COVID cancels annual lutefisk dinner

Havre Daily News staff

Despite vaccinations for the virus starting in the region, a nine-decade-old annual tradition in the region has been delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lutefisk and Swedish Meatball Dinner co-chairs Jim Griggs and Chamene Plum sent out a letter telling people the 88th annual dinner, which was scheduled for Feb. 6, has been canceled.

"The dinner itself requires large number of workers, and with COVID still running high in our area and no end in sight, it would impossible to put the dinner on," they said in the letter. "This will be the second time in many years that the dinner had to be canceled, the last being in 1988 when the elevator was being installed."

While Phase 1A of the COVID-19 vaccinations are underway and Phase 1B is expected to start within a couple of weeks, most people in the general population are likely not going to be vaccinated for months and officials warn that recommendations to slow the spread, like wearing cloth masks, social distancing, regularly washing hands and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and avoiding large gatherings is crucial to keep the spread of the virus slowed down.

The tradition centers on Scandinavian lutefisk, cod which is dried and typically salted then put in a lye bath before it is rinsed multiple times before serving. Lutefisk dinners have become a tradition in many communities with people of Scandinavian background.

The dinners - as the name shows - offer more than lutefisk, including Swedish meatballs and the tortilla-like potato dish of lefsa, rolls, boiled potatoes, cranberry sauce, Scandinavian pastries like baked sandbakkles and strong Norwegian coffee.

Griggs and Plum said a huge amount of pre-dinner prep work that takes place including lefsa-making, sandbakkle-making and potato peeling, as well as the ordering of the 500 pounds of fish which usually has to happen in November.

Griggs said the organizers hadn't ordered the fish yet this year - the Olson Lutefisk Company in Minnesota that furnishes most of the fish for lutefisk in the United States was closed down because of COVID and, although it was open again, was having trouble getting up to speed for the holidays.

"We would have been OK if we, in fact, could have proceeded, since our dinner would have been after the Christmas season," he added.

And Griggs and Plum; in their letter, said people should still have some of the traditional Scandinavian delicacy.

"With that said, you will have to fix yourself some lutefisk to start the New Year out. That's the only way you can ensure yourself a healthy year. Lutefisk cures all ills, even COVID-19," they wrote jokingly. "So, until, 2022, stay safe, mask up and eat some lutefisk, its good for you! "UFFA DA," they concluded.