Tag Archives: Norwegians

The Norwegian Tradition Continues

Seattle’s Ballard Neighborhood has long been a gathering place for Scandinavians, particularly Norwegians.  Through the 1800’s, people in Norway heard about this place called America and how this spot on the west coast felt similar to their homeland, while also full of opportunity.

To this day, lots of fishing fleets are based in Ballard. The TV show, “The Deadliest Catch” brought it into our living rooms. The area became known as, “Snoose Junction.” The biggest party of the year is always “Seafoodfest”, with three days of bands, crafts and lots of seafood.

But this year is different, as you know. Seafoodfest has been officially scrapped for this year, while other traditions are being postponed with a hope of rescheduling. But there’s only one 17th of May and this year, the annual Syttende Mai parade through downtown Ballard was canceled.

For us, we had turned the celebration into a two-day affair, grabbing a room at the Hotel Ballard and living there for a couple of days. There was a big luncheon at noon, followed by assorted happy hours and then, the 17th of May Parade that marched down 24th, and made a left on Market Street. For the past 7 years, I’ve had the honor of announcing the parade from the official grandstand.

Again, this year was different and the parade, the luncheon, the singing at Bergen Place, all canceled. That meant a 130-year-old tradition was at risk. I mean, c’mon, they even marched over a century ago during the Spanish Flu outbreak. Of course, that could have been what fueled that Second Wave we keep hearing about.

One day, I thought, “What if a few of us got together, maintaining our social distance, and put on a Syttende Mai parade of our own?”  I passed the idea along to a few members of the community and the next thing you know, we had a plan.

We had to walk a fine line because, in accordance with the Governor’s orders, there were to be no gatherings.  The official parade organizers wanted nothing to do with this, because they didn’t want to risk losing their official Seafair-sanctioned status. So, we kept it to a handful of people, who dressed up and, at the exact time the big parade would have stepped off, we began down the route in our cars, wearing masks and honking our horns.

But rather than telling you, why don’t I show you exactly what happened.

The streak remained intact. The tradition continued.

And if even for a couple of hours on that pandemic Sunday afternoon, the spirit of Syttende Mai lived on.

Skål.

Tim Hunter

I Blame Myself

It’s me. I was the one. Point all the fingers my direction. I’m the one to blame.

I don’t remember the exact moment, but I’m very sure at some point I committed the regrettable. Just like in a slasher movie when of the characters says, “Let’s hide in here. The guy with the hockey mask and chainsaw will never find us!”, I know that at some point in my existence I must have said the words out loud: “How could May possibly get any busier?”

After all, there’s Mother’s Day and Memorial Day Weekend. Cinco de Mayo usually tempts us to do something. Oh and there’s my wife’s birthday, my sister-in-law’s birthday, my father-in-law’s birthday and my granddaughter’s birthday.

Tuesday night, I was privileged to enjoy a Norwegian Dinner called Torske Klubben, an all-guys gathering up at the Everett Lodge with a 40-year tradition.

There’s the big 17th of May celebration coming up later this month in Ballard for Norwegian Constitution Day, which means a luncheon and doing the play-by-play of the big parade. Plus, we make an event out of it and stay two nights at the Hotel Ballard so we can wallow in it.

I’d probably observe May 18th, the anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens back in 1980 since I was up to my arse in ash for a week, but I just plain don’t have time.

So how could I possible wedge in one more thing? Well, it’s actually several more things, all surrounding the grand opening of the brand-new Nordic Museum in Ballard.

On top of the social events (we’ve been invited to multiple “sneak peeks”–I’ve actually been there three times in the past week), I’ve been asked by the museum to grab video of as much as I can for historical purposes. So, when I’m not there schmoozing, I’ll have the camera rolling.

For the outsiders wondering why it’s such a big deal, let me give you some background. This has been a 10-year quest, appropriating the site, battling factions who wanted it in another location, those crazy Seattle real estate prices, construction costs, fund-raising, you name it. How everyone involved in making this happen doesn’t have completely white hair is nothing short of a miracle.

But for all the struggles, all the doubters, all the critics, this new museum is happening. Even while under construction, the New York Times listed it as one of the 52 places in the world to visit this year. The crowned Princes of Denmark is going to be here. The president and first lady of Iceland will be here. Night after night, there are special sneak previews (we’re going tonight), but the big ribbon-cutting and grand opening is scheduled for this Saturday at high noon. It will be a small gathering of me, my wife and 2500 other near and dear friends. I understand admission to the museum that day is sold out, but you might be able to get in on Sunday. Visit their website for details.

So a couple of days into the month, I’m hanging on. It’s all fun, it’s all part of the busy adventure I call life. And I suppose the good news here is that there’s absolutely no way now that May could get any busier.

Oh, crap.

Tim Hunter