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September 4-17, 2018
Dream comes true for 2018 Danish Maid Christiana Heron’s service continues a long family tradition By April Charlton Contributing Writer
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rowing up in the Santa Ynez Valley, Christiana Heron dreamed of the day she might become the Danish Maid presiding over Solvang’s popular Danish Days Festival — just as three generations of women in her family, including two sisters, had done. This year her dream came true, even though for few moments, it seemed like all her For more on Danish hopes would be dashed. Days, including a “I was kind of schedule of events, crushed for a second. I see Page 9. didn’t think I could be a maid,” she said, because she heard about a rule that allowed only one member of a family to serve as the maid. However, the Solvang Danish Days Foundation, which chooses the Danish Maid each year, had rescinded that rule. In 1961, Christiana’s grandmother, Ann Nielsen, served as the first official “greeter” to the festival that’s held every September, which, at the time, also coincided with Solvang’s 50th anniversary. After that anniversary celebration, the post of Danish Maid was officially created. This year, Christiana, 17, joins her mother, Betina Nielsen Heron (1988) and sisters Gabrielle Heron (2017) and Angelique Heron (2014) as the face of the annual festival. “I always wanted to be maid,” Heron said of the title. “It’s been cool because I am the last woman in my family to finish a tradition.” “It’s been a real bonding experience for
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my family.” Danish Days began as an event honoring the 1911 establishment of Solvang by Danish-Americans, and this year’s 82nd annual event will run for three days from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 14-16, with Heron presiding over the festivities that include authentic food, music, dancing, parades, live entertainment and family activities. This year’s Danish Days theme — Beautiful Denmark by the Sea — recognizes Denmark’s historical and cultural connection to the sea, according to organizers. Christiana’s great-grandfather, Axel Nielsen, was a part of the beginnings of the event, and her great-great-grandparents, Marcus and Andrea Nielsen, who emigrated from Mors, Denmark, were among the early immigrant settlers of Solvang. The teen said she and her sisters grew up working at the
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As Danish Maid, Christiana Heron follows in the footsteps of her sisters, mother and grandmother. Photo contributed