North Dakota
Port: On the demise of an important cultural bridge to North Dakota’s past
MINOT — It’s hard to describe how important a cultural event the Norsk Hostfest was.
I say “was,” using the past tense, because news this week is that the annual event, which had just completed its 46th year, is coming to an end.
The event was important to me as a descendant of Scandinavian immigrants. My maternal great-grandparents came to America from Norway, and homesteaded a farm near the Ryder area. The Hostfest was a way for me to connect to their cultural traditions, from food and music to the history of the Norwegian diaspora.
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The event was also important to my family. We spent years attending and working at the event. We were a host family for Scandinavian performers who traveled to Minot to entertain at the event. We even got some local media coverage in 2004 about four generations of my family volunteering.
I have so many memories from the Hostfest. For a while, when I was a paperboy for the Minot Daily News, I would go out to the festival early in the morning to sell newspapers door-to-door in the RV campgrounds. My grandma would tell me stories about her immigrant parents.
And the food! I once ate so much
rommegrot
— a Norwegian dessert pudding — that the resulting gastro-intestinal pyrotechnics are still a thing of family lore.
I even met famed political consultant Karl Rove at the Hostfest one year.
He was there to be inducted into
the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame,
and was being escorted around by former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. Apparently the two of them were friends from their College Republican days. They ran across me working at a booth. I was a part-time political blogger then. I hadn’t yet begun my full-time writing career.
I have so many happy memories from the Hostfest.
Now, it’s over.
“In recent years, the festival has faced significant increases in the cost of nationally recognized performers, as well as insurance, facilities, labor, and logistics,”
a press release from the Hostfest board said.
“At the same time, attendance levels have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, creating ongoing financial challenges that cannot be responsibly overcome.”
The pandemic certainly didn’t help the festival, and I think we can fairly blame some mismanagement, too. As the generation the event originally catered to began to die out there was little effort made to draw the interest of younger generations. It was expensive, too, making it cost prohibitive for younger families to begin the traditions of attendance that cultural event like the Hostfest depends on.
But it’s hard to ignore the involvement of Epic Companies,
which took over management of the event
for a couple of years post-pandemic before the company’s spectacular financial collapse prompted its exit from the arrangement. Epic had tried to take the event in a new direction, away from its cultural roots and toward some sort of a modern music festival, and it just didn’t work.
After years of failing to adapt to modern audiences, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and poor management by Epic Companies, Minot and North Dakota are losing a treasure.
A bridge to our past.
A preservation of an important part of our state’s history.
I’d like to think that the Hostfest will be replaced with something new that will continue to preserve Scandinavian heritage in our area, but it probably won’t be. To be clear, some preservation continues. The
Scandinavian Heritage Association,
which maintains the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, will endure, and that’s a good thing. They do wonderful work.
It’s just not the same.
It feels like we need things like the Hostfest now more than ever. So many in our society, nearly all of them descendants of previous waves of immigration, have adopted a pronounced hostility to new generations of immigrants. They’ve committed themselves to making it clear that those new immigrants aren’t welcome. Which is why it’s important for us to remember our own immigrant past. The joys and the struggles and the warts.
The Hostfest was a part of that. Now it’s gone. So it goes.
WILLISTON, N.D. (KFYR) – UPDATE (5/10/2026 at 11:45 p.m.): A fire broke out at a Williston recycling business Sunday evening, and no one was injured.
Multiple crews responded to Pallet Green Recycling just before 8:30 p.m., according to the Williston Fire Department. Crews arrived at the scene where they fought heavy smoke and flames.
Industrial storage containers were on scene, and officials say it is unclear what, if any, chemical residue was inside them. Officials believe there is no danger to the public.
Williston Fire Chief Corey Johnson said the fire was contained to the business’s exterior storage yard, and crews were not concerned about it spreading beyond the property.
“Right now, the structures are protected in the area. We’re not concerned about the fire spreading off of the lot,” Johnson said.
Multiple departments from across Williams County responded, and extra water trucks were brought in due to the fire’s remote location.
The cause remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Your News Leader will provide updates as more information becomes available.
ORIGINAL STORY (5/10/2026 at 9:39 p.m.): Crews responded to a large fire at a storage yard in rural Williston on Sunday night.
The fire is located at Pallet Green Recycling, according to the business owner.
Sylvia Luebke captured video of the scene from a distance around 8 p.m. The fire sent a large plume of smoke over the area. Luebke said it was still burning as of around 9 p.m.
Williston Rural Fire is working to battle the fire. The department was unable to comment at this time.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
Submitted Photo
U.S. soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28. N.D. National Guard 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, front row, far left, served as the officer in charge of the mission when soldiers assigned to JTF-DC responded to the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner April 25. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris.
WASHINGTON – U.S. soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.
The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contribution of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage relating to the presidential administration.
“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.
As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance.
“They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”
Staff Sgt. Kirsten Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”
According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensured that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.
“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge for the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had five inside, eight outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and, alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his soldiers allowed him to move to different teams, which helped allow him to plan and coordinate with different agencies.
According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the staging of the presidential motorcade. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the president and administration officials, he said.
“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”
FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
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