Olaus'll be coming round the mountain when he comes—and Norwegian dignitaries too
By Andrew Bennett
The official unveiling of the Olaus Jeldness statue is planned for the Friday night (Jan. 25) of the 116th annual Rossland Winter Carnival, immediately after the parade—and the city recently set about drafting invitations for Norwegian notables to attend.
Coun. Kathy Wallace raised the plans at the Oct. 9 council meeting: “I attended a meeting at the Tourism Rossland with [representatives] from Winter Carnival, Spirit of Red, and a Norwegian visitor,” she said. “There will also be something on Sunday afternoon or evening hosted by the museum, more of a story-telling event. I think it’s got a great deal of potential and is a great idea. None of that is set in stone yet.”
“Nonetheless, there was a request that the city provide a letter of invitation to various people. As far as getting it together, I’m sure the Spirit of Red can work with our staff to make this happen.”
In February of 2011, the Spirit of Red were $5000 towards their $20,000 fundraising goal and by this time last year, they were dancing to the finish line, receiving the final $5000 from the NDCU this summer.
Since then, the 9-foot statue has been cast in China and is preparing for the long voyage to BC.
The invitees include a delegation from Norway and “local dignitaries,” Wallace said, referring to a list from the Spirit of Red that currently has ten addresses.
“Since it is a government-to-government kind of thing,” Mayor Greg Granstrom said, “it has to be a little more official than the Spirit of Red. And I think the Spirit of Red recognized that, which is why they asked us to do that.”
