Skien and Telemark delegation to the Midwest 2010
Tomorrow, Thursday Sept 23 at 03:45 a.m., the Skien/Telemark 2010 Delegation to Minneapolis, Bismarck, Minot and Norsk Høstfest in Minot leaves Skien to get flights from Torp (Sandefjord) and Amsterdam to Minneapolis.
Hilde Astrid Bjørntvedt Øvrebø is the official leader for the Skien Delegation to Minot in 2010. Hilde is a member of the Skien City Council & Board of Directors, and she represents the Christian Democratic Party.
Rolf Haugen, Retired Skien City Attorney, Honorary Ambassador for North Dakota & Honorary Citizen of Minot, is the one organizing the tour. This will be Rolf's 17th visit to Norsk Høstfest in Minot ND.
Erling Dahl is the Official Telemark County Representative.
The Skien/Telemark Delegation in 2010 counts 7 people. Ketil Mjøen (Personnel Manager City of Skien), Elin Mjøen (Secretary Industrial Development), Ivar Stulen (Stulen Trading AS and Telemark Heritage) and Hermod H. Monsen (Telemark Heritage) go together with Hilde, Rolf and Erling.
Friday Sept 24 the members of the delegation meet in The Honorary Norwegian Consulate General in Minneapolis. Ellen Sue Ewald, Terje Mikalsen and Magnus Hansen will attend. We will have several meetings during the day, including meeting with the CEO of Sons of Norway, Eivind Heiberg and Ingeborg D. Sørensen, Trillium Tours.
On Saturday Sept 25 the delegation will have a guided tour in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and on Sunday Sept 26 we leave for Minot.
Monday Sept 27 we have meetings in Bismarck, the Capital of ND. In the evening we attend the Sons of Norway Sverdrup Lodge's 100 Years Anniversary in Bismarck.
Tuesday Sept 28 we attend the Annual Sondre Norheim Commemoration and Wreath-laying Ceremony at Denbigh outside Minot. The Wreath Laying will be performed by the Honorary Norwegian Consul General, Mr. Gary Grandrud. Representatives from the delegation will give talks in the Norway Lutheran Church afterwards. At noon the delegation is represented on the Joint Service Club Meeting in Grand International Inn in Minot, followed by a meeting with Minot and Ward County officials. The official representatives of the delegation will also visit the Scandinavian Heritage Park while the rest of the delegation makes and arranges the Skien/Telemark booth at Norsk Høstfest.
In the evening on Tuesday we go to the Artic Reception followed by the North Dakota Governor's Reception at Holiday Inn in Minot. At 7:00 p.m. we attend the Alan Jackson Opening Night Concert in the Great Hall of the Vikings at Norsk Høstfest.
The many halls at Norsk Høstfest open on Wednesday Sept 29. We will be manning our Skien/Telemark booth in Reykjavik Hall from 9:00 a.m. until 07:00 p.m. every day during the Høstfest. Selmer Moen from Telelaget of America is assisting us.
During the Norsk Høstfest week we will attend a lunch with honorees and presenters at the En To Tre restaurant, and at the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame Reception and Banquet there will be a speech by our official representative Hilde Øvrebø. On Thursday Sept 30 we have a Sister City Dinner where many people from trade and industry and the official Minot are represented.
Representatives from our delegation will visit schools as part of the program "Høstfest in the Schools", and we will also have meetings with the President of Minot State University, Dr. David Fuller. David is a great friend of Skien, and the last time he and his wife Nancy visited Skien was in 2007. You find pictures from the visit on our web.
At the Parade of Flags we get a very good opportunity to present Skien and Telemark to big audiences. The parade takes place every day in the Great Hall of the Vikings during the Høstfest.
We feel so welcome when we come to Minot and the Høstfest. See what they say about us on the Høstfest web.
To all our friends and Høstfest-goers, come and see us in Reykjavik Hall.