Commemorative Medallion

A limited edition Commemorative Medallion is now available for the Norseland Sesquicentennial. This limited edition pewter finish ornament depicts the Norseland General Store, the steeple of Norseland Lutheran Church, and the bell tower of Scandian Grove Lutheran Church. These are wonderful commemoratives and will make good gifts for family and friends. They also will made great Christmas tree ornaments. Medallions are $10 and are available at Norseland Lutheran Church, Scandian Grove Lutheran Church, or Traverse De Sioux Garden Center in St. Peter. The medallions have the same image which is printed on the community T-shirts.

GUARD DOG AND A TRACTOR TOO?

During World War II it was hard to get farm machinery. There were also price controls placed on machinery to allow for some fairness in the marketplace. Davis Renneke, who farmed in New Sweden Township told about farm auctions and unscrupulous auctioneers. I interviewed the late Davis Renneke in 1992. This is what he told me. "Items like tractors were hard to come by and would bring big prices, if it weren't for the price controls. To get around that ruling, they would not sell the tractor. They would tie a dog to the tractor and sell the dog--and everything with it." Remember History Matters! end

THE T SHIRTS ARE HERE!

The Norseland 150 Community Celebration T Shirts with our official logo are available at Traverse des Sioux Garden Center in St. Peter. They are located on the north end of town just off Highway 169. Their telephone number is 931-6683.

Independence Day Celebrations

We all have our traditions and celebrating the 4th of July is one of them. Over the years, families, friends, community members form groups that follow traditions of picnics, parades, fun and games. One July 4th many years ago was pretty special.

On July 4, 1926, a great celebration was held in the grove at the home of John and Gulina and Gust and Olga Annexstad. Minnesota Governor Theodore Christianson was the invited speaker and enthralled a crowd of 2,000 people. The St. Peter Herald reported, “Favored indeed was the Norseland Community by the presence of the state’s executive who brought a message on ‘Obligations of Citizenship’ to his friends and hearers that will not soon be forgotten. Out of the hundreds of communities who sought his presence that day, Norseland was the favored one.”

Read more about it in our history book. end

AN ACT OF GOD?

Generally, the Norseland Community has been “dry”. However, at one time (perhaps during the 1930’s) a tavern was opened and operated for a time. At least one current resident was able to make an underage purchase of a case of beer at said tavern. According to Jerry Johnson, the pastor at Scandian Grove Lutheran Church was not thrilled that there was a tavern in the community. Jerry Johnson said, “our preacher preached about closing (it) and how happy he as that it melted into the dust.” The tavern burned to the ground when the sawdust used to keep the ice ignited from spontaneous combustion. Could it have been an Act of God? Find out who was able to buy the case of beer and other good stuff when our book is published. Remember History Matters!

Rural Youth Have Aged

In 1960, the Rural Youth Group in Nicollet County was changing. The young single people who made up the group were getting married! What to do? What to do? Why not start a young married couples group? Good Idea!!!!!
With the help of Fred Wetherill, County Agent, the Nicollet County Young Couple's Club was born. Now, 48 years later, we are still a couple's club - even though we are not young! We have taken the word "young" out of our name - but we are still young in other ways. How you ask?
We probably hold the record for the group that has attended the most Syttende Mai events at Hanska. That would be 18 years that our group has laughed at those Norwegians.
We have held Halloween Costume parties; gone roller skating; taken mystery trips; held hay rides, progressive dinners, fondue parties and more. We like history and we have seem many historic sites and learned much about the people who settled our area. Read more about our group in the book in progress. REMEMBER HISTORY MATTERS! end

New Sweden township history

In the 1890’s the township started graveling roads. The town purchased several gravel pits, and the graveling was done by men who had been assessed one or more days of work on the road.

An interesting entry from the annual meeting of 1898 reads as follows:

“on motion it was resolved that no one whatsoever shall be allowed to enter upon the public highway with their plows for the purpose of using said highway to scour their plows, nor for any other purpose, both before and after said highway has been graded”.

An entry from the annual meeting of March 10, 1914 reads, “on motion it was resolved to pay 20 cents an hour for man and 20 cents an hour for a team of horses or mules for road labor.”end