Growing up, my dad, Lyder—-a first -generation Norwegian -American—-, always displayed a Norwegian flag in May; in particular May 17.
I could never figure out why when I was younger; after all, my May 8th birthday had already passed. But as I got older and paid more attention to him, I discovered it was for Norwegian Independence Day. I got that; it was like our 4th of July.
Only as I have aged have I become more curious about my Scandinavian background, mainly the Norwegian part, not only because ancestry shows I am 5/8 Norske, but also because my Norwegian grandpa lived only a block away from us and we all worked in the same grocery store. So I got to know him.
It was interesting. Although my grandpa retained his faith, his favorite foods, and love for folklore, his enthusiasm for Norway was diminished. He had no interest in ever returning there. What? That was a dream of mine! But as Grandpa told my brother in his heavy Norwegian brogue:
“Vy vould I vant to go back to the country that starved me?”
The last few decades, I have become interested in thinking about the Norwegian traditions I was raised with; and ones I wasn’t raised with but learned once I married my husband (Doug Darling) who is more Norske than I am! Are certain traditions regional? Do other families pick and choose which to observe and which to not? For some reason, I always thought of the traditions as THE NORWEGIAN WAY. A bigger question yet is, “Which are practices still practiced today and what has replaced them, or not.”
Come to Lake Region State College Chautauqua Gallery April 15 at 7:00 p.m. We are holding an informational meeting about our planned trip to Norway in 2026 to coincide with May 17 [Syttende mai] so we can see first-hand how the Norwegians do it.
We will give answers to the questions you need answered before you sign up for the trip.
If you are even remotely interested in this trip, don’t wait to sign up (you don’t pay it all at once!). There is a tight window to sign up [April 30] enough people to make the trip a go; otherwise, the company will cancel it. Conversely, this trip which is also being advertised in the regional Sons of Norway magazine, has a limit of 35 travelers, a number we have hit on our most recent trips. So TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
Attending is not a commitment, just an expression of interest about this trip. I know I am really looking forward to the trip and better understanding key components to my upbring: use of folklore [trolls], appreciation for music, and admiration for independence.
Who knows? Maybe I’ll start displaying a flag on May 17, too.
Teresa is a retired English teacher of secondary and college students. The last 14 years, she has been the coordinator at Lake Region State College Travel Abroad programs: both the students’ SHORT TERM STUDY ABROAD and the Community trips TRAVEL WITH THE PRESIDENT, renamed to Travel with LRSC/Teresa as LRSC awaits the appointment of a new president.
Contact her at Teresa.tande@lrsc.edu.
