Camp memories lure teacher back

For most of the year, "home" for Dinah Helgeson is in Thailand at International School Bangkok, where she has been a high school choral teacher for the last seven years. When she and her husband return to the United States, home is Vashon Island, Wash.

But Helgeson's roots run deepest in Northwest Montana, thanks to a decades-old family connection to a camp on Flathead Lake.

No trip stateside is complete without a stay at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, where Helgeson spent a week each summer as a child and where she has directed the Northwest Choir Camp for the last 14 years.

"If I only had 20 or 21 days of vacation in the United States, I would make sure I spent a week of it here," she said from the camp last Wednesday. "That's how much Montana means to me."

Helgeson grew up on the Hi-Line, but every summer her family spent a week at the camp. Attending family camp was the only vacation Marcus Lindberg, a Shelby wheat farmer, ever took.

"It's the only time I remember my dad relaxing," Helgeson said.

Lindberg's initial experience at the camp wasn't so restful. He helped clear trees and build cabins there in 1946, three years after the camp was founded by 66 Evangelical Lutheran Church of America congregations in Western Montana.

The churches took turns working on the site, according to Lindberg's wife, Laila.

"When it was our turn to help, he just came," she said. "We watched this camp grow from nothing."

Laila Lindberg always loved the week she spent at family camp each year with her husband and four children. Young women would come from Kalispell to baby-sit the children while their parents attended Bible classes, and campers enjoyed "worship, rec time and a lot of singing," Lindberg said.

It was at family camp that her daughter fell in love with music. Helgeson remembers learning her first harmony from a pastor's wife when she was about 7. She loved singing a part other than the melody.

"I was hooked. That's when it dawned on me that music is beautiful," she said.

"I learned how to sing here. I learned my first harmonies here. I knew then … that nobody could hurt me when I sang.

"That's when it became my refuge. This camp brought that to me."

Her love for music grew with her. By the time she reached college, she knew it would be part of her life forever - but she also had discovered a passion for teaching. Helgeson majored in choral education at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.

"I think there are very few kids who know when they get out of high school what they want to do," said Lindberg, who considers her daughter a "born teacher."

"She was one of them. She always knew what she wanted to do."

Despite her love for teaching, Helgeson considered earning a second degree in vocal performance. As late as May 14 the year she graduated from Pacific Lutheran, with commencement looming ever nearer, Helgeson was wavering between teaching and performing with the Seattle Opera.

She left the decision up to God.

"I said, 'OK, if I don't do this, then I'm going to do this,'" she said.

When the opera company didn't hire her, Helgeson's destiny was clear. She spent the next two decades as a high school vocal music teacher in Kent, Wash.

"I love teaching," she said. "I love learning from the kids. … The kids feed me.

"It's such an awesome thing."

After about 12 years of teaching, Helgeson's daughter, Heidi, was born. Helgeson started her own vocal studio at that time, to teach voice lessons.

She continued to expand her career by becoming an adjudicator and guest conductor. Her first stint as a guest conductor was with the Cut Bank honor choir.

From there, "it just took off," Helgeson said. "I think it was because I was a woman. There weren't a lot of women doing what I was doing."

Even after she and her husband, Doug, retired and moved to Shelby, Helgeson continued conducting and adjudicating at festivals all over the world, including at International School Bangkok. During her third guest appearance in Thailand, she made an offhand comment to a school administrator.

"If this job ever opens up, let me know," she said.

The comment was just made in passing, she added - it was something to fill the space between performances. But it wasn't long afterward when Helgeson received a long-distance call in her hotel room in Kansas, where she was staying during another music festival.

"Were you serious when you said to let you know if a job opened up?" the principal wanted to know.

Helgeson was serious, and she, Doug and their then-16-year-old daughter moved to Bangkok during summer 2001. Helgeson became the high school choral teacher and head of the fine arts department. Doug, after taking a stab at retirement, became the dean of students.

"We just absolutely love it," she said.

Even though she enjoys her job in Thailand, the highlight of Helgeson's year is the week she spends each summer at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp. She loves her time with the campers, many of whom return each year, and she loves the camp that played such an integral role in her childhood.

Evidence of her family's legacy is everywhere, from a boat launch christened "Lindberg Landing" to the camp's grand piano, both of which were donated by her mother.

"It's definitely my roots, coming back," she said. "It's where my childhood memories come from."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.