These two Harley-riding friends have dubbed themselves Sven & Ole—going so far as to have personalized plates for their motorcycles. When they heard that there was a Sven & Ole’s Pizza on Minnesota’s North Shore, they made a 926-mile trip to check it out. Pictured in front of the North Shore icon is Sven (Mark Longnecker of White Oak, IA) and Ole (Paul Lee of Huxley, IA).
The 30th anniversary of Sven & Ole’s Pizza passed with little fanfare at the end of July. Sven & Ole’s Pizza founders Sid and Terry Backlund offered some anniversary specials and carried on with the busy tourist season as usual. However, the occasion was marked by a serendipitous visit from two fellows who rode Harley-Davidsons all the way from Iowa for a slice of Sven & Ole’s. Why the 926-mile ride? Because the duo are known themselves as Sven and Ole.
The trip to Grand Marais for Sven & Ole’s pizza has been in the works for a long time for Sven (Mark Longnecker of White Oak, Iowa) and Ole (Paul Lee of Huxley, Iowa). The men worked in construction together and to pass the time, Lee, who is Scandinavian, shared the latest Sven & Ole jokes. After a particularly funny Sven & Ole story sometime in 2000, Longnecker needed a tool. “I said, ‘Hand me that hammer, Ole.’ He answered, ‘Here ya go, Sven’—and the rest is history,” chuckled Longnecker/Sven.
Longnecker/Sven is not Scandinavian, but he said, “I’m adopted!”
Friends and family joined the fun and the nicknames stuck—so much so that when the men got plates for their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, they got personalized Sven & Ole license plates. And it was only a matter of time before a ubiquitous bumper sticker from Sven & Ole’s Pizza in Grand Marais found its way to them. Longnecker/Sven said, “When we saw the bumper sticker, we said we’ve got to take a ride up there. We’ve been talking about it for about three years now.”
Riding along with Sven was not Inga or Lena, but his wife, Starla Longnecker, who takes all the Sven & Ole joking in stride. She’s been married to Sven/Longnecker for 40 years. In what sounds like the start of a typical Sven & Ole joke, they celebrated their anniversary on the motorcycle trip with
Lee/Ole.
They did see sights other than Sven & Ole’s, enjoying the ride up Highway 61 and dining at another North Shore landmark, Naniboujou Lodge. “It was an awesome ride,” said Lee/ Ole.
And the pizza? The Iowa Sven and Ole gave it the highest compliments. “It was worth the ride,” Lee/ Ole said.
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