Vernis Haines

Praise the Lord! He has taken me home! Vernis Aileen (Hoveskeland) Haines was born on January 9th, 1922 on the home farm South of Hamar, ND. After going to country school and then attending high school in McVille, I attended Wahpeton State School of Science and graduated in 1941. Deciding to ‘try my wings’, I moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1942. During that time, I worked at U.C.L.A. and Douglas Aircraft. I met my husband William Haines Jr. who was in the US Air Force, originally from Kansas. We married in Las Vegas, and then lived in Santa Monica, CA.

Bill & I visited relatives back in ND in August of 1946. There were too many people in CA for our liking! We found out that Red Willow Lake Resort was for sale, and purchased the resort on August 9, 1946. Within a few weeks, we sponsored the very first dance of our young lives in the pavilion. We hired a group out of Fargo by the name of Wen Schuh and his Dance Band. At that time, there was only the Pavilion, a small restaurant, and 6 cottages on the lake (today there’s over 100). We lived in one of those cabins with no electricity until the R.E.A. was brought in 1952. Our heat source was a wood fireplace and we had two little girls! (3 sons followed). Because there was no refrigeration, Bill cut massive amounts of ice blocks out of the lake and stored them in sawdust in the Ice House which still stands and is in use at the Resort today for storage. We had two Delco Light Plants to power the restaurant and pavilion and had no running water until 1952. For our first 6 seasons, we hauled all of the water for the restaurant, and that was an “Uffda”! We began by having rollerskating and boat rentals in addition to the restaurant. Over the years, we added onto the restaurant several times as we got busier every summer.

Dancing became so popular that we attended the national Ballroom Operators Convention in Chicago with Doc Schinn from the then famous Crystal Ballroom in Fargo. He implored us to bring Big Bands into North Dakota to prove to the rest of the country we had advanced beyond covered wagons here! We were fortunate to have groups like Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra, Harry James & His Orchestra, Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey and many more too numerous to mention. When Red Willow was the “center of the teenage universe”, Johnny Holm (So many times), The Beach Boys, Dick & Dee Dee, Paul & Paula, Bobby Vee, Bobby Goldsboro, Richie Valens and dozens more toured through our area and entertained us!

Bill’s first love was baseball, so we cleared around 300 trees in a swampy area to build Main Diamond, known today as “Bill’s Field of Dreams”. We hosted many Babe Ruth District & State Baseball Tournaments over the years. Baseball & Softball became so popular that we groomed a second diamond up in the pasture, and appropriately named it “Heifer Stadium”. We organized many leagues of softball and baseball teams over the years to keeps the kids entertained and out of trouble. Thousands upon thousands of games and tournaments for T-Ball, Pee Wee, Cal Ripkin, Babe Ruth, and Men’s and Women’s and Co-Ed Softball were held at Red Willow. Bill and I were both fortunate to be Honored with Induction into the ND Baseball & Softball Halls of Fame. In our spare time, we began AA and Al-Anon at Red Willow Bible Camp and hosted Christian Women’s Aglow meetings in our home for years.

My favorite age group always was the teenagers (young & old) who touched my heart and soul, and I can honestly say, I loved you like my own! I was particularly partial to the baseball and softball teams who kept coming back year after year for four generations, as well as the folks who came to Red Willow season after season (who loved it, because it never changed). You are the ones who made Red Willow what it is today, and inspired me and my family to keep at it for 69 Summers!

I retired at 92 last fall and moved to the Nelson County Care Center in McVille, ND where I was cared for by the most amazing professionals you can imagine! The fantastic staff cared for me in a special way until I breathed my last breath.

I have been truly blessed and highly favored to have known and loved so many people in my lifetime, and remember, God Loves you and so do I!

Vernis was preceded in death by her husband Bill, her daughter Patricia Stokka (Butch), and granddaughter Ashley Haines. Her survivors include her sisters Lois Workman, Mari Lynn (Bob) Hedrick, brother Donald (Diane) Hoveskeland, her daughter Penny (Austin) Kramer and 3 sons, Bill, Bob, and Jack (Lisa) Haines, 8 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.

Vernis’ Celebration of Life will be Saturday, September 12Th, at 2p.m. at the Resort on Bill’s Field of Dreams (pavilion in case of inclement weather).