I am writing to testify to the power of the press, in particular our local paper, the Coeur d’Alene Press.

On two separate occasions this year articles about an event sponsored by Sons of Norway have garnered twice the numbers we’ve been accustomed to serving.

Though we are now the only organization in Kootenai County to put on a lutefisk dinner, we had not recently broken the 100 mark until this year when we served 140, thanks to an article in The Press.

Recently, May 17, Norway’s Constitution Day, marked a bicentennial for that document. Thanks to an article in The Press the day before the event, our count jumped from 27 to nearly 60. Both times this produced some last-minute scrambling on our part, but rendered each occasion not just financially successful, but more importantly, very socially successful. People tend to enjoy an event more when there are plenty of attendees.

Our 17th of May celebration was highly praised by members and nonmembers alike with respect to both food and entertainment. Since Councilwoman Kerri Thoreson was present on behalf of Post Falls to make a proclamation, she inevitably took pictures, one of which appeared in The Press the next day, featuring a Norwegian exchange student from Coeur d’Alene High School. Kerri had also noted our 17th of May event in her weekly column just days before the celebration.

We are grateful to The Press for the publicity, and also to the city of Post Falls for allowing us to raise the Norwegian flag on May 17 for more than a decade in Falls Park, temporarily replacing their city flag.

The purpose of Sons of Norway is to retain and promote Norwegian heritage. We have been doing this since being chartered in 1910 in Coeur d’Alene. We now meet in Post Falls and welcome new members (765-2788 or sonsofnorway.com).

We are an active group, who this year helped out at the Home & Garden Show, contributing the money we received to our local scholarship fund. We plan the same for the lefse we made that was sold in Ballard, Washington, May 17, and with proceeds from an upcoming June 21 garage sale.

Watch for the presence of three Viking ships in the Fourth of July Parade this year. They will be brought to you through the cooperation of four Sons of Norway lodges: Coeur d’Alene, Moses Lake, Spokane and Tri-Cities, in celebration of the aforementioned bicentennial and the upcoming 2016 District Two Sons of Norway Convention to take place in Coeur d’Alene.

BARBARA ROSTAD

Cultural Director, Harald Haafager No. 2-011

Sons of Norway