At the Norsk Hostfest last fall, I had the pleasure of visiting again with lefse friends Marilyn Lucy (standing far right above) and her sister Lanae LaBonte (standing second from left). I had not seen them since the pandemic started, but they are easy to talk with and time passed quickly. They are skilled at talking and shopping, I must say, and didn’t pull any punches when it came to purchasing a number of products, especially my new Keep On Rolling! aprons. I will let Marilyn and Lanae tell the story of how the aprons united the family at the holidays.
Our story started at the end of the Hostfest in Minot, 2022. We were still shopping Saturday as
the booths were closing. At Gary and Jane Legwold’s lefse booth, we fell in love with the
Keep on Rolling! Aprons. We purchased what they had left and had names embroidered for us
(Marilyn and Lanae) and Marilyn’s three daughters, Shanna, Taina and Kalli. We ordered more
and gave them to granddaughters and daughters-in-laws. Finally, we included the grandpas and
sons, all aprons personalized with embroidered names.A grand total of 19 aprons!
A picture was taken at Thanksgiving of Marilyn’s family with their aprons. Lanae’s family, (sons
Donn and Robb, daughter-in-law Laura, grand-daughter Vaida and Grandpa Bob) will take
a picture with the aprons at Christmas.Our grandparents came from Norway and Sweden. Our grandmother, Elydia Blomquist
Rystedt, taught our mother, Evelyn Rystedt Tande, the art of lefse making along with all things
Scandinavian. Evelyn passed this art to her daughters, Marilyn and Lanae. Her son, Gary, was
an excellent sampler! When Gary’s children were married, they were gifted lefse-making kits
and grills from aunts Marilyn and Lanae.All three families including sons, daughters-in-law, daughters and sons-in-law are practicing
Lanae LaBonte and Marilyn Lucy
perfecting this art. We will keep on rolling!
I love this simple-yet-moving story. The 19 aprons are impressive, but even more impressive is how the ongoing quest of “perfecting this art” of making lefse, as Marilyn and Lanae put it, brings their family together in ways much deeper than what shows in their aprons. Well done! I have no doubt you all will keep on rolling!