Eating Your Way Through Water Street 2014 will be here soon

The 48th annual Nordic Fest gets underway in Decorah in a little over three weeks! 

A commonly cited highlight of a visit to Nordic Fest is "eating your way through Water Street," with stops at the many red Nordic Fest booths that offer fine food and Norwegian goodies for sale. 

It may not be commonly known that the official Nordic Fest food vendors are nonprofits and church organizations who give a percentage of their sales back to the event that provides them with a meaningful source of revenue for their entire year. Your eating brings great local good! 

In 2004, Nordic Fest celebrated its yummy food reputation by publishing the Recipes and Remembrances cookbook pictured above - excerpts reprinted with permission.  

Perhaps my favorite Norwegian recipe in the book comes from Dorothy Seegmiller and her submitted Rommegrot recipe: 

2 sticks of Blue Bonnet margarine

1 C flour

5 C 2% milk

3/4 C sugar

1/4 t salt

Melt margarine in a heavy kettle. Add the flour and cook a little. Then add the milk and continue cooking until thick. Remember to stir constantly. Add sugar and salt. Cover with cinnamon and melted butter to desired taste. 

What's your favorite recipe to keep your Nordic Fest "eating your way through Water Street" going all year long? 

Luren Singers: Another Nordic Fest Staple

On March 17, 1868 four Northeast Iowa residents homesick for their native Norway began singing together. 

The resulting Luren Singers have reached out from the Decorah area across the world for nearly 150 years. The Luren Singers are the oldest Norwegian American male chorus in North America! 

Luren Singer concerts at the Courthouse Square and participation in the Nordic Fest parade, as pictured above, are now staples of the Nordic Fest experience. 

The repertoire of the Luren Singers includes a number of ethnic Norwegian and contemporary tunes. You may review their playlist here. Want to have a piece of their beautiful singing to remind you of your Nordic Fest experiences? Order their CD's here. Want to explore more details on The Luren Singers, visit their website. 

Just a few days ago, the Luren Singers participated in the 2014 Sangerfest in the Twin Cities. For more information on the Norwegian Singers Association of American, visit their website. 

The Luren Singers will be a part of the 2014 Nordic Fest opening ceremonies, parade and will give their own concert. For details on exact times and locations, consult your Nordic Fest program or visit www.nordicfest.com, where the program is scheduled to be available sometime in July. 

More Pokey Pete: Do You Have Photos to Share?

Li'TL Pokey in the 2005 Nordic Fest parade 

True to the loving way they've been caring for the Pokey Pete legacy for many years, the following news release comes from the Decorah Lions: 

The Decorah Lions are working on preserving the legacy of the Pokey Pete train ride.

The old train engine is in need of updating, as well as the train cars.

A replacement tractor has been donated to the Lions, and the process to have appearance modifications made  have begun.

Along with improvements to the train, the Lions are interested in making other changes to enhance the Pokey Pete experience for children, parents and grandparents.

One hope is to be able to collect photos of Pokey Pete and the many happy riders through the years, and assemble a photographic timeline, to be displayed at the Lions’ Nordic Fest booth.

The Lions are appealing to the public, asking for such photos to be submitted to the Lions (understanding that they may be used as part of this display). The Decorah Lions will make copies of the photos and originals will be returned to the person submitting them.

Photos can be submitted to any Decorah Lions Club member, dropped off at the Hawkeye Stages office or emailed to steve at hawkeye stages dot com. 

Pokey Pete: A Nordic Fest and NE Iowa Legacy of Service

In 1970, Ernest Petersen, also known as Pokey Pete, first brought his hand-made children's train to the Nordic Fest. The bright red train became a staple of Nordic Fest, offering young guests 10 cent rides and appearing in every Nordic Fest parade.  

Pokey Pete continued as a Nordic Fest staple for 20 years. His infectious enthusiasm multiplied the joy experienced by many a Nordic Fest guest. 

Did you know that Pokey Pete gave all the funds from his joyous rides at Nordic Fest and many other northeast Iowa events and activities to charity? His overall impact exceeds $370,000! 

There is a 30 minute video that documents the incredibly generous and incredibly selfless life of service to youth, area residents in need and the Salvation Army by Ernest "Pokey Pete" Petersen that you can view on YouTube here. 

