Do you know the difference between Lefse and Lutefisk? Before you head out to the Lille Norge Fest this Saturday, it might be a good idea to find out. One is a rather tasty type of potato flat bread, eaten with butter, sugar and cinnamon — the other is a stinky mess of gelatinous fish that has been processed in lye. I don’t think you want to get them mixed up.
Growing up as a full-blood Swede, I spent a lot of time laughing at those crazy Norwegians who would relish a bite of their national treasure: the stinky lye fish. They love it so much, they even have TV dinners made out of the stuff! I often forgot that we had our own scary fish items on the Swedish smorgasbord table, the worst of which was Janssons frestelse, which had the added delight of anchovies with their heads still on and their little beady eyes staring back at you.
Now that I am done grossing you out with all the national treasures of Scandinavia, let’s talk Norge Fest FUN! I’ve been a member of the Sons of Norway Borglund chapter and have attended many a Norge Fest — and have always had a terrific time. They feature Traditional Norwegian Folk Dancing throughout the event, a highlight of which are the intricately made, colorful and traditional bunads the dancers wear. Another highlight is the work displayed and available for purchase by the Black Hills Rosemalers. They paint many items in the traditional Norwegian Rosemaling or “Rose Painting” style — from serving plates to switchplates to everything in-between.
And last but not least — the food! Aside from the stinky fish, the food is an experience all its own. Rice pudding, sotsuppe, steamburgers, rommegrot and polse — you’ll have to try them all, even if you have no idea what it is or how to pronounce it.
Lille Norge Fest is a very family friendly event, with lots for the kids to see and do. Plan to spend the day. And as all the Norwegians like a good time (you can always tell a Norwegian, but you can never tell him MUCH) I’ll leave you with a greeting from the two famous Norwegians, Ole and Lena.
Check back right here at the BlackHillsFun.com for a Friday FUN Giveaway featuring the Lille Norge Fest — you won’t want to miss it! (No stinky fish involved, I promise)
And if you want to find out more about the delicacies of Scandinavia, well here ya go:
About Blogger Lisa Sherrodd: Lisa grew up in a household full of Swedes and thought everyone ate meatballs for dinner on Wednesdays. She used to run the former ScandiaStore located at 6th & Main along with her folks. Nowadays she spends time riding her Norwegian Fjord horses, and chauffeuring her daughters to various dance events around Rapid City.
If you plan to attend the new production of Move Over Mrs. Markham at the Rushmore Mall, take Director Terry Rathbun’s advice. Plan ahead. Nothing is more fun than laughing non-stop for two hours — unless you need to use the bathroom. Although restrooms are easily accessible near the theater, you won’t want to use them once the mayhem starts.
“There’s not a lot of spare time to take a breath,” Rathbun explains. Advertised as a British “bedroom romp,” don’t let that title fool you. The show is downright “naughty,” complete with slamming doors and mistaken identities. Ok, yes, there is a little nudity, but not too much. Rathbun can say with unmistaken certainty that despite the adult themes, the show is not over-the-top. He knows this because his mother was not offended. Instead, she left the production laughing on her 80th birthday.
The play runs through November 22nd with 7:30 performances and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Wednesday is “Wacky Wednesday” night with reduced admission price and no reservations required.
Although kids will likely not understand what makes the jokes funny, so far the audience has been “rollicking” in true British form. It’s the kind of play that makes for a perfect date night. Just don’t drink too much wine before the curtain rises and need to leave your seat before the second act closes.
About Guest Blogger Eric Blomfelt: Eric and his family moved to Rapid City in 1978 when we was just a little tyke. An alumni of Wilson School, South Junior High and Rapid City Central, Eric spent his summers tubing Rapid Creek and cliff jumping at Deerfield. One of his greatest achievements while growing up in Rapid City was starring on the KEVN TV show K.I.D.S. where he got to interview Leif Garret and the seals at Marine Life.
We are always looking for people to blog for us! Bloggers are paid. Contact us today if you would like to submit a blog post!
