2 VOSSINGEN ———————————————————————————-——————————————————— Den store mindefest The Big Commemorative Festival ――― ――― Hundredaarsfesten om den norske udvandring til The Centennial Commemorative Festival of Amerika, som holdtes i Tvillingbyerne, St. Paul og Norwegian emigration to America was held in the th Minneapolis, fra og med den 6te til og med den 9de Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, from the 6 to th juni, er nu en begivenhed, som man kan dvæle ved i and including the 9 of June, and is now an event that behagelig erindring. Den forjøb paa en for de fleste people can linger upon with a pleasant memory. It vistnok meget tilfredsstillende maade, og for mange progressed on a, for evidently the most, satisfactory var den vel særdeles fornøielig. Veiret var ganske manner, and for many it was especially delightful. varmt de første par dage, men en regnstorm kom The weather was rather hot the first couple days, but feiende over strøget om søndagskvelden den 7de og a rainstorm came sweeping over the area on Sunday th bragte kjølighed i sit farvand, saa der var heller koldt night the 7 and brought coolness in its water, so it end varmt de næste dage. Den deltagende was rather cool more than hot the next days. Those folkemængde var ifølge de officielle opgaver 53,809 participating were, according to official statements, th om søndagen den 7de og 83,525 om mandagen og 53,809 on Sunday the 7 and 83,525 on Monday and 26,198 om tirsdagen. Hvormange der ialt var paa 26,198 on Tuesday. How many, total, were at bygdelagenes dag, lørdagen, kan man vel anslaa til bygdelag day, Saturday, people estimated at about omkring 20—30,000 ogsaa. Uden tvil har der 20—30,000 also. Without doubt, there has at no time ingensinde været saamange folk af norsk herkomst been so many people of Norwegian heritage samlet paa et sted, ialfald udenfor Norge. assembled at one place, outside of Norway. Som berammet mødte bygdelagene om lørdagen As intended, the bygdelags met for their annual th den 6te paa sine respektive mødesteder paa meetings on Saturday, the 6 at their respective udstillingsgrunden til aarsmøder. Der var udseet meeting rooms at the exhibition grounds. There pladse til 38 bygdelag foruden til nogle andre apparently were places for 38 bygdelags in addition organisationer som Sønner af Norge, det Norsk to some other organizations such as Sons of Norway, Lutherske Landsforbund af Norsk Ungdom o. 1. the Norwegian Lutheran Association of Norwegian Vosselaget havde den søndre fløi af Youth and the like. agerbrugsbygningen til sin raadighed under hele The Vosselag had the southern wing of the festlighederne. To andre lag havde andre fløie i agricultural building at its disposal for the duration of samme bygning, men der var rum nok. Lørdag the celebration. Two other lags had other wings in the formiddag gik som vanlig med at registrere, faa sig same building, but there was plenty room. Saturday mærker, programmer, billetter og hilse paa forenoon went as usual with registration, getting kjendinger. Mærkerne var af samme slag for alle badges, programs, tickets and greeting acquaintances. lagene, specielt prægede efter feststyrets anvisning. The emblems were of the same design for all the lags, Der var ogsaa sølvmedaljer at faa. specially decorated according to the instructions of Om eftermiddagen kl. 2 havdes forretning- the lag. One could also get silver medallions. smøde. Omkring 5—600 personer var fremmødt til In the afternoon at 2 o’clock a business meeting dette. Formanden og vice-formanden var fravær- was held. Approximately 5-600 people attended. The ende, idet Nestos var paa foredragsreise i president and vice president were absent, because sydstaterne og Boe havde 50-aarsfestligheder at Nestos was on a speaking tour of the southern states ivaretage ved St. Olafs College. Mødet blev da and Boe had the 50 year anniversary to attend at St. aabnet af sekretær K. A. Rene. Assisterende Olaf College. Assistant District Attorney Arthur countyadvokat Arthur Markve af Minneapolis bød Markve from Minneapolis, in a laudable speech, bid i en vakker tale forsamlingen velkommen paa the assembly welcome on behalf of the arrangement arrangementskomiteens vegne. Han dvælede ved committee. He dwelt on the importance of the betydningen af bygdelagenes sammenkomster — bygdelag meetings — the joy people must feel when den glæde man maatte føle ved at træffe slegt og they encounter family and friends from whom they venner, som man havde været adskilt fra og kunde had been divided and refresh family memories and opfriske slegtsminder og bygdehistorier om vore hometown anecdotes about our splendid forefathers. gjæve forfedre. Secretary Rene thanked the speaker for his Sekretær Rene takkede paa Vosselagets vegne for welcoming address on behalf of the Vosselag; and velkomsttalen; nævnte saa, om hvorledes Tvilling- declared how important the Twin Cities had become byerne var helt blit det store