UFF DA! Syttende Mai is swinging back to Eau Claire on May 16. (Photo via Unsplash)

The first ever Syttende Mai – Norwegian Constitution Day – was May 17, 1814, the day the Norwegian Constitution was signed. This year’s annual Chippewa Valley celebration will be held on Thursday, May 16, at the Holiday Inn Eau Claire South I-94 (4751 Owen Ayres Court), starting at 5:30pm with social time followed by a banquet at 6pm.

Descendants of Norwegian immigrants – Debra “Debbi” Raye King and Thomas Wayne King – will present their unique program, “Friluftsliv: Celebrating Open Air Life & Traditions In All Seasons,” following the meal. Authors, folk music composers, and UW-Eau Claire alumni, the Kings live, write, and create at their home, Sunny Cove, overlooking Lake Superior, where they tend their flock of registered Icelandic wool sheep. Sunshine, their Shetland Sheepdog, romps with them at their forested homestead and hilltop farm.

Tickets are available now until Sunday, May 12, for $30 at Festival Foods on Mall Drive in Eau Claire or online at agerhouse.org. There will also be a silent auction of Norwegian treasures. The event is hosted by the Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture, the Sons of Norway, and the Waldemar Ager Association.

For additional info, contact Doug Pearson at (715) 834-5204 or pearsoda@uwec.edu. Come one, come all – you don’t need to be Norwegian to attend!