MaryLou Finigan President’s Business Award

Since 1961, the Junction City Scandinavian Festival has celebrated our town, and its heritage.  The Mary Lou Finigan President’s Business Award is presented to a local business that has shown their dedication and support of the Festival. This year’s award is being given to several businesses who all work together, owned and operated by a local family in Junction City. These businesses are Lochmead Farms, Lochmead Dairy, and Dari-Mart. These family-owned companies have long participated in the Festival, both as businesses and as individuals. 

Gladys Halkjar was the daughter of Danish immigrants. Her family roots were steeped in farming. In 1935, Gladys married a vocational schoolteacher named Howard Gibson, who soon turned away from the field of education, and found himself in the field of agriculture. Howard and Gladys broke ground on their farm, located north of Junction City, in 1941.

Following Howard and Gladys’ lead, four out of their five children found their niche in the family business. Three brothers took charge of their own branch of the business – farming, dairy, and processing. Daughter Pat Straube and family moved back to the area from Portland in 1972.  She soon found herself working in the ever-expanding business. Since Pat’s move back home, she has not missed a Festival. 2022 will mark the first time since 1972 that she has not attended all four days of the Festival, due to a family wedding. 

The family has been involved in many capacities in the Scandinavian Festival. “I guess it’s just the right thing to do. We like the Festival, we like our town, and like people coming to our town and showing it off”, Pat expressed. The family have helped in many ways over the years at the Festival, including: working in the former Business and Professional Women (BPW) booth, the Soroptimist Wine Terrace, in the Windmill,  and, being OSU graduates, they have helped at the daily breakfast that that was served in the early years of the Festival.

For many years, Dari-Mart convenience stores have helped distribute the Festival magazines at their 44 stores, free of charge. This enables the Festival to reach thousands of potential patrons, without adding strain to an already tight publicity budget. This creates a way to access more visitors for the Festival. In the end, this support helps the local vendors at the event. In addition to distribution, Dari Mart  helps to support the Festival by purchasing advertising space in the magazine. 

The mission of the Festival is to attract visitors to stimulate our local economy.  Revenue from these ad sales helps pay to produce the magazine, helps to support activities and events sponsored by the Festival throughout the year, and helps attract new customers to those businesses. It is a blessing to have local businesses work together, with the goal of supporting our community.  

Lochmead Dairy goes above and beyond in serving their customers. Several of our vendors use their products at the Festival. They accept late night orders, and provide early morning deliveries. Not only do they provide this great service, but they go the extra mile by restocking the booths prior to the vendor arriving each morning. Dari-Mart takes pride in exceeding expectations when it comes to customer service. 

The Junction City Scandinavian Festival is beyond grateful for the longstanding partnership and support. We are honored to present Lochmead Farms, Lochmead Dairy, Dari-Mart, and the Gibson/Straube family, with the 2022 Mary Lou Finigan President’s Business Award. Their love for our community, and tireless support for it, shines brightly as an example for all.

Lochmead Farms – cows are here and milked

Lochmead Dairy – Takes milk and processes it

Dari Mart – Where it’s sold!