Iola event features pastries, crafts, activities
Visitors to Taste Of Norway and Lost Arts Fair can watch Norwegian pastry making, lefse making and artisans ply their crafts on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The event will be at the Iola Historical Society at 210 Depot St., just west of downtown Iola.
The Iola-Scandinavia Chamber of Commerce’s Fall Craft and Gift Show will be hosted on the grounds as well.
The event is free, with the Taste of Norway demonstrations and sales from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the Fall Craft Show vendors will open at 9 a.m., at the society’s Historic Iola Village complex.
Proceeds from the event will pay for the restoration of the historic Iola and Northern Railroad depot and other Iola Historical Society needs.
Taste of Norway provides visitors with samples of lefse, smultrenger (fry cakes), krumkaka, sandbakkels, rosettes and fattigman. Local residents will show how to make them.
The pastries and other baked goods will be available to purchase, while supplies last.
Iola’s Crystal Café will also be selling pies by the slice as well as whole pies, pulled pork sandwiches, and homemade chips and dip. Iola’s bakery, Taste of Elegance, will have specialty breads for sale. The Lefse Shack will be offering fresh lefse for sale.
The Iola Lions will hold a brat fry, along with grilled hot dogs from Pine Grove Meats of Iola, with an option to have the hot dog placed in lefse, rather than in a bun.
Boy Scouts Troop 631 will sell soda and water.
The Taste of Norway food court will be located inside the Machine Shed.
Lost Arts Fair
The Lost Arts Fair brings artisans who will demonstrate jewelry making , rosemaling, rugweaving, woodcarving and tin-type photography. Some of the artisans have items for sale.
Children’s activities
Children’s activities will take place in the replica vintage schoolhouse, sponsored by the Sons Of Norway’s Norskeland Lodge 5-580. Beginning at 10 a.m., craft projects and snacks will be part of the activities. Youths and adults can try out the vintage corn sheller. The Waupaca County Humane Society will also have animals to pet and adopt.
Craft Show
The chamber’s Fall Gift and Craft Show, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., features vendors selling wool mittens, scarves, runners, mats; handmade soaps; Norwegian wear; jewelry; embroidery; decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas; soy candles; quilted items; handmade caramels, doll cloths; metal garden-art sculptures; framed pictures and prints from local photographers.
Vendors interested in exhibiting can pick up an application at the Iola Car Show office at 160 N. Chet Krause Drive. Spaces are $30 each and are located under two large tents next to The Machine Shed at 222 Depot St..
Tours
Iola Historical Society docents will provide information on the historic buildings on the grounds, which include the Helvetia Town Hall, a replica of Iola’s first fire station, replica of a one-room schoolhouse, a circa-1920s log cabin, the original Iola and Northern Railway depot and a vintage caboose. All buildings will be open for tours.
The society’s museum will also be open during the event. The displays include the recently completed Wayne Towne Native American artifacts exhibit, vintage Norwegian immigrant items, the Stromberg violin collection, and other items of local history.
Also featured is a display dedicated to Lee Nelson, Iola’s “Humble Hero.” Nelson was a B-17 bomber pilot who flew several dozen missions over France and Germany in World War II. His autobiography, published by the Iola Historical Society, is available for sale at the event, along with other local history books.
There is also a developing exhibit for Chester L. Krause, publisher and philanthropist, who passed away in 2016.
Fire extinguisher check
The Iola & Rural Fire Department will be holding its annual fire extinguisher check at the 1901 vintage Iola fire station at the Iola Historic Village. The department has arranged with licensed fire systems supplier Fire Pro to provide, at a charge of $5 per unit, on-site fire extinguisher checks from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Department personnel will check and service personal handheld fire extinguishers to be sure they are current for use and insurance purposes.
The station contains Iola’s first three pieces of mechanized firefighting apparatus, dating from 1913, 1926 and 1942.
Members of the Central Wisconsin Tractor Club will have classic tractors on display.
For more information on the event, go to www.iolahistoricalsociety, www.ischamber.com, or visit Iola-Scandinavia Chamber on Facebook.