12 minute read
Along the Shore: Part 3
Julebyen brings Scandinavia to the North Shore
By Chris Pascone
KNIFE RIVER—Have you ever been to Norway in winter? If so, you know it’s a fairy tale country at Christmas time.
But if 3,750 miles seems a long way to go to find authentic Scandinavian Christmas celebrations, then the close-knit community of Knife River has you covered. The Knife River Recreation Council is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its iconic Julebyen holiday festival (Norwegian for “Christmas village”) this Dec. 2-3. This is genuine North Shore culture at its best.
Always held the first full weekend of December, Julebyen has been cranking out thousands of home-baked krumkake, lefse, and even Swedish meatballs, not to mention an intense entertainment schedule, for 10 years running. The outdoor festival, which is focused at the Knife River Recreation Center on the banks of its namesake river, is a twoday long celebration of holiday cheer, music, dance, and trolls.
Yes, Norwegians love their fairy tales, and the gnomes and trolls come out in force at Julebyen. An event for the whole family, Julebyen is particularly spun around children. The excitement begins with a train ride to Troll Canyon. Leaving the Knife River Depot, hundreds of people take a 45-minute train ride in search of mischievous trolls along the railroad tracks. Kids love it. First, choo-chooing up the North Shore, then witnessing “real-life” trolls playing havoc in their enchanted canyon. Let’s just say it turns out trolls like throwing snowballs…
The train to Troll Canyon rolls at 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, and again at 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at the Knife River Depot, and are $5 for children 4-12, and $10 for adults. Little ones ride free.
Meanwhile, back at the Julebyen main market square, the Gnome Dome tent features children’s arts and crafts workshops, krumkake and lefse demonstrations, live music, and endless baked goods for sale. Catch the Sterling Dancers, or the children’s puppet show—produced and performed by Knife River youth, on the Gnome Dome stage. On Sunday, the Gnome Dome hosts the inimitable THUG (Two Harbors Ukulele Group).
If you hear a booming voice singing in a strange tongue around the outdoor market, it’s definitely the pride of the Iron Range—Steve Solkela, belting out Finnish ballads while he jams on his accordion. His Nordic aura is unmistakable. You will see him wandering the grounds and playing the accordion bare-handed in the ice-cold wind. A Minnesota phenomenon.
A local Scandinavian dance group—the Viken dancers of Two Harbors—will take their traditional Norwegian dancing to the outdoor stage.
All these events are just a small portion of the wacky fun and entertainment available at Julebyen. Take, for example, the children’s Herring Run (yes, children sprinting as fast as they can while balancing a dangling herring on a spatula). Norwegians know their humor.
In the words of event director Helene Hedlund, there are grandparents, parents, and grandchildren from Knife River and surrounding communities working side by side, volunteering at the festival. Hedlund stresses the “multi-generational” aspect of the event organization. “It takes a village. All of the volunteers that do the baking—it’s all homemade. All the crafts at the indoor market are designed by our local community. They have fun, but they work hard.”
Running an event this big also requires sponsors, and Hedlund credits the Knife River Recreation Council and Lovin’ Lake County destination marketing organization for promoting and financing Julebyen.
Julebyen is an all-volunteer event, and the proceeds go to support community activities operated by the Knife River Recreation Council. “Whether it’s keeping the Knife River beach open to the public, maintaining the tennis courts, the pickleball courts, or the fourth of July parade, the funds from Julebyen go to support these activities,” explains Hedlund. The town of Knife River also features the Huldrefolk Trail—a hiking trail ripe for troll encounters along the river itself.
For families looking for an even bigger adventure, there’s the option of taking the Julebyen Express from the Duluth Depot all the way to Knife River and back. This is fairy tale territory. The scenic train ride up Lake Superior’s blue shores is made possible by the North Shore Scenic Railroad. The train leaves Duluth at 9:30 a.m., arrives at Julebyen by 10:30 a.m., and drops off merrymakers to enjoy the festival until 2 p.m., at which point the train departs for the trip back to Duluth. Round-trip tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for 3–13-year-olds, and free for the littlest ones.
All the fresh air and outdoor fun on the shore of Lake Superior is going to make you very hungry. While Julebyen volunteers used to prepare all the festival’s food, this year Hedlund notes a transition to food truck vendors. “We have three food vendors coming in to do the food. The only food that Julebyen will prepare is that we’ve added hot dogs over at the Depot, on the train side, because we wanted an affordable option for families with kids.”
Hedlund says the transition to food trucks allows volunteers to focus their efforts on other parts of the production. “Selling food is very volunteer-intensive, and we had to take a look at it reality-wise. We tried one food truck last year, and this year we will have three,” says Hedlund.
Another food option this year will be the return of the Waffle Hut, run by Knife River resident Randy Ellestad. If you’ve been to Julebyen before, you know that the amazing aromas and steaming hot coffee coming out of the Waffle Hut make it a sort of axis around which all other Julebyen activities revolve.
And what’s a Christmas market without shopping? According to Hedlund, “A lot of Christmas shopping goes on during Julebyen.” There will be 17 wooden huts at the Julebyen outdoor market with local artisans selling their unique hand-made gifts. These include Julebyen stalwarts like Christiansen Sauna, Fish Johnson (selling wild caught Alaskan salmon), and Miel Duluth (honey and beeswax-based products). Other artisanal wares for sale include art, woodwork, candles, sheepskin blankets, maple syrup, hand-forged ironwork pieces, jewelry, and pottery.
This year, Julebyen will be premiering a new heated farmers market tent, operated by the Two Harbors Farmers Market (seen in summertime at the Burlington Station parking lot on Highway 61). Local growers will sell their home-raised foods in a 40x100-foot tent on the train depot side of Julebyen.
