July 5, 2018
Still looking for the Class of ’72
This is much more fun than the prom was!
A little over a year ago, we challenged the BHS Class of ’72 to lead the way with donations to the Stone Bank restoration project. And we challenged other BHS classes to match our effort. What fun it has been to reconnect with classmates and take a few of them on a tour of the building! Most important, we have received some donations to continue work on the building.
But we haven’t heard from many of our classmates. In some cases, we haven’t been able to find their current addresses, email or phone numbers. If you have a sibling or friend from our class, please tell them we would love to hear from them — or send us a tip or contact info to touchstones.inc@gmail.com.
In 2022, our class will celebrate its 50th reunion, and we would love to celebrate our class’s leadership in putting this historic building back together again. Let’s do this.
And we challenge other classes to meet or exceed our class’s gifts to the project, which so far stands at $1,300.
Envision the destination
This is the architect’s rendering of what the building will look like when we put it back together again. We took down 20 feet of the building to put a foundation under it, and added an extra 9 feet to make room for a rear entry with a handicap lift (left third of drawing). We only need to raise $60,000 to enclose the back section and get the roof on. With your help, we can get this done. Send a check today to: Touchstones, Inc., PO Box 272, Bottineau, ND 58318. Online giving options available at StoneBank.org.
Come on Class of ’72. Let’s inspire other classes to join us in this effort.
December 25, 2014
Rockin’ a Stone Bank T
It’s our friend MaryB in a Stone Bank T!
MaryB is not only the model but the designer of our new T-shirt. She wants to see you wearing one, too! Pay attention: She has her hands on her hips!
If you didn’t get a Stone Bank T-shirt under the tree, you can get one on your own.
A little $20 donation will bring you a new long-sleeve verions (quantities limited), or a $15 gift will get you a nice short-sleeve T. Go for it. You will be helping restore the Stone Bank.
Happy Holidays and stop back here for updates on our project. We are predicting a lot of action on the Stone Bank in 2015.
December 8, 2014
Rockin’ the Beach in a Stone Bank T
It’s snowing up North (and on our blog), but look! The Stone Bank T-shirt makes excellent beach apparel!
Our friend, Laura, recently took her new PRESERVATION ROCKS shirt to a Florida beach! And she totally ROCKED it!
She has the right idea! The Stone Bank T is charming, lovely and easy to pack. AND it’s a great conversation starter for those chance meeting with a handsome stranger or an old friend.
Still time to get yours for the holidays. Best of all. Your donation of $15 will help us match our grant from the Historical Society of ND and help rebuild the back section of the building in 2015.
We love to post photos of our friends wearing the Stone Bank T. Send yours to touchstones.inc@gmail.com with a few details about the location and we will share it.
You can make a contribution right on this page. Then send us a note about size and color of shirt and we will send it along to you. There are more details and photos on our website. We now have a limited number of long-sleeve shirts, for those who are not getting to the beach this winter.
Thanks for reading the Stone Bank blog!
November 18, 2014
Putting the Pieces Together
What’s this? The original Stone Bank puzzle back in action?
Indeed. And “in action” a long, long way from Bottineau. This old Stone Bank puzzle is now entertaining folks (and perhaps puzzling them) at a community center near Phoenix!
Thanks to our friend Jane for sending the photos. We love it when folks near and far offer a hand in fixing the Stone Bank, even if it is only putting the puzzle together.
Want to help? Your contribution will help us rebuild the back 20 feet of the building!
Be like Jane! She recently sent a contribution using the PayPal link on this page. Our mailing address is also in the right column. We would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading the Stone Bank Blog!
The Stone Bank puzzle is quite different from the competitors for “fixing” in the puzzle closet.
The Stone Bank puzzle is perplexing folks in a community center in Arizona.
November 5, 2014
Why You Should Give
We are at the turning point in our project. Actually, we are a little past the turning point. We are rebuilding the rear 20 feet of the Stone Bank. This is HUGE! As our stone mason Joe says: “We are out of the hole.”
Next up: roughing in the plumbing, pouring the concrete floor in our new basement and then installing the floor joists and rebuilding the walls.
Your contribution will help make it happen. We need to match a $20,000 grant from the Historical Society of North Dakota.
Following is a scan of a nice feature about the Stone Bank on the Minot Daily News.
Sorry about the quality of the scan — we can’t access the story electronically.
Send donations to Touchstones, Inc., P.O. Box 272, Bottineau, ND 58318. Or us our handy PayPal link.
Heck! Make a contribution and we will send you a copy of the article with your receipt.
Does your employer match your charitable contributions?
Touchstones is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and we will send you a receipt to get that match.
Let’s get the roof on!
Hope to see you Saturday at the Holiday Craft Fair at the Bottineau Armory.
November 3, 2014
Fill ‘er up!
If you’re like me, you hate missing something “interesting.” So, for those of you who don’t subscribe to the Bottineau Courant or the Metigoshe Mirror — here’s an “interesting” ad that we are running in this week’s edition of our local newspapers.
OK. Now, we know it’s the HOLIDAY Craft Fair, but let’s not split hairs. Instead, let’s fill Clint’s pickle jar with coins to help restore the Stone Bank. Please drop by and help us fill the jar! If you can’t make it to Bottineau, you can send us some “coin” by PayPal!
Let’s make this double fun! We’ll also collect your guesses about how much change is donated on Nov. 8. When the coins are counted, the guess closest to the total will win a new Stone Bank T-shirt.
Stop and see us at the Craft Fair. We would love to talk about the progress we’re making on the project.
Thanks to our friend MaryB who created this ad for us! Mary totally rocks!
As always, thanks for reading the Stone Bank blog!
