CINEMA BALLROOM FALL SHOWCASE 2011

My son is a Ballroom Dance teacher and his studio, Cinema Ballroom puts on a Fall Showcase every year at the end of September. The show consists of students showing off what they have learned in Salsa, Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango, Waltz and Swing. I am always impressed with how far the students progress each time, so each time I watch a show I vow to make it to the Beginners class on Wednesday nights. It always sounds like a great plan until Wednesday comes around. Somehow after working all day, when it's finally five o’clock, the sun is setting and while walking to my car I am freezing, going straight home sounds so much better than driving across town to take a dance class. On those rare nights I manage to get over to the studio for the class, I am always glad I made it there. And after the class is over and I have learned beginning steps to two different dances, I know it was definitely worth the effort. I am always proud to watch my son dance. This was not what he set out to do, he sort of happened upon it after college and I guess he fell in love with Ballroom Dancing. After struggling with some health issues this past year, I am finally feeling like I have more energy and I am even more determined to make it to the Cinema Ballroom dance classes on a more regular basis. So once we hit the nice weather of spring, I will be there. It is always nice to have someone accompany you so you don’t have to walk into a class alone. My cousin, Karin, met me at the studio to watch the Fall Showcase and we both enjoyed watching the dancing. Hopefully, I can convince her to join me in the spring to take a class. And of course the dresses the women wear are always beautiful. In fact, one of the reasons I want to learn Ballroom Dancing is so I can wear one of the fabulous dresses. I’ve had Ballroom Dancing on my goal list for a while now; hopefully this will be my year to make it happen!

DAUGHTER’S OF NORWAY ‘S LUTEFISK PROGRAM

I joined the Daughter’s of Norway’s newly formed Minneapolis group in 2011. It consists of a group of women who have Norwegian heritage and get together to share information and the traditions of Norway. I joined with my sister and have thoroughly enjoyed attending the meetings and learning new things from the programs. In September I received a call from the program director asking if I would be interested in giving a program about Lutefisk and my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. I was unsure about the Lutefisk part but since she was desperate, I agreed. Usually program speakers are paid a small speakers fee but since the group is new and the coffers low, it wouldn’t be in the budget. I had wanted to market my book as a program to the Sons of Norway groups, but wasn’t sure what else I could talk about besides my book. This was the solution I'd been looking for, to combine my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. with a talk about Lutefisk. The September meeting would be a great opportunity to try out the Lutefisk program on an audience, so I felt it would be worth my time and effort even without receiving a speaker fee. Hopefully, I would be able to sell a couple of books at least. I began immediately searching the internet for anything I could find out about Lutefisk, especially anything about Lutefisk in Minnesota. To my amazement and pleasure, I found more than ample information for my program. I printed out anything I thought would be useful and interesting for the program. That day I talked about Lutefisk songs, Lutefisk dinners, the Lutefisk Capital, Lutefisk movies—Lutefisk Wars, and of course my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. I have a professional banner about 6 feet tall with my book cover on it, along with other display items of my book which I brought. Next time, I will have to put it into a Power Point presentation. The program went well and the women were very interested and enthusiastic. They even provided additional bits of information on their Lutefisk experiences throughout my talk. Ultimately, it went well. I was pleased and afterwards I sold about 12 books which ended up being way more than I would’ve received for a speaker fee. So it just goes to show when you do things out of a desire to help others, the payback is always way more than you ever expected!

MYSTERY DINNER THEATER

For our Wings Financial Fall employee event we attended a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater at the Marriot West hotel in St. Louis Park mid September. These shows are considered interactive as the actors mingle with the audience in between a three course meal. Generally speaking the food is not the greatest, but, yes, it was edible. The name of the production was, A Man in Pajamas. Of course they always involve a murder, usually in the beginning and the rest of the time is spent trying to figure out who committed the murder. The show begins when Detective Chase Taylor recieves a midnight visit from a stranger in pajamas who is shot minutes later and dies. He then follows the murder trail to the Bahamas where he, of course, solves the murder. I have never been very good at figuring out who committed the murder. These work related functions provide a time to get to know your fellow workers and hopefully do some bonding which must be somehow beneficial to the company, or why would they spend the money? I usually try to attend these functions if at all possible, as it really is a perk and basically provides a free dinner and show. But obviously by the attendance numbers, not many people want to take advantage of freebies. At least not this one. Ultimately, the night was enjoyable and well worth the time spent.

