Left: St. Lucia (Elsa Lunde) was accompanied by Ella Hallberg and Piper Sporn at the Julefest celebration held December 13 at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. Below: Wearing her red Scandinavian sweater, June Olsen, well past her 90th birthday, was at the church bright and early setting tables with plates filled with sweet treats for the bake sale. Below left: Gwen Lenz and Jody Daugherty (right) were two of the many Bethlehem Lutheran women who worked hard to make the bake sale at the Julefest so successful. Proceeds from the sale are put into various programs and activities sponsored or run by the church.
Not even a very un-winter like gray, foggy, rainy day could dampen the spirits of the large throngs of people who attended the 2014 Julefest at Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Saturday, December 13.
Welcoming guests this year were new emcees Craig Peterson and Jim Ringquist. They took over for the very colorful and very funny Dave Peterson who was the original host for the very first Julefest in Sweden. Just kidding, although Dave is getting up there in years, he’s not quite that old.
This was the first Julefest in the 40-year history of the event at Bethlehem Lutheran that all-time great helper and hostess Mary McElevey couldn’t attend. She is in the hospital but her spirit could be felt everywhere and she was well thought of in conversation and in prayer.
Wearing the crown of candles depicting St. Lucia was Elsa Lunde, her radiant smile brightening the day and shedding away the grayness of winter. Her attendants, Ella Hallberg and Piper Sporn trailed her singing songs in English and Swedish as they walked through the crowd. Also performing was Amelia Roth who sang a beautiful solo in Swedish and Philis Anderson and her son Kent, who played several traditional Swedish songs. Pastor Mark Ditmanson gave a welcoming prayer and warm greeting to all who attended.
The traditional bake sale generated a lot of interest. On sale were colorful plates of Scandinavian cookies and treats: krumkake, sandbakkels, fattimand, kranseke, Norwegian wedding cake, cardamom toast, romme grot, rice pudding and more. Funds from the bake sale generated $1,350 and will be donated to various programs sponsored by the church.
December 13 marks the darkest day in the Swedish winter. To combat this, the ever-clever Swedes turned the day into one of family celebration, and Julefest was born. That celebration was carried to the New World and was again on full display at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church last Saturday.
And like always, no celebration could be held without the church’s brightest lights, the ever-busy, bustling, beautiful, legendary, Lutheran church ladies who once again got to the church early to set up and stayed late to cleanup. God bless them one and all and to all a very merry Christmas!
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