Norwegian Guests

Eva Skjåkødegard, Liv Tostrup, Oddrun Bustad, Anne Gro Tundrali, and Sonja Bustad left Norway on June 18th. After making stops in New York, Seattle, Vancouver (where they visited a cousin) and Calgary (where they visited Jack and Donna Leuw and family), the five Norwegian ladies arrived at the Regina airport June 29th.

The five Norwegians are granddaughters of Oline Bustad, a sister of Magnhild (Jevnheim) Hagen, formerly of Lake Alma.

Several relatives were at the airport to greet those from Norway. A Hagen family get-together was held at the home of Don and Thelma Grant that afternoon and evening. There the Norwegians met thirty-five of their Saskatchewan relatives, some of whom they'd met previously in Norway. Gene and Don Grant, Cheryl (Grant) Macleod, Ken Hagen, Sheila (Hagen) Tysdal, Verna (Hagen) Rude, Wayne Hagen, Janice (Hagen) Haugen and Kandis (Hagen) Peters are all second cousins to the five ladies from Norway.

The time together was spent visiting. There was much discussion on the family that is both here and in Norway, and many pictures were taken. Chinese food was delivered to the house for supper. The Norwegian visitors brought with them pictures of the house on the Jevnheim farm to give to their Canadian relatives. The house and farm are located near Skjåk, in Norway's Gudbrandsdalen Valley. It was in that house where Magnhild Jevnheim Hagen was born October 7, 1873.

The visitors stayed in Regina one night and the following day they toured the Natural History museum in Regina with Gene and Esther Grant of Saskatoon and Don and Thelma Grant of Regina. They also saw the Legislative building and flower gardens at Wascana Park. Gene and Esther served a noon lunch at the home of their son Gordon and Donna Grant in Regina.

A roast beef supper was served at the home of Wayne and Dolores Hagen on Monday, June 30th for the five Norwegian visitors as well as for Ken, Grace and Matthew Hagen and Chris and Verna Rude. Sonja stayed at the Hagen farm while the other ladies stayed at a motel in Weyburn.

On July 1st, a barbecued hamburger lunch was served at Ken and Grace Hagen's farm, which is the original Knut and Magnhild Hagen farm. Don and Thelma Grant, Donna Leuw and Wayne and Dolores also had lunch at the Ken Hagen farm that day. Matthew Hagen was home for a few days at the time. In the afternoon the visitors were driven out to Wayne and Ken's pasture to see the cattle. It was a hot day with a wind blowing which helped to keep the mosquitoes away! The sky was hazy that day due to the forest fires in northern Saskatchewan. In fact, when Sonja was checking the Norwegian news on the Internet that evening, she read about the forest fires in Saskatchewan, Canada! Supper was served at the Wayne Hagen farm that evening.

Dinner on July 2nd was served to the Norwegian guests and Donna at the Wayne Hagen farm. In the afternoon, a visit was made to the Nordalen Cemetery where the graves for Knut and Magnhild Hagen, their daughter Borghild Hagen, and their sons Herbert (and Emma) Hagen and Olaf (and Anna) Hagen are located. The ladies also had a tour of Lake Alma. They were shown the house which Knut Hagen had built and where he and Magnhild had lived after they retired from farming and moved into Lake Alma. A barbecue beef supper was served by Chris and Verna Rude at their farm that evening. Also there for supper were Rob and Rebekah Johnson of Oungre, Ken and Grace, Wayne and Dolores, Dennis and Ceta Rude. Following supper, Dennis, Chris and Derek Rude entertained the visitors on their mandolin, guitar and violin.

Dolores Hagen accompanied the Norwegians to the Regina Airport on July 3rd. From Regina they flew to Minneapolis for a few days of shopping. Sonja, Oddrun, Liv, Eva and Anne Gro arrived home in Norway on Sunday morning, July 6th.