DINING AT SOLHEIM – THE RESIDENTIAL DINING ROOM

The current residential dining room was included in the first phase of a three-phase construction project in 1953-54.  Placed on the north wall of the room was Rocky Rothbauer’s wooden map of ships travelling from Norway to the New World.

The room has been redecorated many times in the last 70 years, generally from darker to lighter, and with more comfortable seating and improved lighting and ventilation.  But the wooden map remains.

Two examples of resident influence:  In 1977, the Resident Council requested that no background music be played while dining.  In 1994, residents requested that the dining room be expanded to avoid going to two seatings at meals.

Sources: 
“Solheim Lutheran Home, Its Life and Times, 1923-1996” by Elizabeth Batchelder and Joyce Dohlin, 1996