Norsk Høstfest in Minot ND
The delegation from Telemark at Norsk Høstfest in Minot ND in 2008 counted eight people. The Vice Mayor of Skien, Geir Arild Tønnesen, was the delegation leader with City Attorney Rolf Haugen, as Executive Secretary. Ivar Stulen and Hermod H. Monsen from the Telemark Heritage project were hosts and volunteering at the Skien/Telemark booth at the Høstfest, and they were supported by representatives from the Norwegian Ski Adventure at Morgedal.(more).
The delegation members from Morgedal were Eilev Omland (President at Norwegian Ski Adventure), Anne Lise Raamunddal (Board Member Norwegian Ski Adventure) and her husband Bjarne Raamunddal, - and Tarjei Gjelstad, who is excecutive director of the Ski Adventure Center.
Two more people from Skien joined us in Minot, Thor Helge Borgersen and Geir Tore Kjærnem.
Before the Norsk Høstfest started the Skien/Telemark delegation visited the Capitol Building , The North Dakota Heritage Center and the Sharkey family in Bismarck.
A special event this year were the ceremonies at Denbigh, for Sondre Norheim and his wife Rannei Aamundsdatter. Several relatives of Sondre and Rannei were present, and so were representatives from Telelaget of America and Hadeland Lag in Fergus Falls MN. Minot Daily News used most of the front page of the newspaper to cover the event.
The number of visitors at Norsk Høstfest was up 18 % from last year, and all time high. And we had more visitors at the Skien - Telemark booth than ever before. We handed out hundreds of maps of Norway and Telemark, and a lot of various brochures about Telemark. A handy folder about the Heavy Water Sabotage that we got from Rjukan, was very popular.
360 people registered with names and addresses in our free lottery, with gifts from Telemark County Council and Skien municipality.
The Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education, Thora Aasland visited our booth, and so did the Secretary General Dr. Per Harald Grue and State Secretary Ola Heggem from the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food. We also had visitors from a TV company and a news magazine, and the Vice Mayor and the City Attorney of Skien were interviewed by the local radio for ND, SD and MN.
The Vice Mayor of Skien, Geir Arild Tønnesen and the Executive Director of Norway Ski Adventure in Morgedal, Tarjei Gjelstad gave speeches at the Parade of Flags in the Great Hall of the Vikings. The Vice Mayor also spoke at the Hall of Fame Banquet at Holiday Inn, where about 200 people were present.
People from the Skien/Telemark delegation also visited schools in Minot, and Minot Air Force Base.
You find more than 225 pictures from Minot and Norsk Høstfest, and North Dakota in our picture gallery.