Karl Rove and Olav Thon honored at Høstfest

One of the special events during Høstfest in Minot, ND each year is the Scandinavian American Hall of Fame Banquet.

On Tuesday Sept. 29 Karl Rove was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame along with three others – Representative Earl Pomeroy, Tom Netherton of the Lawrence Welk Show, and Allen Larson of Minot – one of the founders of the Scandinavian Heritage Association. Rove, who served President George W. Bush for seven years as a White House advisor, says his Norwegian roots run deep and he considers being selected for the Hall of Fame a distinct honor. He says the strong ties to heritage that so many Americans have make the country strong.

“As Americans we all share a great experience of being sons or daughters or grandsons or granddaughters of immigrants. And of sharing in something called the American Dream. I’ve had occasion to travel the world and there’s no Chinese Dream, there’s no Australian Dream, there’s no Nigerian Dream, therer’s no British Dream, but you go anywhere and there’s an American Dream and people around the world know what it is and people around the world want to participate in it,” says Rove.

In addition, Olav Thon – Norway’s richest man – was presented with the Humanitarian Award for his philanthropy. The 86-year-old Thon had planned to be there, but had to stay home in Norway due to hip surgery.

Thon, who hails from Hallingdal, is a Norwegian real estate developer and listed by Forbes List of Billionaires as the 368th richest person in the world in 2008. He lives just outside Oslo, in Sollihøgda. His company owns 360 properties in Norway and 18 abroad, including shopping malls, office buildings, retail stores and hotels. His principal holdings are the private companies Stormgård AS and Thongård AS, in addition to a major stake in the publicly traded company Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap ASA.

Source: Kxmb.com / Wikipedia