MINNESOTA STATE FAIR 2011

If you have never been to the Minnesota State Fair, you are missing out on the 2nd largest state fair in the U.S. I haven’t missed a year since I started going when I was young. It became a family tradition as my mother took me and my siblings and I took my children. Even though many things at the fair are the same each year, it is still always changing. To see everything you must allow a whole day. I have a route I use each year and manage to see practically everything of interest to me in about 12 hours of nonstop walking, looking and oh of course eating which is the highlight of attending the state fair. It is amazing to see all the new foods they come up with each year from deep fried bacon to spaghetti on a stick. The Minnesota State Fair is known for all its food items on a stick. I have my favorites-- Pork Chop on a stick and Granny's Fudge Puppies (round Belgian Waffles dipped in rich Swiss Chocolate on a stick)--and of course those not on a stick--Lobster Bites, Bull Bites, Nitro Ice Cream, Fresh Cut French Fries, Sweet Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Nutella Crepes, Tom Thumb Mini donuts, and absolutely to die for London Broil Steak Sandwiches. And then I always need to buy a bag of my favorite Minnesota grown Beacon apples to bring home. First, I always go through the Arts and Crafts buildings to look at all the wonderful needlepoint, knitted, crocheted, sewn and handmade items. Next, I head to the Food Building to eat, of course. Eating is an all day thing though because you need to spread it out so you can try as much as you can. The International Bazaar has vendor booths from different countries and my favorite is a Norwegian booth where they sell Rosemaled items. This is the one place I usually make a purchase; in fact I look forward to seeing what new items she has to sell each year. Then it is on to the Dairy Building to see the butter head sculptures of the Dairy Princesses. They are absolutely amazing and if you happen to be there at the right time you can watch the sculptor at work. I am not big on rides but I always make sure to take a walk though the Midway to see if there are any new rides. The animal buildings are not my favorites but I have been known to walk through them. I prefer the Hippodrome because it has vendors which I find far more interesting than the horses. Reader sunglasses (for reading romance books at the pool or lake) were my big find at the fair and they were in the Hippodrome. Heritage Village offers a vintage theme along with a couple of railroad cars filled with memorabilia dating back to the forties. The Grandstand Building has two floors filled with vendors ranging from kitchen wares to Minnesota Wild tickets. The Grandstand itself has top name artists performing every night. I think I went to a show for about 20 years up until the last couple of years when they just didn’t have anyone I was interested in seeing. Recently, they are catering more to the younger crowd and those who like Country music which I am not into. Through the years I have seen Michael Bolton, Chicago, Hewy Lewis and the News, and Johnny Lang just to name a few. Of course my favorite things are anything Scandinavian like the Rosemaling, Hardanger, and Norwegian sweaters in the Arts and Crafts building entered to win Blue Ribbons, the Rosemaling booth in the International Village, Lefse in the Food Building, Ole and Lena’s food booth, Rosemaled Scandinavian Clog booth and the Nordic Surf band. In fact, there has been a strong Scandinavian influence since way back in 1925 when the Minnesota State Fair was the site of the Norse-American Centennial celebration and was attended by President Calvin Coolidge who recognized the contributions of the Scandinavian-Americans and Leif Erickson’s discovery of America. For the past few years we have contemplated having our Nordic Treats food booth at the fair to sell Scandinavian foods, but I think we need something new and trendy and it definitely should be on a stick—like Lutefisk on a stick, maybe? Who knows, maybe someday. . .

LAKE OKOBOJI

I had never heard of Lake Okoboji until last summer. Since one of my timeshare weeks was expiring at the end of August, I looked for a place close and drivable, hopefully in Minnesota or Iowa. What I found available was a Studio Unit at Sunrise Cove in Village West on Lake Okoboji in Spirit Lake, Iowa. I did some research on the area and found Lake Okoboji was known as the Great Lakes area of Iowa, so I went ahead and booked it. The drive wasn’t bad, only about three hours south of my house. Spirit Lake was a small town with a cute little old style downtown area. Arnold’s Park, a neighboring town on the lake, had an amusement park along with shopping, dining and boat rides. Cabins, homes, resorts, stores and restaurants surround all shores of the lake. The weather wasn’t the best as it was cool and rainy which was unusual for August but it proved to be relaxing just the same. I went shopping in all the cute little shops and antique stores looking for something unique to the area. Finding the book, Okoboji, by Peter Davidson turned out to be just what I was looking for as it was about Lake Okoboji and even included a love story. Back at the resort, I managed to complete the edits on my manuscript, Taking Chances, which was the goal for the weekend. Mission accomplished! The resort I stayed at offered a free boat ride including a tour of the lake, so I signed up. Of course it rained, but the tour boat went out anyway. It was a nice way to hear all about the history of the lake and its long time residents. On the way out of town, I stopped at the local book store, Hill Avenue Books, located on the main street in Spirit Lake. I wanted to see what type of books they carried and after chatting with the owner I mentioned my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. I wasn’t sure if she even knew what Lutefisk was, but to my surprise she told me they had Lutefisk dinners in Spirit Lake. After looking at a copy of my book she purchased a couple copies for her store! Lake Okoboji proved to be an interesting resort lake area where I could relax, work on my writing and even sell my writing!

STEVIE NICKS CONCERT

A very long time ago, back in the late seventies, when I lived in Fargo, Fleetwood Mac came to UND (University of North Dakota) to give an outdoor concert on June 27, 1976. At the time we didn’t have the money to spend on tickets to the concert even though we were huge fans of Fleetwood Mac. The night of the concert we went to UND to see if we could hear anything from outside the fenced area. The weather forecast was for a cloudy evening with a chance of showers. We had actually hoped we could sneak in somehow, but that just wasn’t an option when we got there. So we stood outside the fence and listened for awhile and then the rain started. I have to say the thing I will always remember about that concert is seeing Stevie Nicks on stage soaking wet in her long flimsy black dress clinging to her body singing, Rhiannon. So when Mystic Lake Casino announced Stevie Nicks would be performing a concert on August 24, 2011 in their new outdoor Amphitheater, I purchased tickets. Stevie Nicks is over sixty now and looks great still. She is performing again, has a new CD out and has been appearing on the talk shows promoting her tour. A lot of singers like to perform their new songs at concerts and only sing a few of their old songs which tend to be the fans favorites, but I give her a lot of credit for giving the fans what they wanted by performing all her hit songs—Landslide, Dreams, Gold Dust Woman, Stand Back, Leather and Lace, and Edge of Seventeen. She, also, managed to intertwine her new songs into the concert while explaining why she had written each one. It turned out to be a beautiful clear summer night although it got a little cool as the night progressed. Stevie was engaging and funny while she talked to the crowd telling stories about her singing career. All in all it was a must see concert living up to all my expectations. To see Stevie Nicks perform, Rhiannon, on stage in a black flowing dress at an outdoor concert, under the Minnesota summer stars, was way over thirty years in the waiting but well worth it and truly a night I will always remember!

