Suburban Norwegian-Americans celebrated their heritage Sunday, Nov. 2 afternoon with Hostfest, an annual fall festival showcasing traditional food, music, and crafts.
Sponsored by Sons of Norway Polar Star Lodge 5-472, the event was held at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Polar Star holds monthly membership meetings on the first Sunday at the church.
At noon, lunch was served and a craft market opened. The lunch menu included smørbror, Norwegian-style open-faced sandwiches and lefse, potato flatbread made by Barb Johnson of Yorkville, lodge culture director.
Desserts included homemade fruit soup, cream cakes, lingonberry bars, almond bars, Kringla (cake), ice cream with lingonberries and cardamom rolls, cake and cookies.
Hostfest features include a loppemarked, marketplace and bakery. Volunteers demonstrated rosemaling, folk painting on wood; and hardanger, Norwegian-style embroidery. Scandinavian jewelry and knitted items were available for purchase.
Sons of Norway (SON) Polar Star Lodge 5-472 meets monthly at St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Polar Star is a member of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based non-profit founded in 1895 to promote Norwegian culture and heritage and offer financial products and services to members.
The organization offers language classes, cooking classes and sports programs to celebrate members’ Norwegian heritage. Polar Star is among more than 330 locally-governed lodges in the United States, Canada and Norway.
For more information, call 630-553-7389 or visit polarstarlodge.com/5.html for more information.
—Al Benson