One last bench remains to be restored, donations sought to support finishing the project
Lake Boulevard is a quiet, one-way street that runs above and along Lake Bemidji between the city’s waterfront parks and Bemidji State University.
With stately houses on the west, a wide sidewalk runs parallel to the roadway on the east, overlooking the shoreline. Fixed along that walkway have been five historic stone benches built by the Works Progress Administration, four of which have badly deteriorated over the years.
Three of those benches have now been fully restored, thanks in large part to the Marion Dessert Memorial Fund, established at the Northwest Minnesota Foundation in 2018 after Marion passed away at age 98. The fund supports projects that improve the quality of life in Bemidji.
For 58 years, Marion lived at 615 Lake Boulevard, raising two children in the home with her husband, Ed, an attorney. She was a devoted mother and dedicated community volunteer.
“She just had a real love for life,” recalled her son, Bill. “She was an eternal optimist, nothing ever got her down. If bad things were happening around her, she would just look for the good, the silver lining.”
Bill was 3 months old in 1955 when the family moved into the Lake Boulevard home. The benches had been built long before the family arrived, remaining in good shape throughout his childhood. But as time went on, Marion noticed how they began showing their age.
“As she got older, the benches fell into disrepair … she would always say, ‘Gosh, I wish someone would fix those benches,’” he said. “That’s how this whole thing got started.”
The first stone bench was repaired in 2022, with funding from the Marion Dessert Memorial Fund, and the positive reaction from neighbors and the greater community continued to spur discussion about the remaining benches.
Thanks to more than $60,000 in funding provided by the Marion Dessert fund, the George W. Neilson Foundation, and Mississippi Music at the Bemidji Waterfront, two additional benches were restored this past summer.
The last bench, at the very end of Lake Boulevard at the start of the Bemidji State campus is not likely to be restored, so that leaves just one last bench to be restored.
Bill would love to see the community embrace the project and help fund the restoration of the bench at Eighth Street, to see the project finally complete. Anyone interested is encouraged to donate to the Marion Dessert Memorial Fund at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/nwmfoundation/restriction/Marion+Dessert+Memorial+Fund
