Making Memories Last Retreat opens in Adrian

• Making Memories

julie buntjer/daily globe Laura Richters (left) and Denise Severtson have opened Making Memories Last Retreat in a duplex/commercial building on Pearl Street in Adrian.

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ADRIAN — Whether you want to organize a scrapbooking get-away for the girls, host a quilting retreat or simply bring a bridal party together for a fun-filled weekend, the owners of the newly-opened Making Memories Last Retreat in Adrian have the perfect atmosphere to offer.

Friends Denise Severtson of rural Kenneth and Laura Richters of Luverne spent more than a year remodeling, repairing and refinishing a combination duplex and commercial building on Pearl Street (Nobles County 35) on Adrian’s east side to create the retreat center.

The two women, who met at a scrapbooking event eight years ago, had been looking for just the right location for more than two years before they discovered the potential in the Adrian site. Originally, the building was a chicken hatchery and attached home, but for the past several years had been a rental property and at one time a second-hand shop.

The women purchased the buildings in September 2010 and did much of the work inside with the help of their husbands and children. One of the most extensive projects was the construction of a stairway that connects the retreat center’s common gathering spaces with sleeping quarters for those attending weekend retreats.

The 7,000-square-foot facility includes a living/family room, kitchen with table seating for up to 14 guests, a large work room with ample lighting for scrapbooking, quilting or crafting and six bedrooms. Five of the bedrooms are located in the upper level of the duplex, while a large, handicap-accessible bedroom has five captain’s beds and an adjoining handicap-accessible restroom. All of the beds are covered in handmade, patchwork quilts donated to the retreat center by a Sioux Falls, S.D., woman.

The year-long effort to create the retreat center including installation of all new plumbing and electrical, restoration of original hardwood floors in the duplex, removing walls and adding others, and installing both heating and air conditioning. Still, Severtson and Richters say there is more work to be done.

“We want to make a little homemade shop, and we want a computer room eventually,” Richters said.

Wireless internet is already a feature of the retreat center, and a Cricut machine is set up and available to scrapbookers. Other tools and punches are also available for use.

The women welcomed their first retreat to the facility on Sept. 16, when a group came in for a three-day scrapbooking retreat, and now has several more potential bookings after a recent open house. They said people inquired about renting the space for a family Thanksgiving gathering and graduation receptions.

While more scrapbooking events are scheduled, the women hope to eventually host scrapbooking classes in combination with weekend retreats. If people are interested in taking part in a scrapbooking retreat and are not part of a scrapbooking group, they are encouraged to call the retreat center and be added to a list to be invited to future retreats.

Severtson and Richters, who usually had to travel two to four hours away to attend a retreat, are happy to be offering a retreat center right in their backyard. Typically during retreats, the attendees create a schedule for meal planning so each person brings food and assists in preparation of one meal. All attendees are welcome and encouraged to bring snack items to share.

Both women say the retreat center wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of their families.

“They did everything from painting to putting in light fixtures to putting beds together and cleaning up,” Richters said.

For information on renting the retreat center, call (507) 827-0055 or email makingmemorieslastretreat@hotmail.com.

The business also has a website: www.makingmemorieslastretreat.com.

Tags: making memories last retreat, news, opens, adrian