Tag: turner county

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The Christmas Medals

By Dan Jorgensen

Dean Jorgensen was not my biological father, but he was my dad in the truest sense. That was cemented the first Christmas he shared with my younger brothers and me. We three boys were Mom’s from a first marriage; ultimately there would be seven boys in our new blended family. For Dean, all seven were”his boys.”

Our first Christmas together was in 1955. Dean and my mother Virginia had married after a courtship that seemed to include us boys as much as the two of them.

When he came to our home in Hurley to pick up Mom for dates, he would be greeted by joyous shouts of”Dean! Dean!” We were just as taken with him as was our mother. Often, while waiting for her, he would share stories with us, some about superheroes he named Starkhans and Johhny. Other stories were about his childhood, or his Army days.

After their marriage and our move to Dean’s Spring Valley farm, those Army stories included tales about medals and military insignia that he treasured from his time in service. Each medal had a story. Mom often implored us to”leave poor Dean alone,” especially after a hard day of farm chores or fieldwork. But regardless of how tired he might be, he would share them.

As our first”family” Christmas approached, we also were excited that Mom was having a baby. Our new brother or sister might even be born on Christmas!

Mom went into labor on December 23, and we all raced to the hospital 50 miles away in Yankton where our brother was born. We spent that night and Christmas Eve morning with Mom until our grandparents offered to drive us back to the farm.”We’ll take you home and then come back to get you tomorrow,” Grandma said.”We can all share Christmas with Virgie and the baby at the hospital.” Dean, who was very tired, readily agreed. We piled into Grandpa and Grandma’s car and headed to the farm.

We didn’t have a telephone, so Dean told our grandparents we would see them on Christmas morning and off they went. We boys bounded inside, not at all tired.”Yay!” we shouted.”We’ve got a new brother! And tonight Santa Claus is coming!”

Many years later, Dean told us that he then realized he had forgotten about Santa and that the Christmas gifts planned for our stockings were in the trunk of the car, 50 miles away. So, after dinner and checking the livestock, he quietly tucked us into bed and smiled at our excitement over Santa’s pending arrival. He had a plan.

When we raced from our beds Christmas morning, our stockings were bulging. But before we could look into them, Dean lifted a letter off the table.”Look! A letter from Santa,” he said. He opened it and read:”Hello boys! I know how much your Mom and new brother want to see what you’re getting from me for Christmas, so I’ve taken your presents to the hospital so you can open them there after you go back with your Grandpa and Grandma.”

“Ain’t that nice of him boys?” Dean said.”Your Mom will be so happy.” We all looked a bit skeptical at that but could still see that our stockings seemed pretty full of something.

“What’s in our stockings?” I asked.

“Well, let’s take a look.” Dean stepped aside and we reached in to pull out apples, oranges, nuts, toothbrushes and a shiny piece of cardboard. Affixed to that cardboard in each of our stockings were Army medals and insignia.

“Well, would you look at that,” Dean said.”Just like mine. Santa must’ve heard me telling you about them and knew how much you liked them.”

They were Christmas gifts beyond our wildest dreams, a memory created by our new dad to last a lifetime.

About the Author: Dan Jorgensen began his writing career with the Sioux Falls Argus Leader at age 19. He is also the author of several books, including Killer Blizzard, And the Wind Whispered and Rainbow Rock, all set in South Dakota. He and his wife Susan live in Milliken, Colorado.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the November/December 2024 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.

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Oddities and Fun

By Katie Hunhoff

“I see nothing in space as promising as the view from a Ferris wheel,” wrote children’s author E.B. White. Colorful games and rides, people of all ages spending time together, laughing, eating, chatting with neighbors. Fairs are exhibits of our culture at its finest.

Late summer gatherings date back to the early years of our United States. Eventually the fairs evolved and became more elaborate. But they’ve always symbolized a last hurrah before school begins and winter comes.