Awesome site! We really have needed this for a long time. I hope all events get posted here!
Congratulations Amiee! We are sending you an email with instructions on how to get your tickets. And please, if you think of it, stop back by our blog to let us know what you thought of the show. Thanks so much for being our very first Friday FUN winner!
Way to go!
One thing we are excited about here at Blackhillsfun.com is our Friday Fun giveaways! We plan on bringing you a fun giveaway every Friday. We weren’t going to officially start this until after the first of the year, but since you all are so very excited about our launch yesterday, we thought we would give you a little preview of our Fun Friday Fun giveaways!
Black Hills Community Theater has graciously donated two tickets to see any performance of Move Over Mrs. Markham — now showing at the Rushmore Mall Theater. If you need to know times and dates, well you’ve come to the right place! We just happen to have a handy calendar that will tell you! How convenient!
So, how do you enter to win? It’s simple. Just leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post in the comments section and we will randomly draw a name by midnight tonight using random.org to generate the number. The winner will be contacted by email, so be sure we can get hold of you! And don’t worry, we have a very, very strict no spam policy. We will never, ever use your email to bug you or give your email to someone who will. Scout’s honor! That just wouldn’t be nice. And we are all about nice. Nice and fun.
Watch our blog later this week for an interview with Terry Rathbun, director of Move Over Mrs. Markham. Everything you ever wanted to know about directing an awesome production like this!
Please note that comment moderation is turned on to keep people from spamming us, so your comment will not appear right away. It will need to be approved first to make sure you are a human and not a robot.
So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment! Get in line to win! And enjoy the show!
So there I was. All dressed up as a bride. My gown was GORGEOUS, my hair and makeup had been done by professionals. I was ready for my big day!
And then . . .
. . . Nobody came.
I was a lonely bride, all by my little lonesome self.
Okay, don’t panic. This wasn’t my wedding day. I was dressed up as a bride for a downtown “Bridal Walk” in Rapid City. I was modeling for a good friend who owned a bridal shop. I mean, what girl doesn’t like to get dressed up and model beautiful gowns. It’s all fun, but quickly got pretty boring as I was there ALL BY MYSELF. Just me, a few other models, and the downtown store owners. The only bonus was I got to chow down on the buffet table with lots of samples of yummy wedding cake.
A few people stopped by and were very surprised to see us models all dressed up with no one to look at us.
What were we doing? –they asked. (by this time I was feeling a little ridiculous)
Modeling for a bridal walk — we replied.
What? Bridal walk? — they exclaimed! We didn’t know there was a bridal walk today! If we would have known we would have brought friends! We would have spread the word! Why, we know lots of people, even in Gillette, Wyoming who are getting married and would have loved to have come to this event!
NOBODY KNEW it was happening! Gah!
What does this have to do with BlackHillsFun.com? Well, it’s this: it was that day I thought of the idea: a one-stop place to find all your entertainment happenings in the Black Hills.
I’d been through it myself, more than just the bridal walk. How many times did my kids hear at school about some FUN event they had missed because we didn’t know it was going on? No more, I vowed! From now on I will know all the FUN stuff that is going on in the Black Hills. Even if I have to build a website myself.
About Blogger Lisa Sherrodd: 
Eric and his family moved to Rapid City in 1978 when we was just a little tyke. An alumni of Wilson School, South Junior High and Rapid City Central, Eric spent his summers tubing Rapid Creek and cliff jumping at Deerfield. One of his greatest achievements while growing up in Rapid City was starring on the KEVN TV show K.I.D.S. where he got to interview Leif Garret and the seals at Marine Life.
One thing we are excited about here at Blackhillsfun.com is our Friday Fun giveaways! We plan on bringing you a fun giveaway every Friday. We weren’t going to officially start this until after the first of the year, but since you all are so very excited about our launch yesterday, we thought we would give you a little preview of our Fun Friday Fun giveaways!
So there I was. All dressed up as a bride. My gown was GORGEOUS, my hair and makeup had been done by professionals. I was ready for my big day!