Photographer Colburn Hvidsten III shared stories of his newspaper photo experiences at Eventide University in Moorhead. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

When photographer Colburn Hvidsten III picked up the microphone, dozens of residents of Eventide Senior Living leaned forward to catch every word.
Hvidsten, better known as C3 to his former colleagues in the photo department of The Forum, launched into “Spotlighting the Rest of the Story,” focusing on a lifetime spent behind the camera in Grand Forks and Fargo. He shared tales of taking newspaper photos of people from every walk of life, from President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat (whose foot he accidentally stepped on) to the Grand Forks county coroner, and from the Zip to Zap to firefighters rescuing Alvaro Garza Jr. from the Red River more than 35 years ago.
“We live in a community with so many outstanding, talented people,” Eventide vice president Carrie Carney observed, watching from the back of the pub in The Linden. “We want to share their expertise and their stories on all kinds of subjects.”
While the free sessions take place in Eventide facilities in Moorhead, as well as Fargo and Sheyenne Crossings in West Fargo, all are open to everyone who’s interested in learning more about their neighbors. The audience, naturally, leans toward those who are retired: “They’re the ones with the time to pop in and learn something new,” Carney says.
Previous “professors” of Eventide U have included American Crystal vice president Lisa Borgen on the ins and outs of growing and processing sugar beets; WDAY telejournalist Kevin Wallevand; Doug Restemayer of DS Beverages, who talked about beer; author Carroll Engelhardt on the history of Moorhead’s pioneer Probstfield family; mixologist Andrea Anderson on the history of the Bloody Mary and the Margarita; Troy and Diane DeLeon on the history of the famous Dairy Queen; Chief Shannon Monroe telling the history of the Moorhead Police Department; and many more.
Several Eventide U events are scheduled in coming days, including “Welcome to a World Filled with Beautiful Music” with Margie Bailly on the Fargo Eventide campus at 2 p.m. Nov. 13, and “West Fargo, A City on the Grow” with West Fargo economic development manager Casey Sanders-Berglund at Sheyenne Crossings Apartments at 3 p.m. Nov. 20. The next Moorhead event will feature Markus Krueger of the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County at The Linden on Dec. 8.
For more information, keep an eye on www.eventide.org/eventide-university.