norske centrum i in the United States; voiced appreciation for the samband staterne; gav udtryk for at den statue man statue that was intended erected as a memory of —————————————————————————————————————————————— Translated by Stanley J. Nuland VOSSINGEN 3 ———————————————————————————-——————————————————— agtede at opføre til minde om senator Knute Nelson, Knute Nelson, Scandinavia's greatest son, that it Nordens største søn, maatte blive et naturligt would be a natural symbol for us vossings and samligsmærke for os vossinger og sluttede med concluded by similarly wishing everyone welcome to ligeledes at ønske alle velkomne til stævnet. Derpaa gik the convention. Then attention was turned to business man over til forretninger, og valg af midlertidig and election of an interim president was the first formand var da det første. Efter forslag af S. A. Nelson, item. Following a nomination by S. A. Nelson, earlier tidligere formand i Vosselaget, blev Arthur Markve president of the Vosselag, Arthur Markve was valgt. Referatet fra mødet i Fergus Falls aaret forud blev elected. The minutes of the meeting in Then Fergus læst af sekretæren og antaget. Derpaa rapporterede Falls the previous year were read and approved. The lagets kasserer John Glimme om finanserne og hans lag treasurer, John Glimme, reported about the club rapport blev ligeledes antagen. Efter endel finances and his report was also approved. After a anerkjendende udtalelser om sekretær Renes arbeide for number of declarations of recognition about secretary laget, besluttedes at laget giver sin tak tilkjende ved Rene's efforts for the club it was decided to express reisning. Arrangementskomiteen rapporterede saa, at gratitude with a standing ovation. The arrangement den havde faaet istand et brudefølge med committee reported that they had prepared a wedding nationaldragter fra Voss, og det blev besluttet at dette party with national costumes from Voss, and it was skulde tage sæde paa platformen. resolved that it should be seated on the dais. Dommer A. Grindeland fra Warren, Minn., fik Judge Grindeland from Warren, MN, then took the derpaa ordet, og han holdt en vakker tale om afdøde stand and made a beautiful speech about the deceased senator Knute Nelson, i hvilken han blandt andet Senator Knute Nelson, in which, among other things, fremholdt hans ubetingede ærlighed, hans virke for det he emphasized his unshakeable honesty, his efforts for jævne lag af folket, hans hjælpsomhed mod de mindre the common people, his helpfulness toward those who vel stillede, og hvorledes han til alle tider personlig were not so well off, and how he always had a søgte at udfinde sandheden og komme til klar personal investigation for truth and clear under- forstaaelse af alle sager; nævnte derpaa om hans standing of all matters, and additionally talked about glimrende livsløb som congressmand, guvernør og his brilliant career as a congressman, governor and forbundssenator efter forud at have vovet liv og hilse for United States senator after also offering his life and adoptivlandet under borgerkrigen. Sluttelig foreslog health for his adopted country during the Civil War. In han, at en komite udnævnes til at indsamle penge til conclusion, he proposed that a committee be named to Knute Nelson statuen, som skal reises i St. Paul. collect money for a statue of Knute Nelson, to be Sekretæren oplyste imidlertid, at en komite paa erected in St. Paul. The secretary explained mean- anmodning af styret for hundredaarsfesten allerede var while, that a committee, at the instigation of the udnævnt af formand Nestos, som havde skrevet derom, centennial committee, had already been appointed by og at Nestos havde sendt en anvisning paa $25.00 til at chairman Nestos, who had written about it and had begynde indsamlingslisten med. Et brev fra formand sent a check for $25.00 to start the subscription. A Nestos blev derpaa læst. Ligeledes et lykønsknings- letter from president Nestos was then read; similarly, a telegram fra ham. Komiteen skulde være Nils Mugaas, good-luck telegram from him. The committee shall be Nils Mykkeltveit, John Pederson og 2 fra Minneapolis, Nils Mugaas, Nils Mykkeltveit, John Pederson and 2 som blev T. K. Setre og A. A. Kindem. Lars Aarhus from Minneapolis, who were T. K. Setre and A. A. skulde ogsaa have været med, men han var fraværende. Kindem. Lars Aarhus was also supposed to be Det blev besluttet, at dommer Grindeland blir formand included, but he was away. It was decided that Judge paa komiteen, og at han sætter sig i forbindelse med Grindeland would be chairman of the committee, that andre lag om ogsaa at gjøre noget i sagen. he should approach the other lags to see if they might S. H. Holstad af styret for hundredaarsfesten talte do something in the matter. saa for monumentsagen. Han sagde blandt andet, at S. H. Holstad of the board of directors spoke for vi norske maatte anse det for en skam, om vi ikke the monument cause.