KELLIHER — Just in time for Mother’s Day, a lasting tribute to the late Angeline "Annie B" Bieganek is taking shape in the town she loved.

Family, friends, neighbors, even strangers, have come together to build “Annie B’s Bee Hive,” a log structure attached to the Kelliher Liquor Store. That’s the municipal watering hole and eatery where Ann was a frequent customer.

She died last July at the age of 86. Her husband, David, died five months later. The Bieganeks owned and operated the Kelliher Shopping Center store for 57 years.

“My mother was quite a lady,” said Mark Bieganek. “She really was. She had a kind spirit and an absolute love of her community. I was very fortunate to have a hell of a mother. Dad was more of a private guy, but he would be tickled pink.”

It took only four days for the crew to build the 24-by-28-foot structure, which features large boulders supporting logs and a metal roof.

“With the help of many community members and family this idea on a dinner napkin has been accomplished,” Mark wrote in a Facebook post last week.

Heim Log Homes of Kelliher spearheaded the project. Mark’s son, Cory, works for Heim Log and was the lead builder on the project. Owner Nate Heim worked with Dickinson Timber General Manager Jeff Peterson, who cut the purlins and rafters for the roof and donated them.

Family friend Travis Duresky donated the rocks. Bob Kenel of Grizzly Bob's R.G. Kenel Log Builders will donate the stain. Brent Benusa of Minneapolis provided architectural drawings. Jerry Dudley of Ponemah donated some of the logs. Todd Mortenson of Mort’s Electric is donating electrical work.

Cory Beiganek has been building log homes with Heim for nine years and said this project was especially rewarding considering it paid tribute to his grandmother.

“Every second you’d think about her,” Cory said. “She would be telling us, ‘You boys didn’t have to build that for me.’ But you know damn well she’d be sitting in there drinking a beer. It’s way more special than anything I’ve ever built. Every house we’ve built has a lot of meaning to the homeowner and to us. But building this was really special.”

Cory lived with Ann and David for the first few years after he moved to Kelliher to take the job with Heim Log Homes. He forged a special relationship with Grandma Annie.

“She was just the sweetest lady ever,” Cory said. “She’d give you the last dollar in her pocket. She did that for a lot of people. Even after she passed away dad was finding out from many people about stuff she had given them. She was such a sweetheart.”

Mark said siblings Jewel Eggen, Karen Thayer, Ron Johnsrud and Greg Bieganek were all on board with the project, even though it meant spending some of their inheritance.

“I said, here’s the deal, you’re not going to get what you think you’d get if we do this,” Mark said. “And they all were absolutely excited for it."

The family hopes to organize an open house at the Kelliher Liquor Store this summer. A permanent sign on the structure will read: “Welcome to Annie B’s Bee Hive. Where Fun and Fellowship and Respecting One Another is a Virtue.”

“Mom would always say, ‘Have fun and fellowship,’” Mark explained. “She was big into morals. You have to do right. What does your conscience allow? You can do anything in the world you want, but you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror at night and like what you see.”

Annie B would certainly like what she saw if she could visit her favorite watering hole today.

“That’s where she met all her friends and just loved the atmosphere of it,” Mark said. “It’s just what she enjoyed doing. My parents had given a lot to the community over the years, and we figured a way to kind of leave a legacy.”