Hellesvig to perform at Scandinavian Fest

Roger Hellesveig, a veteran living history educator with 20 years of experience doing living history presentations, will be performing at the upcoming Scandinavian Fest at 10 a.m. Feb. 23 at the New Armory in Williston.

Hellesvig has been presenting "An Immigrant's Tale" for the past 15 years, and will be continuing this tradition at the Fest. His presentation is based loosely around his great grandfather, Ole Oleson Hellesvig, who immigrated to America in the 19th century. He uses an immigrant trunk as his focal point, and shares what it was like to make this trip across the Atlantic.

Members of the audience will discover the choices immigrants had to make when coming to this new land, and they will also learn some of the traditions that go with items in his trunk. His presentation is always given in a light-hearted manner. He will also have a table at the Fest to showcase books with additional information regarding the immigrant experience as well as some of his DVDs.

"I expect the show in Williston to be a full house of all ages," Hellesvig says. "The knowledge of the audience about immigration should be a wide range as well."

He says he believes there will be a high energy level of folks who want to learn more about their heritage, as well as share it with others.

He says that each show he does is a little bit different from previous ones.

"I try to learn something about the history of the area and include it in my talk," Hellesvig says. He will be using a press tin trunk that dates back to 1885. It has a curved top rather than the flat top trunks that most immigrants brought to North Dakota.

Hellesvig is a descendant of Norwegian immigrants who settled in Maddock, N.D. and he grew up in Minneapolis. He has performed throughout the United States at Viking Fest in Texas, Atlanta's Scandinavian Festival, Scanfest in New Jersey, and at Moorhead's Hjemkost Center.

He attended Concordia College, St. Paul, Minn. graduating with a BA in Elementary Education in 1977. He continued his studies at Mankato State and Hamline Universities. Following graduation he taught elementary school for several years before being introduced to living history. He has found this way of sharing history enjoyable as well as educational.

Hellesvig will be taking the train here from Minneapolis and will be here for the day of the Fest, and will be in the Chamber booth most of the day after performing so that people can visit with him and learn more about his program.