Nordic Fest 2023 is this weekend! US POSTAGE PAID DECORAH, IA PERMIT #6
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www.driftlessjournal.com | news@driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, July 25, 2023 | Vol. 5 Issue 30
Vikings and Gnomes and Trolls, Oh My!
Nordic Fest in Decorah July 27-29
Chuck and Darlene Dahl, at right, were presented with the 2023 Winneshiek County Fair Distinguished Service Award. The presentation was made by Fair Board President Arlin Franzen. (Submitted photo)
Dahls earn Winneshiek County Fair award The Distinguished Service Award is given to individuals who volunteer and dedicate their time and services during the Winneshiek County Fair. Three awards were presented at this year’s fair. One of the fair awards this year was presented to Chuck and Darlene Dahl. The others
went to Jerry and Beth Einck of Decorah and to the late Leon Brown (who were featured in the July 18 Driftless Journal). Award presenters said the Dahls have ties to becoming
Dahl award continued on page 9
By Roz Weis Excitement is building as the largest festival of the year in Decorah opens later this week as organizers are gearing up for the 2023 Nordic Fest July 27-29. Offering entertainment and fun for all ages, the 56th Fest celebrates the theme “Vikings and Gnomes and Trolls, Oh My!” Nordic Fest celebrates Decorah’s Scandinavian heritage and culture each year with foods, sporting events, arts and crafts displays, guided tours, the annual bunad (Scandinavian clothing) show, kids’ activities, a grand parade on Saturday morning in the downtown district, fireworks, live music and much more.
And a Fest is not complete without the popular lutefisk-eating contest, the Troll’s Trolley (Pokey Pete) rides along Water Street, the Nordic Rock Throw, the Kanølopet (canoe race), the Elveløpet (5K and 15K), bags tourney, Ultimate Nordic Triathlon, the lawn and garden tours sponsored by Decorah Town & Country Club, and the list goes on and on and on. Three entertainment canopy areas (Canopy #1, #2 and #3) are being set up along Water Street. Each canopy will boast a long list of live entertainment, including polka music, folk groups, jazz, bluegrass and rock for music lovers of all genres. Kids’ activities are planned throughout the downtown district, including balloon art, caricatures, rock painting, the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre, ArtHaus face painting, “Gnomes in the Park” scavenger hunt style event, Sunflower play area, the Jolly Pops musical group, train rides and more. The complete activity/entertainment canopy schedule is listed in the official program guide. Official 2023 Fest Programs, listing all the Fest
events, and Fest buttons are available now at the information area at Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Center office at 507 W. Water Street. Official Fest merchandise also is available. All the Fest events are mostly free because of generous donations from community members and area businesses,
Nordic Fest continued on page 4
The 2023 Nordic Fest is July 27-29 in Decorah. Pictured at last year’s Fest Parade are (top right): Leighton Wicks, daughter of Gavin and Alex Wicks of Decorah; and (bottom right): Junior Nordic Dancers Grace Huinker, Bentley Smith and Josie Knutson in the parade. (Driftless Multimedia photos by Roz Weis)
The life of that cardboard box
Omnibus hearing in Kingsbury Case rescheduled
The omnibus hearing originally scheduled for Thursday, July 20, for Adam Fravel, charged with two counts of second degree murder, has been rescheduled to Sept. 22 at Adam Fravel 3 p.m., at the Winona County District Court, court room 1. Fravel, a 29-yearold Mabel, Minn., native, is charged in the disappearance and death of 26-year-old Madeline Kingsbury who went missing March 31. Kingsbury remained missing until June 7, when a Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office deputy searched a rural area routinely maintained by the Fravel family and discovered human remains
A closer look at local recycling
By Kate Klimesh
wrapped in a sheet and secured with black tape. The remains were later identified as Kingsbury and the medical examiner ruled the cause of death as homicidal and homicidal violence. Fravel was arrested later that same day and was arraigned June 8. Fravel would be allowed supervised visitation with the children at a secure location. Fravel is currently housed at Olmstead County Adult Detention Center in Rochester, Minn. On June 30, the Winona County Attorney Karion Sonneman petitioned her intent to seek an aggravated sentence in the case due to the cruelty shown the victim, up to a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if Fravel is found guilty. He has denied any involvement in Kingsbury’s disappearance and death.
LOTS OF ITEMS
IN STOCK TODAY! WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!
I can still hear my grandma say, “Oooh, that’s a nice cardboard box. I better put that in the attic.” There was a time when cardboard boxes were a resource to hang on to – just in case. Now, cardboard is found in many different items from pizza boxes to delivering items from online orders. It’s also being recycled more often. Cardboard is a commodity in the world of waste, and is collected and sold for recycling into future products at the Winneshiek County Recycling Center. There, cardboard is flattened and stored until they have 40 1,000-pound cardboard bales that can fill a semi-truck. It is then purchased by companies like American Fiber Services, who act as brokers for the products to get to their next stage of usefulness. Joe Hummel, the Midwest representative for AFS in Iowa City, relayed the pathways of the cardboard that is collected at the Decorah recycling plant, and what happens to it once it reaches its destination. “Old
Courtesy www.epa.gov corrugated containers, or OCC, are purchased from Decorah’s center and shipped to a Minneapolis paper mill called Liberty Paper, or to other mills in Wisconsin. Cardboard can be recycled into two main products: boxes for packaging, and hand towels tissue and napkins.” Some of the products from
OCC could be the fluted corrugated filler inside medium cardboard boxes, or liners for new boxes that are created – the brown facing people see on their cardboard boxes. “Most of the office copy paper from document destruction can also be used to make tissues, white paper towels and
napkins,” Hummel added. “Each time OCC is recycled, the fiber length is shortened. Paper has a finite number of times it can be recycled. Even though a lot of cardboard is
Recycling continued on page 2
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