BRANSON

I think it’s been about 10 years since my first and only previous visit to Branson. This summer I was looking for somewhere to take a mini vacation that would be a drivable distance for me and my daughters who live in Oklahoma. I had a timeshare week I needed to use and there are usually plenty of available units in Branson, so once we had our date firmed up, I booked a 2 bedroom condo. Only one of my daughter’s was able to make it to Branson with her husband and daughter, Teagan, who was 9 months old. The condo was very roomy with 2 large bedrooms, 2 full baths, a large kitchen, family room and a nice patio. Branson has a new area in the downtown area called Branson Landing. It is filled with new shops, restaurants, and a large open area perfect for concerts and events. The whole area overlooks Lake Taneycomo, with many of the restaurants featuring outside patios with views of the lake. One night we enjoyed a fabulous steak dinner at the Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse located in the Branson Landing area and listened to a band playing on the stage for awhile before heading back to the condo. In the downtown area, there are train tracks with a train depot where train rides are offered. The Branson Scenic Railway offers a 40 mile scenic excursion through the Ozark foothills winding through tunnels and then crossing bridges and trestles used by the luxury trains of yesteryear. We were able to take advantage of the train ride which proved to be quite the experience to see the foothills from the domed car while it moved through tunnels and over high trestle bridges. We were not able to take in Silver Dollar City or take advantage of a boat cruise, maybe next time. The four day weekend flew by, especially since it was an 11 hour drive to get there, but it was nice to get away with my daughter and her family while taking in the new things in Branson. And nothing beats staying in a condo instead of a cramped hotel room!

BEAVER’S POND PRESS SUMMER BBQ

Each year in August, Beaver’s Pond Press has a BBQ for their authors. I published my children’s / coffee table book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, with them in 2009. They are a local self publishing company, which is why I chose to work with them, and the founder, Milt Adams turned out to be an old Norwegian who fell in love with my book. They made the process easy to go from finished manuscript to printed book. I chose to self publish my book because it was a niche book that would most likely appeal only to the Norwegian American people in the Midwest. It has been successful and can be found in most of the Scandinavian stores in the Midwest along with some independent book stores. Considering it came out at the start of the recession, I think it has done extremely well! I like going to the BBQ because it gives authors a chance to meet with other authors to exchange marketing and promo ideas. And of course the food is always tasty. This year it was a pleasure to meet Marilyn Jax who worked as a government enforcement investigator and fraud examiner for many years and just put out her second book, Road to Omalos. Her first book, The Find, received numerous awards. I chatted with Dara Beevas, who was the editor for my book and now is the VP, about possibly putting out my second book, Real Norwegians Eat Rommegrot, in 2012. I have this book ready to go but have been waiting for the economy to recover before taking the leap of faith again. It has been almost three years though, so I think it may be time to take this next step in my Norwegian Traditions Children’s series. This was the second Beaver’s Pond Press BBQ I was able to attend and it was well worth my time because of the networking opportunities it offered to me as one of their authors.

AMERICAN IDOL 2011

In 2011, American Idol celebrated their 10th year, however, this was the first year I watched the show. I certainly have plenty of shows to watch already, so I really didn’t need another show to occupy my time, but I was visiting my sister in Florida last February and this is a show she watches faithfully so I had no choice but to watch it. After a couple nights of watching these young people sing their hearts out, I was invested enough in the show to keep watching the rest of the season. Not having watched the previous seasons, I can’t say from past experience, but I think this year the final group consisted of extremely gifted and diverse singers. Of course the elimination process never goes the way we think it will and our favorite person is eliminated way too early. I think what intrigued me with the show was all the different types of music these contestants performed. Naima Adedapo, Thia Megia, Karen Rodriguez, and Ashthon Jones were not memorable contestants, as far as I was concerned, and placed 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. Pia Toscano, who had an excellent voice and sang ballads, placed 9th but managed to get a recording contract immediately. Paul McDonald, who had a raspy voice similar to Rod Stewart, sang Rod’s hit songs. His voice wasn’t strong though and he placed 8th. Stephano Langone had a good voice although not as strong as the others. He sang various light rock songs and placed 7th. Casey Abrams was obviously an accomplished musician and played almost all the string instruments, sang Jazz and Blues and placed 6th. Jacob Lusk, who came from a church gospel choir group had an excellent, strong deep voice, sang Luther Vandross songs and placed 5th. James Durbin could belt out hard rock songs to the point of practically screaming while staying in tune and placed 4th. He has an album, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster, releasing in November. Haley Reinhart had an intoxicating raspy voice, who sang Blues and Jazz style songs, and placed 3rd. She received a recording contract shortly after the tour and will be releasing a CD soon. Lauren Alaina had a beautiful voice for the Country songs she sang and was the runner up. She released her debut album, Wildflower, a few months after the season finale. Scotty McCreery, who had an unbelievable deep country voice and of course sang Country songs, was the winner. He became the American Idol for 2011 and released his first album, Clear as Day. Since I became so invested in these people and especially loved Hailey’s version of, House of the Rising Sun, I just had to attend the concert in Minneapolis at the Target Center on August 3. I purchased my ticket late and because it had been sold out earlier, this newly available section was on the side of the stage. My seat was almost in the very last row and the seats in that area tend to be at a very steep angle which makes you feel like you could fall down at the slightest wrong step. Plus it tends to make me feel a little dizzy. It appeared they had only sold the first eight seats in each row, leaving six open seats in each row in both the top and bottom sections, so we moved down to the lower section and all was good. These ended up being excellent seats as the singers always walked to the end of the stage which faced us so they were standing only a few feet away. The concert was entertaining and the singing, of course, was top notch with all thirteen of the finalists performing. I’m not sure if I will ever attend another American Idol concert, but this one was definitely enjoyable and I look forward to buying Haley’s new upcoming CD, along with Pia’s and Scotty’s, too. I have great memories of the 2011 American Idol concert that will be remembered for a lifetime! Along with new songs on my IPOD! So you just never know what will happen by watching one episode of American Idol!

