anastasia lux

New solar panels at New Dosey Township Town Hall added October 2011


Little Library for Cloverton
Weekenders Carole and Ron Hessler built this adorable Little Library for Cloverton. People can leave a book, then take a book to read.

Archives

September 2008 – Maria Starowoitow

FEATURED RESIDENT-SEPTEMBER 2008

Tucked up at the end of Loggers Lane going north off Rutabaga Road is the little farm where Maria Starowoitow has lived for the last 54 years of her life. The farm is no longer in use, but its charming little old buildings are reminiscent of a time long past.

Maria Zanosko was born in the small rural village of Kartuz-Bereza in Poland on December 10th, 1925. She was the 2nd oldest of 8 children.

At a dance at a camp for misplaced persons after the end of World War II, Maria was attracted to the accordionist, a young man named Feodor Starowoitow. They were married in 1948 and in 1951 a sheep rancher in the state of Washington sponsored their emigration to America. Seasickness made the 4 month trip over the ocean a terrible experience for Maria. She and Feodor took the train from New York City to Spokane where they worked on the ranch of their sponsor. In order to pay off their indenture, Feodor worked with the sheep, while Maria was a cook at the ranch.

Maria was very lonely in Washington and longed for other family members who were emigrating to Minneapolis. They moved to Minnesota and worked at a Chinese café until 1954 when they purchased the dairy farm here in Cloverton. They also bought a farm 3 miles down on Pine County Highway 24 where grandma Starowoitow lived for many years.

Their daughter Lucy was born in Mora in 1954. Lucy and her sister Tania, born in 1961, attended the Cloverton School until it closed, then went in to Sandstone to finish their local education.

Maria worked at 3 different jobs during her younger years. Her first job , of course, was working side by side with her husband on the farm. She also had a job for 2 years in the rutabaga fields in Askov and Sturgeon Lake. She was paid one dollar per hour. From 1967 until 1974, she worked at the Duxbury Store. To this day, she talks about how much she enjoyed working with Dorothy Dumas and Mabel Burson. Mabel, as most of you know, is the mother of Eleanor Elliott from the neighboring community of Markville. Mabel now lives in the Pine Medical Center in Sandstone and dear Dorothy passed away a few years ago.

Cross stitching, knitting, crocheting, and making braided rugs were all hobbies of Maria’s throughout the years. She speaks both Polish and Russian fluently.

Maria is grandmother to 3 children- Sasha, Angelina, and Tasha, and great-grandmom now to little Serenity, who was born on July 5th of this year.

Feodor died in 1986 and Maria still lives on the old farmstead where, as her age creeps up, she enjoys watching the deer, feeding her hummingbirds, and battling the red squirrels. She is indeed a New Dosey treasure!

Comments are closed.