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A preliminary meeting was held
in Como Park,
St. Paul, Minnesota,
September 8,
1909. Temporary officers were elected
—viz., Rev. R. J. Meland, Minneapolis, Minnesota, president; Rev. Rasmus Anderson, La Crosse, Wisconsin, secretary; and
Rev. J. F Nord, Rice Lake, Wisconsin, treasurer. A committee was elected to
draw up a constitution and make arrangements for a constitutional meeting the
next June. This meeting was held in the Minneapolis Ark Auditorium June 11-13
with a large attendance and a very good program. A local committee with Jens
Johnson as chairman, Peter Moe, J. B. Anderson, Lars Solem,
and alderman attorney Lars Rand had all taken part to make it a worthwhile
meeting. About 300 attended the banquet the first evening. Speakers were
attorney Chr. Fosness,
Rev. R. Wisnaes, Rev. J. E. Nord, Rev. Anderson,
and attorney N. N. Bergheim. Remarks were given by the toastmaster, It. J. Meland; and Mrs. Laura Rigndal Bratager had written a special
song,
which was sung by a quartet. The following day at a business session in the
courthouse, officers were elected, and the constitution was adopted. The
temporary men elected at the preliminary meeting September 8, were again
elected: R. J. Meland, president; Rasmus Anderson, secretary; and J. E. Nord, treasurer. In
addition Rev. R. Bobstad was elected vice
president. The next day, a beautiful Sunday, all gathered at Island
Park, Minnetonka.
Here also a splendid program was given, and a large photograph was taken of
the gathering. This picture was later used in “Nordfjordingenes
Historie i Amerika”, published in 1940 with Rev. L. M. Gimmestad as its editor. On this occasion Rev.. Gimmestad delivered such a
grand speech that he captured the audience and was from that time on its “peer.”
Regular annual meetings have
been held except during the two world war years, 1917-1918 and 1942-1946. At
the meeting in 1913 in Minneapolis
a resolution was made to gather a fund for Nordfjord,
which resulted in collecting $12,000.00. This amount was sent to Nordfjord
in 1920 as a memorial gift with the interest to be used for special purposes
to be decided on at a later date. A. 0. Gimmestad,
a banker, succeeded Rev. Nord as the treasurer in 1915, and he continued in
this office until his death in 1937.
At the annual stevne in Bricelyn in 1919 Nordfjordlaget
received as a gift from Firda Ungdomslag
in Nordfjord a beautiful banner, which has
always been used at our stevner. In 1924 two prominent Nordfjordings,
Jacob Aaland, a retired teacher and historian, and
the violinist Jon Rosenlid, arrived in the United
States; and Rev. L. M. Gimmestad,
who was president, made arrangements so that they could visit all of our
larger tracts of Nordfjordings. These two men traveled extensively, Jacob Aaland lecturing and Rosenlid
playing the many fine Norwegian ‘slaatter” and
songs. The next agendum was the receipt of a Norwegian Brudekrone,
also a gift from Firda Ungdomslag
in Nordfjord, including a diamond-clustered
bracelet and a fine Nordfjord lady’s dress.
This costume and bridal dress has always been worn at our stevner, and in
1949 a real wedding took place at Bricelyn, when
Rev. It. J. Meland per formed the marriage of Karen
and Olaf Ness.
In 1918 the secretary Dr. Carl
D. Kolseth began issuing an annual, and this
practice continued until 1950. With the exception of occasional speeches in
the English language, the Norwegian language was always used at our stevner
until 1950. Now the English language has been predominantly used since the
younger people, who were born here, use only the English language. It seems
strange that the first president of Nordfjordlaget,
who in reality founded it, was born in the United
States but still preferred the Norwegian
language.
In 1935, the 25th anniversary,
we could be proud of our accomplishments so far, but one sad discrepancy or
failure was the writing of our history. As our records verify, Rev. L. M. Gimmestad was elected Sagaskriver
or historian as early as 1912, but on account of various undertakings
crowding in upon us, this writing of “Nordfjordingenes Historie i Amerika” was delayed. Rev. Gimmestad had mailed hundreds of questionnaires; and
since I was treasurer at that time, I also sent hundreds of letters seeking
subscribers to the book, soon to be ready. I succeeded in getting over 400
subscribers, and when the book was finished and ready for distribution in
1940 at the stevne in Benson, Minnesota,
it went “like hot cakes.” Everyone was anxious to obtain one. The price was
$3.00. When I brought in my printing bill and receipts, I reported the
expenses as $1,195.95, and the receipts also as $1,195.95. Two hundred of the
600 printed books were left unsold.