One of our favorites is the Turner County Fair in Parker (Aug. 15-18). This year the fair turns 136, making it the oldest in South Dakota. Once inside the gates (free admission, by the way) you’ll find a fun little pioneer town to tour known as Heritage Park. It has a general store, church, school and millinery. Each is furnished with antiques and open to the public. Outside you’ll find a shaded stage which hosts non-stop music and entertainment throughout the four-day spectacle. If you’re wondering about food, you’re in for a treat. Local beef and pork producers run dueling booths that garner long lines at dinner, but another popular choice is a chislic booth organized by sheep farmer Bill Aeschlimann and some friends way back in 1983. Turner and Hutchinson counties are known as the home of chislic — a Russian tradition of beef, lamb or pork seasoned and grilled over an open fire. (Or, here in America, deep fat fried as we also do with Oreos and cupcakes.)

Other fairs are known for fun and games. The Potter County Fair (Aug. 6-9) in Gettysburg features Cow Patty Bingo. An open patch of grass at the fairgrounds is divided into squares, each of which is for sale. Once the squares are sold, a cow is turned loose on the grass. The owner of the square where the cow first leaves her mark wins the jackpot.

In Aberdeen, at the Brown County Fair (Aug. 15-21), a fair staffer goes out early every morning to hide a stuffed monkey named Casey. The first kid to find Casey wins carnival tickets or another fair prize.

Visit the Corson County Fair in McIntosh (Aug. 12-14) to view turtle races — prizes go to both the fastest and slowest racers. Here’s a hint: painted turtles are faster than mud turtles, in case you didn’t know. Here’s another hint: snapping turtles can be dangerous.

Food competitions are popular attractions at our local fairs. Often attendees get to taste the results. The Custer County Fair (Aug. 11-14) in Hermosa features an ice cream crank-off. Power models are forbidden, guaranteeing an old-fashioned experience for kids who have never had an opportunity to make their own. A chili cook-off is one of the highlights of the Sully County Fair (Aug. 11-14) in Onida. The public can sample all the chili they can eat after the contest, for only $5.

Fairs are a fine way to celebrate our communities, but the food, games and exhibits aren’t as meaningful if people don’t show up to enjoy them. We hope you take the time to visit one of the dozens of fairs in South Dakota this summer.

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A Mighty Fair County

By John Andrews

They call them”the best four days of summer.” The Turner County Fair brings tens of thousands of people to Parker every August, but there’s more to enjoy in this quaint county than prize-winning farm animals, carnival rides and meat on a stick. You can enjoy a celebration of Danish culture, see an impressive collection of fossils, watch nearly an entire town stage an elaborate theatre production or visit every one of the 158 stone bridges handcrafted during the Depression.

The fair is Turner County’s signature event. The first one was held in 1880, just nine years after the Dakota Territorial legislature created Turner County and named it for lawmaker John Turner. The annual ag expo moved from farm to farm around Parker and one year was moved to Swan Lake. The Works Progress Administration helped create the present fairgrounds during the Depression. There’s no admission to get in, but there’s all the livestock, food, music, rides and fun that you’ll find at any other fair.

Danish Days is another summertime celebration that draws huge crowds to Viborg. Originally celebrated June 5 to coincide with the Danish Independence Day, Danish Days is now held the third weekend in July. Methodist church ladies rise early to make aebleskiver for the town of 800. Legend credits Vikings with cooking the first batch of ball-shaped Danish pancakes. After a battle they noticed dents in their shields, so they filled them with batter and cooked them over a fire. In Viborg they’re eaten with powdered sugar or syrup.

With bellies full, people line Main Street for the parade and Danish dancing, performed by Sunday school children. Dancing has been a tradition in Viborg for decades. Youth practiced dancing once a month at the Lutheran parsonage during the Depression. Children also learned dances during summer Bible school, a tradition that continues today. They wear red, white and black Danish outfits that resemble those worn by Czech Beseda dancers at Tabor. Boys wear short pants, a white shirt and a tie, while girls don skirts, aprons, vests and caps.

Viborg’s citizenry dons colorful costumes to celebrate the town’s Danish heritage.

There’s more food after the parade at the Taste of Denmark, a buffet of Danish dishes. A main course is open-faced sandwiches.”In Denmark, they always used a slice of bread, usually rye bread, with cheese or ham,” says Susan Edelman, a member of the Danish Days committee.”And then they decorated them with pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers. That’s what we do.” There are Danish puffs, sweet soup served with cream or heavy milk and Êbblekage (apple cake).

