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.
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?
No comments:
Post a Comment