DOLLY PARTON CONCERT

I have been a fan of Dolly Parton for many years, especially her movies—Nine to Five, Rhinestone Cowboy and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Of her hit songs, my favorites are Here You Come Again, I Will Always Love You, Nine to Five, Islands in the Stream, Hard Candy Christmas, and Backwoods Barbie. Currently, Dolly, known as the Queen of Country is starring with Queen Latifah in a new movie, Joyful Noise. She owns Dollywood, an amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, that I almost was able to visit a couple of years ago, but due to flooding in the area, the convention I was planning on attending was cancelled. So when Mystic Lake Casino announced Dolly Parton would be appearing in concert on July 27, I marked it on my calendar. Generally, since we live so close to Mystic Lake, if it works out we can make it that night to the concert, we go over to Mystic to see if anyone has extra tickets to sell. Since Mystic Lake Casino gives away free tickets to their high rollers, there usually are extra tickets available. My birthday is on July 25, so I thought seeing Dolly in concert would be a great way to celebrate. That night we went over to the casino a little early to see what we could find in the way of free tickets and as soon as we arrived at the box office area, I saw a man asking if anyone wanted a free ticket to the Dolly Parton concert. I immediately went over and asked how much he wanted for it and he assured me he didn’t want anything since it was a comp ticket, but he only had one. My boyfriend wasn’t a big fan of Dolly’s anyway so he was more than happy to let me make use of the ticket and pick me up after the show. Sitting by myself next to strangers is not my prefrence, but hey it worked out okay. The seat was excellent and Dolly was quite the professional performer, engaging the audience with stories from her life, dancing in four inch heels while singing, playing various instruments and looking gorgeous as usual. I was thrilled to celebrate my birthday with the opportunity to see Dolly perform all her old songs along with songs from her new album and I wholeheartedly look forward to seeing her new movie, Joyful Noise.

OSLO MASSACRE

In the summer of 2011, on July 22, the totally unexpected occurred. Norway, a country of some of the most peace loving people of the world suffered a travesty of immense proportions. The unthinkable happened to this small peaceful country on the North Sea. One of their own, opened fire on the nation’s young people attending a summer camp on the island, Utoya, located in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. He showed no mercy. But instead, he killed looking them straight in the eye. And he did it for an unachievable and unchristian cause, using a method of unabashed cruelty and disregard for the lives he took. Young lives that still had their whole lives ahead of them. He was demented of course. First, he set a car bomb outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo, killing eight people, wounding even more and leaving 10 more people critically injured. Then traveling north to the summer camp of the AUF ‘s youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party . He dressed in a police uniform and showed fake identification to gain access to the island and opened fire, killing 69 people, including personal friends of Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway’s crown princess Mette-Marit. It was considered the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year old Norwegian right-wing extremist was arrested and charged with both attacks. His mission was to stop the tide of Muslim immigration into Europe. He hated Islam, and sadly he saw himself as a knight dedicated to eradicating the Muslims who he felt were taking over his beloved country. He desired to return Europe and Scandinavia back to only Christianity. It is hard to understand why he chose to kill his fellow Christian countrymen to try to achieve this mission. An entire nation country grieved. Anyone of Norwegian ancestry grieved, no matter where they now reside. I attended a memorial church service at the Mindekirken Church in Minneapolis where 69 roses were laid in front of the altar as we grieved for those who lost their lives and their families. We said prayers of thanks for the 153 who survived with the help of God and their fellow countrymen who came to their aid. In the aftermath of this travesty, my prayer is for the Norwegian people to once again feel secure in their country. Norway is a country I plan on visiting in the near future and where I hope to once again feel the peace and security I have always felt in the past.

FISHING ON PRIOR LAKE

My daughter, Cassie, and her husband, James, came to Minnesota for their summer vacation in July, bringing my 2 ½ year old grandson,Coen, who was extremely excited to spend time at Grandma’s beach on Prior Lake to go swimming and hopefully fishing. We managed to hit great hot summer beach weather and Coen got his wish. If you are not familiar with Minnesota lakes, I will just mention how very clear the water is in our lakes. From the shoreline, the small minnows swimming in their schools back and forth can easily be seen. To a little kid this is about as good as it gets, but unfortunately for him as soon as you walk in the water, the minnows swiftly swim away. He, however, had great fun chasing them back and forth n the water. I picked up a Lightning McQueen children’s fishing rod, which he thought was pretty neat, for him to try and catch a fish from the boat. Well, it seems luck was not on his side that day because the boat wouldn’t start. So we opted to try fishing from the dock. Then we moved to sitting on the boat while it was tied to the dock. Coen didn’t have any luck catching a fish from the dock or on the boat. Usually we can see the Sunfish swimming around, and I mean full grown fish not minnow size fish. And that day was no different. We could see them but he didn’t have any luck, so my daughter decided to give it a try with Coen’s Lightning McQueen fishing rod. She managed to expertly catch one almost as soon as the bobber hit the water. She reeled in the Sunfish and pulled it into the boat only to have Coen back away because he was afraid of the fish. He had never seen a fish out of the water, especially not that close to him and he wasn’t so sure he liked it. Not at all! After he calmed down, we released the fish back into the water. So all in all, it was really a lucky day for Coen to participate in catching a real Sunfish, my daughter to catch a fish on her first cast, and probably the luckiest day was for the Sunfish that was released back into Prior Lake!