Viborg is proud of its heritage, and that can be seen at the Daneville Heritage Museum. The museum’s exhibits explore Scandinavian art, 20th century politics, pioneer agriculture and storekeeping, murals by local artist Greg Preheim and other themes. Rich Skola, the museum director, says local support for the Daneville Heritage Museum has been so exceptional that, “We joke sometimes that the museum will be here long after the town.”

One of the main supporters was Alphie “Toots” Peterson, an avid historian who donated time, money and artifacts, including glassware and much of the stained glass in a recreated country chapel. Her husband, Merle, ran as a Democratic candidate for state legislature in the 1960s when Ralph Herseth and George McGovern were leading a resurgence of the party. She died two years ago, at age 94, leaving the museum some of her assets. She’s perhaps one reason why the Daneville museum has a 1960 poster of the Democratic ticket, with photos of Merle and McGovern and all the other candidates — along with a big poster of McGovern, plus an exhibit of Hubert H. Humphrey and other Democratic memorabilia.

A display in the Daneville Heritage Museum in Viborg remembers the town’s creamery.

For more colorful history visit Centerville, where notorious gangster John Dillinger and his cronies are said to have shot up a pan of perfectly good baked beans in the spring of 1934. Fred Mart had been out repairing a radio at a friend’s farm and it was nearly midnight before he returned to Centerville. He stopped at Bert Hart’s coffee house and card room known as the Bloody Bucket.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Bert told Fred. “Can you stay for awhile? I’ve got some characters in the back and I might need some help.” Bert added that a batch of his beans was just about ready.

He led Fred toward a back room where three men sat, rolling dice, with a pile of money between them. There was also a knife and “an awful big gun” on the floor.

Fred recognized one of the men as Mike Mee, owner of a local bank. Mee’s position was quite ironic considering the identities of the other two men. Years later, Bert told him who they were — Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger.

Both greeted Fred then went back to their game. Mee and Baby Face Nelson were drinking near beer, spiked with something from another bottle, and they offered Fred one, which he accepted. He waited for Bert’s baked beans, sizzling and popping away in the wood cook stove in the corner, to finish.

After a time, Baby Face Nelson seemed to notice the stove for the first time and asked what was cooking.

“Beans,” Fred told him.

“Then he says, ‘Well let’s flavor them up!’ and he fired his gun right into the stove. Bang! Bang! Bang!” Fred recalls. “Of course, old Bert comes running from the front saying, ‘What happened? What happened?'”

Steam and smoke billowed from the punctured stove, bean juice flowed onto the floor and Bert was furious. Since it doesn’t pay to get angry at a man with a gun, though, there wasn’t much he could do. Of more immediate concern, to Fred at least, was what was in the stove.

Sherree Schmiedt with the collection of fossils that her husband, Stan, brought to Main Street of Centerville.

“I never did get anything to eat that night,” says Fred. “I decided I didn’t want any lead-flavored beans.”

With nothing left to stick around for, Fred decided to call it a night. As Dillinger let him out the back way, he reminded Fred that he had gone straight home that night. “I don’t know anything, I didn’t see anything,” Fred told him.

You can also investigate an impressive collection of fossils that longtime city leader Stan Schmiedt brought to Centerville several years ago. The items originally belonged to Alcester native Eugene Hoard, who spent years searching the Black Hills and Badlands for geological treasures. As his collection grew he tried to find a permanent home for it, but found no interest. Eventually it ended up in a storage shed in Centerville. Schmiedt heard about the collection and transferred the items to a museum on Main Street.

There are unique places to visit in Turner County’s other towns, as well. Two miles north of Marion you’ll find Ken’s, a small fishing hole that Ken Tieszen hoped to build for years. After his death, Marlo Wieman bought the land and fulfilled Ken’s dream. The lake is a popular destination for families.

Danish stonemason Lars Mogensen and his crew built 169 stone bridges, arches and culverts around Turner County during the Depression.

In Chancellor, visit the museum attached to the fire hall where you’ll find a vintage 1905 fire engine (its original pumper still works). Davis is home to about 85 people, and in March nearly every one of them helps to stage the annual Davis Winterstock theater production. The shows began in 1983 and each year they raise thousands of dollars for local charities.

