By Jean Schlegel

A memorial sign and bench have been erected in Hinchberger Park in Valley City in memory of the late Michael Bjerke of Valley City.
Bjerke became a friend of Jerry Hinchberger a few years after Hinchberger founded the park in the mid-1970s. The park is on the 100 block of Sixth Avenue Northeast in Valley City, just north of Tourist Park.
Hinchberger, a retired railroad worker, lived across the street from empty lots next to Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks. He got the company’s permission to clean and maintain the area. As years passed, he mowed the lots and added railroad memorabilia, such as a luggage cart in which he planted flowers.
In the late 1970s, Bjerke became Hinchberger’s friend and helped him maintain the park.
“Mike became the son that Jerry never had,” said Jill Christensen of Valley City, who graduated with Bjerke from Valley City High in 1977. “Jerry never married and had very few relatives in the area.”

For the full story, see the Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, print edition of the Valley City Times-Record.