Enger relations turn out for rededication

Approximately 1,100 people turned out to see the king and queen of Norway rededicate Enger Tower. Among the attendees was Bob Hanson, a relative of the late Bert J. Enger. Hanson's mother, Josephine, was an Enger. She was a first cousin to Bert Enger, which makes Hanson a second cousin to Bert. 

Josephine lived in Eau Claire, Wis., where Bert also lived and worked for a time. According to Hanson's family lore, Bert wanted to marry Josephine, but she refused him. The family said she may have been disgusted by the fact that they were such close cousins. 

Scott and Beth Johnson, friends of the family, said Bert left Eau Claire soon after, and Josephine married Olaf Hanson. Hanson had a farm on Union Street where he raised horses and dairy cows. Josephine and Olaf had three sons: Owen, who died young, and Harold and Bob.

Bob said his mother was a good cook. She often cooked lefse, lutefisk, and rommegrot, a Norwegian breakfast pudding made from scalded milk and flour.

Hanson remembered going to register for the draft with his mother. "I didn't get picked," he said.

Hanson currently lives in a group home near Black River Falls, Wis. where, according to Beth, Bob "is the hardest worker." 

Hanson first traveled to Enger Tower four years ago. Despite being 85 and having visual difficulties then, Hanson walked all the way to the top of the tower. "He climbed up those stairs like a billy goat," Scott said.

Hanson said he thought the Enger rededication celebration with the king and queen was "pretty neat." Hanson and the Johnsons said they plan to return for the anniversary celebration of the tower.

1/4: Julie Fredrickson, wearing a bunad, stands beside her Norwegian-American mother, Anne Wierimaa. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us to see the king of Norway," said Fredrickson. "Now she gets to say 'nana-nana-na-nah' to her cousins in Norway. She's been closer to them (the king and queen) than when the king and queen are home." Fredrickson also attended the Skogfjorden Norwegian language camp in northern Minnesota as a child.

2/4: A close-up of the back of a bunad, a Norwegian folk dress.

3/4: Holly McGinn, age 13, shakes Marcella Foderich's hand. Bruce Wyman, McGinn's grandfather, stands behind them. Wyman told Foderich that his family had purchased a lot of furniture from the Enger furniture business and thanked her for the family's donation of Enger Park.

4/4: Bob Hanson, a relative of the late Bert J. Enger. Hanson's mother, Josephine, was an Enger. She was a first cousin to Bert Enger, which makes Hanson a second cousin to Bert. Bob was among the crowd of more than 1,000 people who turned out to see the king and queen of Norway rededicate Enger Tower.