Mountain View County was settled by many people of Scandinavian descent, and the Mountain View Arts Society (MVAS) has chosen to celebrate that heritage with this year's arts festival, set to take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14 and 15.
The Didsbury Museum is hosting the Sons of Norway, whose members will be on-site with homemade Scandinavian treats, craft projects, and a number of Scandinavian artifacts, according to manager Joanne Pope.
“We have actually had some wonderful loans of Scandinavian artifacts that Annie (Loads) has put out on display here,” said Pope.
Also on display are collections of Norwegian dolls, Scandinavian needlework – or hardanger – and clothing.
A Danish wedding cake, the likes of which are renowned for being impressive in size and intricacy, will also be on display for the weekend.
It is important to showcase the Scandinavian heritage of Mountain View County, she said.
“Because that's where a good portion of our roots come from. It's always important to learn more about your heritage – learning about our roots is just a really important part of life,” she said.
Barb Olsen, president of the Sons of Norway Fjellsyn (which means Mountain View in Norwegian) Lodge, will be coming with her organization to display at the museum.
“We're just really thrilled to be able to share our crafts and the baking,” said Olsen, adding that lodge members of all ages do not have to be of Norwegian decent but only need an appreciation of Scandinavian heritage.
“In the Sons of Norway, one of our tenets is to help preserve the culture and the baking and cooking of Norway, so I guess this is one way we can do that.”
The lodge members have many talents that celebrate their heritage and enjoy being able to share them with others, she said.
The Sons of Norway itself is a very old organization that started over a century ago. The Olds lodge formed just under 30 years ago.
The organization has members from across Mountain View, Rocky View and Red Deer counties. Members get together for fellowship and fun, and also support scholarships for members' relatives and others outside the group.
“We were just thrilled when Annie Loads contacted us and wanted to see if we would participate and share some of the crafts and the baking, and it sounds like it's going to be a wonderful event,” she said.
She said she enjoys celebrating her heritage because of the connection she feels with her past.
“I have very fond memories of grandparents and it's like honouring those traditions, and it's evolved to the fellowship. The group is more like a family in many ways and everyone just seems to want to celebrate that heritage and honour it,” she said.
Kathleen Windsor, president of the MVAS, said society members thought since there are around 50 Viking re-enactors coming to the festival this year, this is a “golden opportunity to celebrate some of the people who settled the land.”
From grain and dairy farmers to lumber workers, many of Scandinavian descent chose to settle in Mountain View County because of the opportunities they saw here, she said.
“It was the hope and a dream of a better life and that's what they got,” Windsor noted, adding that the Didsbury Municipal Library will also have special displays of books and movies centred on Scandinavian heritage.
“Every community exists because of the pioneers whose courage and hard work is responsible for the settlement of the land,” she said.
“These individuals, many who came from Scandinavian countries, left a priceless heritage to all of us.”
Familiar names like Jacobsen, Nielson, Stendahl, Erickson, and Halvorson, among others, all helped establish the region that is now known as Mountain View County, she added.
“We would be hard pressed to find individuals with the hardiness to settle a land nowadays,” she said. “We are the beneficiaries of their strength, ingenuity, and wisdom.
“They were truly a community of pioneers, joining in church services in their homes until a church could be built, organizing box socials and parties, having Sunday dinners with their neighbours.”
