Fifty Years of Nordic Fest! Guest post by Dr. Elwin D. Farwell

Dr. Elwin D. Farwell on campus during his tenure as Luther College President, 1963-1981.
Photo courtesy Luther College Archives, Creative Commons License, https://www.flickr.com/photos/luthercollegearchives/ 

Editor's Note: With the week of the 50th Nordic Fest here, the Nordic Fest 50 team is honored to publish this guest post from Dr. Elwin D. Farwell, who served as Luther College President as the first Nordic Fest came together in 1967. Dr. Farwell and his wife Helen set a beautiful tone for Nordic Fest being good for Luther College and Luther College being good for Nordic Fest across 50 years. 

Fifty years, half a century of Nordic Fest! Each one distinctive and a showcase for Decorah. I recall Dale Ahern, newspaper editor lamenting all the events of May in Decorah, then nothing until September. We really needed some event to bridge the long summer months. And so the birth of Nordic Fest! 

Each year it is a new experience - an opportunity for Decorah to showcase its beauty and uniqueness. We who live here are blessed throughout the years but in late July we can share our quality of life with visitors from far and wide. And they come!

We who live in this beautiful valley named for an Indian chef really are a privileged people. We have the Upper Iowa River, recreational facilities, golf courses, exceptional schools - Luther College and nearby, in Calmar, the fine Northeast Iowa Community College.  

Helen and I thank God for the people of Luther who invited us to leave California and come here 53 years ago. Our California friends thought we were crazy for leaving that climate. But they were wrong! 

In preparation for Nordic Fest, we share generously and put on our finest hospitality. The parade is one of my favorite events. I appreciate the marching bands, the floats with queens and the comic characters. 

This huge crater - the valley of the Upper Iowa becomes a time during Nordic Fest where we show to visitors the best of life. Merchants display a welcome and show their best with those drawn to the life and culture of the town. And everyone cooperates to make the Fest better each year. 

We consider living here a privilege. Decorah is a special place - made so by special people - not just Norwegians but adopted English and Germans, Danes and even Swedes!  There is a fine ecumenical spirit that visitors sense when they come, and it is valid because that is how we live, what we believe, and what we share.