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Scandinavian Cultural Programs

"Ya Sure, I’m A Norvegin Luteran”

Pati shares captivating stories honoring her heritage as a Norwegian Lutheran. With songs, humor and historical information she tells tales of her pioneer ancestor’s immigration from Norway to their Minnesota homestead by Paynesville. She has performed this show at the Mindekirken Norwegian Memorial Church, numerous Sons of Norway lodges and countless Lutheran churches around the Midwest. Pati is a founding member of the Pauline Fjelde Daughters of Norway Lodge #51 of Minneapolis. Do even Norwegian bachelor farmers love this show? Ya sure, you betcha!

 

“Pati Kachel, the Storyteller is a Minnesota treasure! A female Garrison Keillor, who makes Norwegian Lutherans laugh at themselves.” 

 - Elsa Anderson, Ely, MN

Cookin' vit de Norskies

This presentation is based on the pages of insightful information that Pati has found in several old Norwegian Lutheran Church Cookbooks. Pati ties on some vintage aprons and shares some humorous and tender tales about growing up in her loving Norvegin Luteran family. This show is a fine tribute to all Scandinavians who have been creative in their kitchens. Some silly songs about making Lefse and Lutefisk are included in this program which runs approximately 55 minutes long.

A Story Portrait of Hans Dahl

In the late 1880s, a renowned artist named Carl Larrson began enchanting us with his paintings of everyday family life set in the rural Swedish countryside. At that same time in history, over in Norway, there was an artist named Hans Dahl who was painting the everyday life scenes of Norwegians. His brushes captured the rugged beauty of Norway's mountains and fjords and those who lived among them. This is a “SHOW and TELL” program of the life and works of this accomplished and beloved Norwegian painter. This program will feature a projected photographic display of many of his paintings and commentary about what inspired him, set to the music of Norwegian composer Edvard Greig's Peer Gynt. This program also includes lovely display boards featuring many colorful prints from his prolific portfolio of paintings.

A Story Portrait of Rønnaug Petterssen

This is an informative "Show & Tell" presentation about an internationally awarded Norwegian Doll Maker. For 40 years Petterssen worked in her studio in Oslo designing and crafting her charming dolls dressed in bunads (regional folk costumes). Her superb artistry and attention to detail make her dolls, gnomes, and nisse extremely collectible and valuable today. Pati brings along a colorful table display featuring her vintage doll collection to help tell Rønnaug's interesting life story. She also uses a Powerpoint projected slide show chronicling Petterssen's personal life from 1901-1979.

A Story Portrait of Hans Nielsen Hauge

told through the voice of Sara Oust

Hans Nielsen Hauge( 1771-1824) had a profound influence on both secular and religious history in Norway. Traveling on foot to remote villages and populated cities, Hauge was a lay minister who simply invited people to return to God and to church. His spoken words and bestselling books sparked a spiritual renewal within the Lutheran churches of Norway. During a period of extreme economic crisis, Hauge taught that the path to prosperity was possible for anyone with initiative. Hauge combined economics and the Christian morals of modesty, honesty, and hard work to help people lift themselves out of poverty. As an entrepreneurial industrialist, Hauge founded numerous factories, mills, and printing houses around the country employing laborers motivated by their faith. Norwegians who embraced his teachings became an informal network, known as The Haugean Movement. Both men women played a central role in this spiritual revival and economic revitalization throughout Norway. The first female preacher of the Haugean Movement was Sara Oust In this inspiring presentation, Pati Kachel portrays Sara Oust. Through the narrative of Sara’s voice, listeners will learn about the impact of Hans Nielsen Hauge’s lasting legacy in Norway. An artful tabletop exhibit of portraits, photographs, and vintage Nordic artifacts will enrich this educational experience. 

That My Children May Know

In 2025 the bicentennial of the first Norwegian immigrants coming to America will be celebrated wherever large communities of Norsk settlers were established. In anticipation of this commemoration of our country's past, Pati has researched and discovered the stories of her own family’s immigration history. In this presentation, Pati authentically portrays her paternal Great-Grandmother, Ane Marie (Andersdatter/Jakobson) Anderson (1861-1936). She tells Ane's true life story in the first person narrative voice with a Norwegian accent. The setting is the year 1915, when Ane was then 54 years old. She is dressed in costume of the common folk of her day. This program is based on facts found it immigration documents, letters, newspaper clippings and remembrances recorded and transcribed from past family reunions. For this presentation, Pati brings along an artistic tabletop exhibit of artifacts from her family's farmstead - including a handmade spinning wheel, rocking chair, hand-sewn quilts, crockery, the family's Bible, a rosemaled tine box and vintage photographs to help her listeners step into the story with her. This program runs approximately 55-minutes. 

A Story Portrait of Karin Larsson -
The Wife of Carl 
Larsson

Karin Bergöö Larsson (1859-1928) was a gifted painter, textile weaver, needlecraft artist, clothing and furniture designer, interior decorator, devoted wife and loving mother. She and her husband Carl developed an aesthetic partnership, and together they created their unique home in Sundborn, Sweden. Many of Carl's charming paintings of their family were inspired by the colorful room settings which she arranged. This is a "Show & Tell" presentation which includes displays of Karin's paintings, family portraits, photos of their home and a colorful collection of vintage Swedish textiles.

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