Life in the Village

The Village dining room became the schoolroom as six young members of the sixth grade at H-BC came to challenge the Villagers to a spelling contest. This was the first round of the County Intergenerational Spelling Bee in Luverne. At school we stood until we missed a word and than sat down. Here it was conducted a little differently. Sitting in a semicircle in the middle of the room was a Villager and a student. Correct spelling was tabulated by Mary Jo Susie and Dorothy Thorin. Judy De Noble pronounced the words. Words like cauliflower, cavalry, communications, discriminate or disarray. (Did I spell them right?) It might have gone on all day if Mrs. Vaughn had not placed a time limit for all contestants who did a great job. Martha, Berdella and Marcella, Justin Brandt, Terrance Reid, and Casey Van Middendorp will continue on."Syttende Mai" did not go unobserved at the Village. This is Norway’s Independence Day, like our 4th of July. In English the phrase means 17th of May. We had sot suppe (sweet soup) which is a delicious sauce like food to be eaten hot or cold made of dried fruits, cherries, raisins, tapioca and grape juice along with other ingredients, red hots, sugar, etc. It’s been said in pioneer days "Sot Suppe" was brought to the new mom for it was so healthy. Then there were krumkake, and sandbakkels. Our Norwegian lady, Erma, made these delicious concoctions, while Deb placed Norwegian flags about the room. We all were Norwegian for a day thanks to Villager Erma.A Mother’s Tea was held one afternoon. Like usual we ate. This time butter cookies and cakes; banana, raisin or mock angel food were served. Deb and Linda Bakken led us in a discussion of homemade remedies. Like put mud on a bee sting, salt pork when you stepped on a nail, have a cold; gargle with salt water and put goose grease on your chest and cover with a sock wrapped around your neck. Arnold reported it smelt bad. An interesting unproven fact came from Erma’s mom, Clara Halls. If there are few lilacs in the spring you’ll have a poor corn crop.Martha and Ione reached another milestone on the 12th and 13th. They served raspberry sherbet covered with 7-up, making a slush for dessert. Ice cream wafers topped it off. We watched the lunar eclipse, clearly visible from our dining room east windows. There have been visitors. Tom Schubbe’s and, although I never saw it, the family dog accompanied them. Carolyn’s daughter Jill came cleaning and sorting her mother’s closet. Carolyn and Nathan Randal came. Nathan had never been to an auction and so found this first experience fun. Sarah’s daughter and her husband just returned from Orlando, reporting weather hot and humid. The Bushes celebrated Ione’s birthday by grilling on the patio. The garden is growing and rows can be seen in the cornfield.I’ll keep you posted.