News

The Heritage Hjemkomst Center, located in Moorhead, Minn., is a regional family attraction featuring exhibits and programs that interpret the life, culture and heritage of the Red River Valley.

Skien Airport is only 6 kilometers from the town center of Skien, and not many more kilometers from the town center of Porsgrunn. From Skien Airport we now have regular flights to Bergen, Stavanger, Molde and Stockholm (Sweden). Take a look at Vildanden for more information.

The last couple of months before Christmas is the lutefisk season in Norway. Some restaurants have specialized in lutefisk, and we know some people who go to lutefisk dinners several times during the lutefisk season. The lutefisk dinners are rather expensive, not far from USD 100 just for the food. And if you eat it "the Norwegian Way", with beer and aqavite, it might cost you nearly USD 100 in addition.

For more than 30 years, Vesterheim has been providing unique educational experiences on tours to Norway. In September a tour group from Vesterheim comes to Telemark, and they will be here for nearly two weeks.

Visitors in August 2007: We have had many visitors from the US coming to Skien and Telemark in 2007. On Aug 24 we had the pleasure of receiving a group from Juven Tours in Skien.

Suoni Wind Orchestra from Skien in Telemark has been representing Skien on various occasions abroad such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czezh Republic and Poland. In 2000 they participated in a great concert and cultural festival in Beijing in China. And in October they will visit the Mid West where they will have several performances.

In August Telelaget of America came to Telemark on their 100th Anniversary Tour. In Oslo they were welcomed to our country by the US Ambassador to Norway before they headed for Telemark and Bolkesjø. They visited a number of places in Telemark before they left 10 days later to go back to Oslo and Minnesota.

Early June Skien Servicesenter was contacted by an email from Cathrine Gram, Oslo. She contacted us on behalf of her friends in America, telling that members of the Forrest Halvorsen family were ment to arrive Skien June 25th to find their roots.

Web-editor Fred Øveraas helped them find the excact adresses where their forefather Christen Halvorsen and his family lived in Skien, when his son Johan left his country for America in 1865. Through expertice in the City-planning-departement of Skien, we succeded to find the address where this family lived - Bratsbergkleven 48. The house burnt down in the big city fire before 1900, and the street has got a new name - Tomtegata. House number 72 in tomtegata matches the old adress.

We did also find the place where Christen Halvorsen was trained to be a shoemaker, at the old address Querndalen house five. This house was burnt down, and the adress today is Torggata 22. Just an open yard.

Our visitors were happy to get that close to their roots, and appreciated our service. Photoes and more about their forefathers - click the title-line above.

It was a great pleasure for Skien Municipality Servicesenter to serve our guests. Nice to meet you.

We have told you before about the visit of the best-known agricultural broadcaster in the US, Orion Samuelson. He came to Telemark with a cameraman and large group of farmers from the Mid West.

We have heard that several short films and pictures from Telemark have already been shown in Orion Samuelson's agricultural programmes on American television.

Have you seen any of these ? Please sign in an tell us about it on "Heritage Forum" on our web-site.

Telemark was heavily represented at Norsk Høstfest in Minot in North Dakota in October last year, and we were asked to investigate if a new Sons of Norway lodge could be established in Telemark.