The late Pat Maloney, pictured above, served with the Decorah Newspapers team from 1968 until 1992, arriving in the second year of Nordic Fest. Pat continued making contributions to the team after his retirement, as seen in this 1998 copyrighted editorial reflecting on the 1998 Nordic Fest. Used with permission.
Thank you, Pat for being an important part of the Nordic Fest team!
The 1998 Decorah Nordic Fest not only had perfect weather for the entire celebration, it also had "perfect" cooperation from supporting local churches and organizations.
It takes good teamwork to make any endeavor of this size successful, and the monumental volunteer effort to make this ethnic celebration click has been present for many years.
The generosity of the Fest Board in sharing not only the plaudits but the profits with its many community helpers is a big factor in the overall success. The Board receives only a modest 10 percent of gross proceeds raised by local vendors. Churches and organizations that supplement the food and drink offerings of restaurants, including Norwegian delicacies, are provided an incentive to participate.
Fest Board President Julie Ahrens disclosed that most of the 15 to 20 churches and organizations reported brisk sales leading to "sellouts," so it's a "win-win" situation.
Ahrens expressed pleasure over the distribution of 90 percent of the 50,000 brochures printed to promote the 1998 Fest. She said marketing of the brochures was directed by a firm in Wisconsin, with Decorah's "snow birds" also "very helpful" in giving many away to prospects on their winter trips to warmer climates.
"We also had to sell 6,000 Fest programs (at $1 each) during the four days to break even," said Ahrens, "and I think we came close. We won't know the financial outcome of the Fest until all the bills are in by the time of our annual meeting in Sept. 14, the first Monday after Labor Day."
The Nordic Fest Board gets the extra help it needs to feed and refresh the visiting multitudes, and the churches and organizations get a welcome opportunity to legitimately fatten their treasuries.
All that is done while pleasing the Festers, who don't have that "gouged" feeling. They keep coming back "to see it again for the first time."
Peaceful weekend
Can you believe that for the third year in a row the "crime rate" during Nordic Fest has been lower than the average normal weekend?
That's the good word from Police Chief Ben Wyatt. That's kind of amazing considering all the money being handled in all the various booths throughout the downtown area from Thursday through Sunday.
A comment by a Fest-goer was made that they didn't see any or many uniformed policemen walking through the downtown area. Chief Wyatt reported his department using bicycle patrols to cover the downtown during the Fest "because it was easier to get bikes through the congested streets."
Despite the heavy traffic with cars and buses, only a modest three "fender benders" happened during the celebration, according to Wyatt.
It was a tribute to the orderly conduct of our Nordic Fest friends that no extra officers had to be put on duty to handle the big crowd. "The load of troublemakers just wasn't there," said Wyatt.
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