Get ready for wacky humor and lots of troll activity when you visit Julebyen in historic Knife River. This Christmastime experience with a Scandinavian flavor will transport you to a fairy-tale world. And you don’t even have to buy a plane ticket to Norway. For more information, visit: julebyen.org.
Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation
40 years of transforming philanthropy
By Naomi Yaeger
DULUTH—In the world of Monopoly, a popular board game, players occasionally find themselves landing on the Community Chest square. It’s a windfall for the individual, but it comes with a catch; it swiftly empties the Community Chest, requiring several turns to amass those communal riches once more.
In the real world, many nonprofit organizations operate in similar fashion. They conduct fundraisers, launch capital campaigns, host galas, raffles, and car washes or bake sales to collect funds. Once the money is raised, it’s put to good use. And it is spent.
Shaun Floerke, the president and CEO of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation (DSACF), presides over DSACF from spacious quarters on the 7th floor of Duluth’s Medical Arts Building. The Foundation is able to give grants and scholarships by investing it’s money and spending the interest of dividends only. Since 1983 they have distributed more than $63 million through more than 450 funds.
Floerke and the entire community recently celebrated an event at the Clyde Iron Works in Duluth. Why the jubilation? Establishing a community foundation in Duluth and the Arrowhead region during the challenging economic climate of the early 1980s and maintaining its financial viability for four decades is no small feat. Nov. 2 marked the 40th anniversary of the Community Opportunity Foundation. Some 4,790 individuals have donated to that fund. Floerke said, “We’ve had gifts from $1 to $1 million.”
FLOERKE SOUND FAMILIAR?
If Floerke’s name sounds familiar, it might be because he served as a judge in Minnesota’s Sixth Judicial District from 2004 until he joined DSACF in January 2021. As a judge, he often encountered people at the end of their journeys, typically when they faced legal troubles. In his new role, he aspires to help people further “upstream,” offering opportunities before they find themselves in legal, social, or personal difficulties.
Floerke pointed out that many people are unaware of the Foundation. Its origins can be traced back to the challenging economic landscape of the early 1980s. The Foundation is committed to place-based funding, directing all its resources toward nonprofits and scholarships.
Floerke swiftly transitioned to the various other programs the Foundation supports, including scholarships, grants for food access, youth development, the arts, historical programs, and various other nonprofit initiatives.
He stressed the significance of individuals considering the Foundation in their wills. He cited individuals and couples who have come into their elder years with lots of money and either have no children or their children are doing well, so they want to leave a legacy to help others in their community. Financial planners and/or attorneys can often help them with this.
One noteworthy aspect of the Foundation’s approach is its commitment to minimizing bureaucratic obstacles for grantees. They aim to streamline the grant application process and reporting requirements.
Moira Villiard, an Indigenous artist known for her collaborative murals and exhibitions, joined the board to gain insights into foundation operations. She said, “I want to support folks who might never access this Foundation.” She echoed the need to streamline the application process. Previously, as an artist applying for grants, she found the Foundation’s outdated internet portal cumbersome, but it has since been updated, which is expected to improve the application process.
IT’S NOT JUST DULUTH AND SUPERIOR
Don’t let the name “Duluth Superior Area” mislead you; as Floerke said, “There’s a lot in those four little letters.” The Foundation’s reach extends to Carlton, Aitkin, Cook, and Lake Counties, as well as communities in Wisconsin’s Ashland, Douglas, Bayfield, Iron, and Price Counties and has four affiliates: Eveleth Foundation, Two Harbors Area, Cook County, and Apostle Islands Chequamegon Bay. Each affiliate has its committee for outreach and grants, often benefiting those communities.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In the early 1980s, Duluth faced challenging economic conditions, prompting an exodus of its residents. Some might recall a billboard at the time bearing the message, “Will the last one leaving Duluth, please shut off the lights.” However, amid this uncertainty, a visionary named Kay Slack, who served as the board president of United Way between 1981 and 1982, emerged.
Slack, now 90, reflected on that period. “It was really tough going with fundraising that year and meeting our goals.” She said, “It was kind of desperate. But I realized that other cities and towns, big and small and with community foundations, had a fallback. They could fill in the voids in hard times. So that thought kind of germinated.”
In 1982, Slack, alongside Jay Hess, thenhead of United Way, embarked on a mission to garner support for their foundation idea. As Slack recalled, their initial inquiries yielded a common refrain: “Oh, we tried it twice before, and it didn’t work.”
Undeterred, they sought guidance beyond Duluth. Slack said, “We interviewed foundation chairs and presidents down there (the Twin Cities) and found great support in the Bush Foundation. We told them about the negative references we were getting here, and they said, ‘Just do it. It’ll work.’”
Richard Burns meticulously drafted all the Foundation’s bylaws and handled the paperwork, adhering to the many tax-related rules and regulations that govern community foundations. The Blandin Foundation pledged a $25,000 grant, contingent on the completion of a feasibility study and matching funds. Slack and Bev Goldfine believed they could raise the necessary $25,000. Monte Goldfine, in their search for a solution, proposed a straightforward idea: “You just go to five people and ask them for $5,000.” While it was a substantial sum in the early ‘80s, their determination prevailed.
Today, Fred Friedman, retired public defender for northeast Minnesota, serves on the board. He said he serves, “Because their goals are absolutely correct in being inclusive. Too many (foundations or nonprofits) are geo-centric to their neighborhood. This is for everyone.”
In essence, the DSACF has not only been playing the philanthropy game, but adding a twist worthy of the most strategic Monopoly master. In their world, the money multiplies, ensuring that giving back to the community remains a perpetual journey of growth, hope, and enduring impact. For four decades, nonprofits and students have reaped the benefits of this innovative approach, with millions of dollars in grants and scholarships making a substantial difference.
