Grotto continues to attract from near and far

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
August 31, 2006

WEST BEND - Summertime is always the heaviest tourist season for the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend and this year was no exception.

The June 29 issue of The Globe highlighted some of the ongoing challenges of The Grotto such as a decrease in attendance from the 1960s to the present day.

"But what has been nice is that we probably had about 1,000 more people in the month of July than what we did have last year," noted Rhonda Miller, executive director of the Grotto. "People are maybe making a point to visit."

The recent article possibly could have rekindled some positive childhood memories of day vacations to The Grotto and gave them a desire to provide that same experience for their own families.

Miller has received numerous testimonials from tourists.

Some testimonials are:

"I grew up in Emmetsburg, graduating in 1957 from St. Mary's Catholic School. I was first introduced to the beauty of mosaics by Father Dobberstein's grotto. I have never forgotten it and it has and is influencing my life to this day," wrote Dr. M. Karen Ruddy of Emmetsburg.

"I have such fond memories as a child and adult of the awesome beauty of creating this Holy Grotto out of rocks. I'm a collector of special rocks and want to see you continue the works of Father Dobberstein who I met personally as a child of 10 or so," wrote Marge Stanek of Sioux City.

"My husband and I were married by Father Dobberstein in 1928. I took instructions from him. We watched the Grotto grow for many years, how beautiful. I am 96, my husband passed away 31 years ago," wrote Marie Heim of Carroll.

Miller mentioned that the June article in The Globe made people more aware of the fact that while there is not necessarily new construction at The Grotto, there is an expense to operate the shrine.

"I think people may be more in tune with leaving a donation as opposed to maybe coming and not leaving anything," she said. "It can be easy to assume that because it is built, therefore there are no costs to having it here."

Some of the expenses include such things as staff salaries, maintenance and other operational expenses as well as ongoing weather-proofing and minor repairs of the grotto, its grounds and buildings.

Miller cited an increase in Web traffic as well. The Web has experienced about a 30 percent increase over last year.

There could be some people assume that The Grotto only receives area tourists. Stats tell a different story.

"In April, for example, there were people from 24 states and 13 foreign countries. In the month of May, tourists came from 34 states and 19 foreign countries. In the month of June, we had 43 states and 14 foreign countries and in July we had 43 states as well and 19 foreign countries," she said.

Many of those people had some type of connection and "they make a point of coming home," noted Miller. "It reminds them of their Iowa roots."

The Grotto received the following testimonial:

"In the early 1950s my parents, Emmett and Lucy Mohrhouser of Lake View, Iowa would pack all of us six siblings in the car and drive to West Bend's Grotto of Redemption. Father Dobberstein would set out on the lawn under a shade tree on Sundays to greet visitors. My father made it a point that each of us children - Magdalen, Gerald, Sheran, myself, George and Christie, Anna, Jane - would line up and shake Father Dobberstein's hand. My father felt he was a very blessed man...almost as if meeting the pope. Years later I made the trip again with my two children from Denver, Colo. Now today, I am here again with my 15-year-old granddaughter, Jessica, from Georgia. I currently live in Deming, N.M. and I never fail to feel in awe of this most perfect holy place. God Bless it's continuance until I return with my great grandchildren," wrote Linda Mohrhouser-Drilling of Deming, N.M.

While the Grotto does receive many return visits, Miller mentioned that many of the newcomers stop on the word-of-mouth recommendation of others.

The warm and dry summer season was used as a time to replace the memorial marble plates in the Grotto's Memorial Walk or Rose Garden. The marble plates were replaced with bricks that can be engraved with a person or organization's name. Interested people may purchase a brick for $100. This project titled Guardians of the Grotto was initiated in 1999. The Grotto also contains a memorial wall where people can purchase a marble tile for $1,000 (bronze lettering), $2,500 (silver lettering) or $5,000 (gold lettering).

Miller noted that the shop class from West Bend-Mallard High School recently created a form that will be used to make benches. By this next spring, she anticipates that The Grotto will house several of these benches, which will contain space for memorial plaques.

As the busy summer season winds down, the Grotto staff will switch gears to marketing, grant writing and event planning. The fall and winter months will also be a time when work continues on expanding and creating new displays in the Grotto Museum.