Listers, I thought I would put a note on the Valdres List and Oppland List to let each of you know about the Norway Tour coming up this summer. I have been asked to help with the genealogy/farm visit part of the tour. Below is an article I wrote for the Valdres Samband Lags Budstikken. This article gives some brief information about the tour. We have several people in the Valdres area who are very willing to help tour participants get to their ancestral farms. This promises to be a wonderful tour of Norway with many places to go and things to see. I have helped a number of people with their ancestry in these areas and I thought putting it on the list would be a good way to make people aware of this opportunity to go to Norway. Thank you, Jean Marthaler SOGN-VOSS-VALDRES HERITAGE TOUR 2007 July 31 August 12, 2007 With the 2006 Sogn-Voss Heritage Tour being such a great success we are pleased to offer this tour again in 2007. This time we will also be adding a 2 night stay in Fagernes, Valdres, Oppland, Norway. There are a lot of people with connections that cross between the Valdres, Sogn and Voss areas and we felt by offering the two nights in the Valdres Valley we could help people with their family connections there also. In the Valdres area we will be spending 2 nights at the Quality Hotel & Resort Fagernes. Sightseeing will include a visit to the art and rosemaling studio of Sigmund Årseth and a tour of the Valdres Folk Museum. We toured both of these places on the August 2006 tour and Sigmund Årseths tour was fabulous. At the Valdres Folk Museum there is now a huge doll collection with dolls representing many areas of Norway each dressed in the national costume of that area. It was a delight to see. While in Fagernes, those of you with ancestral connections to the Valdres area will have the opportunity to go to your ancestral farms and to possibly meet relatives still living in the Valdres area. These arrangements would all be made ahead of time and I can guarantee you that you would have an emotional experience of a lifetime seeing and walking on the land your ancestors lived on. This tour is a heritage tour to the districts of Sogn og Fjordane, Voss and Valdres. Tour features include Flåm/Aurland, Voss, Vik, Sogndal, Luster, Lærdal and Fagernes. Also included are Oslo, Bergen and the Hallingdal Valley. This tour offers a wide variety of places to see such as a number of the old churches, farm museums, the beautiful Nærøyfjord, wonderful hotels and fabulous food. There is so much to see and enjoy. Brekke Tours does a fabulous job in providing a top notch experience for everyone going on their tours. Depending what your interest is, there is something for everyone; this tour offers such a wide variety of events for those seeing ancestral farms and for those who just want to take a great trip to Norway. We will again have genealogical help available to work with your ancestry in these areas of Norway. Farm visits will be made available for anyone interested in seeing their ancestral farms (there may be a small fee involved to cover the costs of the farm visits). Millie Ohnstad & Ann Romo are experts in the Aurland/Sogn area and Jean Marthaler will help with the Voss, Vossestrand, Valdres and Sogn areas. We all love to help others find their ancestral roots and will gladly help you find yours. For more information on the tour or for genealogical help please feel free to contact me at: Jean Marthaler 139 7th Ave SE St. Joseph, MN 56374 320-363-7949 [email protected] Or you can contact Brekke Tours at: http://www.brekketours.com/ Brekke Tours & Travel 701-772-8999 802 North 43rd Street 800-473-5302 Grand Forks, ND 58203 Fax 701-780-9352 Email: [email protected] We hope to see you on the tour in 2007. Jean Marthaler