News

Volunteering for the Annie's House project brings humble feelings to locals in the area who participated

By Scott Wagar

09/18/2012

During the Annie’s House project at the Bottineau Winter Park, hundreds of volunteers from across the nation came to Bottineau County to assist in constructing Ann Nicole Nelson’s dream of an adaptive ski lodge for the mentally and physically handicapped.

When it came to local volunteers, Dwight Olson of the Turtle Mountains didn’t want to be at any other place in the world than at the Winter Park.

“A lot of things that have taken place in my life told me that this is where I need to be,” said Olson, who spent seven full days volunteering for the project. “I am a retired fireman, I use to work up at the winter park back in the 80s and the Nelsons are good friends of mine. For all these reasons I wanted to be a volunteer.”

Volunteering runs deep in Olson’s veins, and it is something he feels is an important gift to give to others.

“Volunteering has always been a big part of my life because I feel that we have been put on this earth to help other people,” said Olson, who has volunteered his services to a number of individuals, churches, organizations, some of which include the Bottineau Ambulance Service, Bottineau Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts and the North Dakota Special Olympics. “You never fail to learn something if you volunteer and you just keep your eyes and ears open, because if you do, you can learn a lot.”

“I learned quite a bit at the Annie’s House, I learned about cooperation and how people from so many different places in the country can come together and still have the same goals in mind. That was really refreshing.”

Olson was so touched by the event, he and his wife, Gloria, are thinking about going to next year’s event of the New York Says Thank You Foundation, which coordinated the Annie’s House Project.

“My wife and I have been talking about it,” Olson said. “We would sure like to go. We made a lot of friends and would like to meet up with them again.”

Olson added that work will be taking place on Annie’s House every day until it is completed, which could go into the winter season. With volunteering in his blood, Olson is hopeful more local people will grab hold of the volunteering spirit and become part of the project.

“I encourage the local people to get involved,” he said. “If you can’t pound a nail, lift anything heavy, can’t get on top of a roof, there are other jobs up there for just about anyone. They need people to sweep, pick things up and clean. Meals are also important for the volunteers working. If anybody can cook a meal it would really help up there.”

Another volunteer at the Annie’s House project was Patty Brosseau, who said the entire experience changed her life.

“I was very touched by the Annie’s House project,” Brosseau said. “When I left there I felt like a different person because of what I experienced, hopefully, I left as a better person.”

Brosseau stated that she volunteered to work at the Annie’s House project in honor of Ann Nicole Nelson.

“Ann loved to ski like my family members like to ski and because of this I felt I should help make her dream come true,” Brosseau said.

Brosseau added that she also wanted to leave a heritage to her family through the project.

“I’ve always enjoyed being part of the winter park as my family enjoys skiing and using the ski park. So, being part of this was something that was important to me because I knew it would leave a legacy for my grandchildren and great grandchildren,” she said. “I wanted to see it succeed so that there was something there for my family when they are grown up.”  

To Brosseau, volunteering is something that has a significant meaning in today’s world.

“It is important to help someone else out. There is so much negative things going on in the world today and I think through volunteering something good and positive comes to everyone,” Brosseau said. “And, everybody can make a contribution when they volunteer. People don’t have to have a particular skill, everybody has something they can contribute.”

Through her experience in the Annie’s House project, Brosseau and her son, Ben, who also volunteered his time at the winter park, are planning to attend the next New York Says Thank You Foundation’s event.

“There is always someone you can help and we plan to attend next year’s event,” Brosseau said.