Since 1964 there has been a Viking presence at the Junction City Scandinavian Festival. A few years ago, an idea formed, the idea was to create a Viking Village. This village would provide a space for Viking vendors and make a small footprint for that era of Scandinavian culture. The project was delayed due to funds and the large undertaking it is to establish a new area within the event.

This year, the Vendor Committee decided it was time for a change and it was time to make the push. We still had all the challenges as before including: shifting vendors, financial needs and the energy and skills to create an atmosphere that is not yet created. The Junction City Scandinavian Festival started in 1961 as a collaboration of efforts within the community and it was fitting that this new project mirrored those footsteps. The requirements for this project to be successful was beyond the fifteen volunteers that make up the Vendor Committee and Operations Committee within the Scandinavian Festival team.

Envisioning the joy a new space would bring our visitors, the Vendor Committee went to work recruiting new Viking vendors, communicating with existing vendors of the new change, and establishing costume and booth guidelines. The Operations Committee began working on plans for the area, arches and utility availability for the new village.

A few months went by, we had done our work. All the pieces were falling together, except for one. We needed an entrance for our new land. We shopped as frugally as possible, but with the expense of the event and still recovering from missing a festival in 2020, we kept coming up empty handed. It takes a lot to ask for help, but we knew to make this project complete we needed a statement to launch the new area, that statement was a wooden entrance in the form of Norse style arches. Coming up on the event, we were running out of time. We reached out to a local company, Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. and asked for assistance in the form of rough-cut timber for the archways. To our immense relief and gratitude, they agreed to donate the need lumber. They took our needs list and without expecting anything in return gave us what we needed. As one of the project managers for the task I can’t express the thanks I have for this donation.

Now that we had the timber, the team went to work on the anchor points for the archway. We discussed our plans by a festival volunteer and structural engineer, Tim Riley. Tim drew up plans and performed the necessary load calculations to ensure the safety of this structure. But his help did not stop there, he asked his company, Western Shelter, to donate the steel needed to create the anchoring footers for each post. The company agreed and Tim manufactured the footers on his own time. Again, the gratitude and relief was overwhelming. The actions of these companies and volunteers was a sweet reminder of why the event exists. A group of individuals collaborating together, using their talents and resources to provide our community an opportunity to prosper and gather together.

If all this giving wasn’t already a dream come true, we had two volunteers lend their talents in the finishing touches. Jason MacDonald, an active Board Member crafted torches from scrap and made them glow with solar LED lights. Josh Lekkerkerker used his skills with a CNC machine to carve the words “Viking Village” into the wooden headers. These final, but imperative details made the whole project shine. Then all we needed to do was put it together.

To Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. and Western Shelter and all volunteers, thank you! Thank you for helping us, help the community. Thank you for seeing the “why” behind the Junction City Scandinavian Festival. Thank you for your support financially and emotionally. Thank you for being a part of the team. Our gratitude is beyond expressing. To all the volunteers and crafters who had a hand in making this project a reality, thank you!