An exciting day of the Norsk Hostfest in Minot, North Dakota. The first day is settling into my spot in the Author’s Corner, which is located in Helsinki Hall of the North Dakota State Fairgrounds. A dozen authors are there with their books, including Lauraine Snelling. She is an amazing novelist, friendly and prolific beyond belief. Readers crowd around her several tables of books, and she anchors the Author’s Corner yearly.
I took a break from my table in the mid-afternoon to watch the Lefse Masters Celebrity Competition. Lots of laughs and octopus-shaped lefse that kinda cracked when it was rolled for submission to the judges, who were chosen from the audience gathered at the Lefse Messanine in Stockholm Hall. The winner was Matthew Nelson. Or was it Gunnar Nelson? They are twin bothers and sons of singer Ricky Nelson. They present film clips, videos, and music to celebrate their father’s legacy in “Ricky Nelson Remembered”. They are regulars at the Hostfest.
And it is always fun to greet old friends from my lefse travels. Alice Redfield from Granrud’s Lefse in Opheim, Montana, stopped by. Jan Storhoff, a choral singer in the Twin Cities and an editor I used to work with, came to see me sing “Keep On Rollin’” on the little stage area of the Author’s Corner. And John Erickson stopped by three times. Twice I was away from my table, but the third time we connected. He is from Peterson, Minnesota, and knew my dad, Conrad Legwold. He runs the Peterson Museum. That was really a treat to see John and talk about Dad and those early years in Peterson.
On to Day 2!