June 12, 2014
Stone Bank windows reflect worldly workers
As you might recall from our earlier blog posts, it was immigrants from Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland and Canada who built the Stone Bank in 1900. Now, 114 years later, it’s visitors from Nepal, Cambodia, Cuba, India and Germany — not to mention Minnesota and Wisconsin — who are helping to renovate the Stone Bank building.
A team of eight Fulbright Scholars, plus four of their family members, came to Bottineau this week to visit a part of the U.S. they had never seen before and volunteer their services on the historic Stone Bank Project. The 12 of them spent two long days scraping, sanding and priming every wood window frame on the building.
Many hands make short(er) work, and now the window frames will at least stop deteriorating — until we have the funds to replace them with new windows that are energy efficient yet historic looking. We can’t thank the Fulbrighters enough for their efforts, which were beyond the call of duty even for them.
But we did give them each a spiffy Stone Bank “Preservation Rocks!” T-shirt. We’ll give you one, too, if you come work on our renovation project. Or if you can’t make it to Bottineau anytime soon, you can still get a Stone Bank T-shirt here, for a donation of $15 or more. Please consider donating much more, just as the Fulbrighters did, because we have $60,000 worth of work to do on the building’s exterior this year, and we need to at least match our new $20,000 grant from the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
You don’t have to be from Kathmando or Phnom Penh to donate time or money to the Stone Bank Project. We’re happy to take contributions from Bottineau or Bismarck, too. Make yours today, and you’ll feel as smart as a Fulbright Scholar by tomorrow!
June 8, 2014
Sun. Stone. Scrape. Paint
You are looking at a group of ROCKSTARS!
Geared up and ready to work. Our Fulbright volunteers got down to business on Sunday.
Our Fulbright volunteers showed up, gloved up and got to work on the windows at the Stone Bank today! (They hail from a number of countries including Germany, Cuba, India and Senegal.
Twelve pairs of hands — and four local volunteers have given a big boost to this project, which is being operated on a shoestring.
You may not be near enough to grab a paint scraper or a can a paint, but you can show the Stone Bank some love with a donation.
We have a lot of work to do in 2014 that must be done by “paid” contractors. So, please: Dedicate a Stone. Make a $15 donation, and we will thank you with one of our Stone Bank T-shirts. Or just send a donation.
Every dollar goes into restoring this delightful and irreplaceable stone building.
As always. Thanks for reading the Stone Bank blog.
June 7, 2014
A Beauty Treatment
Hey, everyone! It’s been too long! Lots going on at the Stone Bank. Here’s the latest:
We are working to put this wonderful building back to use on Bottineau’s Main Street.
Volunteers are descending on the Stone Bank on Sunday, June 8, to tackle a really tough project — they are going to scrape, sand, prime and paint the Stone Bank’s windows.
These are very special volunteers — a group of Fulbright scholars from the Minnesota/ND chapter — who are taking a tour of North Dakota and making time to lend a hand in the community. We couldn’t be happier!
We know that the windows will have to be replaced — but that is later. We need to rebuild the back section of the building and then move on to projects like the windows. In the meantime, they will look better, thanks to this crew of volunteers. Some local volunteers are going to help, too. We will post more as the project takes shape.
Free labor is a great thing. But the Stone Bank needs cash to buy paint and other supplies. We need to match a new grant from the Historical Society of ND, too. Can you help? Every donation helps. Hey, look! There is a PayPal link on this page. (For your convenience.)
Thanks for reading the Stone Bank blog!
stonebankblog 
April 3, 2017
It’s time to finish this…
Posted in Friends of Stone Bank, Fundraising, Life, Main Street, Photos, Pictures, Promotions/Contests, Recommended Reading, Renovation, Uncategorized tagged comments, history, news, photos, pictures, places at 12:29 pm by stonebankblog
Let’s face it. WE are living in historic times! It was a winter of historic snowfall in Bottineau, but our friend Spring is finally pushing the snow into memory. It’s time to seize the moment and get back to the important work of enclosing the Stone Bank.
Of course, it’s always about the bottom line. That’s the challenge. And we are asking our classmates in the BHS Class of ’72 to lead the way. How? It’s easy.
We are challenging each member of the Class of ’72 to donate $100 to restoring the Stone Bank. We have lost five classmates far too young, and it would be marvelous if each of us donated in memory of those friends as well.
Those $100 donations would bring $7,000 to a project that really needs a financial shot in the arm. Together, we can give the project a boost and inspire giving from others with ties to Bottineau.
Why the class of ’72? Good question. Well, two of your classmates have been doing the heavy lifting on this restoration project. Joe Whetter, is a stone mason and an amazing advocate and partner on this project. I (Sharon Kessler) founded a nonprofit, have coordinated fundraising and planning to advance the project since 2011.
Now, we really need your help. It’s easy to give online. You can give by credit card through PayPal, Razoo or GiveMN.
Or you can send a check: Touchstones, Inc., PO Box 272, Bottineau, ND 58318
The time is now. We can’t do this alone. We need to make progress on the building in 2017 to keep the structure from deteriorating. It has been open to the elements for a couple of years. We need to show community participation and interest to generate grants — so your contribution really does make a difference. In total, we need to raise $58,000 to enclose the structure. Can you help?
Frankly, we are at a point in life, where many of us are thinking about legacy — the difference we made in the world. The good we will leave behind. This is a great chance for you to help preserve a piece of Bottineau history and make it useful for future generations of those who will call Bottineau home. Your $100 gift added to those of other classmates really will make a difference.
Please make a gift today, so we can move forward with restoring this community treasure. Let’s get this done, together.
Joe Whetter and Sharon Kessler, BHS Class of ’72
We would love to hear from you. Please send a note, your ideas and memories of Bottineau for the blog to touchstones.inc@gmail.com. Guest blog entries are also welcome.
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