NORWAY DAY 2011

Norway Day falls on the second Sunday in July each year. This year will mark the 79th year of celebrating on July 10, 2011. It is held at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis,the home of the Minnehaha Water Falls which due to the heavy rains we have experienced in the past few months was flowing with great force. This day is a celebration of Norwegian ancestry which has become a yearly tradition for many local Norwegian immigrants, their children and now grandchildren. I am a first generation Norwegian-American and I attended my first Norway Day with my father and mother when I was about two years old. I don’t know that anyone would have thought we would still be participating in this celebration some fifty years later, but we are. First there is always a Lutheran Church service (most of the Norwegians are Lutheran) presented by the Mindekirken Church in Minneapolis where services are still held in Norwegian and of course English too. The Nordic dancers perform on stage along with the Norwegian Glee Club which my father has belonged to for over fifty years. This year a newly formed group, Daughters of Norway, had a small choir perform, also. The event consists of booths selling Norwegian and Scandinavian books, sweaters, music and an authentic Scandinavian food booth, Nordic Treats. A number of years back, my sisters and I attended the event and were shocked to see there were no authentic Norwegian foods to purchase. Now it may seem odd, but our mother who is 100% German learned to make the Norwegian foods and taught us, so we decided to sign up to have a food booth at the event the following year. Thus in 2005, Nordic Treats booth was started. We serve Norwegian Meatballs, Klub, Romegrott, Norwegian Heart -shaped Waffles, Norwegian Ferry Boat Pancakes, Sandbakkles, Krumkake, Lefse, and Norwegian little Donuts. We also sell Nordic Photo cards featuring photos I took in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, a Norwegian Children’s book I wrote, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, with matching T-shirts, a Nordic Family cookbook my sister wrote, Norway Day bookmarks my sister made and other miscellaneous Norwegian items. It has become a family tradition, where each year we add more items to sell to our list and are joined by family members who come great distances to be with us. Last year on probably the hottest day of the year, my daughter and her family came from Oklahoma, my nephew came from California, my sister came from Florida and my son and nephew along with other family friends from the Minneapolis area joined us for another fun and successful year. I am sure my parents never thought that by bringing their daughter to Norway Day over fifty years ago would result in a family tradition of serving Norwegian traditional foods in their very own Nordic Treats food booth years later at the very same Norway Day celebration at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis!

SARA PALIN FAMILY BOOK SIGNING

The Mall of America has tremendous drawing power for celebrities of all kinds. Movie starts, recording artists and politicians all make their appearances there. Recently the Sara Palin family had a book signing at the MOA at the end of June 2011. Sara signed her books, “Going Rogue” and “America by Heart”. Bristol Palin signed her new book, “Not Afraid of Life—My Journey So Far”. And even Todd Palin was on hand to sign Sara’s books. Since Sara falls into the Politician category the security was intense with police, mall security, and bomb sniffing dogs, along with the whole area being blocked off with barrier blockades. The crowded rotunda area I was expecting did not await me, but instead I was able to purchase books immediately. To get past the barricades and stand in line for the signing, you needed to purchase Bristol Palin’s new book and if you also wanted Sara Palin’s signature you had to purchase one of her two available books. I think this showd how Sara looks after her daughter. As a writer, I wish my mother could help me sell books with an incentive like that. After your purchase, you were allowed to enter the barricaded area, but only after a search of your bags and undergoing a wanding of your full body. The line was short and pictures were only allowed while standing in line, so no pictures at the signing table. And if you thought going through security at the airport was bad, once you were approaching the signing table, you were required to put all your bags, purses and cameras in a plastic container. You were handed a ticket to retrieve your belongings at the other end after your books were signed. But wait, that wasn’t all, you had to submit to the wanding process once again. I really wasn’t sure how they thought we could acquire other things while standing in line, but it was not open for debate. I brought my book, “Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk” to give to Sara and Bristol as a keepsake from Minnesota, but was told by security I would not be allowed to bring the books up to the singing table. Bristol was the first to sign and I must say she is a very beautiful and gracious young woman. After watching her season on “Dancing with the Stars,” my heart went out to her for all her willpower to keep learning the dances. I think everyone applauded her success and how far she made it in her dancing knowledge and expertise. She shook my hand and I told her how well I thought she had done on the show. Sara was next, she shook my hand and asked, “What do you do in Minnesota?” I told her I was a writer and wrote a book called, “Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk”, and I wanted to give her one but security wouldn’t let me. She was more than willing to receive the book, and mentioned her son, Tryg’s name was Norwegian. She motioned to security that it was okay to leave a book for her with them. Sara Palin proved to be a very beautiful woman on both the outside and inside along with being a genuine, friendly and gracious woman who I admire.

SVENSKARNAS DAG (SWEDISH HERITAGE DAY)

Every year on the last Sunday in June, shortly after Midsummer’s Day, the people with Swedish heritage celebrate at Minnehaha Park. In 2011 they celebrated the 78th year with one of the largest Swedish celebrations in the U. S. The day begins with a church service, followed by singing and dancing performances by local and visiting Scandinavian groups, and includes the crowning of a Midsummer’s Queen for the Minneapolis Aquatennial Celebration held in July. The Midsummer Pole is put for attendees to dance around and celebrate the longest day of the year. The event includes art and craft vendors and of course food vendors offering tastes of the delectable Swedish foods including a complete Swedish Meatball dinner with potatoes and lingonberries. Saffron buns, herring and pepparkaka are also available to sample. We decided to check it out in 2011, just out of curiosity, to see if it was different from Norway Day. The food was slightly different but interesting and we sampled the meatball dinner sponsored by the Swedish girl’s choir. It was quite an experience to see the Midsummer’s Pole decorated with fresh flowers which is a tradition dating back to the Vikings Era and is still celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland along with many European countries with large bonfires and food, of course. It is most likely a celebration of more importance in the Scandinavian countries because of their ties to the Vikings and the fact they have the longest days on Midsummer’s Eve due to their northerly locations, thus the term ”The Land of the Midnight Sun". So if you are Swedish or have any Scandinavian heritage, I highly recommend experiencing Svenskarnas Dag to celebrate Midsummer’s Day.

