide. It was a fun and weird way to get clean!”
Benjamin “Ben” Nelson, Crew Member, Mankato and Duluth (Minnesota)
Having attended two colleges in marketing and business management, and then working in security in Mankato and Duluth, Ben was looking for a different experience. He found it in being a crew member with Northern Bedrock. In addition to the work on the Pastor’s House, he has enjoyed connecting with nature during his time at Gammelgården. “I woke up last night at 12:40 and saw the stars and the Big Dipper.
The heat was the biggest challenge, which can result in lethargy. “We had to get through it. We would drink water every 10-15 minutes,” which resulted in having “a clear head” and being able to forge ahead with the hard work of hand-hewing the logs. It becomes a safety issue, especially when using axes. “We look out for each other.”
Ben’s favorite memory is getting on the St. Croix River at William O’Brien State Park and using an ice fishing pole. Ben “caught a Northern Pike. It was two pounds and 24 inches.”
Conrad Provost, Crew Member
Before returning to grad school in the Fall to obtain a Master’s in Physics, Conrad wanted to be outside for the summer. “I’ve loved it. I like seeing a creation come together and seeing the progress.” Using “real life math” and “interacting with the project phusically is a different flavor of success.”
For Conrad, “the heat at the end of the day gets to be a lot.” With everyone “wanting to be better” combined with the large number of people – 11 on the first crew – it made it challenging to know when to ask a question. “There were a lot of crew members for one technical instructor.”
A favorite memory was the “end of the day delirium. The heat sets in, and instead of getting [short-tempered] with one another, we all found everything funny. There was camaraderie that was instilled with the heat.”
Eleanor Smith, Crew Leader, St. Paul (Minnesota)
Eleanor, like many of the crew members, had “never done historic preservation before. I love history and just graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx with a History major.”
She spent three summers when she was ten years old at the Swedish Language Village. “I loved weaving and painting.” So, now, being able to work on a historic house “built by Swedish immigrants is cool.” By “just fixing a few of the logs, I have a better appreciation of the skill and practice that they had to build a log house.”
Eleanor said she learned a lot about logs. She said she enjoyed “the geometry of how joints are put together. It’s really cool to see different types of joints.” She also said a favorite part of the hitches was “swinging the ax. That’s a lot of fun.” She also enjoyed “learning about the different types of axes.”
One of the challenges is that since this is a learning opportunity and crew members all have differing levels of experience, that it “takes more mindfulness to do the job.”
A memory that stands out for Eleanor is when a log finally fit into place. It was a “really satisfying moment,” and “we wrote our names on the log. We spent a lot of time on that log.
Finley, Crew Leader, Duluth (Minnesota)
Finley, who graduated in December 2025 with a major in Finnish and a minor in History/Medieval Studies, oversaw the Stuga window project and said that was “satisfying to see the progress.” The work is “fast-paced,” and Finley could see “how much was accomplished and what else needs to be done.”
One of the things Finley enjoyed was having fresh water on site. This is not always possible on hitches, so to have water for drinking and cooking was appreciated.
In terms of challenges, the work at Gammelgården was “all new work. Woodwork on this scale is challenging, and you need to make sure you’re doing everything correctly.”
A favorite memory from the hitches was the “Slip and Slide” the crew made out of tarps. This fun evening activity made it feel more like a “a summer camp experience” and a welcome way to end the day. “I’ve had a lot of fun!”
Grace Marshall, Crew Member
After graduating with a B.A. in Art History in 2024, Grace enjoyed art history, yet wanted to pivot to help communities. “History is all around you, and I wanted to work with that.” Grace likes working with her hands, and she wants “to work in the trades. This is the kind of knowledge that is passed down.”
When thinking about the challenges of this type of work, Grace said, “I am entirely new to trades work, so all the tools are new to me.” She has liked “being exposed to new things and putting them into action quickly.” Being a perfectionist, she wants “to get it” right away, yet recognizes that “it will take a couple of years to hone” the skills she is learning now.
