12/04/2018
SANGER-HILSEN 15
NORSE GLEE CLUB
Sioux Falls SD
By the time of the publication of
this article, several notable events
(singing or otherwise) will have
gone by, and more lie in the future
for the holidays. As planned we
did sing at the “Festival of Men’s
Voices,” mentioned in the last
issue. We individually offered
three songs within the patriotic
theme, “Rock-A My Soul”,
“Shenandoah”, and a variation of
“God Bless the U.S.A.” The
program closed with the massed
chorus of one hundred voices
singing “America the Beautiful”,
as arranged by James Mulholland.
Following the “Festival” our
musical focus shifted to the
holidays. We have three
December singing opportunities
scheduled to-date. One is at the
Washington Crossing retirement
home, a second at the Touchmark-
at-All-Saints retirement commun-
ity, and the third at the South
Dakota Penitentiary Jameson
Annex. All three of these are
annual revisits at this time of year.
Shifting away from music for a
moment, other notable events have
occurred or are planned. On
October 19, we again hosted our
annual Lutefisk supper. This year
we served over 500 patrons, all
who seemed to thoroughly enjoy
the fare.
On October 29, one of our long-
time (now retired) members,
Milton Steen and his wife, Elinor,elebrated their 70th wedding
anniversary at an open house at
their home at Bethany
Meadows/Bethany Home in
Brandon SD. Milt, while active
with the glee club, sang tenor,
served as President for two years,
and chaired our Lutefisk suppers
for several years. We wished them
our heartiest congratulations.
On November 5th, we observed
the Glee Club’s 84th anniversary of
our 1928 charter. The next week,
at our November business meeting,
we installed our officers for 2012-
2013. Steve Espeland became
President, Darrell Espeland
became vice-president, Rodney
Hoff became recording secretary,
and I will remain as the
corresponding secretary. In
addition to our performance
obligations for December we will
have a Christmas dinner for
ourselves and our families on
December 4th. Santa always
makes an appearance. As many of
you know we have a very special
“in” with that kindly old
gentleman.
Stan Hesby
In closing I would like to
mention a singing opportunity we
had on October 3rd. The date is
significant because it was less than
three weeks following the tragic
death of our member, Stan Hesby.For background, Stan, for many
months, had been key and the
linchpin in an event inviting a
group of Norwegian farmers and
their spouses to his farm in Volga
SD following their visit to the
HøstFest in Minot ND this year.
Their trip had been organized
through the agricultural magazine,
Bondebladet. Stan extended an
invitation for them to visit his farm
to see his collection of antique
tractors and those of his neighbors.
Stan had a life-long passion for
antique tractors and had collected a
number of them.
That visit was to be on October
3rd. Stan’s friends and his wife,
Marilyn, agreed to press on with
the event in his memory. Some 46
tractors, cars, and other equipments
were assembled on the Hesbyfarm. That morning 40 guest
farmers and their spouses arrived
mid-morning to view that display.
Marilyn had asked if we (the Glee
Club) would be a part of the
guests’ welcome as a tribute to
Stan. We sang the Norwegian
National Anthem. The guests were
genuinely attentive and apprecia-
tive of our efforts.
Tours of the equipment then
followed, with lots of energized
discussion between hosts and
guests. Stan had been central to
the planning of this event, and to
the planning and implementation
of many others within his
community. His spirit lives on.
We were fortunate to have had him
as a member of our Norse Glee
Club. We were honored to pay this
last tribute to him.