In the countryside, watch for the stone bridges, arches and culverts that Lars Mogensen built during the Depression. Mogensen was a master stonemason who learned the trade in his native Denmark. He and his crew were employed under the New Deal’s make-work program creating 169 stone structures to replace the wooden bridges that were falling into disrepair. Today 158 still exist. Armed with a plate of aebleskiver and a Thermos of Danish coffee, that might be a good way to spend a day in Turner County.

Editor’s Note: This is the 16th installment in an ongoing series featuring South Dakota’s 66 counties. Click here for previous articles.

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Our Fair Tour

By Katie Hunhoff

South Dakotans wave farewell to summer with the colorful sights, delicious foods and dizzying rides at local or state fairs. This year South Dakota Magazine is travelling to some of our favorite fairs to celebrate the magazine’s 30th anniversary.

We will visit with readers, serve Forestburg watermelon slices and soak up South Dakota’s fair culture. Our schedule began with Parker’s Turner County Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 19, then Rapid City’s Central States Fair Aug. 21-22. Finally, we’ll visit the State Fair in Huron Sept. 6-7, where we will have the honor to be on stage with legendary performer Sherwin Linton. We won’t be singing, but will have some good South Dakota stories for the audience.

Linton has performed for over 30 years at Huron, as well as other fairs around the country. Three times a day on the state fair’s Centennial Stage, fans sit under tall shade trees and listen to Sherwin, his wife Pam and their longtime band “The Cotton Kings.” Linton plays over 250 concerts a year and, amazingly, has never missed a performance in his 50-plus years of entertaining. His perfect attendance placed In the next issue of the magazine we recount a Sherwin Linton story that Bob Glanzer wrote in his new book, You Can’t Unring a Bell. Glanzer helped plan and produce the state fair for 26 years and from 1980-2002 was the superintendent of the grandstand stage and show events. During his tenure he met Minnie Pearl, and confirms she was just as funny backstage as she was onstage. He drove Red Skelton to the Sioux Falls airport and was treated to two hours of stories and humor. Skelton bought him breakfast and tipped him $50 for the drive.

One story that stood out in Glanzer’s mind was a meeting between Sherwin Linton and Johnny Cash. It was during the state fair’s bicentennial year in 1976. Glanzer was standing backstage before Cash’s performance. Cash looked at his manager and said, “Do you notice anything different about me tonight?” His manager didn’t notice anything unusual about Cash’s all-black attire. Cash then told him to look at his feet. He was wearing two left boots. The manager asked Glanzer to find a pair of size 13 black boots and gave him $100. Glanzer took off for the midway, where he knew Geiger’s Western Wear was selling western clothes and tack. The largest black boots were size 12, so Glanzer bought them and ran back to stage.

Cash squeezed his size 13 feet into the size 12 boots and went on stage to perform two shows. At the end of his second show, Cash told the audience the story of his two left boots and how the new boots were too small. He spotted Sherwin Linton in the audience and invited him on stage.

As Glanzer recalls, Johnny gave a nice tribute to Sherwin, took off the boots and told Linton to try them on. He then asked Sherwin,”How do they fit?”

Sherwin replied,”I could never fill your shoes, Johnny!”

Cash replied, “Oh, yes you can!” Linton went back to his seat wearing the new trophies of the concert and Johnny finished the show in his stocking feet.

South Dakota Magazine is proud to be a part of South Dakota’s fair tradition this summer. Look for our green ’49 Chevy delivery pickup and stop by for a slice of watermelon. And if you see Sherwin Linton, ask about Johnny’s boots.

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Dakota Awakening

By Christian Begeman

Another spring is settling in. I like to muse that the season is much more than simply another tilt of the planet back towards the sun. It’s the annual promise of new life. It’s another chance to smell rain on the wind. It’s another year to chase the light and see what is beyond the next bend. Springtime provides a lot to be thankful for, but also is a time of nostalgia for me. I remember life awakening on the farm, the smell of the first cut grass, the song of the meadowlark from a distant fencepost and the smell of plowed earth at planting time. This year, the season’s signature flourish of raindrops and rainbows have been few and far between, but thankfully that has not stopped the return of waterfowl on the wind, the greening of the grass and the budding of leaves. The songbirds and wildflowers are back, there’s new warmth in the breeze and the sky seems a bit more blue. Happy Spring everyone!

