Volunteers: A Nordic Fest Success Seed (Part II)

Peg Wright at her family home in September 2014

Continuing the recent theme of #nordicfest50 input from Decorah's Wright family, Peg Wright shared the following thoughts on the community spirit she saw come together with the first Nordic Fest in 1967.

When asked what Nordic Fest meant to her, her first answer was "hard work," an answer many volunteers would no doubt give over the five decades. Peg continued: 

"It was always fun for most of us at that time. Usually somebody you knew was involved, and you got acquainted with different people that way too. Decorah has always been great on that. We've always had great volunteers here."

Peg's son, David, Jr. added, "And people like us who are not Norwegian at all got sucked right into the whole thing." 

After David Jr.'s comments, Peg added with a laugh, "Like I say, if you can't beat them, you've got to join them!" 

It is worth noting that as the first Nordic Fest was being planned, young David Jr., a student with Decorah Community Schools, was helping Dr. Marion Nelson create the first formal catalog of items for the Norwegian American Museum. 

Nordic Fest remains virtually entire volunteer-driven after five decades. It would be difficult to accurately report how many people and how many hours have made this special non-commercial celebration happen each year. The Wright family is a wonderful example of this Decorah spirit, and there are many, many families like them in the community. 

What Decorah Nordic Fest volunteer experiences do you have to share? 

Heritage: A Nordic Fest Success Seed (Part I)

Peg Wright at her family home in September 2014. She is sitting near an art piece with the Norwegian Royal Coat of Arms created for a 1939 dinner for Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha held in the same room.

Peg Wright is a wonderful example of how nearly everyone in Decorah played their part and worked hard to establish the first Nordic Fest and lay the foundations for its success over nearly 50 years. 

Among her many contributions, Peg and her late husband Dr. David volunteered their home to be part of the first Historic Home Tours, as reviewed in last week's post. She also served as chair of the first National Rosemaling Exhibition during the first Nordic Fest. The Wright family dedicated massive time and effort to moving forward the mission of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. 

David and Peg Wright made Decorah their home in 1954 following David's two tours of duty in Korea. It was during those early experiences in Decorah where Peg observed the seeds for the long standing success of Nordic Fest at the Winneshiek County Fair, retold here in her own words:

"My husband always liked to go to the county fair. He liked to go and see the animals that the 4-H kids brought. So we went. I was astonished to see that in almost every area - the kids each have their area to bring their pigs, their cows, their lambs - in practically every one sat a Norwegian trunk. They were using it for their supplies. Those trunks had been sitting in the barn. I came out of there just sort of amazed." 

The high concentration of people with Norwegian heritage in Decorah, as Peg observes, was one important seed for the future success of Nordic Fest. The timing of the first Nordic Fest also coincided well with the shift in American culture that took place after Peg saw all the trunks at the fair when antiques and cultural heritage were generally more appreciated. 

Home Tours at Nordic Fest: Norwegian and Decorah History

The Wright family home, one of the homes on the first Nordic Fest homes tour in 1967, photo taken September 2014

One of the favorite attractions during early Nordic Fest years were the Historic Home Tours sponsored by the Tuesday Evening Hospital Unit. Tickets were $1.00 each in 1967. Shoes and smoking were not permitted in the homes. A total of 1,224 people attended tours at four homes at the first Nordic Fest. 

Among the homes on tour the first year was the resident of Dr. D.W. and Peg Wright at 404 Fifth Avenue in Decorah. Those who toured this home in 1967 received an information sheet that read as follows:

This home was built in 1892 by Dr. Axel Christian Smith, an immigrant from Norway, and one of the first physicians for Luther College. Dr. Thrond Stabo was the next owner of the house for a period of forty years. During that time, the Stabos entertained Crown Prince Olaf, the present King of Norway. Mrs. Wright has a plaque in the front entry of this house commemorating the event.

Dr. Stabo was the Norwegian Vice Consul for Iowa.  In that capacity, he entertained many celebrities from Norway in addition to the Norwegian royals, among these were Roald Amundsen; Fridtjof Nansen; Norwegian Bishops Stoylen and Lunde; Ambassador Wilhelm Morgenstierne; C.J. Hambro, President of the League of Nations Assembly; Arne Kildal, General Secretary of Nordmanns-Forbundet; and many others. 

Dr. Stabo was chairman of the Luther College Board of Regents and was knighted by King Haakon VII of Norway. He founded the Symra Literary Society in the front room of the house at Fifth Avenue and Center Street. 

Peg Wright shared the extensive Norwegian history of the home she and her late husband purchased in 1954, which is now occupied by her son and daughter-in-law, David Jr. and Jeanne during a lovely recent visit with the #nordicfest50 team. 

Additional homes on the 1967 tours were:

• Residence of Tom and Florence Lynch at 301 Upper Broadway
• Residence of L.J. and Helen Bodensteiner at 509 West Broadway
• Resident of Mr. and Mrs. B.B. Anundsen, 709 East Main Street 

The Historic Home tours continued at Nordic Fest until 1980, creating 13 years of impact for unfunded needs at the Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital in Decorah. These tours served as a predecessor to Decorah distinctions like the designation of the Broadway-Phelps Park Historic District in 1976.   

Nordic Fest Catalyst: A Tribute to Helga Lund Algyer

2015 will bring the 49th Nordic Fest in Decorah, ever closer to that historic 50th year. All that time and all those forever memories created by so many at Nordic Fest mean it's quite overdue that credit be given to the catalyst of this special celebration: Helga Lund Algyer. 

Helga, pictured above, and her husband Durwin were enjoying life in his native Decorah when she noted with interest a July 31, 1966 New York Times article entitled "Back Home in Scandinavian Oregon." The article outlined the non-commercial success of a Scandinavian festival in Junction City, Oregon.

Helga brought the article to her longtime family friend, Mike Dahly, an active member of the Decorah Jaycees. She recommended that he take a closer look on how the idea might fit for Decorah. 

Mike began a dialog with Dr. G. F. Fletchall, organizer of the Junction City festival, primarily via letters and occasionally via a then-expensive long distance phone call. A read of the article, available for purchase from the New York Times archives, reads stunningly similar to the basic tenets of the Nordic Fest. 

Nordic Fest founders credit this wonderful Junction City connection Helga started with ensuring non-commercialism became a core component of how the Decorah event operated. 

In addition to being the catalyst for Nordic Fest, Helga's long legacy of creative impact includes being a leading actress noted for her Ibsen plays in her native Seattle, writing daytime serials for CBS, NBC and WOR during New York's radio "Golden Age," and writing a novelized version of Blondie and Dagwood for United Features Syndicate. 

During her time in Decorah, her additional impact included serving as vice president for creative events with Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, as well as co-founding the Museum's volunteer program. Early Nordic Fest guests like Peggy Wood and Celeste Holm came in part because "Helga knew everyone." 

Although Helga left this life at the young age of 97 in 2004, the impact she had in serving as the catalyst for Nordic Fest, as well as many other areas, remains stunning. 

Thank you, Helga, for recognizing an idea worth sharing and leaving a forever impact on Decorah!