MSRA CAR SHOW

The MSRA (Minnesota Street Rod Association) holds a car show at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds every year about the middle of June. Usually, around Father’s Day. It is probably one of the largest car shows in the nation, with people coming from all across the country to display their cars. These cars range in age from the early 1930’s up to 1964. Most have been totally redone with new interiors and paint, but some are all original. They have gimmicks going on with themes from back to the fifties, such as the dice hanging from the mirror, coca cola trailers, etc. When there are masses of people in one place the vendors come bringing their wares to sell along with the food vendors bringing yummy food for us to purchase to satisfy our cravings one by one. Music from back to the fifties can be heard while strolling down the streets filled with over ten thousand cars on display. In the evening, bands perform for your dancing pleasure which always reminds me of the song, “Dancing in the Streets”. I don’t usually stop to sit down and listen for a while, but this time the band name caught my interest. Nordic Surf! I will stop to check out anything that even looks Scandinavian and this certainly qualified. The band consisted of four guys who of course were Norwegian Americans and heck you could even tell that by their last names. Interesting part was they don’t sing, but only play guitar and drums to only surfing songs from the sixties. They had been playing together for a number of years and began playing for small events, eventually putting out a CD and landing a gig at the MSRA. Generally at this time year, it is hot in Minnesota, thus the saying those “Hot Summer Nights” comes to mind. And nothing beats a day at the MSRA car show at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds viewing immaculate hot cars, a truly magical place where the day leads into a hot summer night listening to Nordic Surf playing surfing songs from the sixties.

RUNAWAY

Probably when most people my age hear the word, Runaway, they think of poor, confused, teenagers who can’t seem to fit in with their peers, don’t get along with their parents and just want to be out on their own. Generally speaking, running away doesn’t work well for these teenagers because they have no money for one thing and no life skills, yet. As a Baby Boomer approaching 60, I feel I can identify with this burning urge to run away from life we are currently living. Being in the work force for way too many years is brutal in itself. Being a part of the aging Boomer work force, means we now have to deal with the new younger work force consisting of young people who have way more energy than us, have a desire to make their jobs their total life along with managing to fit in a couple of hours a night to go out with friends for dinner or drinks. I am at the point in my life when I just plain don’t want to work anymore. Heck, the Boomers are running out of time to do all the things we were going to do after the kids left. You know the empty nest syndrome. Finally getting to do all those things we never got to do in our younger carefree years. Unfortunately my husband left first and then the kids left. Starting over wasn’t an option it was a necessity. Even if you don’t need the money, which I do or I certainly wouldn’t be working, the medical insurance is a must have, especially if you want to stay healthy and alive. So after spending ten years in the travel industry and now the last ten in the financial industry, is it time to choose another industry and put in another ten years? I’m not quite sure I even have another ten years to invest in another company. Retirement is looming on the horizon, in fact I can feel it in my bones that it is near. Maybe it is best to just hang in there a few more years and wait for that magic retirement age, whatever it is—62 or 65? Because when you really look at it, retirement is basically the same as running away, isn’t it? They both mean you don’t have to answer to anyone anymore and you now have the right to do whatever you want, whenever you want and with whomever you want. Reminds me of the Hippie era. Really it’s not all that different from the desires of a teenage runaway. Maybe reaching retirement means we have come full circle. That magic day is close but yet it seems so far away as I get up each morning to go to work.

HARLEY DAVIDSON MUSEUM

While in Milwaukee in June for a writing conference, I finally managed to make it to the new Harley Davidson Museum. The last time I was in Milwaukee, they had just finished building it and the grand opening wasn’t until the following week so I wasn’t able to go on a tour. Needless to say when we arrived, the parking lot was full of motorcycles, probably mostly Harleys. The building overlooks the river and the sleek and shiny architecture it presents is appropriate for its appearance. There are two restaurants, Motor and Café Racer, serving delicious sandwiches and entrees that are true American Classics. On the outside patio overlooking the river,the décor is all about Harley Davidson motorcycles and engine parts. Exhibits proudly display the start of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle up to current day displays. Rooms filled with antiques from days gone by graduate up to the newest Harleys on the market. The museum encompasses 20 acres of exhibits and displays 450 motorcycles. They offer classes to the motorcycle enthusiasts and rent out space for special events and parties. If you want to experience riding a motorcycle, their is an interactive ride called Jumpstart where you can sample what riding a motorcycle would be like. And if you happen to own a Harley you can belong to a special group of Harley owners called HOGS (Harley Owners Group) and be entitled to special offers and discounts. We can’t forget the gift shop filled with almost anything they can put their Harley logos on ensuring we will want to buy them. Clothes are the most popular mainly shirts, jeans, jackets and boots. I have had the pleasure of knowing many guys who own motorcycles and know first hand how much pride they take in owning a Harley Davidson. It was extremely interesting to walk through the museum and see how the bicycle has evolved into the motorcycles we have today. The paint designs are all extremely unique and the bikes are loaded with chrome and leather. The motorcycle symbolizes freedom to many. Especially men. It allows them to feel the wind on their face and know they can go anywhere. I understand that part, but it also has the stigma of the bad boys which attracts the women seducing them into wanting what they shouldn’t want. Riding on a Harley can be exhilarating but I think it is the danger that keeps me from getting on them very often. One wrong turn by a car or truck driver can be the end to your life, because on a motorcycle the chances of surviving an accident are so very slim. I am sure I will get on one again, but I will never become addicted to riding mototcycles. The idea of the tough guys on the motorcycles is exciting and seductive but the idea of being alive tomorrow is even more enticing.

