Viking Magazine - April 2010 - 20

ME MBE R M A T T E R S
CREATING COMMUNITY
A lodge reaches out, krumkake in hand, at St. Paul's Festival of Nations.
BY SUSAN STOW
C
ommunity involvement is a
basic tenet of Sons of Norway
membership. Whether you
live in a town of 200, or in a state capital
such as St. Paul, Minn., with a population
of 279,590, it's contributing
to community that matters.
Community building is precisely
what led St. Paul's International
Institute to plan a city-wide
spring festival in the 1930s. The
goal was to celebrate the city's
cultural richness-since many of
St. Paul's immigrants had children
who were cultivating their
American image, leaving their
parents' culture behind.
The first three-day Folk Festival, held
in 1932, was a resounding success, with
colorful national costumes, folk music
and dancing, and ethnic food. By 1934,
the International Institute had rented
an arena and designed sets, representing
houses from around the world. They
created gardens and a market square,
reminiscent of an Old World village. In
1939, organizers renamed the event the
Festival of Nations.
From the festival's origin, SynnøveNordkap
has participated in the event's
music, dance and food preparation.
In the festival's Norwegian area,
visitors stop to see demonstrations of
Hardanger embroidery, rosemaling,
figure carving or weaving. The lodge's
junior dancers perform in the children's
program and flag ceremony. A
Norwegian café serves lefse, krumkake,
fruktsuppe (fruit soup), riskrem (rice
cream) and julekake (Christmas bread).
A sign at the café warns, " Lutefisk:
Sorry, sold out! "
By the end of the four-day festival,
Synnøve-Nordkap members will have
served 1,500 krumkaker, 12 gallons of
fruktsuppe and thousands of pieces
of lefse, hearing repeatedly: " Just like
my grandma used to make. " Lodge
members take part in the flag ceremony
each day, and the junior lodge
dancers perform on the main stage
during the children's program.
Why does Synnøve-Nordkapp go
through all this effort? There's something
about buttering, sprinkling and
rolling lefse together for hours that
promotes good conversation. The
lodge's volunteers have grown closer
by working together, building the
group's community. Members have
time to talk about their lodge family
and their own families, or brainstorm
ideas for lodge activities. The money
raised from the Festival of Nations
goes to Synnøve-Nordkap scholarships
for Norwegian language camp
and college scholarships for high
school seniors, or for lodge programs.
Most important, Synnøve-Nordkap
represents Norway in the larger mosaic
of cultures at the Festival of
Nations, with members contributing
their heritage and sense of community
to the city of St. Paul. V
Share Your Toughts!
What does Sons of Norway
membership mean to you?
Email us at: vikingeditor@
mspcustomcontent.com. Selected
responses will be featured in an upcoming
issue of Viking! (Submissions
may be edited for length and clarity.)
ii The 2010 Festival of Nations will be held April 29-30 and May 1-2 at St. Paul's RiverCentre.
20 V I K I N G A pri l 2010

Viking Magazine - April 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - April 2010