Decorah celebrates its Norwegian heritage

The Vesterheim Museum children's parade traveled through downtown Decorah Thursday afternoon as the community celebrated its Norwegian heritage on Syttende Mai--Norwegian Constitution Day.  The parade started at the Winneshiek County Courthouse, traveled north along Washington Street to Water Street, then west on Water Street to Mill Street and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.

More events are planned Thursday afternoon as part of the Syttende Mai celebration.

At 2:00 p.m.,Vesterheim Chief Curator Laurann Gilbertson will present a gallery talk about the museum's exhibition "Sigvald Asbornsen, Sculptor," which highlights the works of the Norwegian-American artist.

There will be a guided tour of the buildings in the museum's Open Air Division at 2:30 p.m.  An open house and reception will be held from 4:40 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. to view projects that area fourth-grade school children made during the Pioneer Immersion Program. The reception will be in the lobby of the museum's Main Building.  The exhibition of projects will be in the third floor galleries of the same building.