LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Pure Sole

By KLAS STOLPE 

Is it mid to late August? Already?

To this day, as September nears I am overcome with anxious twitches, itchy scratches, and a deep longing to strum forlornly the deepest South blues a lily-white Scandinavian lad like myself could attempt from so far north.

The first day of school.

Being a Swedish boy in a town called Little Norway, well, there was some educating to be had.

To get school-ready my mother, not the fashion icon, would put a sturdy stainless steel mixing bowl upon my head and shear the summer adventures away.

My wardrobe was what the smallest of seven children wore, a history of hand-me-downs written in its mends and stitches. 

The signal to leave the house and stand in the rain was when Sven and Ole’s school bus went “out the road,” horn blasting.

In third grade I, being the weakest and most vulnerable of the available males, was tempted into third-grade Norwegian dance performances by Astrid Margit Svensdotter.

She was two heads taller and had teeth as white as snow and eyes like blue ice.

She broke my heart … and my arm, leg and tailbone as she skipped us both across the gymnasium floor, flinging me about like a Swedish flag.

She pinched me, and I her, and then she punched me hard. In my day, that pretty much meant that I was completely smitten with the girl or, in true Norwegian fashion, the girl was smitten with me and I had no choice or she would drag me to the decorated gymnasium on any class prom night and toss me about the floor. 

I didn’t toss well enough for Astrid, I landed funny often, so we lasted just a month.

Petersburg, or Little Norway to those of you who have never tied a boat up at the town’s dock, had traditions.

One was Norwegian dance class.

My best friend Ladd and I always tried to formulate some bizarre math calculation for our placing in line so when old Ms. Ragna Tove Lee began her pairing countdown it would allow us to trip the light fantastic together as macho dudes… but each time Ladd would wind up with the only blond Valkyrie that didn’t like to punch boys and I would find my hand crushed in the two-fist clutch of a young woman who lived across the bay and whose father ran a lumber mill.

Sigrid first laid her eyes, and then her massive hands, on me in dance class.

I never knew what my future destiny, per Sigrid, would allow, so when she was not at dance class in fifth grade I was relieved.

Then Birgit Anna Olsson dog-paddled up behind me in physical education swimming class and dunked me under the water. 

That officially meant we were “going steady.” 

Which officially meant I would now throw snowballs at her during lunch and recess and she would chase me down and wash my face because, well, Birgit was faster and stronger than I.

It was also agreed upon that:

1) I had to wait outside the school in the morning and follow her up the stairs. 

2) I couldn’t sit in the lunch room with my friends unless one of her girlfriends liked one of them.

3) I had to sit with her on the bus after school, even though our buses went opposite directions.

4) She could tease me and call me names.

Dating was simple then. 

Snotty girls and icky guys sent their number ones to tell you that they either liked, loved, or wanted to punch you. You checked which box interested you… I almost always scratched off the red heart because most of the girls in Little Norway were of Norwegian descent and seemed to enjoy punching me anyway.

 

I could hardly wait for the first day of middle school.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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