My husband Lloyd and I live at Grindstone Lake, which is about seven miles west of Sandstone and ten miles northwest of Hinckley, Minnesota. We both grew up in Kanabec County and bought this lake place about twenty-five years ago.

We have three sons and seven grandchildren.

Several years ago I attended a genealogy seminar at the Fire Museum in Hinckley and met several ladies who were interested in family history. We discussed starting a group and that was as far as it went. Then, the following year, they had another seminar, and that is how our group got going

I have been working on family history for many years. I am an only child as is my father, so there is not a lot of family there. My mother was one of seven, and my grandparents all came from large families. My husband is full-blooded Norwegian, so his ancestors were easy to find because they were only in Norway, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. My side is a little harder. I have family from German, England, Ireland, Scotland, and who knows where else. They came to Philadelphia before moving on to Chicago, South Dakota, Minnesota, and all over. It takes a little more search, but it is so exciting when I find a new branch of the family.

After we had purchased our home on Grindstone Lake, I made an exciting genealogy discovery. I was digging into my husband's grandmother's side of the family, and I found that her sister's family was the first one to build near Grindstone after the Hinckley fire. One of the homes they lived in is on the Grindstone River about four miles from where we live. I found her daughter who was still living in California. I began corresponding with her, and in 1999 she came to our family reunion. All she could say as she walked around our yard here at the lake was, "This is where I had all my fun as a child!!!" She shared so many memories of what they used to do here. She died recently, but I am so glad to have been able to share some time with her. That is one of the best things about genealogy.

I am searching for several family surnames: Bentz, Copeland, Graves, McAlear, and McBride.