That on this farm the flies were so bad in the summer that nobody was allowed to go into their sod house until after dark. We and three students working with us on a research project, Erin Conroy, Amy Kjesbo and Greta Smolnisky, took the tour of the Welk farm one June day. Evelyn leads us through the Welks' home, a sod house that was later faced with siding, like many sod houses in the Strasburg area. The interior is simple, suggesting the struggles of pioneering on the plains. Lawrence gave his mother for a birthday present, and yes, an old accordion.
Worshippers gather for weekday mass.
Morning mass is a good time to see the interior of Sts. Peter and Paul, with its statues, stained glass windows and ceiling murals. This window features the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A small section of the stained-glass window of St. Stephen. With Evelyn still in the lead, we climb the outside stairs to the attic in which Lawrence and his brothers slept.