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Allan’s Family at Isfjorden |
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Allan first met Rigmor Malones at the foot of a mountain at Isfjorden, Norway, as arranged by Karin Vik. Rigmor is the daughter of cousins of Lars Hatlen and therefore a relative of Allan’s. I see a resemblance! |
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The group included (l-r) Allan, Frederick (son of Rigmor), Karin and Per Inge Vik, Liv Aasen, and Rigmor. Allan’s relatives are Frederick and Rigmor. |
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Liv Aasen (Aasen is Orsen in Norwegian, but she is not a relative) owns the ancestral home of the Orsens and she led us up the hill to show us where the original home was built. Aas (pronounced oas) means hill. |
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Allan and his Norwegian family, Frederick and his mother Rigmor, on the spot of the old Orsen home. |
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They all stood for a few minutes where the first Orsen home was once located, talking about the old days. |
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It was a quiet day that looked like rain, but it didn’t rain. |
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This “newer” Orsen house still stands with a barn and outbuildings, in front of the mountain. Allan’s great Grandfather Ole L. Orsen (who emigrated to Minneota in the mid to late 1800’s) lived in this house. Current owner of this property is Liv Aasen, in the yellow-backed jacket. [By the way, the first Orsens and Opdahls, and their kids, came to know each other well in Minneota and attended the same church.] |
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The group walked down to the present yard and barn, just a few feet down the hill, adjacent to the first Orsen site, which became the next Orsen home. The town of Isfjorden can be seen in the valley below. |
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Allan stands in the yard of the Orsen farm site(s) with a mountain and grazing land behind. On a map it’s located two miles northeast of Isfjorden, Norway. |
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Allan shows Rigmor and Fredrick some pictures he had brought along from when the late Lars Hatlen, a cousin of Rigmor and Allan, who had visited Minnesota. Rigmor is a daughter of one of Lar’s cousins. |
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Left to right: Frederick Malones and his mother Rigmor, Karin Vik, Allan, and Liv Aasen |
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A view of the valley of Isfjorden driving to Rigmor’s home in Isfjorden. |
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First we visited Maria Hatlen (wife of the late Lars Hatlen) in her home next door to Rigmor’s. Lars and Maria Hatlen are the former owners of Rigmor’s home. Maria is pictured here in the new home they built for their retirement years. Maria is Karin Vik’s aunt, a sister to Karin’s dad. |
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Maria Hatlen with pictures of Lars at a younger time. He’s the fellow, and relative, whom Allan met in Minnesota some years ago. Said Karin Vik, “Working for Lars and Maria at their flower shop was like a little vacation for me because I’d get tired of farm work at home. We worked with horses. Horses did the work that tractors did. We were modernized later here in Norway than in the USA. Cruise ships shopped at their flower shop and sold flowers to them, to guests on the ships, for fresh flowers in their room.” |
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We walked down together from Maria’s home to Rigmor’s home just a few feet away. |
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The red house is Rigmor’s. We can see the Isfjorden valley below. Off to the left is the mountain of the Orsen farms we had just visited. |
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Everyone else went through the front door of Rigmor’s large attractive home. |
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After showing us where Allan’s ancestors farmed in the 1800’s, Rigmor set a fine candlelit table for us. |
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It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and Rigmor’s array of food included lefse, shrimp, meatballs, smoked meat, brown cheese, flat bread, tunnbakels, dark cake, and coffee. It was all very delicious. |
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Rigmor’s husband Leif joined us at the table for lunch. Leif has been farming with sheep but said he’s getting out of it because he’s been losing so many to wolves. Frederick is studying in Bergen to be a ship captain and was home for the summer. |
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Per Inge and Karin sat next to her Aunt Maria Hatlen. |
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Thank you, Rigmor, for fixing such a fine table for us. We enjoyed all of it. |
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Leif described the renovation that was going on at his home, which was originally a log home. The walls are over a foot thick and are now being reinsulated. The home is getting new siding, and new windows are being installed. Then we came to say goodbye to Allan’s family in Norway as we continued this amazing Nordic journey with Karin and Per Inge. |
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We stopped by the grave of Liv Sylte, Karin’s mother who died in 2009. |
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This might be the church where Allan’s great Grandfather Ole L. Orsen was baptized. It’s one of many octaganol churches we saw. There were no Orsen (Aasen) tombstones. |
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This is the church that Karin grew up in, where Karin and Per Inge were married, and where their daughter was to be married in about ten days, with Per Inge performing the wedding ceremony. |
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Next we visited Karin’s father, Martinus Sylte, at his beautiful home in Tresfjord. Here we are admiring a traditional Norwegian handpainted wood keepsake that is going to be a wedding gift to his granddaughter at the upcoming marriage. |
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Karin’s father is a brother to Maria Hatlen, whose brown painted home we visited a few photos back. |
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This is Karin’s childhood home at Tresfjord, which is about 25 miles west of Isfjorden, Orsen’s home place. |
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A different view of the large Sylte home and farm with the ever present mountains behind it. |
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Back at the church parking lot at Orskog, we hugged and said goodbye to the Viks and the lupins. |
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It was about 7 p.m. as we drove off, and then we bumped into Karin and Per Inge five minutes later at the grocery store, also picking up some supplies. The chance meeting made us all smile. Thank you both for your wonderful hospitality. Hope to see you soon in Minnesota. |
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I caught Rigmor going through her back door. |
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Karin Vik and her Aunt Maria and Allan visited on the patio deck in front of Rigmor’s home. The shelter is equipped for heating on cool days. |
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Across the valley to the left (not in the photo) is the old Orsen homestead. |