After Pokey Pete announced his retirement at the 1989 Nordic Fest, one of his trains, L'il Pokey, ultimately went back to the Nordic Fest and is currently operated and lovingly maintained by John Tjostem and many members of the Decorah Lions Club. 

Do you have a favorite Pokey Pete memory at Nordic Fest? Share your experiences in the comments below. 

Jaycee Congratulations for Nordic Fest Founders

Pictured left to right at the 40th Nordic Fest in 2006 are: Harry Olson, DiAnn Svenson, representing her late husband, Gary Svenson, Phyllis Leseth, Darrell Pierce, and Jerry Aulwes. Not pictured are Mike Dahly and the late Dr. Marion Nelson, all Nordic Fest founders.  Harry Olson, Gary Svenson, Darrell Pierce, Jerry Aulwes and Mike Dahly were active Decorah Junior Chamber members (Jaycees) who got the ball rolling in 1966 for the first Nordic Fest, which took place in 1967. The first Nordic Fest was named State and National Jaycee Project of the Year. These Jaycee founders recently received a special communication, reprinted here with permission:

Hello Jerry Aulwes, Mike Dahly, Harry Olson, Darrell Pierce and DiAnn Svenson,

I understand that Nordic Fest, one of our past national projects of the year, is about to turn 50 years old.  Please accept my congratulations as Nordic Fest nears its 50^th anniversary!  We have honored a number of national projects throughout the years, as you well know.  I am not aware of any of them that have continued for 50 years. 

This is a remarkable achievement and all of you are to be commended.  I hope your town, its citizens and elected officials appreciate the hard work you have put into Nordic Fest for five decades. Your Mayor should proclaim a Nordic Fest day or something.

Thanks again for being wonderful ambassadors of the Jaycee movement and for being outstanding examples of what we are all about.

Joel Harper

Executive Director
United States Junior Chamber

Nordic Fest: Many Parts of the Story

The above photo is from the front of the 1967 Nordic Fest program. In nearly 50 years, there have been many parts of the Nordic Fest story that have added substantially to the overall outstanding guest experience. Some of those story parts over the years include:

• Church dinners 
• Entertainers from Norway and other Nordic countries 
• Fishing fly-ins 
• Food booths throughout Water Street with tasty Nordic treats 
• Home tours of historic Decorah properties 
• Lutefisk eating contest
• Nordic Dancers 
• Nordic Fest medals, as first designed by Grant Woldum
• Nordic Rock Throw
• Pokey Pete 
• Luren Singers 
• Trollheim: Tur til fots
• Vesterheim Folk Art Exhibitions 

This list only begins to scratch the surface of specific memories made over nearly 50 years of Nordic Fests. What are some of your favorite parts of the story? Use the comments field below to add your ideas. 

On Syttende Mai, a Salute to Vesterheim

Today marks the 200th Norwegian Constitution Day, also known as Syttende Mai. For more information on the Bicentennial celebrations in Norway, click here. 

In addition to being a major holiday in Norway, Syttende Mai will also be formally celebrated in the United States at strongholds of Norwegian culture like Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum in Decorah. For more information on celebrations in Decorah today, click here. 

As the above scan from a June 1967 Vesterheim newsletter indicates, the Museum has been a key part of Nordic Fest since the very beginning. After the five Jaycee volunteers started developing the initial concept, they wisely involved the late Dr. Marion Nelson of Vesterheim as one of their co-founders. The result of this collaborative effort is one of the key decades-long strengths of Nordic Fest made clear in my research to date: a focus on authentic Scandinavian cultural celebration. 

Vesterheim hosted the first National Rosemaling Exhibition at the 1967 Nordic Fest. This event has since been expanded to include weaving, woodworking and knife-making, all done in authentic Norwegian tradition. 

As expressed during a recent gathering of the surviving Nordic Fest founders, "Vesterheim and the National Folk Art Exhibition at Nordic Fest have probably done more to preserve and expand upon authentic art knowledge and preservation than any other effort made in the United States." 

Happy Syttende Mai, Vesterheim. Thank you for being a cornerstone of Nordic Fest!