March 11

While checking the status of ice on area lakes, I startled a large group of migrating waterfowl hanging out in a pond of snowmelt near Silver Lake in northeast Hutchinson County.

March 20

On the official first day of spring I took a sunset hike around the edge of Buffalo Slough south of Chester. All ice is completely gone.

March 31

I found a rather large, wild pasqueflower patch a few miles south of Lake Vermillion including a lovely little natural bouquet of five.

April 4

Just like last spring, a lunar eclipse took place, but dawn approached too quickly to see the full”blood moon.” This photo was taken roughly 20 minutes before totality above Skresfrud Lutheran of rural Lincoln County. Since I was already up, I checked the bird feeders at Good Earth State Park and watched the early bird (robin) get its worm.

April 5

Temperatures reached the low 70s on this Easter Day. In the afternoon, I went looking for snow trillium at Newton Hills State Park and found many blossoms as well as a half dozen Question Mark butterflies soaking up the day’s warmth amongst the last year’s leaves.

April 12

A spring day for the books! First I explored Union Grove State Park to find an early flowering bush along the trail. Later, after a brief thunderstorm passed, an afternoon rainbow graced the sky over the fields of Union County. In the evening another rainbow appeared on the northwest edge of Vermillion and the magic was far from over. As I drove back to Sioux Falls, the setting sun painted the retreating rain clouds pink and blue north of Chancellor.

April 18

A steady, light rain fell for most of the afternoon in Sioux Falls. It was much needed moisture. I spent some time in the Japanese Garden area of Terrace Park to see if I could capture the mood of the day. I was accompanied by a variety of geese, ducks and songbirds, including a male northern cardinal with raindrops glistening on its vibrant feathers.


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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∆bleskiver for All

By John Andrews

South Dakotans can trace their heritage all over the world. During the Dakota Boom (1878-1887), European and Asian immigrants flooded Dakota Territory, creating a checkerboard of ethnic settlements. Danes homesteaded in Turner County, Germans in Hutchinson and McPherson counties, Finns in Hamlin County and Czechs in Bon Homme and Yankton counties.

Many small towns celebrate our state’s diverse heritage with annual festivals. Viborg’s Danes begin Danish Days (July 17-20) with a tractor pull Thursday night and a family fun night on Friday, but the traditional events start Saturday. Methodist church ladies rise early to make Êbleskiver for the town of 800. Legend credits Vikings with cooking the first batch of ball-shaped Danish pancakes. After a battle they noticed dents in their shields, so they filled them with batter and cooked them over a fire. In Viborg they’re eaten with powdered sugar or syrup.

With bellies full, people line Main Street for the parade and Danish dancing, performed by Sunday school children. Dancing has been a tradition in Viborg for decades. Youth practiced dancing once a month at the Lutheran parsonage during the Depression. Children also learned dances during summer Bible school, a tradition that continues today. They wear red, white and black Danish outfits that resemble those worn by Czech Beseda dancers at Tabor. Boys wear short pants, a white shirt and a tie, while girls don skirts, aprons, vests and caps.

There’s more food after the parade at the Taste of Denmark, a buffet of Danish dishes. A main course is open-faced sandwiches.”In Denmark, they always used a slice of bread, usually rye bread, with cheese or ham,” says Susan Edelman, a member of the Danish Days committee.”And then they decorated them with pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers. That’s what we do.” There are Danish puffs, sweet soup served with cream or heavy milk and Êblekage (apple cake).

If you’d like to try your hand at Êbleskiver, here’s a family recipe that’s been passed to our assistant marketing director Laura Andrews.

∆bleskiver

2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons sugar

Beat egg yolks. Add sugar, salt and buttermilk, then flour and soda. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites and baking powder. Place small amount of fat in a heated Êbleskiver pan. Fill indentations about 2/3 full. Turn the batter once or twice to create a more-or-less round ball, cooking until centers are done.

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Searching for Spring

By Christian Begeman

The last two years I have chronicled my search for spring in South Dakota in this column. In 2012, it was a very mild winter and an early spring. Last year saw a nasty April ice storm and spring seemed to tarry until almost mid-May. This year it seems like winter and spring are in a tug of war. A handful of beautiful and warm days are followed by gusty, cold winds that chill to the bone. I’m hopeful the last cold spell is done by the time this column is posted, but who knows. This is South Dakota, where the weather does what it wants when it wants.

