The formal garden circles will be planted for the knot garden and wedding lawn.

The Mabel and Judy Jasper Educational Center is modeled after the L-shaped schoolhouse that once stood on this site. It contains a meeting room and historical classroom upstairs and a large, open lower level.

The Educational Center's upper level deck gives visitors a fantastic view of the Arboretum grounds. The lower level patio is a lovely space for dinners or receptions.

After arriving in Dakota Territory, John Elm, of Swedish stock, met and in 1887 married Dina Mathison, a Norwegian immigrant. The couple lived in East Sioux Falls, a company town. A quarry company owned the entire town site, including the Elm home, and surrounding land, all with underlying deposits of Sioux quartzite. John was a stonecutter, a dangerous trade that required strength, precision, and a sixty-hour work week.

Between 1888 and 1898, the couple became the parents of five children. Three months after the birth of Mabel, their only

daughter, Dina died of "child-bed fever" at the age of 40. Grieving over the unexpected loss of his wife, John died one year later at age 36. He and Dina rest side by side in unmarked graves in nearby Hokenson Cemetery.

All five of the young Elm children were then taken in by other families to be raised. Dina's DNA proven Hamre and Aker relatives took four of them: Oscar by Peder P. and Helen Aker, Victor by Elias and Synva Eidi, Mathias by Aad and Aadina Hamre, and Mabel by Edward and Anna Peterson. Elmer was raised by Swedish quarryman Petter and Alma Petterson.