The St. Croix Valley Syttende Mai Society will host a banquet May 16 to observe Norway’s Constitution Day.

“Syttende Mai” is Norwegian for “17th of May,” the day in 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was adopted, said Roger Bosmoe, president of the society.

The holiday is “often thought of as Norway’s Fourth of July,” Bosmoe said. “Comparing it to our Independence Day is appropriate because Norway’s Constitution was patterned after the American Constitution.”

The event will be at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Stillwater. Social hour starts at 5 p.m.; dinner at 6 p.m.

Gracia Grindal, a retired professor of theology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, will be the featured speaker at the St. Croix Valley Syttende Mai Society’s Syttende Mai celebration on May 16, 2024. (Courtesy of St. Croix Valley Syttende Mai Society)

Gracia Grindal, a retired professor of theology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, will be the featured speaker. She has written a number of books, including a book on Scandinavian women hymn writers, “Preaching From Home,” that was published in 2011; “Thea Rønning: Young Woman on a Mission,” which was published in 2012, and “Sister Elisabeth Fedde: To Do the Lord’s Will: Elizabeth Fedde and the Deaconess Movement Among the Norwegians in America,” which was published in 2014. Her book, “Unstoppable: Norwegian Pioneers Educate their Daughters,” was published in 2016.

The event is open to the public by reservation. Reservations can be sent to Janet Ziebell, 13945 Upper 58th St N, Apt. 221, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082. Reservations will be accepted until May 13. Tickets are $30 per person.

For more information call Bosmoe at 651-439-9423.

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