March 9

With temperatures in Sioux Falls nearing 60, I went for a Sunday afternoon drive. The snow along the back road ditches of Kingsbury and Lake counties was dirty, dusty and full of rooster pheasants staking out their territory for the coming spring. Southeast of Lake Thompson just before sunset, I witnessed three flocks of snow geese converge in a cornfield. These were the first snow geese of the year for me.

March 16

I happened to catch the full Worm Moon rising through the hazy evening air in rural Turner County. It’s called the Worm Moon because it’s the time of year that earthworms begin stirring in the rapidly warming soil.

March 19

Spring-like showers moved through the area even though the temperatures only topped out in the mid 40s. North of Humboldt I happened upon a rare scene of spring and winter clashing. A rainbow with accompanying snow geese hung in the sky above a small lake with ice fishermen still on it. It is also the time of the year when the sun sets due west, which can be problematic when driving east/west roads in the evening or early morning. However, it can make for an interesting picture as I found at Island Lake on the border of McCook and Minnehaha County.

March 20

The first official day of spring. A co-worker told me she saw over 30 bald eagles near her home north of Hartford the night before. After work I investigated, and found 18 still there. One was perched on a tree not far from a county road bridge over Skunk Creek. After a minute or two of him watching me take his photo from the bridge, he decided he didn’t like the looks of me after all and flew to a new perch.

March 22

Two days into spring and it certainly didn’t feel like it. The temps only got up to the mid-20s and the wind was bitter. The sunset in southwest Turner County, however, looked warm and inviting.

March 27

A heavy wet snow fell most of the day. The weather system began to clear just before sunset allowing me to get some interesting images of Zion Lutheran Church and the area northwest of Wall Lake.

March 29

On my way to Fort Pierre, I saw thousands of snow and white fronted geese flocking at Lehrman Slough near the Spencer exit on I-90. It is always impressive to see so many birds concentrated in one little area.

April 6

Spring is knocking on the door again. The high temp is just under 70 degrees and I spotted my first pasqueflower of the year at Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. Only three blooms were showing and each was probably just a day or two old.

April 9

The temperature hit 81 in Sioux Falls. After work, I drove down to Newton Hills State Park to search for snow trillium. I’ve never seen or photographed this wildflower before, but according to the March/April 2014 issue of South Dakota Magazine, they grow on northward facing slopes under the trees. Sure enough I found several little clumps of the white flowers pushing through the dead leaf carpet. Another sign that spring is winning the battle of the seasons!

April 10

After work there was very little wind and the temps were hanging in the mid-60s, so I drove to one of my favorite known pasque patches in Hanson County. Clouds came up from the west to obscure the late sun, but the soft evening light and no wind made for unique conditions to take a portrait of our state flower.

April 14-15

A bright full”Pink Moon” began to rise just before sunset. It is called a pink moon because this is the time of the year when the wild ground phlox usually starts to bloom. Ironically this full moon turned to a blood moon just after 2 a.m., as a full lunar eclipse took place. I tried to use Sioux Falls landmarks to frame the moon shots including the Old Courthouse Museum clock tower and St. Joseph Cathedral’s spires. The night air was brisk, but the calendar now shows that April is half over. Spring must be here for good, right? Only time will tell.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Holiday Foods Heritage

By Jennifer Thom

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the Nov/Dec 1993 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

On Christmas Eve in 1910, Emelia Nielson was a little disgruntled. Earlier that day she and her two-year-old daughter Esther had arrived in Hooker, South Dakota, just east of Viborg, by train, ending a long journey from Denmark. Emelia’s husband met them in the station. Chris had arrived months earlier to find a new home for his family.

“Mother said it was the worst Christmas she ever put in,” Esther recalled. Emelia, tired from the trip, declined an invitation to a Christmas party. Instead, Chris cooked bacon and eggs; dessert was lemon pie.

“Mother was wishing herself back in Denmark,” Esther said.”In America, they didn’t keep Christmas our way.”

Never again did Emelia have lemon pie at Christmas. She kept Christmas her way next year, and the years that followed, serving a robust Christmas dinner of roast goose, red cabbage, preserves and Danish apple cake.