In 1939 Prince Olav of Norway
and his beloved wife, Martha, visited the United
States. Since it had been announced earlier
that spring that Prince Olav and Martha would be
entertained at a banquet at the North Dakota
Agricultural College
in Fargo June 9th, the officers
of Nordfjordlaget decided to have Nord fjordstevne at Fargo
during this time so the members could at tend the banquet. Two days later
Prince Olav and his entourage were highly honored
and feted at the St. Paul Minnesota
f air-grounds. There was no suspicion or intimation at that time of the
brutal war only two years later, when the king of Norway and the prince of
Norway had to flee, not only from Oslo, the capital of Norway, but even from
the land of Norway itself. They were able to cross the North Sea,
and they found a haven in England,
where they remained for about five years, or until
peace was again declared in Norway.
In the annual of 1939-1940
Rev. L. M. Gimmestad inserted a poem written by himself with music composed by his daughter, Mrs. Wells.
He offered it and dedicated it as Nordjordlaget’s
special song. No effort was made the following year at the stevne in
Ortonville to use this song as the stevne song of Nordfjordlaget.
Then, because of the effect of World War II in Norway,
Gimmestad’s charter song was forgotten. In 1947 a
special honor was granted to Rev. L. M. Gimmestad,
because R. J. Meland and Elias Rachie,
who were then the secretary and president of Nordfjordlaget,
made a trip to Norway
and had an enlarged picture of Rev. Gimmestad
unveiled and donated to the Gloppen museum, which
was located near Gimmestad’s birth place. A banquet
was given the same day in honor of Rachie’s and Meland’s and other Nordfjording Americans on visit to Norway,
and many praises were heaped upon them and the United States Nordfjordlag’s
activities.
In the 1945-1947 annual were
published 52 names of pastors from Nordfjordstock in the United States,
several necrologies of prominent Nordfjordings in the United States,
and the names of many soldiers of Nordfjordstock, who fought in World War II.
An item as yet not mentioned
was the collection of funds for assisting people in Norway
to plant trees. “Kla Fje
as it was termed, was started by Dr. Carl D. Kolset
and resulted in a sum of $3,000.00, which was sent to Norway
in 1930 and was given to the “home folks” in Maaloy
by Dr. Kolset.
It may be mentioned that
during World War II Norway
was occupied by the Germans. All Norwegian Americans were deeply sorry and
distressed because of this situation, and no stevner were held during the war
years. In 1946 the Belview Nordfjordings
invited us to a stevne which was well attended. Much business was transacted,
including the decision to publish an annual. A report was made about the
money gathered by Rev. L. M. Gimmestad to help the
many children brought to London
from Maaloy after the German raid on that city
during Christmas of 1945. This money, amounting to kroner
10,915.28, went sent to the Norwegian ambassador, William
Morgenstjerre, in Washington, D. C.
The annual stevne in 1947 was
held later than usual, because Rachie, the
president, and Meland, the secretary, were in Norway
that summer and had requested that the meeting be postponed until their
return. These two officers brought extensive reports about conditions in Nordfjord
and Norway,
in general. Rachie’s trip to Norway
was published in the annual of 1943-1947, and in the same annual was a
picture of R. J. Meland, who was given the Ridder Cross, issued by King Haakon
VII of
Norway,
by Norway’s
Consul General Th. Siqveland
on Meland’s 78th birthday, December 1, 1948.
Regular stevner have been held
since 1946 at various places. Elias Rachie, who was
president after the death of the vice-president Ole Steen in 1944, died
suddenly February 22, 1950,
and the vice president A. A. Davidson assumed the presidency. He served as
such until 1953, when Oscar Gimmestad succeeded
him. During his tenure a new constitution prepared by Peter Snede and A. Rye in the English language was adopted at
the annual stevne at Clarkfield in 1958. One item,
as embodied in the constitution, that none but a Nordfjording
can hold office of president of Nordfjordlaget
will mean much to Nordfjordlaget.
In conclusion I shall quote a
part of a letter received from Professor Herman Gimmestad,
a son of Rev. Gimmestad, who was president of Nordfjordlaget
for a quarter of a century:
“I hope the problem of
leadership for next year and the subsequent years can be worked out to the
satisfaction of the majority of its members. It would be an appropriate and
deserved gesture, surely, if you were to be recognized in your ninetieth year
for the enormous amount of work you have done for the organization and for
the time and money you have given to its welfare. Without your unremitting
labor it is hard to imagine that the LAG would have been able to achieve so
much.”
May Nordfjordlaget’s
illustrious activities still continue for many years to come!
Submitted by R. J. Meland
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