Awards Scholarships

Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Awards Scholarships Four graduating seniors from local high schools who have been active in the Scandinavian community received $1,000 scholarships from the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Association. Isabella Morrill, Kaisa Liljenwall, and Mara Dowaliby from Warrenton High School and Leo Mathews from Astoria High School received the scholarships to assist with their higher education plans. Isabella plans …

Park Fundraising Tops $750,000!

Astoria Nordic Heritage Park committee members cheered as committee chair Judi Lampi gave Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association president Loran Mathews $99.01 in cash bringing total funds raised for Astoria Nordic Heritage Park to $750,000 or three-quarters of a million dollars. Committee members have been working since 2015 on this project. The design and engineering phases of the project are finished, …

Nordic Park Gets Oregon Heritage Commission Grant

The Oregon Heritage Commission has awarded the Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association a grant of $20,000 towards the construction of Astoria Nordic Heritage Park. The Heritage Commission is comprised of nine people representing Oregon’s heritage who have been appointed by the Governor. Rosemary Johnson, former City Planner for the City of Astoria and former consultant for the Nordic Park Project, is …

Santa Lucia 2019!

The Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Association presents the annual Sankta Lucia Festival of Lights at 7 PM on Friday, November 29th, at the Astoria High School Auditorium and Commons. In the Nordic countries, Lucia is traditionally celebrated on December 13th, the shortest day of the year in older calendars. Lucia was honored with sainthood for carrying food and drink to the hungry …

Name Change to Astoria Nordic Heritage Park

Scandinavian Heritage Park Will Change Its Name A nod to the Finnish By Katie Frankowicz, The Daily Astorian A downtown park to celebrate Astoria’s Scandinavian heritage has yet to be built, but is already getting a name change. Instead of Scandinavian Heritage Park, the organization behind the effort decided to use the more inclusive term “Nordic” after some debate about …

A Scandinavian Experience at Carruthers!

A SCANDINAVIAN EXPERIENCE BENEFIT DINNER FOR THE SCANDINAVIAN HERITAGE PARK SATURDAY, MARCH 16TH, 2019 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM CARRUTHERS RESTAURANT 1198 COMMERCIAL STREET, ASTORIA, OREGON Please join us for a five-course Scandinavian Dinner at Carruthers Restaurant located in historic downtown Astoria on March 16th, 2019, to raise funds for the Scandinavian Heritage Parks Capital Campaign.  Local members of the Scandinavian …

Help Make the Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Park Happen!

We are excited that we have a solid design for the upcoming Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Park. But we can’t build it until we raise the funds to put the work out to bid. So please visit astoriascanpark.org to donate whatever you can afford! You can contribute online, or send a check to: Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association P.O. Box 34 Astoria, OR 97103 Your …

Scandinavians to Build Heritage Park

From the May issue of Swedish Press Astorians of Scandinavian descent are  celebrating a recent agreement with the City of Astoria that will allow them to build a Scandinavian  Heritage Park in downtown Astoria, Oregon. This monument will honor the thousands of Scandinavian immigrants who made it to Oregon’s North Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It aims also …

Celebrating Swedish by Marriage in Astoria, Oregon

By Janet Bowler The lack of Swedish ancestry never stopped Gerry Swenson or her daughter-in-law Marci Swenson from actively promoting their husbands’ and children’s Swedish heritage in the Scandinavian community of Astoria, Oregon. Gerry’s husband Bob Swenson’s uncle Ragnar emigrated from Sweden (Örsjö in Småland) in 1910. Bob and Gerry are members of Astor Lodge #215 of VASA, and in …

Hipfish: Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Park

ASTORIA SCANDINAVIAN HERITAGE PARK committee hits the ground running w/ City approval  BY KAISA SCHLARB IN DECEMBER, the Astoria City Council voted unanimously in favor of the Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Foundation’s (ASHA) proposed Scandinavian Heritage Park, to be constructed at the site of People’s Park at 16th and Marine Drive. Applause erupted among attendees, many of whom were descendants of the …