“We always baked certain things: peppernuts, Danish puffs and Danish apple cake,” Esther said.”I was the oldest, so I always had to help. I was proud of that.”

South Dakotans still enjoy preparing dishes that are part of their heritage. Scandinavian specialties — rosettes, krumkake and lefse — are popular with Scandinavians and non-Scandinavians alike. As a nod to modern times, today’s cooks use a few shortcuts when they prepare dishes that celebrate their heritage at Christmas.

Baking most Scandinavian treats is time-intensive. The cook has to form each cookie or sweet individually. Sandbakkels, for instance, are made by pressing the dough into individual tart pans. After baking, the sandbakkels are gently tapped out of their pans one at a time.

When longtime Sioux Falls resident Rosaaen Olson visited her son in Norway, she decided to mother him with a batch of chocolate chip cookies. In the land of formed cookies, it wasn’t easy finding what she needed.”We couldn’t find a baking sheet anywhere,” Rosaaen recalled,”so we had to buy a pizza pan.”

Rosaaen’s been baking Julekake, Norwegian Christmas bread, for many years. It’s her middle son’s favorite; the youngest favors lefse. “If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it big,” Rosaaen said. She doubles the Julekake recipe so it yields eight loaves, some earmarked for gifts.”The eggs and milk make a rich dough,” Rosaaen said.”That’s what makes it so good. Scandinavian bread has more body.”

No doubt, Scandinavians like their food plentiful at Christmas.”One child goes without a present,” Thomas Asfeldt mused,”to pay for all the candy.” His mother was raised in Denmark and moved to America when she was 21. At Christmastime in his Sioux Falls kitchen, Thomas makes liver pate, a spread always found on a traditional Danish Christmas buffet. His wife, Karen, a Norwegian from Webster, chooses treats from their Scandinavian heritage to try each year. Two of her favorites are Coffee Balls and Orange Marmalade.”I like to make those two because they can be done in an evening,” Karen said.

When Emelia Hansen arrived in Hooker one hundred years ago, she brought with her few material possessions, but she had a rich storehouse of traditions and memories. Her descendants are now stewards of those traditions.

Invited by the Smithsonian Institute, Esther traveled to Washington D. C. to demonstrate the Danish recipe aebleskiver. In a tent by the reflecting pool, Esther prepared aebleskiver, using knitting needles to turn over the muffin-like treats as they browned in a cast iron skillet.

Closer to home, a minister in Viborg asked Esther to help him recreate a Danish Christmas for a party at the church. Esther recited the Danish song,”Nu Er Det Jul Igen” (Now it is Christmas Again) while the minister wrote down the phonetic spelling. The minister tutored a choir of young Viborg residents.

“I had tears in my eyes. I was so proud of them, said Esther.”You’d swear they were a bunch of little Danes.”

Karen Asfeldt’s Marmalit (Marmalade)

3 to 5 oranges, washed clean
2 cups dried apricots
2 to 3 lemons, washed clean
1 cup sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoons vanilla

Do not peel the oranges and lemons. Cover and soak apricots in water for 3 to 4 hours. Cut fruit into wedges. Use food processor to mince the fruit. Add 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Stir and let sit for 20 minutes. Adjust sugar to taste. Store covered in refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks.


Emelia Nielsen’s Danish Cookies

1 cup lard
3 eggs
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking ammonia (available at pharmacies or online) in a little water
Dash of cardamom
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour

Mix all ingredients into a stiff dough. Knead well, let stand and rest a while. Roll out thin, and cut with cookie wheel into shapes. Brush top with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees until light brown.

Rosaaen Olson’s Julekake (Christmas Bread)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup water
3 cups milk
2 packages dry yeast
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
10 cups flour
2 eggs
2 cups candied or dried fruit

Melt butter in 1/2 cup water and 3 cups milk. Put yeast, sugar, salt, cardamom and 5 cups of flour in a large bowl. Beat 2 eggs into milk mixture and add to all ingredients. Beat all 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually add about 5 cups flour. Mix in candied or dried fruit.

Let dough rise one hour or until doubled. Shape into four loves. Put into greased pan. Let rise again for one hour. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Frost with powdered sugar frosting and top with slivered almonds.