Swedesburg to host smorgasbord dinner Dec. 6

SWEDESBURG - The Swedish expression 'va Sa God” is used when offering something to eat in Sweden.

Swedesburg is offering the same invitation with their Swedish Smorgasbord menu that politely translates as, 'please honor us by accepting what we have to offer,” or more simply translated as 'come to the table.”

Plans are once again underway for the long-standing Swedish Smorgasbord. The local event takes place at the Parish Hall in Swedesburg on the first Thursday in December each year. That date this year will be Dec. 6.

Smorgasbord has been an annual event since 1938 except for a couple years during World War II when rationing limited access to necessary ingredients to prepare the feast. The menu consists of traditional Scandinavian dishes such as fruktsoppa (fruit soup), bruna bonor (brown beans), svenska kottbuller (Swedish meatballs), potatiskorv (potato sausage) and desserts rigrynsgrot (rice pudding), ostaka (a special custard-like cake), appelkaka (apple cake), lingonberries (shipped from Sweden) and many other dishes too numerous to list. All are recipes that have been handed down through generations.

The event's purpose is charitable. Every year all profit from the event is given to mission work; either in the local community, or national and international related missions. Countless hours of volunteer work have gone into preparing this banquet in the past and in keeping it on the calendar for over 77 years.

As in the past, tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at the Swedesburg Parish Hall, 201 Academy Ave., Swedesburg. A limited number of tickets are sold.

Contact for tickets after Nov. 5, is the Swedesburg Evangelical Lutheran Church office at 319-254-2191 or Louise Unkrich at 319-750-5176.

The Swedish American Museum located just a block east of the Parish Hall will be open that evening as it has been in the past for visitors wishing to browse into the Swedish past.