Velkommen Välkommen Velkomin Velkominn, Tervetuloa

We welcome you in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and Finnish, the languages of the Scandinavian areas of Europe. We are The Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture. Our physical location is in Dunn County Wisconsin. Mailing Address: PO Box 522, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54702 USA

Become a member--support our mission--- use our contact page!

This is What We do!

We support Scandinavian Culture with Workshops, Retreats and Presentations. Projects include a local Folk Fair, Wahlstrom Nordic Workshop for college students, and a yearly Syttende Mai celebration. We provide financial support to other groups in our area who work to do the same.

New: We are providing through the work of board member Paul, 1 hour of Nordic Music on Sunday afternoons 1 -2 PM CT. via public radio. You can listen to the program at WHYS 96.3 FM Eau Claire Community Radio here in Eau Claire or live stream it from anywhere at http://www.whysradio.org/nowplaying.php.

At our Annual Meeting the agenda often includes election of officers. Officers are elected for a three year term. Only paid up members can vote. June 2024 elections were held and the following is a list of our officers and our board members:

Tim Sivertson - Pres

Janice Wnukowski - Vice Pres

Linda Curtis - Secretary

Diane Lund - Treasurer

Board Members:

Jeremy Gragert

Paul Kaldjian

Garry Running

Jason Revelle

Gordon Thorpe

More about us

Membership Information:

Norden Folk invites you to help with the mission of Norden Folk. Norden folk is committed to preserving and maintaining historic and traditional Nordic Culture in the Upper Midwest Area. It is our goal to build and maintain the interest of younger generations through the visual arts and traditional music, folk dance and sport. We would like to build our membership with folks committed to preserving Scandinavian traditions. We need motivated people to come on-board and help with the goal of keeping Nordic culture relevant and vibrant in our multicultural society. In other words, we need you!

Wahlstrom Nordic Workshop

The Wahlstrom Nordic workshop will be held February 21-23, 2025 at Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek WI.

It will be hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College and Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN.

The theme this year is "Interweaving Nordic Textiles Past and Present". As always, this years program will include Nordic games, ax casting, weaving, woodcarving, folk dancing and instruction with Finn Hall Trio, and home cooked meals.

Any MWISC members whose dues are paid by February 14, 2025 are welcome to attend Saturday's activities at no charge, please email mwisc@yahoo.com so that MWISC knows how many to plan for.

The registration cutoff for students attending is February 6th. Registration for all students will be $60 for the weekend or $40 for one day.

The official greeting for Syttende Mai is:

‘Gratulerer med dagen’

On the 17th of May, Norwegians celebrate their independence day. It commemorates the signing of their constitution in 1814.

Plans are under way for the local Syttende Mai celebration which will be held at the Holiday Inn South/Johnny’s Steakhouse in Eau Claire.

The featured speaker will be Tom Loftus, the former Ambassador to Norway.

Tickets can be purchased at Festival Foods 3007 Mall Drive Eau Claire, WI 54701 or online at agerhouse.org through Waldemar Ager Association.

The deadline for reservations is May 9, 2025, there will not be any tickets sold at the door.

Culture
Fest

Culture Fest is an annual International Folk Fair and is held at University of Wisconsin Eau Claire at the Davies Center. This year’s date is March 9, 2025 12:00 P.M..– 4:00 P.M. This family friendly event is a great way to learn more about different cultures from around the world.

Annual Meeting

It was held on June 27, 2024 at St. Matthews Lutheran Church. The annual meeting minutes of June, 20, 2023 were approved. The three board positions nominees were voted in for a 3 year term. Paul Kaldjian, Garry Running, and Jason Revelle. The vacant 1 year board position was voted on and filled by Gordon Thorpe. No annual meeting date set yet for June of 2025.

MWISC Archival Collection
archived at UW Eau Claire and on our website www.nordenfolk.online

At the website you can find links to these collections and links to the minutes of the meetings.

The Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture Officers are:

Tim Sivertson - President Janice Wnukowski – Vice President Linda Curtis – Secretary Diane Lund – Treasurer Board Members - Paul Kaldjian, Jeremy Gragert, Garry Running, and Gordon Thorpe

Email us at: mwisc@yahoo.com

Like all good Scandinavians, we love our coffee; actually Scandinavians are among the highest consumers of coffee in the world. It might be said that it's a way of life.