LOVE IS BREWING

The Wisconsin Romance Writers (WISRA) group holds a conference in a different city every year on the first weekend in June. The 2011 conference was in Milwaukee, so thus the name for the conference—Love is Brewing. If you are not familiar with Milwaukee they are quite famous for their beer breweries: Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, Blatz. WlSRA sponsors one of the better chapter conferences around. The price is reasonable and the location is close since Wisconsin is right next door to those of us residing in Minnesota. I think what I like best about the conference is they have editors and agents who take appointments with all of us writers who desperately want to become published authors. They also feature various speakers during the conference, so even if you aren’t interested in one you probably will be interested in one of the others. I guess you could say they don’t put all their eggs in one basket and only offer one speaker. Saturday’s speaker was Susan Wiggs who presented, “From Idea to Printed Page: The Evolution of a Book”. Author Brenda Novak, Harlequin editor Paula Eykelhof, and literary agent Kathleen Ortiz critiqued actual query letters from conference attendees. Each year WISRA sponsors the Fab Five Contest and announces the winners at the conference during the Awards Luncheon. YA (Young Adult) author Simone Elkeles presented, “The Secrets of a Marketing Queen” followed by Carina Press editor Angela James presenting, “Publishing Into the Digital Age”. Agent and editor appointments where we get a chance to pitch our stories in the hope of getting a request to send in our first few chapters or a full manuscript were held throughout the day. This is a big deal because it is our chance to get published. Of course getting published means we become rich, right? Not very likely, so probably keeping your day job, for a while anyway, is a good idea. Later in the day there is an opportunity to purchase books signed by the authors at the Literacy book signing in the hotel lobby. Sunday starts the morning with author Brenda Novak presenting, “Emotion: The Heart of the Novel”. Novelist Carrie Lofty follows teaching us how to write a 35 word pitch for our stories. Susan Wiggs finishes up the conference with, “How Not to Get Published”. This was the second year I was able to attend and I learned something useful from each speaker, had the opportunity to pitch my books and receive a request for my manuscripts, spent quality time with other authors and just plain had a great time. I even met another author who was writing a Viking Time Travel romance novel. As writing goes, it makes perfect sense that her story was totally different than my Viking Time Travel, “On a Midsummer’s Eve”. I unexpectedly sold a couple of my books, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk, to Wisconsin romance writers who were fellow Norwegians. So all in all, attending WISRA’s conference proved to be well worth the cost and time resulting in manuscript requests, learning new things to use in my writing, networking with other authors and having the opportunity to market myself as a writer along with my children’s book, “Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk”!

THOR THE MOVIE

Anyone who knows me knows I love the “Old Norse Vikings” and I like the much newer “Minnesota Vikings", too. Personally, I prefer the real Vikings who roamed the seas in search of new lands and had their own mythological gods like Thor, the god of Thunder, and Odin, his father, who ruled the realm of Asgaard where they lived. Marvel has published comics about superheroes for years, which included Thor. Recently, they decided to make movies portraying their comic book superheroes—Green Lantern, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. The movie, Thor, takes place in a time long ago, when a mighty but arrogant warrior, Thor, finds disfavor with his father, Odin, and is stripped of his powers and cast down to Earth landing on a desert in New Mexico to live with us lowly humans. Of course, the first person he meets after his crash landing is Jane, who becomes his love interest while he tries to get his hammer back and find his way back to Asgaard. Nothing of course is ever simple and Odin puts a stipulation on removing the hammer from where it is stuck. "Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Loki, Thor’s brother who really isn’t his brother at all but is a Frost Giant, causes more problems by trying to make himself King and sends a Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor. Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, who definitely worked out for the show as he was a beautiful display of well toned muscles. Just looking at him would’ve made the whole movie worthwhile, but I thought they did a great job on the storyline, effects and the visual they created for Asgaad was amazing. I loved the movie and can’t wait for Thor 2 coming out in July 2013. There couldn't have been a more fitting way to end Syttende Mai then by watching a film about Thor, the Norse god!

SYTTENDE MAI

Syttende Mai is the Norwegian National holiday celebrating Norway’s independence from Sweden. It is celebrated on the 17th of May in both Norway and the United States. Locally, celebrations are held in Milan, Minnesota, and the largest celebration is held in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Minneapolis has a celebration each year at the Mindekirken which is the Norwegian Lutheran Church. My father is a member of the Norwegian Glee Club and they sing during the church service which is in Norwegian. Many women who attend wear their Bunads, traditional folk costumes from the area in Norway their relatives immigrated from. After the church service there is a parade of the many Norwegian-Americans who proudly celebrate their Norwegian heritage by wearing Norwegian sweaters and waving Norwegian flags. In the parking lot of the church, booths are set up displaying examples of Norwegian arts and crafts consisting of Rosemaling, Hardanger, Wood Carving and books written about Norway. This year the Sons of Norway sponsored a concert with a new band, Norville, consisting of Norwegian and Norwegian Americans, at the Mall of America. Ottar Johansen, from Bodo/Oslo, Norway, is a two-time Norwegian Grammy winner in Norway and has multiple albums released. He plays bass guitar, sings and writes songs. Joe Sun, originally from Minnesota but now residing in Nashville, Tennessee, has released over fifteen albums placing on the charts in both Europe and the U. S. He plays guitar, sings and also writes his own music. Tore Anderson, from Stjordal/Oslo, Norway, won a Norwegian Grammy in 2010. He plays guitar, sings and writes songs. Karen Pendley, from North Carolina, plays the fiddle, writes songs and sings background vocals. She specializes in Norwegian and Scandinavian Folk music. The group got together in 2009 and recently released the video for their new hit song, "Take Me Back", which brilliantly captures the majestic beauty of the mountains and fjords in Norway. This upbeat new song, “Take Me Back” was recently released on I Tunes. You can watch the video on their website, www.norville.no. I attended the mini concert with a fellow Norwegian-American and we became engrossed in the new style Norwegian American blend of music. After the perfomance, we took advantage of the opportunity to have our picture taken with the members of the band. I don’t think that makes us band groupies of the Norville band, but it definitely was a uniquely different Syttende Mai!

