Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-06-28
Natives Of Norwegian, Proyi,'oe Come
From ell Parts Of Y. S. and
Canada For THO Day Re-
Union. Pleased With
Willmar.

70 : .
One of the notable events Of the
year al, Willmar was the gathering OF
the "Stavanger Laget" which was
held in our city last Thursday and
Friday. A conservative estimate
places the attendance at two thousand.
The larger portion. of these visitors
were from the various parts of Min
nesota and from the neighboring sta
tes OF Iowa, South and North Dakota.
However. Illinois, Nebraska and Wis
consin were well represented. There
were delegates here from as far as
Washington, Oregon, New York and
Canada.
Masonic Temple Headquarters
The basement OF the Masonic Tenn
pie had been secured as the down
town Headquarters for the Stavangers
and here the gathering Of the clans
began on the arrival OF the noon
trains on Wednesday. Nor from that
time until Friday did the local recep-
ton committee, whose duty it was to
assign lodgings for the visitors, have
minutes breathing spell. A large
portion of the people came by auto
mobile.
Twenty Banners
The festivities began Thursday NOR
ming, with monster parade from the
courthouse square to the Fair grounds
park, where the sessions Of the. Stav-
anger Laget were to be held Headed
by the American Flag and the Will
mar Band, the Stavangers marched in
groups according to the parishes or.
localities from which they hailed in
stavanger Amt, County, J, Norway OF
these groups not less than twenty
carried beautiful silk banners which
were presents from their native par
ishes. These banners were truly beau
tifully made of silk and gold, gener
ally with painting of the old homo
church on the one side and some
scenic or historical spot on the other.
The localities Of stavanger represent
ed with banners were 5Aardal, Aam0en,
|,Bjelmeland, Bjerkreim, Esfjord, Fin
no, Gjasdal, H6gsfjord. Holland.
Haugesund, Hetland, Imsland, Karin
0en, Nerstrand, Rennes0, Strand, Sui
cal, Time, Tysvar and Vats. The line
of march and the grounds had been
decorated with American and Nor
wegian flags.
On the arrival at the auditorium,
the banners were arranged in the front
of the building, a monster silk Nor,
wegian flag, a present in 1912 to the
Lag from Stayanger, occupying the
center of the stage. -.
Program At Auditorium :.
The program opened with the sing
ing of Luther's hymn, "a Mighty For
tress is Our God" Followed by scrip
ture reading and prayer.
Welcomedzto City
The address of welcome on behalf
of the City of Willmar was delivered
by City Attorney r. w Stanford in
the absence Of Mayor#Lawson. Presi-
dent Eastvold responded to the same,
after which he switched into the Nor
wegian language and delivered his
welcome to those present on behalf OF
the Stavanger Laget.
Three New Banners
One of the impressive features Of
the meeting was the acceptance OF
three new banners which had been re-.
ceived by the StavangeraLaget during
the year. The one from Varhaug and.
Nerbo was presented by Thomas Gud-
mestad of Litchville, N. D., and Rev.
Nolstad. The banner from Bjerkrem
was presented by Thor Benson OF Chi
cago and Rev. Vighdal OF Ruthven, Ia.
The Gjesdal banner was presented by
Rev. Berge of East StandWood, Wash,
4 fourth banner wllfch was expected
to have been unveiled at this meeting
was one from Sand. It did not arrive
in time, however. for this years meet
ing. I zz= s.
Among the speakers at the sessions
we're Rev. Bergsager, Hon, J.. F. Jac-
OLSON Of Madison. The speaker at the
Thursday evening session was Judge
TO. Gilbert Of Willmar. president Of
the Sons Of Norway. lodge Of America.
The Sons Of Norway Male chorus rem
dered several selections for this pro-.
gram
One Of the big and outstanding
things at the mee<inS nSs.vas the sermon
delivered by Rev. Eastvold, the presi.s
dent, Friday forenoon.
At eleven o'clock the visitors gath