By Micah Friez
Published 12:45 p.m. on June 7, 2024
Cheryl (Nasvik) Sikorski packed her bags and moved out of her childhood home in 1965.
Fifty-nine years later, it happily welcomed her back inside.
After nearly six decades away, Sikorski recently returned to visit what’s now known as the Alumni House (or the Sauer House), right beside the Bemidji State University campus along Birchmont Drive. The building houses approximately half of the Alumni & Foundation staff, but for Sikorski, it houses so much more.
“This is where my roots are,” she said. “Most of my childhood memories are here.”
Sikorski, now 66, moved 11 times as a child but lived in her Bemidji home until she was 8. Her father was raised in the same house. Her grandfather, Adolph Nasvik, built it – and many other Bemidji structures – through his thriving company, Nasvik Construction Co. And though she didn’t attend Bemidji State herself like her father did, Sikorski’s BSU roots go even deeper: Uncle Ed Johnson was instrumental in helping start the men’s hockey program and served as the Beavers’ first-ever captain in 1947.
Nowadays, Sikorski lives near Hudson, Wis. But she finally had her first chance to revisit the home on May 31. She was joined by her inconspicuously overjoyed husband, Dan, and family friends Kevin and Kathy Gratz. Childhood friend Jim Aakhus of Bemidji, who lived nearby while growing up, also swung by for a reunion decades in the making.
Sikorski eagerly explored the whole Art Deco-style house. She pointed out where she lifted up her brother to reach the top cabinets, divulged a few of the best hide-and-seek hiding spots and overlooked the terrace off her parents’ bedroom that she was never allowed out on. The house has since been converted from a residential home to office space, but much of its character – such as the pink-tiled bathroom at the top of the stairs – has been preserved.
“I’m very emotional,” Sikorski said. “It seemed so much bigger in my little kid brain. It was a huge house. And I’m looking at it now thinking, ‘How did we have seven people in there? And eight when Grandpa lived with us.’ Just amazing. It meant a lot to me. It makes me cry.”
The house is now often referred to as the Sauer House because it was once owned by the late Bemidji State professor Dr. Philip Sauer and his wife, Elizabeth. The Sauer family donated the house to the university, and it has been home to the BSU Alumni & Foundation since 2004.
But before all that, Sikorski’s grandfather made the house a reality. Sikorski said he and his company built the Alumni House, the David Park House, the A.C. Clark Library, the football stadium, First Lutheran Church, some of the local schools and more.
Years later, his efforts allowed Sikorski to find adventure after adventure inside and all around her childhood home. She used to skip down to the football field to watch the Minnesota Vikings (who held training camp in Bemidji from 1961-65), she ate popsicles with the neighboring Mrs. Park, and she “played” the grand piano in the David Park House with the Park daughters.
“The integrity that you left in the Park House, it was like walking back to when I was a kid,” Sikorski said. “And (the Alumni House) was something that my grandpa put hands to. That’s a huge thing. My dad grew up in this house. There’s a lot of history.”
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