Debate post This is a debate entry, written by an external contributor. The post expresses the writer’s views.
It is our. Hvitveisen covers the forest floor in Bøkeskogen, and the beautiful, upright beech trees are wearing newly sprouted leaves. – Yes, so it should be green in “Skauen” until 17 May this year too! The annual cycle and expectations are closely linked here in Bøkebyen.
17 May is of course the day of celebration for some, but we have celebrated, according to tradition, several celebration and anniversary days up here in Bøkeskogen. We have the first day of Whitsun with Emigrants’ Day, when several people from Larvik who moved out returned home to greet loved ones and acquaintances, listen to today’s speech by a well-known emigrant, and not least talk and remember life in the city and special events in the old days.
And we have had the tradition of a beech breakfast and choral music from 09.00 to 10.00 every Sunday in the summer, going all the way back to the 1870s. Mayor Johan Sverdrup had already taken the initiative and founded a citizen’s music, a professional ensemble paid by the municipality, on 19 June 1849. – Johan Sverdrup would, as we know, eventually become the country’s prime minister and become known as the father of parliamentarism in Norway.
I can remember the time when my father was a member of Larvik Sangforening, the Sangerbøken was decorated every year on the association’s foundation day on 29 May. – But now the time for tradition seems to be over. As a result, some of the local history and parts of the heirloom disappear. For some, it feels as if our soul and local belonging are about to weather away.
The choral music in Bøkeskogen, which is actually the oldest ensemble of its kind in Norway, is to cease. The way I experience it, it seems completely scandalous and a complete lack of understanding of history when the politicians and the administration in Larvik municipality have now decided to shut down the entire business once and for all because of a depleted municipal coffers. It is obvious to use the expression “To save until found”.
“Emigration day” has already been taken off the agenda. First, the time was moved from 09.00 to 1 p.m. The reason was that people were supposedly unable to get up in the morning. When this didn’t work either, the municipal politicians dropped everything altogether. This seems logical in itself, but I can tell a different story.
In the 1950s, Larvik Turn was one of Norway’s best football teams with, among other things, three league championships and a cup final. The club operated almost professionally and attracted good players from many parts of the country. One of them was Arne Legernes from Molde. Legernes was a trained electrical engineer and worked at Treschow at the time he played for Larvik Turn. The family bought a cottage in Brunlanes, and when his football career came to an end, he got a job and settled in Asker. – My point is that Arne Legernes liked what he experienced on “Emigration Day” in Bøkeskogen, and he took the idea of ”Emigration Day” to Molde, which he visited several times a year. He was also present at the Molde International Jazz Festival, and in collaboration with local forces, “Emigration Day” was added to the Saturday before the opening of the festival the following Monday. And the “Emigration Day in Molde” has become an unqualified success.
The day’s event usually begins with a city walk at 10.00 with themes such as “Cafes and kiosks along Storgata”. Then there is a salute with cannons pointing out over the Fannefjorden, performed by people in historic military uniforms. At 12.00 the main event will be held in Bjørnsonhuset next to the Rice Seilet Hotel with a welcome speech by the mayor with information on the current situation in his home town, sing-alongs, speeches, musical entertainment and the appointment of ambassadors by well-known, worthy persons or institutions from or connected to Molde. Appointed ambassadors a few years ago are Bjørnsonfestivalen, Molde International Jazz Festival, Åge Hareide (soccer player and coach), Erik Berg (Bunnprisen’s founder, hotel and tourism company owner), Kjell Kosberg (civil architect), Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale (cancer researcher ), Knut Ødegård (author and, among other things, director of Nordens Hus in Iceland), Molde Janitsjar, Molde Football Club and Edvard Hoem (author). – Yes, this can be done with a proper initiative and the right attitude. Why does so much “necessarily” have to be wound up in Larvik? Is there really a proper quality assessment and prioritization of what really matters to us here in our local community.
