Telelaget of America Coming to Gullbring

Telelaget of America Coming to Gullbring

Anne Haugen Wagn, Harald Omnes, and Trond Villa have arranged a varied program at Gullbring Theater on August 13. The reason for the concert is because Telelaget of America is coming to visit. Forty-two persons from the American continent are coming to Telemark to seek out their relatives here. The occasion is the 100th anniversary of Telelaget of America this year.

This organization was established in 1907 by Telemark immigrants in America. Their main purpose was to preserve the old bygde treasures. Now the descendants of these immigrants are searching for the farms where they have roots.

Concert

Telelaget in our district has rented the Gullbring Culture Hall for the occasion and plans to present Norwegian music and dance for the visiting Americans. Those arranging the concert have put together a varied program which will be led by master of ceremonies, Aasmund Nordstoga. Knut Buen, Bø Junior Fiddlers, Jorid Vale, and Ingebjørg Romarheim are a few of the entertainers. “We have arranged a varied program,” said Trond Villa, from Telemark Concert Series. Tradition will be the focus of the program, but there will also be less predictable music by Kari Lønnestad and Hillborg Romtveit. This will be a concert for different tastes, for both Americans and Norwegians - a good mixture, in other words.

Full Auditorium

The organizers hope that there will be a full auditorium at Gullbring and they encourage people to attend the concert. “We want to show our guests from America the most outstanding Telemark culture,” they said They also tell that they have been dependent on sponsors, and among others, the Telemark County has helped with financing the concert. “We are hoping that this will reduce concert ticket prices so it is manageable for people,” the arrangers said.

Trip Around Telemark

The forty-two members of Telelaget of America will be seeing the most of Telemark. In addition to Bø, they will be stopping at Heddal, where they will visit the Heddal Stave Church and Heddal Bygdetun (outdoor museum). Also Tuddal, Rjukan, and a cruise on the Telemark’s Canal will be experienced during their stay in Norway. The guests come from different states from all over the USA. “We look forward to showing them a wonderful concert,” the organizers say with a smile.