Grace’s favorite memory is “during work, we get a chance to rotate around the crew. I can work with and problem-solve with other crew members. You put your trust in others to do this task together.” She has enjoyed “being in a space where you share the same stage of life” with others.
Jack Gorman, Crew Member, Mankato (Minnesota)
One thing that stood out to Jack was that the log work was “a lot more complicated with all the joints,” and this was one of the things he enjoyed the most about his time at Gammelgården. “Learning how they made this log cabin is the most interesting for me.”
In terms of challenges, the “measuring and angles of the dovetails” were the most difficult. Another challenge was when the crew tried to remove the fourth log from the northwest side of the building. “It splintered into different pieces. So, we have to make rough estimates and chisel it down.”
One of the positive memories of the hitches was “cutting LVLs for the attic. There were three of us” doing this. “I like the side projects.”
Jackson Mewes, Crew Member, Belle Plaine (Minnesota)
As a recent graduate (May 2025) of the University of St. Thomas, majoring in Theology and minoring in History, Jackson wanted to do something more hands-on. Gammelgården has been the perfect place to engage in an historically accurate place. Being a Theology major, Jackson enjoyed “working on the Pastor’s House to get the history, religion, and hands-on experience” in one location.
The most challenging aspect of working on this project was the weather. Also, “the nature of our work. We’re trying to restore something that’s dilapidated.”
In terms of learning, this was the first time that Jackson hand-hewed a log. “Every day I’m learning something. I’m learning about a new tool and what to use it on.” The project at Gammelgården has been “very rewarding.” This was especially true when a “specific log doesn’t fit, and you nudge it, and finally there is the moment it fits. It is the culmination of hours of work of hewing it. All of it comes together.”
Jarett Nelson, Crew Member, North Branch (Minnesota)
Jarett, who majored in Computer Science, joined the crew for the second hitch (July 22-28) and wanted to work with Northern Bedrock because he likes “preservation work and working with my hands.” He likes that he “can preserve history” by working at Gammelgården and with Northern Bedrock.
One of Jarett’s favorite memories was “finishing the Stuga and looking at how radical a difference the windows are” now that they are completed. After completing the work on the windows, Jarett worked on the folk dräkt project, which presented him with one of the job’s challenging aspects: “learning to sew.” He wrote the accession number of clothing and accessories onto twill tape and then sewed them onto the items. Jarett said he saw a “massive difference” in his sewing skills from the first item he did to the final one.
Jarett said he enjoyed working at Gammelgården because it is “so accessible and open, and has a drive to show people Swedish history.”
Max Laugero, Crew Member, Colorado
Working on a degree in architecture, Max said he is “seeing what I want to do with it.” He said that he “likes log joinery. I did a lot of that in school and like being able to replicate and apply it to a full-scale building.” Max said he especially appreciated seeing the “dovetail and then the second mortise and tenon joints – two different types of joints being used simultaneously” on the Pastor’s House.
He enjoyed “experiencing things that are new and different.” From the beginning to the hitch to the middle of the work week (after four days), he said, “I can do things more independently, and can think more on my feet now.”
A challenging aspect of the job is “taking the logs in and out.” Because the logs are irregularly shaped, “there’s not a reliable way to fit them outside the joint.”
His favorite memory is the “slip and slide with the tarps. Everyone after work is down to do something like that.”
Theresa Beck, Crew Member, North Branch (Minnesota)
Having received her degree in Public History in December 2025, Theresa was looking for a job in the very competitive current job market. A professor mentioned the opportunity with Northern Bedrock, and Theresa was intrigued by the chance to work on a different side of history. With Northern Bedrock, she could gain practical experience and put her knowledge into practice.
Theresa enjoyed working on the Stuga. “It’s an adorable building! It is very practical and cute.” She liked focusing on the detail work on the windows, including the sanding and taping. She also worked with the crew to prime and paint the ten windows. One of the challenges, like others mentioned, was the heat. “We have to take a lot of rests, internally gauging what can be done. There were no other frustrations with this job.”
After hours, her favorite moments were being right next to the playground and the swings.