LUTEFISK WARS MOVIE

The Minneapolis St. Paul Independent Film Festival makes its showing every May. My son had an internship working for the festival after college and still makes sure he attends at least a few of the films each year. So it came as no surprise to me, when he called to tell me there was a movie this year that he was sure I would be interested in seeing. Lutefisk Wars! Well needless to say I committed to seeing the movie that Saturday night at the St. Anthony Main Theaters. There simply was no question about my interest in seeing the movie since my current published book is, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. Before the movie we had dinner at a quaint little restaurant on the banks of the Mississippi River and arrived early enough at the theater to get second row seats in a soon to be sold out movie theater. I had no idea what the movie was about, but was pleasantly surprised. The movie takes place in Newford, North Dakota—not a real city, just one they made up. So it wasn’t in Minnesota but North Dakota is right next door, so that works. The actors took on Norwegian American accents of our fellow Norwegian immigrants who settled in North Dakota. The main character, Karl Larsen, a Schwan’s frozen foods delivery man who dreams of becoming a chef, is sought out by an old Norwegian fisherman who wants to give him an urgent message but dies before he can tell his secret. Afterwards Karl receives threatening phone calls urging him to give up the recipe. Bad things begin happening to Karl and his girlfriend, including a dead cod fish in his bed. Everything comes to a head over a hot dish at the local Lutheran Church when the Norwegian Mafia shows up. Now I’m not sure my summary is the best so I will quote the movie’s storyline from their website, lutefiskwars.com. “A rural frozen food delivery man is mistaken for someone else and ends up in the middle of an ancient feud between two Norwegian Mafia families.” I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and afterwards was able to meet one of the producer/writers, Christopher Panneck, who grew up in North Dakota. I even told him about my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk and may just have to send him a signed copy of the book! Lutefisk Wars will be available sometime in 2012 and I will definitely be adding it to my collection of Norwegian films. Lutefisk, the fish of our ancestors is gaining popularity both in Norway and the U. S. and is on its way to becoming the fish choice of future generations!

ALT FOR NORGE

Alt for Norge is a reality television show filmed in Norway for Norwegian Television. At this time it is not broadcast in the US. A few months earlier, they put out a call for auditions which I ran across on the internet totally by accident while searching for Norwegian topics of interest. However, I was not eligible to audition. The show takes Norwegian Americans back to Norway to find out where their grandparents and great grandparents immigrated from and to see if they still have any relatives who are still alive. Unfortunately as far as the show is concerned, even though I am a first generation Norwegian American, I do not meet their qualifications since I already know where my Norwegian relatives live and have met them numerous times. I think this actually makes me very fortunate, even though I would’ve loved to have been able to try out for the show. So after reading about it online I didn’t give it another thought. Then one Sunday in April after church, we decided to try out a new restaurant for breakfast. It is a small restaurant in Savage, Windmill Cafe catering to the locals. A friend of mine from work frequents Windmill Cafe and recommended it highly. It was quaint and the breakfast was delicious so we took our time eating and reading the Sunday newspaper. As we were getting ready to leave, a large group of people came in followed by a camera crew who set up to interview them. On our way to the door, I stopped and asked one of the women what the interviewing was all about. She graciously informed me her husband was chosen to be on a reality show about Norwegian ancestry that would be aired in Norway. I knew before the words came out of her mouth that we just happened to be, totally by accident, where they were filming one of the contestants for Alt for Norge. Her husband was a trucker and this little quaint restaurant provided a great filming location for parking his semi-truck and interviewing him along with his friends at a place he frequently ate lunch. During a break in the filming action, I introduced myself to the show’s producer and seized the opportunity to give him a copy of my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. He was surprised to see it was in Norwegian and graciously took the book. That copy may be the first one to end up in Norway! The co-producer advised me to audition for the show next year, but I regretfully informed her I already knew my relatives living in Norway and had traveled there numerous times. We stayed a little longer to watch the Alt for Norge camera crew film the lucky Norwegian American trucker as he chatted with his friends while seated at a table. Ultimately, this totally unplanned stop ended up being one of those times when I happened to be in the right place at the right time and only through sheer coincidence. Or maybe it was by accident? Or maybe an act of God? All I know is I am very thankful I chose to attend church that Sunday in April and decided to have breakfast at Windmill Cafe!

TEAGAN’S BAPTISM

My newest grandchild, Teagan, was baptized on May 8, 2011. I flew down for the baptism and for a long awaited visit to see my daughters and grandchildren. It just happened to be Mother’s Day that Sunday and would be the first Mother’s Day I would spend with my daughters in at least five years. Little did we know the weekend would become almost a total disaster. The evening after my arrival, Travis, my daughter’s husband, came down with a 24-hour vomiting flu and needless to say he was up all night. Postponing the baptism for a later date was discussed, but after taking into consideration the fact that I flew down specifically for the Baptism and everything was already set up along with brunch reservations for Mother’s Day for all four mothers—myself, my daughters, Tiffany and Cassandra, and Teagan’s other grandmother, Linda—Travis took some anti–nausea medicine and went back to bed to try to sleep for a little while. A call was made to the pastor at their church and the baptism was changed to a private ceremony after the regular Sunday church service. An hour later, we all got dressed including a very weak and still sick Travis. The church handed out carnations to all the mothers, and since we arrived at the end of the service, all four mothers received a carnation. We proceeded into the private chapel for Teagan’s baptism. When there is only the baptism without the regular church service, it takes much less time, so we were done quickly and on our way to the Mother’s Day brunch at the club house of a local golf course. Travis, still not feeling well, and knowing he wouldn’t be able to eat any food, went home instead. The brunch was superb and filled with many delicious entrees and desserts. Afterwards we went Cassandra’s house in an effort to prevent anyone else from catching the vomiting flu. Opening Teagan’s baptism gifts was next on the agenda, along with Mother’s Day gifts for the Grandmothers which consisted of hard cover picture books of new baby Teagan, and Coen, my grandson. As soon as we were back at Tiffany’s house, she started not feeling well and went straight to bed with some anti-nausea medicine. Travis started to feel a little better but still was weak. About ten that night I started not feeling so well, so I also took some anti-nausea medication and went to sleep praying I would not feel nauseous in the morning for my flight home. I didn’t feel great in the morning, but at least I wasn’t vomiting which was a real plus and I managed to make it home without getting sick on the plane. That was definitely an accomplishment after the past 24 hours. Baby Teagan will not remember her baptism day, but considering the circumstances, I don’t think any of us will ever forget it!