Dale and Patti Thormodsgard recently opened Bergamo Campground, located at 15661 Tom Jefferson Drive NW in Solway, and are ready to host campers and events this summer.
Bergamo campground has been a project in the making and a lifelong dream for Dale and Patti Thormodsgard.
“Everything is in this,” Patti emphasized. “They say don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but guess what? This is a dream that needed to happen.”
The campground officially opened on May 1, hosting seasonal and temporary campers with several more construction projects still in development.
Featuring 232 acres and 49 campsites, the campground is surrounded by a natural landscape to host relaxing activities and fun events for the community.
“We fell in love with this property,” Patti said with a smile. “It just seemed like everything was just falling into place. There was a reason we were called to come here.”
“For example, we got to see a pair of deer born right outside the window yesterday,” Dale chimed in, gesturing toward the woods.
The property will have several functions, including hosting campers, events, weddings and concerts.
“Our primary goal is to have seasonal campers and build long-term relationships with those folks,” Dale said. “But we will always accommodate the folks on the road if they need to stay the night. Even for the seasonal people, if they have friends or family that want to come camp in the same campground that they’re in, we always want to have some spaces for them to be able to do that.”
Each campsite is 60 feet wide and 100 feet deep with 50/30/20 amp metered electricity, septic and water available. Additional features in development are a sports complex, bathhouse, laundry facility, 15-acre pond, wedding venue and other additional sites.
While trying to decide a name for their campground, the Thormodsgards settled on Bergamo, pronounced Bear-ga-moe, in honor of Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami and its connection to their familial ties.
Beltrami, who Beltrami County is named after, was born and raised in Bergamo, Italy. Patti’s family on her father’s side comes from that same Italian town.
“We still have family in Bergamo to this day,” Patti shared. “So the name just means so much to us, you know? And this project means so much more since we’ve put all of our heart into it. We have everything in this. You know, there’s no plan B.”
Bergamo’s slogan “Get your mind right” comes from the couple’s passion to provide a balance of relaxing activities and fun events for their seasonal campground residents and the surrounding community.
“Man, there are so many things to do,” Dale added. “There are endless possibilities and fun summer activities for this place. We can’t wait to make all of these dreams a reality for us and the people that will come make memories here with us.”
Parking will be available at Bergamo campground for JD’s Outpost Rodeo set for June 21-22, with shuttles available to pick people up from the campground and bring them to the rodeo location.
Solway Bible Chapel will hold its second annual Proclaim Summer Concert on Aug. 31 at Bergamo. The event is free and open to the community. For more information or to support the event, visit solwaybiblechapel.org/proclaim.
“We provide electricity for food trucks and vendor booths,” Dale said in reference to Proclaim. “We provide the infrastructure for the venue and want this place to be filled with people. We want to host more events and have a lot of future plans for our community and our campers.”
Dale and Patti are eager to host more campers and events as they continue to expand their operation into a relaxing, fun and community-centered space.
“In today’s environment, it seems like there’s so much division,” Dale left off. “We’re trying to get more hugging and less fighting. That’s part of the reason why we’ve built this, to bring people together and make our community stronger.”
For more information, visit bergamo-camp.com or call (218) 467-3529.
