PHOTO CONTEST – Another update!

Photo: Helene Sobol
Hafrsfjord Sunset. During my visit to my family in Stavanger, I caught the sun setting on Hafrsfjord, the fjord where Harald Hårfagre (Harold Fairhair) won a battle and united Norway at the end of the 10th century. It was a magical evening which brought back memories of the long and wonderful summer days of my youth swimming and boating on this beautiful fjord.

Photo: Lucas Amundson
Photo taken during a July cruise on the Nærøyfjord. This was my first trip to Norway, and with views like this, it certainly won’t be my last!

Photo: Martin Ng
The Skandia Midsommarfest is an annual celebration of mid-summer by Norwegian Americans and other Scandinavians in the Seattle area. It is free and is open to the public. It is the most beautiful summer dance and music festival around. The highlight of the festival is the raising of the majstång, the tall summer pole decorated with lush garlands and summer flowers. Here the participants danced around the summer pole, with children proudly wearing the lovely flower crowns. The St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore has been the site of the festival for many years.

Photo: Katherine “Ingeborg” Spencer
This photo was taken at Skogfjorden, Concordia’s Norwegian Language Village. Every year hundreds of villagers, ages 6-18, travel to this magical place in the north woods of Minnesota and experience a summer of all things norsk! This year’s theme at Skogfjorden was Kvinnestemmerett (women’s vote), honoring the 100 year anniversary of Norway recognizing womens’ right to vote. The picture features our international day T-shirt, “Skal du stemme med stemmen din for å skape stemning” (Will you decide with your vote to create the atmosphere) and our celebration of Edvard Munch and “The Scream.” Submitted by Ross “Odin” Dybvig.

Photo: Ruth Dodson
A view of the tall ships in Bergen harbor. Norwegian-American Ruth Dodson took her not-as-Norwegian husband to see the motherland for their 25th Anniversary celebration. Summer vacation of a lifetime!

Photo: Irene Starck
During this year’s annual Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa Norwegian and American flags flew from every lamp post, while strings of flags from the other Nordic countries fluttered over the downtown streets. Most homes and businesses were also adorned with Norwegian and American flags.

Photo: Dorothy Norland
Maihaugen’s Summer Solstice Celebration. We have been at this celebration numerous times, but this year was the best!! Before the bonfire we celebrated with a traditional Sankthans meal with family in Lillehammer.

Photo: Elsie Skaar Bendiksen
Cousins from across the United States become fast friends in Norway! Leif Bendiksen (from Massachusetts) and Jakob Davidson (from Washington) both great-grandchildren of Ingrid Medhaug and the late Jakob Medhaug of Aakre, Norway, spend the day exploring the Viking Village on Bukkøy. They are pictured here with St. Olav’s church at Avaldsnes in the background. They were both in Norway this summer visiting their families and celebrating the 50th birthday of Leif’s Tante Irene!

Photo: Norm Jensen
Village along the Geirangerfjord: While in Norway I was on the Hurtigruten M/S Nordkapp, we passed by this small village tucked away in the cliffs of the Geirangerfjord.

Photo: Nina-Kristine Ball
Taken in Søgne Norway (just outside of Kristiansand). My daughter Hella walking to the beach in search of crabs.

Photo: Brian Talgo
Sunset on Ulvøysundet, Oslofjord.

Photo: Marit Store
My husband and I cruised on the “Shogun” in Alaska for two weeks in July and here you see me and the Captain with the beautiful halibut I caught. We were guests aboard with Rita and Reed Sprinkel (my Norwegian girlfriend) who chartered the boat. I am born and raised in Oslo, Norway and met my Norwegian husband at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1951.