Pursuing a career in journalism along a dotted path (from Salt Lake City, to the Oregon Coast, to the mosquito-laden shores of the Crooked River in Central Oregon), Winn Wendell moved his young family to Junction City in 1980. He took a job at the city newspaper as advertising editor and began to foster relationships with local business owners.

In that day, it was common for business people to give back to patrons of their enterprises by being active in civic organizations. So, as any wise person looking to network would do, Winn joined the local chapter of Kiwanis — where Max Strauss quickly recruited the young, eager newsman to participate in his first Festival, serving Smorrebrod (open-faced sandwiches) from the Kiwanis booth.

Although feeding festival-goers was fast-paced and rigorous work in the grueling August temperatures, the public service bug had bitten. Winn and Mary joined more organizations in the Junction City area, all of which either had booths in the Festival or performed functions such as setting out the numerous decorations that transform our downtown each year into a version of little Scandinavia.

We often describe the Scandinavian Festival as a “Family Event,” meaning that it’s a fun and safe atmosphere for all members of the family to enjoy. However, the volunteers that make this street fair a reality each year know it means more than that: the whole family is bound to get involved somehow; so, of course the Wendells’ son and daughter (Scott and Jen) learned lessons of civic duty from their parents’ tireless generosity.

But it doesn’t stop there for Winn and Mary. In listing the countless components of the Festival they’ve helped with, Mary said there have only been two Festivals that they’ve missed since 1980, both due to family matters in Salt Lake. They figured out how to resolve that, though, by convincing Mary’s parents to spend every August in Junction City, thereby recruiting two more sets of helping hands and making the Festival an “Extended Family Event.”

For many Festivals, the Wendell family covered multiple shifts in multiple booths, giving them each a diverse perspective on the operation of the event as a whole. In the early 1990s, Mary joined the Festival Association’s Board of Directors, offering that experience and perspective to keep Junction City’s marquee event the tradition we all look forward to today. As a Director, she served as the board’s Secretary, Vice-President and then President in 1994-1995.

One of Mary’s favorite accomplishments was the installation of the beautiful Rose Garden just south of the main stage. Winn, of course, was volunteered to participate in the heavy lifting. He and good friend Jerry Finigan were honored by being presented with Association name tags bearing the illustrious title of “Grunt.”

The Gale Fletchall Award was instituted to recognize citizens within our community who have given a lifetime of service to the Scandinavian Festival. While Winn and Mary did, after nearly two decades of service, step back to allow new leadership to bring fresh ideas, they continued to be fixtures in supporting organizations to maintain operations within the Festival. In keeping with the concept of the Scandinavian Festival as an extended family event, the Wendells were called back to service when their son-in-law took on a leadership role in the annual planning process.

If you’re enjoying this year’s Festival, please take the opportunity to thank Winn and Mary Wendell for their lifetime of service to the Festival and this community. It’s likely that you’ll run into them, still serving, at the information windmill or watching the children dancing, where they’re fostering their great-grandchild’s pride in the community. Hopefully, one day, he and his peers will help to continue to keep alive all of the traditions that we hold dear.